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No guns for Katniss? Epic fail.

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66 COMMENTS

    • It’s a good movie that brings the ideas of Orwell’s 1984 into a story for a younger generation. Dismissing it because Katniss doesn’t have guns is lame, a bow is her signature weapon. That’d be like replacing Patton’s signature 1911 with a AK47, way out of character.

      Those white P90’s used by the govt troops looked pretty nice though.

      • Uhhhhh they don’t have guns because of gun control, duh. If you recall from the beginning of the first HG movie, Katniss has to retrieve her bow from a holed out tree trunk in the woods.

      • Patton had a pair of wheel guns.

        Also, most of the P90s didn’t have sights of any sort. my favorite part of the movie was watching the absolute crap weapons handling by the government troops. At one point, the “peacekeeper” riding on the side of the MRAP looking thing drops his gun and it dangles on his sling a bit before he scrambles and gets the muzzle under control. I looked over at a ROTC buddy of mine and said, “Holy s***, his sergeant would have his ass right now.”

  1. She didn’t have guns because the tyrannical government took them from the districts to prevent future uprisings. They weren’t allowed any weapons including bows and arrows, but her father taught her how to MAKE a bow and how to shoot one. No 3D printer needed even. Then her love interest Gale told her that shooting people who want to kill you is no different or harder than shooting animals for food. Then the people rally behind her as a symbol and spark a revolution. In the final book they use their simple arms they were able to create to steal better weapons including guns, and topple the tyrants.

    Epic Win.

    • I’m sad to say I read the book. Nope. District 13 had guns, they’re the ones fighting the capital. Catniss doesn’t get a gun because PR has the bow as her signature weapon. It’s bad and I feel bad for knowing this.

      • district 13 has more than just guns, and is the reason why the capital continues to exist that 13 was destroyed long ago

        HG is an excellent series and deserves to be the “1984” of today’s generation. I used to make fun of the books when I knew nothing about them, not any more.

        the producers have done an absolutely great job of following the original story without turning the movies into a teenage love story – although obviously there are some elements of that in it.

        there are some very chilling scenes in the second movie, they did not tone down the actions of the oppressive government for the younger viewers. HG is in fact a very mature story.

        • I thought “1984” was the “1984” of this generation, but then I remembered that attention spans went extinct sometime around the rise of the internet, so kids no longer realize that popular culture didn’t spring into existence the day they were born. This means that anything outside that margin is deemed “old” and worthless, so the timeless classics have to be down-converted for their shallow ignorance; shit like that is how we wound up a totally unnecessary remake of The Karate Kid.

          As for me, I’ve already read “1984”, “Soylent Green”, and “The Running Man”, so I don’t need to read them again with an obligatory teen romance inserted to please the adolescent girl demographic.

        • Yeah, gonna have to disagree with you on that. Collins fails utterly at having more than a first-world unerstanding of being poor and starving (so all of District 12 is starving, but Katniss can’t be arsed to shoot wild dogs to eat or sell to the poorer people to eat?) or of basic ecology (so the wilderness around District 12 is all covered and lush and the fences meant to keep people in don’t work, yet the starving people haven’t stripped the land bare yet?) and economics (so sugar is like super rare and expensive…yet the baker can afford to have icing for display cakes that no one will buy, and Katniss doesn’t think to trade the berries and tree sap that she gathers which should be super valuable since they have sugar), for that matter. Also how she utterly fails at being defiant and rebellious to the tyrannical regime in any meaningful way, along with the high school crap in the characterization of Career/non-Career district dynamics.

          And the last book went way into the deep end trying to push a message of “war is always bad regardless of what side” when, just as back in WWII not having extermination camps pretty much unambiguously makes you the good side, not having annual childmurder games pretty much unambiguously makes you the good side. At least, if would, if this setting’s morality isn’t centered around the protagonist.

        • That said, I do like the movies, because the streamlining and condensing that must necessarily happen with book-to-movie adaptations means they cut out a lot of the dumb things that Collins puts in. Haven’t watched Catching Fire yet, but Hunger Games 1 at least now you get the notion that they’re poor mainly in the sense that a subsistence homesteader in the 1800s might be considered poor, not that they’re poor because everyone is idiots.

        • 1984 revolves around a teen-romance as experienced by a repressed and oppressed middle-aged man. Just for what that is worth.

      • Also Finnick doesn’t have a gun because he’s got a trident that always returns to his hand after he throws it. Because clearly that’s a better weapon than, say, my SKS with a bayonet on it.

