Welcome to my first book and film comparison! For this comparison we’ll be talking about the first “Hunger Games” book and film.

Now I know that this isn’t technically a romance book, but at the same time it is with the fake romance trope that they put in the film and book during the arena scenes and end of the film and book. So, I’m making the exception t because I’m currently reentering my “Hunger Games” phase again because of the new Sunrise On The Reaping book.

I didn’t want to start reading the new book without rereading the other books again because it’s been awhile since I’ve last read and watched the series, so I thought it would be a good idea for me to refresh my memory a little. So let’s get into it!

Film & book synopsis: Set in a dystopian society in the world of Panem. The book and film follow Katniss Everdeen from her volunteering to take her sister’s, Primrose, place in a nationally televised fight to the death competition known as, the Hunger Games. This is where two tributes, one boy and one girl, from each district must battle until there is only one left. Whoever wins ends up being the victor of their district and of that year’s Hunger Games.

This book and film series will always hold a special place in my heart because I’ve been reading it and watching it since I was in middle school. So I think it’s safe to say that I obviously really enjoy this series.

Now let us compare!

I thought the film did a good job with the start of the film showing Katniss getting ready to go hunting with Gale on the day of the reaping for the 74th Hunger Games. They did a good job with being able to show what she does to help survive in the hard living condition of District 12 within the first few minutes of the film.

They also did a good job with the scenes of them getting ready for the reaping and with the actual reaping scene. I thought they were pretty accurate with those scenes.

Now the one thing I didn’t enjoy was how Katniss got her pin in the film. In the book she got the iconic mockingjay pin from the mayor’s daughter, Madge, who is somewhat of a friend to Katniss. It was first shown in the book when Gale and her were going to trade some of the stuff they got hunting and they saw her wearing it on her white dress because in the books you’re allowed to wear/bring a token from your district. But in the film they showed Katniss getting the hob from an old woman, who I think was supposed to be Greasy Sae. She then gave the pin to Primrose as a form of good luck for if she were to get reaped into the games. We obviously already know that Prim did get reaped and Katniss took her place. So in the film they showed Prim giving the pin back to Katniss so then she has some luck with her, but in the book they show Madge giving the pin to Katniss instead for it to serve as her token and also as a form of good luck. I wished they didn’t take Madge out of the film, I thought she would’ve been a great addition to the film as well.

Aside from that scene in the beginning of them getting ready to leave, I thought the parts of them being at the capitol were also pretty accurate.

Then for the parts of them getting mentored by Haymitch and Effie were also pretty accurate. I do think the training scenes were also pretty good as well, but I wished in the book it showed that Rue and Thresh did have some sort of a relationship because in the movie when they’re first introduced in the training arena it’s obvious that they have some sort of a relationship. But in the book their relationship was very distant. I know the book did come before the film, but that is one difference I did really enjoy.

I also thought the interviews and training rating scenes were also pretty accurate as well, except for the part where they had Katniss shoot the arrow at the apple in the pig’s mouth and then the guy fell into the punch. That however is only a small difference so it’s not that important or big of a deal.

We’re now at the part where they’re about to start the games. We’re at the part where all of the tributes are under the arena getting ready to get sent up and Cinna is there with Katniss getting her all ready and prepared. In the film it show’s Cinna putting on Katniss’ jacket and he pinned her mockingjay pin in between a jacket layer and her shirt, while also shushing as a way to not say anything. This shows that in the film they aren’t supposed to bring anything in the arena. This however is not what happened in the book. Like what I said earlier in the book the tributes are allowed to bring in one token from their district, and Katniss is using the pin that Madge gave her. In the book Katniss was actually almost not allowed to wear her pin during the games because it had to get the stamp of approval from the game makers and they thought it could be used as a weapon, but they ended up allowing it.

While we’re on the topic of the game makers, I wished there was an actual name for the game maker in the book. In the film the head game maker was Seneca Crane, but in the book they just refer to the game maker as being a whole group and team of people. While that is also present in the film as well, I just think having an actual “boss” made it even better.

We are now officially in the arena for the games and I thought most of the scenes were extremely accurate. I thought they did a good job showing Katniss doing her thing with hunting, looking for a water source, creating shelter within a few minutes very well because that is thoroughly described in the book. However, within the first half of the games there was one difference and that was the fire scene. In the film they said she was getting to close to the forcefield wall and they needed a way to get her further into the arena, so they decided to create a big forest fire with fireballs coming at her. However, in the book they said it was a way to get the tributes closer together as a way to speed the game up faster and to also give more entertainment to everyone in the capitol.

After that I thought the rest of the scenes up until the ending arena scene were also really accurate. Especially with Katniss “burying” Rue (that scene always makes me cry btw), Katniss finding Peeta camouflaged with his injured leg, Katniss and Peeta hiding out in the cave, the sponsor gifts and messages from Haymitch, and many of the fighting/death scenes as well.

However, there were two death scenes that weren’t entirely accurate. Let’s start with Thresh’s death scene first. In the book it says Cato killed him when he saw that Thresh killed Clove and he followed him into a field, which is where Cato killed him. But in the film it shows that Thresh was actually killed by mutts late at night. Now let’s talk about Cato’s death. In the book it said that the mutts killed him, but it took them hours to do because of all of the armor he was wearing and Katniss couldn’t shoot him with her arrow as a mercy killing until she had a viable shot. Then in the film it doesn’t show Cato wearing any armor when he fell into the mutts from the cornucopia and they were able to make some damage way faster than in the book and Katniss gave him the mercy shot only minutes after he fell.

Also while we’re on the topic with the mutts, that’s the one thing I’m very disappointed with. In the book the mutts were all of the fallen tributes and Katniss could tell because their fur/hair resembled their human hair and they also had the same eyes as the fallen tributes as well. But in the film they were just big scary dogs. I thought that would’ve been something important to show in the film because it had a lot of emotions for Katniss, especially when she the mutt that was supposed to represent Rue.

Then the official ending scene with Peeta and Katniss about to eat the poisonous berries was also very accurate. The part with them getting picked up by the hover craft was also kind of fairly accurate. They didn’t feature the part with Haymitch yelling about the capitol trying to alter her features, but it did get mentioned during a styling session that they made a compromise on just making Katniss wear padded dresses. Then one of the other biggest difference was Peeta’s leg. In the book it was so badly injured that they had to amputate it and they gave him a prosthetic, but in the movie they apparently had all of the medicines in the world where his leg ended up being all fixed.

Then the ending scenes with Katniss having to keep up the game of “pretending” to keep being in love with Peeta because of her stunt upsetting the capitol and all of the nervousness throughout the book was also very accurate in the film as well.

Then that’s the end of the film and book! All in all I thought it was very close with accuracy, except with some details that I thought were important to keep the same. As much as I would have liked to see those things in the book to be the same in the film, I do think it still made the film just as good with adding some differences.

Then that’s all I have for you! I know this post was kind of a long one but when it comes to comparing and contrasting differences with a book and a film does take a while to talk about. I hoped this post makes you want to read and watch the first “Hunger Games” to see all of the differences within the two so then you can form your own opinions within the differences.

Let me know in the comments on what you think about these differences!