The Hunger Games: 4-Movie Collection Steelbook - 4K Blu-ray Review

Michael Scott

Moderator / Reviewer
Staff member
Thread Starter
Joined
Apr 4, 2017
Posts
5,541
Location
Arizona
More  
Preamp, Processor or Receiver
Yamaha TRS-7850 Atmos Receiver
Other Amp
Peavy IPR 3000 for subs
Universal / Blu-ray / CD Player
Panasonic UB820 4K UHD Player
Front Speakers
Cheap Thrills Mains
Center Channel Speaker
Cheap Thrills Center
Surround Speakers
Volt 10 Surrounds
Surround Back Speakers
Volt 10 Rear Surrounds
Rear Height Speakers
Volt 6 Overheads
Subwoofers
2x Marty subs (full size with SI 18's)
Video Display Device
Sony 85 inch X950H FALD TV
The Hunger Games: 4-Movie Collection Steelbook


front.jpg
Movie: :3.5stars:
4K Video: :4stars:
Video: :4.5stars:
Audio: :5stars:
Extras: :3.5stars:
Final Score: :4stars:



WARNING: THE SCORES ABOVE ARE A COMBINED SCORE FROM ALL 4 FILMS, THE INDIVIDUAL SCORES ARE CONTAINED BELOW IN THE INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS OF THE REVIEW


AV NIRVANA is member and reader-supported. When you purchase an item using our links, we might earn an affiliate commission.

1.jpg
Movie

The Hunger Games : :3.5stars:
With the release of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Saints it’s only natural that Lionsgate capitalize on the film by re-releasing the original 4 films on 4K in a snazzy Walmart Exclusive steelbook much like they did with The Expendables 1-4 set. Well, to be precise, BEFORE the Expendables set, but we’re only getting to it now due to a shipping issue with the review discs Lionsgate sent out. Well, quibbling over minutia aside, it gave me the opportunity this brisk winter to go back through the grand daddy of major blockbuster young adult series and go back to a time when Jennifer Lawrence was THE it thing in Hollywood.

First on the list is The Hunger Games. I remember being rather pleased with The Hunger Games back in 2012 when I reviewed it initially, but it was never THAT great of a first film to the franchise. My thoughts haven’t changed in the last 11 years or so, as I found the film to be similarly enjoyable (albeit not great) the 3rd round through the series. It’s fun, had some good action, but is a little bit unsteady on its feat with the pacing.

The series is set in an oh so typical of the genre dystopian future where the majority of the world lives in abject poverty, while the rich elites rule in the Capital City. There was a great civil where where many people rose up against the elites and tried to overthrow them. In time the Government forces won, but not until they had suffered enormous losses. In order to keep the populace under their control, the Capital separated the remaining populace into twelve tribes, and each year as penance they are required to choose through a lottery one boy and one girl in order to compete in a bloodthirsty surival game as a “memorial” to the war. In reality it was a show of force and oppression by the elites as they wanted to remind the people just what they could lose in another war, as well as keep them distracted with the game itself as a form of “entertainment”.

This year in the poorest of the districts, district 12, a young woman named Primrose is chosen to be the poor victim….errr.. contestant for the games. Knowing that Primrose doesn’t have a chance in hades at winning the game, her older Sister Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) offers herself up as an exchange for the games. She and her male contestant Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are shipped off to the capital where they are fawned over and preened for the games, all the while steeling themselves for the horrors that lie ahead.

Sounds like a fun movie in theory right? Well, unfortunately the first book that the movie was taken from was a lot more dense than the movie has time for, so much of the plot is told through inferences and “it makes sense if you read the book” instances that will leave newbies to the franchise scratching their heads. And while I understand that a large book has to take some losses with the editing to keep things below 9 hours in length, but they also cut out things in the movie itself that would have made things make a LOT more sense. Much of the exposition is for the fans only, but once we get into the actual game itself things pick up nicely. The latter hour of the movie is a fast paced action adventure story, with traps, twists, and the inevitable moment where the contestants start to realize that they have the ability to change the outcome of the game if they want.