      • No. District 13 did have guns/weapons but they weren’t the ones bringing the fight. They were all cowards that lived under ground and were content to do so. Cowards with guns don’t topple tyrants. The rebellion started with acts of defiance from the more blue-collar, rural, and agricultural districts. Around the time District 12 got bombed people escaped to District 13 and found the cowards still living there in secret.

        A good lesson of the series is that without RKBA you’ll likely have to helplessly endure decades of oppression and crimes against humanity before you can scrap together any form of adequate rebellion. The series depicts the orders of magnitude bigger human cost of a rebellion without RKBA. That’s why the tyrannical government took all weapons from the people, they wanted to drive up that cost to make rebellion as unpalatable as possible. RKBA makes tyranny as unpalatable as possible. And besides bows and arrows are ARMS.

      • Are you new to the internet? Here’s a hint. Don’t read comment threads about a movie you want to see… based on a book that’s been out for years.

      • OK, this might be a little long, and for that I apologize, but it made me laugh, a lot. It’s from a thread on fark.com a few months back, as I sent it to a buddy who couldn’t see it at work.

        So, there was a thread yesterday about the new Superman movie, Man of Steel. Partway through, about 1330, this comment was posted, along with the response below it:

        Magorn: A perfect example of this was the old Nick Cage movie Con Air, which was a halfway decent film until somebody decided it needed the “runaway plane destroying the Vegas Strip” scene. In that single scene they destroyed the plot of the movie and mde John Cusak’s charachter, the obstensible hero, wrong and Colm Meany, the supposed villain of the piece, to be right. That Plane SHOULD have been shot down before it was allowed to do that much damage, and kill (presumably) that many people as it roared out of control into a city crowded with thousand of pedestrians

        wow man, nice spoiler alert dickhole.

        Shortly thereafter:

        wow man, nice spoiler alert dickhole.

        And Bruce Willis was actually dead the whole time.

        followed immediately by:

        wow man, nice spoiler alert dickhole.

        And Bruce Willis was actually dead the whole time.

        Kong dies at the end.

        By about four hours later, it looked like this:

        wow man, nice spoiler alert dickhole.
        And Bruce Willis was actually dead the whole time.
        Kong dies at the end.
        Darth Vader is Luke’s father.
        Rosebud was a sled
        The call is coming from inside the house!
        The Titanic sinks.
        Kevin Spacey is Keyser Soze.
        Edward Norton and Brad Pitt are the same person.
        Snape kills Dumbledore…
        Dil has a penis.
        Jeff Spicoli passes U.S. History
        Donald Sutherland’s character falls asleep.
        Hulk Hogan gets beat down, but the roar of the crowd reenergizes him! Suddenly, his opponent’s punched have no effect! He grabs the opponent, Irish whip into the ropes, clothes line, then the giant leg drop! Hogan Wins!
        George “The Animal” Steel gets disqualified for chasing after Elizabeth and eating a turnbuckle.
        Bob Newhart wakes up next to Suzanne Pleshette, realizes he was dreaming the whole time.
        Rhett Butler doesn’t give a damn.
        The baby in the basket turns out to be the Destined Leader of the Jews.
        Hot Rod becomes the new leader of the Autobots, Rodimus Prime.
        Pam finds out she just dreamed that Bobby was dead and wakes up to find him in the shower.
        The dead guy that’s been laying there the whole time is actually the killer.
        He escapes the nuclear blast and shows up in Italy with his new girlfriend in time to share a nod with his former butler.

        It’s a dream, within a dream, within a dream…and is this reality, or another dream?

        The lesson? Don’t complain about old movie spoilers on Fark. I was dyin’.

  2. On the other hand, it is a gripping look at what a future without the right to keep and bear arms might look like. (Bonus: Stick with the franchise just a little bit longer, and you get to see the oppressive government come apart at the seams.)

  3. Girls all across America are suddenly interested in archery, including my niece who received quite a nice bow for her birthday last week. Learning to use a weapon properly and responsibly. I can’t see that as anything but a good thing.

    • Not to mention the legions of young adults who now understand and believe that at some point it is not only necessary, but okay, to overthrow an oppressive government.

    • By and large, archers are also people of the gun, and vice versa. I hope their interest in archery stays in the long term.

  4. Well, the bad guys had guns and wouldn’t let the good guys have guns, but the good guys will have them later. Oppressive state + no RKBA in a chilling package. This review is an epic fail in turn.

    • This. Also having never used a gun, Katniss may just be much more comfortable with a bow. A bow is a decent assasination weapon. A swoosh of an arrow makes a little less noise than a gun. If guns are rare, then silencers probably are too.

  5. it really is a great series, my wife is interested in archery after it which is a bonus for both of us (and the sport. look at syria or anywhere for that matter I know we all want 240Bs and Cheytacs but all it takes is determination and luck right?

