Is The Hunger Games so different from Battle Royale?

[Arluza]

from my housemate who has read both (as I haven't had time to read Battle Royale since I heard of it about a month ago)

Hunger Games and Battle Royale have similar ideas, but the approach is different. Batle Royale characterises the kids overall more, but Hunger Games explores the world more. Both are good.

 

[Terramax]

tl;dr : Hunger Games and Battle Royale are really similar. So, how did Hunger Games get so popular, especially when Battle Royale is better?

Barely anybody I talk to has even heard of Battle Royale.

You answered your own question XD

Seriously, why does most PG films get so huge? They streamline better, usually more obscure stories.

 

[MetalMagpie]

being similar does not making somthing a rip-off

Err... Correct me if I've missed something, but I don't think the thread-starter actually accused The Hunger Games of being a rip-off. He's just wondering why two books with very similar plots have had such different levels of success.

To answer the question: I think it's just because The Hunger Games is more accessible to (and more targeted towards) younger readers. And it probably doesn't hurt that it was recommended by Stephenie Meyer.

 

[Jadak]

being similar does not making somthing a rip-off

is fallout a rip off as mad max? NO they both just happen to use the "desert wasteland" theme

Nobody said anything about either being a ripoff, the question was merely speculating about what makes one more popular than the other when both are similar concepts, and in the OP's opinions, the less popular is actual better.

Anyways, from what I've gathered simply be noticing the trend of commentary coming from women in my social circles over the past few months, they seem to be the bulk of the fan base. Leading me to assume that, as a few others have mentioned, the The Hunger Games greater focus on romantic plot points has drawn in and solidified the youth/teen/young adult female fanbase, same sort of situation as Twilight.

No idea what the movie is actually like, nor the books, but that seems to be where the popularity is coming from.

 

[Terramax]

So having an all Asian cast isn't racist but an all White cast is?

Maybe it's because America is hugely multicultural whilst, I have read, Japan has one of the lowest levels of foreigners of any country in the world (having been there myself, I could definitely believe that).

 

[DANEgerous]

As far as comparisons I am yet another who can not truly make one. I love the book an the movie was very Meh. I just so happen to first hear of battle royal about 1/3 through the last hunger games book but then I was all "Oh it is manga and i tend to hate manga even if i can see how it is good" and put it off entirely.

Which brings up an interesting point in it's self. These are easily two different mediums and to be honest as such one can not rip off another if you are to ask me.

 

[Infernai]

Never read the hunger games, but i read the battle royale manga...and have since gone out of my way to repress that piece of shit as much as i can. Honestly, i don't know if the movies good or the novel is, but the manga was terrible: The main character was a dumbass, everyone else was boring or a completely unlikeable shit, and when it wasn't being outright disgusting it was being horrifically boring (I'll give a run-down of the scenes: Boring shit, brief gratuitous violence or a disgusting scene, long and drawn out flash-back. Rinse and repeat)...to the point i wander if Frank Miller had any hand in making it.

Overall, it's an example of an interesting concept implemented badly. If you liked the manga, fine, but i didn't. I don't know if the hunger games is any good or not, having never read or watched it, but eh..i hate battle royale so maybe the hunger games did it better? Whose to say.

 

[Hosker]

Battle Royale is less popular because it's Japanese. I loved that book but I've never been interested in The Hunger Games. I think it comes off as too young adult like.

 

[Hosker]

As far as comparisons I am yet another who can not truly make one. I love the book an the movie was very Meh. I just so happen to first hear of battle royal about 1/3 through the last hunger games book but then I was all "Oh it is manga and i tend to hate manga even if i can see how it is good" and put it off entirely.

Which brings up an interesting point in it's self. These are easily two different mediums and to be honest as such one can not rip off another if you are to ask me.

The Battle Royale manga is based off the novel.

 

[DANEgerous]

As far as comparisons I am yet another who can not truly make one. I love the book an the movie was very Meh. I just so happen to first hear of battle royal about 1/3 through the last hunger games book but then I was all "Oh it is manga and i tend to hate manga even if i can see how it is good" and put it off entirely.

Which brings up an interesting point in it's self. These are easily two different mediums and to be honest as such one can not rip off another if you are to ask me.

The Battle Royale manga is based off the novel.

Oh, well in that case I off to Amazon to go get it.

 

[Hosker]

As far as comparisons I am yet another who can not truly make one. I love the book an the movie was very Meh. I just so happen to first hear of battle royal about 1/3 through the last hunger games book but then I was all "Oh it is manga and i tend to hate manga even if i can see how it is good" and put it off entirely.

Which brings up an interesting point in it's self. These are easily two different mediums and to be honest as such one can not rip off another if you are to ask me.

The Battle Royale manga is based off the novel.

Oh, well in that case I off to Amazon to go get it.

Wise decision! It's highly enjoyable.