As much as I wish the story had been more polished with more pertinent story details from the novel kept in, the movie itself is still fairly enjoyable. The Hunger Games was the start of the massive 2010s Tween blockbusters, and it is by far one of the better ones. And not only that, it actually finished the series as well (grumble, whine, I’m looking at you Divergent series). Simply put, it’s an enjoyable action romp and the film where Jennifer Lawrence literally shot herself into super stardom.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: :4.5stars:
As for the second film, I remember back in 2014 being ecstatic that Catching Fire was a huge, huge step up over the first film. 9 years later I still have to agree with my assessment. Catching Fire is probably the single best film of the entire series, and while I ALMOST want to knock it down to a 4/5 from my initial 4.5/5 rating, I think I’m going to keep it at that 4.5/5 simply because it is the most fun of the franchise.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) have wan the battle. They finished the Hunger Games intact and they have basically been shot to superstardom in the capital. Much like gladiators of the Roman era becoming sort of “privileged slaves”, the two are now the darling for all of the elite propagandists in the Capital. While the rest of the 12 tribes live in poverty, the two winners are wined and dined, passed around as amusing novelties for all of the fat cats in the big city. However, not only has the Capital latched onto our two winners winners, so have the 12 tribes. They have sort of immortalized Katniss and Peeta’s sacrifices and lionized them as the saviors of the people. And when the people start to find actual heroes, rebellion foments, leaving the President Snow (Donald Sutherland) VERY nervous out how things are going to play out.

To quell a rebellion before it even begins, Snow and his new game master Plutarch Heavensbee (the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman) craft a new game format for the next years games. Instead of choosing victims at random, they craft an even nastier death maze, and choose the winners of previous games as the candidates (winners are supposed to be forever immune to being chosen again), subsequently bringing fear into the hearts of the population that even winners aren’t exempt from the “honor” of the game. Fighting for their lives in the more advanced games requires more advanced tactics, and with this new threat from Snow comes new determination. Teaming up with Finnick (Sam Claflin) and several other Hunger Games contestants, the unlikely team form the beginnings of a rebellion within the confines of the game, but first they have to beat the game to implement it.

As I said above, I thought that the first movie wasn’t that impressive. Sure, it was fun, but it didn’t really stand out as being THAT good. But much to my shock and amazement I ended up really enjoying Catching Fire. It’s a non stop action ride that doesn’t suffer from all of the laborious ground work that the first film employed, and instead feels like the ACTUAL start of the series. The groundwork for the rebellion is laid out in full view, and the film’s 146 minute runtime doesn’t even feel that long. What IS sad is watching it and seeing the late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and knowing that he was gone even before the film came out on disc, and that his scenes were barely completed before shuffling off this mortal coil. Jennifer Lawrence has started to hit her groove with Katniss, and Woody Harrelson is absolute gold as always. Sadly Liam Hemsworth has about as much charisma as a wooden board (he’s gotten better with age, but he was much stiffer than Chris ever was during his early years), but overall the film itself is a very pleasant ride.

3.jpeg
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1: :3.5stars:
On with the 3rd one in the franchise! Well, first off I'm going to have to say that I'm actually adjusting the score of Mockingjay Part 1 after seeing it for another time. I originally gave the movie a 4/5 score] in my Blu-ray review (which I am keeping intact as a reference to my original thoughts), but I have to say that the movie is less appealing after a year + break from it. Personally I was hovering on a 3.5/5 score when I originally graded the film but decided to err on the side of caution and round up to a 4/5 rating, but now I'm more inclined to go with my original 3.5/5 upon subsequent viewings. Like always, my critiques of the plot remain the same, as do my thoughts, but the star rating itself is just ever so slightly modified.

