The Hunger Games
Movie, 2012, The Rebellion, Set in The 74th Hunger Games
The Hunger Games is #1 of 5 in release order and #2 of 5 in chronological order in the The Hunger Games.
The story
In a dystopian society where the Capitol forces each district to send two young tributes to fight to the death in a televised spectacle, a girl volunteers to take her sister’s place, setting the stage for a struggle of survival and defiance.
The Hunger Games recap
When her twelve-year-old sister Prim is chosen at the reaping in District 12, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her place in the 74th Hunger Games. The boy chosen is Peeta Mellark, a baker's son who once gave her bread when her family was starving. In the Capitol, their drunk mentor Haymitch, their escort Effie and the stylist Cinna prepare them for the crowds, and on live television Peeta says he has loved Katniss for years. In the arena, Peeta seems to join the Careers hunting her. Katniss drops a tracker jacker nest on them and learns Peeta was protecting her. She teams up with Rue, a small girl from District 11, but Rue is speared; Katniss sings to her as she dies and covers her body in flowers, which sets off a riot in District 11. The Gamemakers then announce that two tributes from the same district can win together, and Katniss finds Peeta badly wounded and nurses him.
The Hunger Games ending explained
Katniss and Peeta outlast everyone, and Katniss ends Cato's suffering with an arrow after mutant dogs maul him. The Gamemakers then cancel the two-winner rule, so Katniss and Peeta threaten to eat poison berries together, and the Games are stopped and both are named victors. Haymitch warns Katniss that the Capitol sees the stunt as defiance. President Snow has the head Gamemaker, Seneca Crane, locked in a room with the same berries. Back home, Peeta learns that much of the romance was played for the cameras.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games is streaming on Hulu, fuboTV, and Fandango at Home Free in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.2/10, Rotten Tomatoes 84%
Where it fits
- Release order: first, before The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
- Chronological order: after The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, before The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
What to watch before The Hunger Games
Nothing. The Hunger Games is the first of the The Hunger Games essentials, so it's the place to start.
Cast
- Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
- Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark
- Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne
- Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy
- Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket
- Lenny Kravitz as Cinna
- Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman
- Donald Sutherland as President Coriolanus Snow
- Wes Bentley as Seneca Crane
- Toby Jones as Claudius Templesmith
- Alexander Ludwig as Cato
- Isabelle Fuhrman as Clove
Directed by Gary Ross.