Time for another film and book comparison! Today, we are comparing the differences and similarities of the second Hunger Games book and film, Catching Fire.

If you couldn’t tell already from my last film and book comparison, I am currently back in my hunger games phase because of the new book that was released a month ago. I am NOT sorry for this at all because I absolutely love this franchise.

Film & book synopsis: After winning the 74th Hunger Games and arriving back home, Katniss and Peeta don’t have much down time because they must embark on the Victors Tour. While visiting all of the districts, Katniss can sense a rebellion is forming. However, President Snow is doing everything in his power to prevent that from happening. He shows that he is still in control of Panem by creating a twist for the upcoming 75th Hunger Games, which is also the quarter quell year where the games always tend to have a twist.

Now, I think it’s safe to say that this book and film was definitely the best in the whole series. I don’t know what it is about this book and movie, but something about just makes it best.

Now let us compare! Get comfortable, this is a long one.

In the beginning of the book, Katniss shares on how her life has been after the games and I think they did a good job with showing that in the film by also doing a fast day to day in the beginning of the film. They also did a good job from when she came back from her “walk” when she was really out hunting and got paid a visit by President Snow.

The one thing in the beginning of the film that was different was when Katniss and Peeta were talking to the capitol updating everyone on how their life has been after the games. That didn’t exactly happen in the books.

Another thing that was different from the books in the beginning of the film was when the rules started to get stricter in the District 12. Specifically with the part with Officer Cray. In the book they just say that Officer Thread (the new head peacekeeper of 12) was now in charge and no one knew what happened to Cray. However, it was already kind of known that he was definitely killed. But, in the film it shows Cray welcoming Thread to District 12 and before he could even finish his sentence the other peacekeepers that came with Thread immediately suffocated him.

This is an important change to take note of because it did change the plot on how Gale ended up getting whipped by Thread. In the books, Gale was charged with a whipping because when he came back from hunting he went to Cray’s house to offer him a turkey he killed in exchange for anything else. Remember in the books no one knew Cray was gone until Thread presented himself. Well of course, Thread opened the door and saw Gale with a Turkey and punished him because poaching/hunting is a big crime. So because of Gale breaking this rule he ended up getting whipped. But in the film when Thread is being initially introduced showing all of the citizens in District 12 his character by terrorizing them and burning their beloved market (aka the Hob). While this is happening Gale also sees Thread attacking a seller and without hesitation Gale just pummels him. If poaching a turkey is illegal, then obviously so is attacking a peacekeeper. So just like the book they took Gale to the square where everyone can see and watch Gale get whipped. However, how Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch stop Thread from whipping Gale was the same. There was however, a missing character during this scene though and it was peacekeeper Darius. He also helped Gale by saying that the amount of whips that Thread has given him was way more than was this crime normally required, which was another reason on why Thread stopped. In the book though Darius disappears and no one knows where he went. Then later one once they get to the penthouses preparing for quarter quell they find out that Darius was now an avox (his tongue got cut off) and was now a slave to the capital. None of this happened in the film.

There was also a whole scene and characters who were also left out in the film as well and that was Katniss finding Bonnie and Twill from District 8 outside the fence of District 12. In the book Katniss was just doing her normal hunting and decided to go the special spot where her father taught her how to swim. At that spot there’s this burnt building with only the structure barely standing near it and that’s where she finds Bonnie and Twill. They were close to dying because they never been out in the wilderness and had no idea on how to stay alive, but Katniss helped them by showing them the basics. While she was helping them, they told her that they were running away to destroyed District 13. There were rumors that it never actually ceased to exist and they were apart of the rebellion. They thought it still existed because of footage that the capital would show every once in awhile to remind everyone what would happen to them if they ever did try to step out of line again and apparently there was this one detail in the footage that got them to believe that District 13 was still around. This was never even brought up in the films.

Guys, the main topic of this comparison is how many missing scenes there were, so I apologize in advance for all of the repetitiveness.

Another scene that was missing was the wedding gown photo shoot. Cinna (Katniss’ stylist) had designed multiple different wedding dresses for her to take pictures in for the capital and that just wasn’t shown at all. Also the dress that Katniss ended up picking for the photoshoot was also not even close to the dress that was used in the film. This was a small change, but I don’t know I feel like it kind of played into the whole fake love story art that it should’ve been included.