The Hunger Games is one of two things to people. The grandfather of the modern day “young adult” craze of movies (with all the good and bad baggage that connotation brings with it), or else it is just a cheap knockoff of “Battle Royale”. Dystopian future movies have become wildly popular recently, and most importantly they have been taking the young adult genre by storm. We’ve seen a ton of recent ones like “Divergent”, “The Giver” and the like making it to the big scream, but “The Hunger Games” is the only one that seems to have the staying power to become a full powerhouse blockbuster tent pole franchise. It started off with some rather tepid results but quickly found its footing with “Catching Fire”. Now the final book has been split into two parts (as is the craze these days) with Mockingjay Part 1 being the slower paced one that sets up the final conflict coming this November. Most movies that get split into two pieces tend to be REALLY drawn out and fluffed up (I’m looking at you Hobbit, Twilight: Breaking Dawn and Harry Potter), but Mockingjay actually has two separate pieces in the story that makes it ideal for splitting into separate chunks. I think it could have been DONE in one movie as easily as making two, but it flows much smoother than if they had just hacked one storyline into two pieces for monetary reasons (though you can bet your bottom dollar that the split was done for that reason as well).

Last time we saw Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) she had just woken up from an escape of the latest Hunger Games (a game cooked up by the domineering elite of the new world order that pitted children against each other as a distraction to keep the peasants in line), only to find herself in one place that everyone thought was barren. The long since destroyed district 13, which now houses the freedom fighters rebelling against the capital’s regime of terror. While the rest of the districts thought that they were in over their heads, District 13 had gone underground and attracted freedom fighters of all types, waging a war that President Snow and his goons were desperately keeping under wraps so that it could not garner any support from the very upset districts 2-12. Realizing that Katniss was the perfect public figure to bring the rebellion into the spotlight, she has now been revitalized as a former survivalist to speech giving public figure. Rallying the people around her charismatic persona, Katniss swells the troops of the underdogs by leaps and bounds, only to come up against an enemy that she, nor the rest of the rebellion saw coming. Peeta (Josh Hutcherson.

Spouting anti rebellion rhetoric, Peeta is on the air waves trying to undermine every move that Katniss and the rebels make. Soon it becomes clear that Peeta is being used, as the strain and effort that it’s taking to keep his real feelings under wraps surfaces to those who know what to look for. Desperate for an end game movie, President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), of the rebel alliance (I had to say that), orders a rescue mission of Peeta in an effort to take away the capital’s public weapon, and tip the balance in their favor. The only problem is that President Snow has more than a few tricks up his sleeve and turns one enemy into something that Katniss only could dream about in nightmares with an ending that will leave your jaw hanging to the floor (if you haven’t read the books that is).

The Hunger Gameswas not my absolute favorite movie of the year when it debuted, due to too much information being crammed into too little of a running time, but “Catching Fire” was a breath of fresh air as it perfected the flaws that the first movie carried with it in its adaptation of the novel. Mockingjay Part 1 has the unfortunate flaw of being the slowest part of the three novels. The nonstop action of the first two books isn’t present as its main goal is the setting up of the final conflict. As such the movie is ever so slightly a dip down from the last one. It’s not something that can be changed though, as this is the calm before the storm, so to speak. Katniss has become the Mockingjay finally, her childish dreams of being a nobody and skulking back into obscurity have been scrubbed away, and the fearless leader comes forth. Even though there is not nearly the action as the previous two outings, Mockingjay manages to keep a brisk pace going that puts all of the chess pieces into their proper places on the game board. Snow is truly revealed as the monster he is, the Rebels are armed and dangerous, with a following of plebeians to fill out their forces and the playing field is almost even as Katniss, Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) and Beetee (Jeffrey Wright) have weakened the behemoth that is the capital to a point that hasn’t been seen for decades.

