hunger games trailer

The Hunger Games teaser trailer has finally arrived, giving fans of Suzanne Collins’ novels and casual moviegoers a look at what could be the next young-adult book series-turned blockbuster movie franchise (a la Harry Potter and The Twilight Saga).

Guiding The Hunger Games to the big screen is director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville), and this first teaser will be the first testament to whether or not Ross (along with second unit director Steven Soderbergh) has managed to capture the rich world of Collins’ novels, or simply crafted yet another standard action/drama blockbuster.

For those who don’t know, here’s the lowdown on The Hunger Games:

In a dystopian future America is now Panem, a nation made up of twelve impoverished districts, all ruled by a militant capitol where technology and excess are a way of life. Every year the capitol holds a televised battle royal, where one male and female teenager from the twelve districts must battle to the death for the pleasure of capitol. When a young hunter from District 12 named Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) sacrifices herself to save her little sister from the games, she embarks on a brave fight for survival that could change a nation.

Hunger Games Mov just received a confirmation from Lionsgate that The Hunger Games Trailer will be attached to Breaking Dawn: Part 1 in Theaters!

A full-length "Hunger Games" trailer, complete with sequences from the movie that aren't all chopped up and teaser-like, has yet to hit the Web. But here's a little something to hold you over: character posters!
Okay, so it doesn't compare to a trailer, but these eight character posters will still give you a good idea of what the major players in "The Hunger Games" will look like. That includes Haymitch (played by Woody Harrelson) and Effie (played by Elizabeth Banks), who we haven't seen thus far... and Effie's makeup and wig look every bit as ridiculous as described in the book.
Other new faces include Cinna, who will be played by Lenny Kravitz and is a casting choice that has been met with mixed reactions from fans. Rue and Cato also make their first appearances in pictures, and we get another look at Katniss, Peeta and Gale.
The posters are suffiently dark considering the subject matter, and I like how Katniss is the only one facing right while everyone else faces left. It highlights the idea that it's her vs. the world (even though some of these characters are on her side).

By now, you've probably seen the Hunger Games trailer, right? No? Here:
Allow me to sum up my initial reaction: "ASDK;AKDFAJSDF;KANSDFJA;DFJA;KLFJAS;DFJA;AJKA;SKDJFA!"
One always worries about screen adaptations of beloved novels, but I'm no longer worried about this one. It looks awesome.
When I first read the book, I had grave concerns about its adaptability. Collins's depictions of violence are both brutal and alarmingly specific. Hollywood could never show the full effect without alienating 3/4 of its target audience.
Based on the trailer, at any rate, the film seems to take an angle that perhaps requires less focus on the brutality. The trailer jumps between the dystopian Panem and the spectacle of the games. There's every possibility that the movie will do a better job of hammering the book's political themes.
But enough with the thinking. Let's get down to brass tacks.

Beloved Katniss. I don't think you could conjure up better casting in a laboratory. "Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes. But we’re not related, at least not closely. Most of the families who work the mines resemble one another this way." So she doesn't quite have gray eyes or black hair. I'll live.

Liam Hemsworth is about 20 times hotter than I pictured Gale (but I'm on record as a Gale-hater. That said, the sort of character he plays tends to work much better in films than in books). I'm worried that his extreme good looks will disrupt the Peeta vs. Gale equation in my mind.

And speaking of beloved Peeta...I wasn't sold on Josh Hutcherson's casting originally, but now he seems to have the right amount of quiet intensity.

Whoever cast Elizabeth Banks as Effie deserves an award. Just look at that shot. In the drab greys and blacks of this horrible mining town, she's not a sight for sore eyes, she's an invasion of neon color. The falseness of her identity jars against the gritty reality of District 12. Which is just how it should be.

I had to find something to complain about, right? I won't lie, despite my near total lack of interest in fashion, I was very interested in how the movie would bring Katniss's interview dress to life.