    Wolverines!

  6. Okay… What on Earth is that a trailer for? I honestly don’t know… From a little researching, it seems its a sequel to another film that I didn’t know came out a little while ago.

    Yep… one know they’re getting old when they don’t recognize pop-culture anymore.

    “I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was, now what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s it seems weird and scary to me…”

    — Abraham “Grandpa” Simpson

    • It’s known as “the reading of books.” Surely you’re old enough to remember that. Maybe you should turn your TV off for a while.

      I didn’t see the movies but I would recommend the books.

  7. I loved the books, and so far I like the movies. While the primary market might be teenage girls, I’m a sucker for a plot line that involves a distant and tyrannical government that is overthrown free-thinking young minds who refuse to accept the lie that they have been fed. “Hunger Games” won’t be replacing “Red Dawn”, but they are worth the time invested into them. And if these books cause the younger generation to ask questions about the role of government, then I will buy a stack of them and hand them out at the high school.

  8. First book was geared towards 13 year old girls with an eating disorder. The first movie wasn’t much better. I dont get it but then again I’m not a 13 year old girl with an eating disorder. TTAG is right. This movie needs guns.

  9. Of course Katniss doesn’t have any firearms, archery is her schtick. Besides, the setting of the series is such that her father fashioned the best weapon he could from the resources that were available to him. Additionally, the Hunger Games is basically a gladiator arena and the entire “entertainment” of gladiator is melee weapons, not firearms.

    This is actually a good thing for us. It illustrates that all the government control in the world is doomed to fail when people get resourceful. And it also demonstrates that people can always make/fashion/acquire melee weapons.

  10. Axe chick is much hotter than Katniss IMO.

    I see the series as Running Man + Battle Royal for teenage girls.

    Question. For how many of said teenage girls will the themes of tyrannical oppression, armed rebellion, female independence and strength, etc translate into real world ideals of the same and a RKBA? Answer. Unfortunately not enough.

  11. Someone get Nick on this, did FN sponsor any part of the movie? seeing as all the BGs carried FNs, I saw White P-90s, White FS2000 and a White SCAR H in Catching fire, and in the first movie when they’re culling the kids for the games they show a video about the revolution and there’s a sillehoute of a guy with an FAL.

    So foghorn? did FN USA sponsor the movie?

  12. The Hunger Games series is subversive of tyrannical governments and the things they do. It shows radical defiance of authoritarians and frivolous city folks. It illustrates their corruption. These messages are being introduced to pre-teens in their formative years with the force of a huge multi-media pop-culture phenomenon which will end up spanning several years.

    Tons of kids (and parents) who wouldn’t otherwise are now showing up at local ranges to learn archery (I am an archery coach at such a range). In the process they are hanging out with gun folks at the range, getting to know who they actually are, learning about marksmanship and sporting. Sure they’re doing archery now, but they are in the community now too They are seeing people with guns, using them safely and responsibly for sporting purposes, hearing guns in the background. Many of my archery kids and families (lots who have no prior gun experience) have expressed interest in other activities and leagues at the range as well. I can them forward them to NRA rifle, pistol, and shotgun programs run out of our range. I’m coordinating with the other shooting disciplines to have cross discipline opportunities to offer my kids with the other shooting sports.

    These kids will be voting in a few years. Their parents vote now.

    Epic Win.

  13. Katniss Everdeen’s District 12 is Appalachia. It is quite interesting that Panem Capitol in Hunger Games is widely recognized as Denver, Colorado, were the recent spate of gun-grabbing occurred.

  14. Are you a ‘tween girl? No? Then this pile of excrement means nothing to you.

    A chunky Walmart clerk with hair and makeup does some silly stuff, all of which was better done in science fiction 40 years ago. It’s “acting” of you found the Fast&Furious franchise to be high art.

  15. The cynical comments here are unfortunate. I enjoyed the books and I think the films are worthy adaptations. The fact that the protagonists aren’t armed is central to the plot. The themes aren’t about overcoming tyranny through firepower, but by inspiring people to stand up against it. As a community that is committed to waging an ideological battle, I think the themes in these stories should be welcomed.

  16. I enjoyed the movie a lot. Unlike many people who have their nose in the air about movies like this, I have no issue whatsoever attending what I call a “popcorn movie” and suspending my disbelief for a couple hours. I like to think I’m also happier than most of those arrogant twits.

  17. I love this review. TTAG and IMDB rolled into one. Who knew? And the archery shops love Catnip. They haven’t seen recurve sales this good since Robin left the hood.

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