This time we see a lot more of Katniss, Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and President Coin. This is their movie as they put all the pieces into their proper order. The games are over with and while the rest of the cast is certainly there, they don’t have the screen time that they benefited from during the bloody games. They have become soldiers and not the stars that we knew from 2012. I was sure it was going to happen this way, but I’m actually glad that they omitted all of the sulking and pity parties that the Katniss in the book suffered from. The novels focused on her becoming almost completely unlikeable as they made it very clear that she was suffering from PTSD. Basically a side effect of having to sacrifice so much for the freedom that everyone so desperately desires. That particular plot device may not exactly go over well with the amount of adoration that Jennifer Lawrence is experiencing and would definitely have brought the mood of the film series down a bit. Still, the directors didn’t go overboard and show us a happy happy joy joy version of Katniss either, but still showed the intense pressure she was undergoing and the amount of pain suffered as Peeta was tortured and molded into a weapon of the capital. Mockingjay Part 1 may not be AS great of a movie that "Catching Fire" was, but it maintains the high levels of quality that the series has showed so far and is a very very worthy addition into any "Hunger Games" fans collection.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2: :3.5stars:
When The Hunger Games came out I honestly never expected it to do NEARLY as well as it has in the public eye, as it was adapted from a young adult book back when young adult series were not slathered across the screen every summer. I enjoyed the film but wasn’t really THAT into the series until the near perfect “Catching Fire” sequel came out the next year. That’s when I kicked into full gear excitement levels and was eagerly anticipating the conclusion with “Mockingjay ”. However it seems that the Harry Potter phenomenon of splitting one book into TWO films had caught the studio executives by the ear lobe and dollar signs were floating in front of them. In fact it seems that just about EVERY young adult series has adopted that particular method of dealing with the final chapter in a series and the trend has been overdone to death. In fact with the “Divergent” series taking such a beating for doing the same thing you can tell that the trend has definitely worn past its welcome, and the splitting of a single novel into two films just has stretched creative minds past the breaking point. Mockingjay Part 2 isn’t as weak as other series that have tried this approach, but you can definitely tell the padding that was undergone in Part 1, and the same thing has come across into the sequel in an effort to make it as epic as possible.

I’ll try to be as spoiler free as possible, but some plot points from previous films HAVE to be mentioned, so if you haven’t seen part 1, then it might be a good idea to skip down to the technical portion.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are now in the hands of the rebel alliance….errr, rebel forces, with Katniss under heavy wounds from Peeta’s brutal attack on her due to the mental conditioning and brainwashing done to him by the capital. After being nearly killed by President Snows forces, Katniss is seen as a risen hero, and one that is now tired of all the fighting, all the killing and all suffering on both sides of the war. Fed up with her role as glorified cheerleader, the “Mockingjay” gathers forth a plan to take out President Snow once and for all. This time personally. Getting drafted into a special unit of soldiers whose main job is to basically look good and create propaganda films as they invade the capital, Katniss uses the seemingly worthless job to her advantage, creating just the proper opportunity for her rise to power in the unit and lead them straight for the heart of the capital. President Snow’s mansion.

However, things are not going to be easy, as Snow has seen the advance of the rebels for quite some time and has booby trapped the entire city with all sorts of nasty creations from the game master. As mentioned in the film, he makes it into yet another Hunger Games. A trial by fire. This is really where the movie starts to crumble and the padding come to light. The first half of the movie is a slow and steadily paced advance towards the final conflict, but we’re left with over an hour left on the clock, meaning that there is going to be a LOT of action, or a lot of filler to keep us busy until the inevitable showdown with President Snow. Sadly there is much more filler in the last act or so of the film than I really would have liked , besides the inclusion of a couple really cool battle sequences including a sewer encounter with some creatures that almost turned the movie into a horror flick.