 

[Geoff Klein]

collins has created dystopia lite....a young adult version of a dystopian world...watch them run to the theater, dressed as their favorite hunger games character...who is about to die

its very sad

 

[Geoff Klein]

The Hunger Game and Battle Royal both took their core concept from Greek myth, so calling either a rip off doesn't really seem fair (unless you really want to go back to whoever wrote the story of the minotaur). Personally I really liked The Hunger Games precisely because it does focus on the politics of the situation and on the relationships between the characters.

when did takami say this? which myth? the minotaur myth? the one collins had to really stretch to use (mutant dogs)

pure bs, and the "man hunting man" didnt start there...more with the romans, in reality

collins grabbed the myth, because that was the only one where teens are put into jeopardy...they are sacrificed to the minotaur....but they arent given a chance to fight back...or fight each other

nope...takami is clear, he was influenced by other modern stories of the genre, including the long walk

amazingly, collins never heard of that one either

LIAR

 

[Phototoxin]

being similar does not making somthing a rip-off

is fallout a rip off as mad max? NO they both just happen to use the "desert wasteland" theme

Similar is fine - star wars, star trek. Lord of the Rings, Narnia.

Direct copy of plot, setting and idea is pretty lame.

 

[GodofDisaster]

I'm a fan of Battle Royale, both the books and the movies. Ok not so much the sequel.

Also as I've learnt from my screen writting teacher, there is no such thing as an orginal story, it's all been done before. It's how you tell that story that really counts.

However since I haven't seen the Hunger games yet, I can't really give my own opinion on what's better.

 

[Erja_Perttu]

Collins has created dystopia lite, a young adult version of a dystopian world. Watch them run to the theater, dressed as their favorite Hunger Games character - who is about to die

It's very sad.

There, I fixed that for you. On a different note, I'd advise you never go to a comic/games convention, you'd probably get really upset by all the Aeriths wandering around.

being similar does not making somthing a rip-off

is fallout a rip off as mad max? NO they both just happen to use the "desert wasteland" theme

Similar is fine - star wars, star trek. Lord of the Rings, Narnia.

Direct copy of plot, setting and idea is pretty lame.

It's not really a direct rip off though. The base concept of the games is the same - many enter, one leaves, but everything else, from the fact its televised, that the result of the Hunger Games is an uprising, the concept of Panem, the different ways that the combatants reacted to each other, the way the people running each exercise viewed their respective slaughter to be - In Battle Royale the kids are scared, forced to turn on people they used to trust, treated like dirt and even killed before the game starts. In the Huger Games, the kids are treated well, fed, paraded around like pieces of meat and people are encouraged to care for the winner and when they do start killing each other, they're not trying to kill people they've been friends with for a long time.

I'd call that pretty different, and that's not even getting into how far the Hunger Game takes the concept compared to Battle Royale.

 

[Frankster]

Don't know too much about hunger games due to being behind on the times cinema wise, but battle royale isn't that obscure imo.

 

[clipse15]

The difference is that The Mildly Peckish Games is basically Battle Royale dumbed down for people who really probably wouldn't like Battle Royale. Although I will say with absolute sincerity that I really hope that it does better at being "That Movie" than the Twilight movies. I'm definitely a fan of having our young female lead characters pine and be confused about relationships AND SHOOT THINGS than just pine and be confused about relationships.

just my 2 cents.

Really? You thought Hunger Games was the dumbed down version? I just came out f The Hunger games movie and you know what? I liked it miles ahead of Battle Royale. Hunger Games fleshed out a society where this could happen. You see the class system that would allow people to become detatched about human life. You can see why there are characters who would sign up for the games. You have actual characters and an interesting main character. Not to mention actual solid acting and solid cinematography.

Battle Royale on the other hand has terrible acting, bland cinematography and a lot of questions that have dumb answers. "That guy has done this before, he volunteered to be here. Why?? Cause he likes it" Why would the government do thiss? cause we're bad kids.

I don't know I thought the main character was bland and boring and I hated the vilians both the kid who volunteered and the guy running the battle. I had no connection to any of these kids so when they died there was no feeling whatsoever.

However there are two scenes in Battle Royale taht I think are very poigant. With the scene at lighthouse or windmill or whatever it was being very good.

I don't know Battle Royale just seemed like it was riding on its concept of killing kids in gruesome ways and didnt bother to make any of it interesting wheras wit hhunger games I was actually invested in their world.

That

 

[crazyfills]

Ok having seen the trailers for each and having seen the first Battle Royale movie, as well as my friend reading the books and a little Wikipedia usage. it seems to be largely that Battle Royale had a Mutch smaller budget and was releced in Japan and ownly made it to Europe and elsewhere mutch later in english subtitles (origonaly in japenese) due to its lower budget it also had less marketing and while on average the first film received decent reveiews the second received very poor reviews they are both simerler to the mith of the minotaur in as Mutch as it involves people being used as sacrifice but nether was based on this the first battle Royale film was based on the directors experience as a 15 year old working in an ammunition factory and the hunger games was based on the writer watching news of the war in Iraq and a reality show and noticing disturbing similarity between the two, it is also worth noting that in Battle Royale some of the competing students commit suicide early on in the game so that they don't have to kill others or get killed themselves as well as some of the more gory murders ment that it has an 18 rating giving it a smaller audience than the 13 rating on the Hunger Games.

 

[Gigano]

While Hunger Games might be little but a Poor Man's - or rather American Teenage Girl's - Battle Royale, it's bound to do better.

Not only are the standards of female oriented action sci-fi/fantasy rather low - anyone remember that thing where sparkly underwear models were passed off as vampires? - but there's a vast market for an extensively marketed PG-13 movie that just isn't there for a rather violent Japanese cult classic.

So even if only 10 % of the people who see Hunger Games liked it, and 90 % of those who saw Battle Royale liked it, the fans of Hunger Games would still drown out the Battle Royale ones by sheer numbers.