The next scene that was missing, which was definitely more important was Katniss finding out that the electric fence that surrounded District 12 was finally turned on after all of those years of it being down. Remember, the whole in the fence is how Katniss and Gale managed to sneak through to hunt since it was always off. Well, in the book Katniss went to go hunting again and when she first left the fence was still off, but when she came back to the fence she could hear the humming and knew it was back on again. There was only a few times where this has happened to her, but she was always with Gale when it did happen. She knew things were stricter so she had to figure out how to get back into the district. So she decided to climb a tree and JUMP almost 30 feet from the ground OVER the electric fence. In the process of doing this, she ended up breaking her foot. She then limped home and surprise surprise the peacekeepers were there waiting for her. It was obvious they were trying to catch her and in the book it said they were waiting there for quite some time, but her and her family all came up with the lie of how she’ll just go on extremely long walks. They seemed to buy it, but also not really.

Another scene that is different wasn’t a scene that was missing, but an added scene in the films. If you all remember in the first film you saw Snow and Seneca Crane having meetings about how the games were going, well they did that same kind of relationship again, but with Plutarch Heavensbee instead. Instead of them having meetings of how the games were unraveling, these meetings were in preparation for the games and then it showed more meetings when the quarter quell was in action. There wasn’t any of that in the book, but I think this was a good addition to have in the films.

The next thing wasn’t only an added, but an added character as well and that is Snow’s granddaughter. While we never officially learned her name, I would say she is still pretty important no matter how small her part was. This is because during a breakfast scene with Snow, he realizes just how much popularity Katniss has all because of a simple hair braid.

Another difference and added scene was Effie’s goodbye. In the book, the tributes saw their escort for the last time before they had their interviews with Caesar Flickerman. However, in the film Effie gets to say goodbye right before the games begin. This was a very emotional scene because throughout each film we get to see more and more of Effie’s human side. You can also see her disagree with the capital more and more throughout the films as well. I thought this was a good addition to the films because in the books, Effie was just a very small side character, but in the films she had a lot of great character development. Yes, the role was still small, but Elizabeth Banks made the role even better than what was originally expected.

Another scene that the film didn’t have was the mockingjay watch. While being at the capital party where Katniss first meets Plutarch while dancing together, the two characters have a conversation about loyalties. During this conversation Plutarch shows off his watch and on the watch a mockingjay appeared on it and then disappeared. Not only was this an indicator that Plutarch was also apart of the rebellion, but he was also giving Katniss a hint on what the arena design is supposed to be.

Another important factor that was overlooked in the books was the bread that was sent to Katniss and her allies from their sponsors. Not only did this bread help them stay fed, but it also was a code. Each time when the bread was sent there was a different amount each time and that was because the amount of bread indicated the day. While they were sent bread in the film, it was only one time where we see this and that was it.

Another difference was having some characters switch lines. In the book when Katniss was about to kill Enobaria she remembers what Haymitch told her right before the games started and that was “You just remember who the enemy is” (aka President Snow). However, in the film instead of Enobaria it was actually Finnick at the hands of Katniss, who also is the one to remind on who the real enemy is. I don’t know this was important, but also not at the same time. For me, Enobaria was kind of just there and only appeared for about maybe 20 minutes for both Catching Fire AND Mockingjay.

Also did everyone just forget that Katniss was “pregnant?” I know it was all just a ploy that Peeta said during his interview to try and stop the games, but in the film while Katniss was doing some activities that could put someone at risk of losing a baby was just overlooked in the film. Meanwhile here we are with the book, where Katniss was making sure to seem extra tired after doing tasks and also everyone was always making sure she was ok. Like hello? You’re supposed to make Snow believe that all of this is actually happening, and yet here you are not doing a very good job.

Then last, but certainly not least the scene with Snow and him drinking his champagne. This was a little added scene in the film, but also echoes an important observation that Katniss made in the book. In the book, you can smell Snow’s breath and it smells like blood. But in the film President Snow is drinking champagne and while he is drinking it blood fills the glass. Remember this detail because it foreshadows an important detail in Mockingjay.

Then that’s everything that I noticed! I know this was a lot to read, but it’s interesting analyzing this kind of stuff. So I highly recommend doing this and see what you notice. All in all, I thought Catching Fire was more inaccurate than the first film. However, there were still many scenes that resembled the book perfectly.

If you happen to know of any other details that didn’t match, let me know in the comments!