I have to say that this was the most disappointing movie of the entire series. Not because it was the WORST movie of the series, but because it actually disappointed me so much in comparison to my expectations. Mockingjay Part 1 was a bit sluggish and bloated, but I attributed that to setting up the final movie where we would see an epic attack upon the capital city (I’ve never read the books sadly enough). Instead the same slow pace and lack of action keeps the movie dragging deeper and deeper down the rabbit holes, especially since they had the bright idea of ADDING another 15 minutes of runtime to the film compared to Part 1. The first half of Mockingjay Part 2 is just as slow and methodical as Part 1, but even when the second half kicks up there really isn’t a whole lot to do. Those couple of battles are over in minutes and there is whole chunks of time where everyone is sitting around doing nothing while we wait for the last 15 minutes where a ton of information is just packed into a short burst of time. The ending “battle” at Snow’s gate is over in a matter of seconds and then we have the final subplot with rebel leader, Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) that could have used up a goodly amount of that down time we had earlier in the film to flesh out.

Acting wise, this one is just as good as any of the others. Jennifer Lawrence has really taken the role of Katniss Everdeen as her own and made it something special. The same thing can be said with Josh Hutcherson and Peeta. The only complaint I have this time around is they REALLY overdid the unnecessary love triangle between Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and the two of them, as it was something the book didn’t focus on as much, at least in the “you must choose!” sense. The rest of the cast are old familiar friends, with even Phillip Seymour Hoffman coming in for a bit as his scenes were pretty much filmed before his death a year or so ago.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for all 4 Films




4K Video: :4stars: Video: :4.5stars:
2.jpeg
The Hunger Games : :4stars:
Being that this is the same disc as the 2016 4K UHD set from Lionsgate, this means that the 4 transfers below are identical to what we’ve already seen. That also means that this was taken from the original 2K digital intermediate and upscaled to 4K for this transfer. That being said, this was a very solid transfer and remains so to this day. The prevalence of shakey cam techniques and some heavy heavy color grading keeps this from being top notch, but the fine details are still there. The heavy grading has a more natural look to the games with bright greens and lush sky blues, but the first portion of the film where we’re in Katniss’s home town things get graded VERY heavily towards an ashy gray look. The HDR application (no Dolby Vision back then) adds some subtle shading cues that aren’t there in the Blu-ray release, especially in regards to the bright greens and blues of the forest encounters. Close ups provide stunning details with amazing skin tones, but as I said, shakey cam techniques during the hubbub of the action sequences sometimes rob the film of detail a bit. Overall, not a bad transfer for being one of the VERY first of the 4K UHD format and still quite nice to look at today.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: :4stars:
Catching Fire is presented with an excellent HEVC encode that stands up to the initial birth of the format's "growing pains". The flick was shot using 35 mm film for the scope aspects of the movie, but also uses IMAX cameras during the 1.78:1 opened up portions of the movie for an odd "spliced" feel to the aesthetic. Once again the colors are simply spectacular here, showing off a richer saturation levels as well as the added benefit of deeper blacks. The IMAX portions of the film look noticeably better than the scope portions do, with the added benefit of how wonderful IMAX cameras are in general. textures are beatifully nuances, with ever grain of sand on the beach showing up with pinpoint clarity. So much so, in fact, that I had to A/B the Blu-ray and the difference is fairly startling if you compare the two formats. The detail level captures so much more intimate details upon closer inspection. Sure there's still some banding and the 2K DI keeps the movie softer than it could be, but the uptick in detail is noticeably nicer upon first viewing.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1: :4.5stars:
Lionsgate has solid gold in their hands with “The Hunger Games” franchise and you can bet your bottom dollar that they aren’t going to just slop a cheap encode on disc and throw it out to the rabid fans. The 2.39:1 AVC encoded disc is handled with kid gloves and looks superb in just about every way. The glitz and glamour of the capital city and the luscious jungle battle grounds are traded in for a much darker and grim setting in the form of district 13. Underground and riddled with concrete and steel the color palette is appropriately grey and gloomy, however the outside world shows glimpses of bright colors, whether it be the gorgeous array of white roses that Snow uses to taunt Katniss with, or the burnished oranges and reds that accompany the bombing of a hospital. Fine detail is incredible, as you can see very little fiber, nick on a piece of blasted rubble and every curve in Katniss’s Mockingjay uniform. Black levels are inky black and really shine in the detail department, but the one flaw I noticed during the night time raids was that there was some annoying banding in the darkness. This was prevalent in both the Blu-ray release AND the 4K disc, making me believe that it is something baked into the master. Honestly this was almost a 4.5/5 release as "Part 1" has some REALLY nice upticks in quality due to the use of a 4K DI and the glossy digital cameras used. However the use of overly black scenes with the excessive banding had me knock it back to a 4/5 sadly.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2: :4stars:
Both Mockingjay films deviated from the 35mm presentation of the first two and delved into the digital word of filming. This creates both negative and positive scenarios, but mostly positive.. Part two is a bit murky and slightly soft, but that is most likely due to the fact that it is bathed in darkness for a goodly amount of the running time with the soldiers sitting in utter blackness talking. There is very little detail to be seen in those shots as the blacks are a tad crushed and sometimes show some washed out tones to them due to the blue color grading that dominates most of the picture. However, when the film enters into the brightly lit world of the capital daylight things pop off the screen with brilliant whites, wonderful black levels and amazing color saturation (just look at Katniss’s lips). Fine detail abounds in those sequences and the image looks noticeably sharper. There's no major banding in the film, or at least none that is too egregious compared to the wince worthy banding in Mockingjay Part 1, but the image is just a tad softer than I would have liked due to the low light levels for a majority of the film. HOWEVER, the real increase comes from the 4K DI that was struck for the master and that shows off much nicer skin details and overall textures than the first two films enjoyed. A definite upgrade there. (once again remember that a 4/5 4K score is not the same as a 4/5 Blu-ray score, considering that they're graded as how good the image looks FOR THE FORMAT, so naturally a 4/5 rated 4K disc will look better than a 4/5 Blu-ray despite the same number in the review).










