(I know there's another Hunger Games thread, but that's about the production of the movie. This is more directed towards the franchise as a whole.)
Up until a few minutes ago I was of mixed feelings about Hunger Games. Having been a huge fan of Takami's Battle Royale novel and films, which have a virtually identical concept and premise and dated to the late 1990s, I was under the impression that Hunger Games was just an Americanized rip-off. According to this article from last year, this isn't the case, and that the author allegedly had no awareness of Battle Royale:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/magazine/mag-10collins-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
Apparently this similarity was spotted when she submitted the manuscript but it was decided to proceed as there were enough differences, as long as she didn't read Takami's novel or watch the movies.
Which is fair enough. Not everyone is familiar with Japanese cinema and literature, obviously. And not everyone reads manga so Tokyopop's Battle Royale multi-volume adaptation might have escaped notice. Plus as I'll get into in a moment there are some regions where Battle Royale is banned. So the author's comments in the above article alleviated concerns I had that this was just stealing the idea.
It is a shame though that some may now view Battle Royale as the rip-off, especially if a Western remake of the film version occurs (or it might prevent such a thing from happening, which may be a good thing - I can't imagine a Western BR being allowed to include the violence and sexual content of the original, even though they're key to the novel/movie/manga storyline).
I have yet to read the Hunger Games novels, so I don't know which is superior, them or Battle Royale. And that's the point of this thread: is there anyone out there who has read both and who can comment on the comparison? Hunger Games has been on my "to read" list for a couple years but I haven't gotten around to it yet. It'll also be interesting to compare the films, though the Battle Royale movie I'm told is banned in some areas because of its violence involving teens (which makes the fact Hunger Games was even made all the more remarkable).
For those interested, here is the trailer for the first Battle Royale movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-T7yPJVvXw
There is a second trailer labeled the long trailer that will be listed on the side menu with this. It's more detailed, but as it's a red band trailer I might be violating a BBS rule posting the link to it. I'll let you find it.
Alex
Up until a few minutes ago I was of mixed feelings about Hunger Games. Having been a huge fan of Takami's Battle Royale novel and films, which have a virtually identical concept and premise and dated to the late 1990s, I was under the impression that Hunger Games was just an Americanized rip-off. According to this article from last year, this isn't the case, and that the author allegedly had no awareness of Battle Royale:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/magazine/mag-10collins-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
Apparently this similarity was spotted when she submitted the manuscript but it was decided to proceed as there were enough differences, as long as she didn't read Takami's novel or watch the movies.
Which is fair enough. Not everyone is familiar with Japanese cinema and literature, obviously. And not everyone reads manga so Tokyopop's Battle Royale multi-volume adaptation might have escaped notice. Plus as I'll get into in a moment there are some regions where Battle Royale is banned. So the author's comments in the above article alleviated concerns I had that this was just stealing the idea.
It is a shame though that some may now view Battle Royale as the rip-off, especially if a Western remake of the film version occurs (or it might prevent such a thing from happening, which may be a good thing - I can't imagine a Western BR being allowed to include the violence and sexual content of the original, even though they're key to the novel/movie/manga storyline).
I have yet to read the Hunger Games novels, so I don't know which is superior, them or Battle Royale. And that's the point of this thread: is there anyone out there who has read both and who can comment on the comparison? Hunger Games has been on my "to read" list for a couple years but I haven't gotten around to it yet. It'll also be interesting to compare the films, though the Battle Royale movie I'm told is banned in some areas because of its violence involving teens (which makes the fact Hunger Games was even made all the more remarkable).
For those interested, here is the trailer for the first Battle Royale movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-T7yPJVvXw
There is a second trailer labeled the long trailer that will be listed on the side menu with this. It's more detailed, but as it's a red band trailer I might be violating a BBS rule posting the link to it. I'll let you find it.
Alex