Audio: :5stars:
5.jpeg
The Hunger Games: :5stars:
Here’s where things get fun. I scored The Hunger Games a perfect 5/5 back in 2012 and rightfully so. It was an amazing 7.1 DTS-HD MA track and rocked my home theater quite nicely. Now it’s been given a steroid shot in the arm and comes back even better. The same great sense of immersion and ferocious aggressiveness is still there, but we have some added opening up of the sound stage with an enhanced use of overheads for forest noises and the sounds of contestants killing each other. Katniss’s arrows shoot to the sides and overhead with a whistling sound that is both distinct and impressive, and the use of the ambient forest effects make for an increasingly creepy sense of immersion. Bass is unrelenting, with a sonic assault from beginning to end and the dialog is just as crisp and clean as before. Simply put, an amazing auditory experience for sure.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: :5stars:
Once more, we get another Atmos track! Atmo has given us some of the best recorded mixes of modern history, and I'm always delighted to see another addition to the club. Catching Fire had an awesome 7.1 DTS-HD MA sound track on Blu-ray and the Atmos mix is just that much better.Surrounds are in constant use and completely immerse the listener in the listening position. The roars of the capital flood through all channels and the sounds of Katniss’ arrows whistle over your shoulder with razor sharp accuracy and pinpoint precision. Dialog is right on cue, with never a sense of imbalance in the mix or the need to adjust the audio dial. The overheads get more than their fair share of work with the rabble rousing and yelling of the capitla, and the dynamic range is simply massive. The LFE was surprisingly held back a bit for the first half of the film, but once we get intot the capital we get some really powerful thumps going on. Well done and perfectly detail, the Atmos track is a very solid upgrade over the old 7.1 DTS-HD MA mix of the Blu-ray (and of course is the exact same mix as the individual 4K release from 2016)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1: :5stars:
Given the royal treatment, Mockingjay Part 1 had a theatrical Dolby Atmos mix and this same mix shows up for the home video treatment as well. The Hunger Games franchise has always had picture perfect audio tracks and with the inclusion of Atmos on this release the pot only gets sweeter. Dialog is crisp and clear, with vocals being well defined and distinct at all times. The front soundstage is heavily nuances and shows incredibly directionality both in the front, as well as the incredibly immersive use of the surround channels. There’s not a WHOLE lot of action in the movie, but those surrounds are constantly active, with the tings and dings of an underground bunker creaking around Katniss, to the roars of a thousand voices eagerly putting their faith in the young girl. The battle scenes blast you back in your seat with a hailstorm of sonic chaos and the LFE channels is impeccable. Tight, clean, powerful and well aware of when to be present, and when to take a back seat it winds its way through the track and fills it out to complete perfection.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2: :5stars:
The one thing that has remained constant throughout the film franchise is EXCELLENT audio tracks. Just like Part 1, Part 2 is given a Dolby Atmos audio track (Dolby TrueHD if you’re receiver isn’t Atmos capable just yet) that really sparkles and shines with perfection. Vocals are clean and precise, with a heavy presence in the center of the front sound stage. The dynamic range is wide, but not excessive, as the sounds of the battle echo from all corners of the room. Sometimes sounding soft and subdued as Katniss and Peeta whisper in the dark, only to explode into action as a pod goes off, with devastation and ferocity in its wake. The surround channels are awash with all sorts of activity with pinpoint precision and accuracy. Each sound is distinct and precise, making a very active and immersive experience. The rattling of a machine gun firing sounds crisp and clear without bloated LFE, and boots falling on concrete each make their own distinct and unique sound no matter which portion of the sound stage they are on. LFE is tight and powerful, adding low end support in the background when needed, but also punching you in the face during a heated encounter. Basically, another Hunger Games perfect track.




Extras: :3.5stars:
4.jpeg
The Hunger Games
• Metabeam Smart Remote
• BD Touch
• DTS-HD Master Audio Sound Check
• Audio Commentary with Editor Stephen Mirrione, Visual Effects Supervisor Sheena Duggal, and Sound Designer Lon Bender.
• Letters from the Rose Garden
• The World is Watching
• Game Maker: Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games Phenomenon


The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• “Surviving the Game: Making Catching Fire” – 9-part feature-length documentary
• Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson
• Deleted Scenes
• Sneak Peak at Divergent (on the Blu-ray Only)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
• Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson
• The Mockingjay Lives : The Making of Documentary
• Straight from the Heart : A tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman
• Songs of Rebellion : Lorde on curating the soundtrack
• Lorde “Yellow Flicker Beat” Music video
• Deleted Scenes
Insurgent Sneak Peek (On the Blu-ray Only)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
• Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson
• Pawns No More: The Making of "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2"
• The Hunger Games: A Photographic Journey
• Cinna's Sketchbook: Secrets of the Mockingjay Armor
• Panem on Display: The Hunger Games: The Exhibition
• Jet to the Set (On the Blu-ray Only)








Final Score: :4stars:


The question you’re asking yourself is “Is this set worth getting vs. the individual releases”? Well, that’s a bit of a two edged question, but I have to say that this is a solid set for fans. It's got great steelbook packaging, and has all 4 films and their respective Blu-rays. It has everything that the individual releases had (including a digital copy code for ALL 4 movies, not just the individual films) BUUUUUUT it is missing that great 6th disc of special features that the old Blu-ray set had years ago. That and it suffers from the same stack pack disc stacking that The Expendables 1-4 steelbook had as well. Otherwise the set is about as perfect as the series is going to get, with great audio and video across the board. Solid buy in my opinion


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth
Directed by: Gary Ross : Francis Lawrence : Francis Lawrence : Francis Lawrence
Written by: Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins : Simon Beaufoy, Michael Arndt : Peter Craig, Danny Strong : Peter Craig, Danny Strong
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC (1.78:1 HEVC for parts of Catching Fire)
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core), French, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 140 Minutes / 146 Minutes / 123 Minutes / 137 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: November 7th 2023
image (1).png





Recommendation: Good movies, Solid Set

 
Last edited:
Top Bottom