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Should You Buy The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Blu-ray Combo Pack?



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The Hunger Games is one of the most successful franchises based on a young adult book series in Hollywood history. Young adult adaptations are more miss than hit, and for every Hunger Games there's a Mortal Instruments or Beautiful Creatures series that didn't cut it at the box office or with fans of the books that inspired the films. What makes The Hunger Games so immensely watchable for both those who've read Suzanne Collins' bestselling book series and those who only know the story of Katniss (played by Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) from being introduced to them on the big screen is a combination of perfect casting (although book fans may not have been necessarily sold on certain cast members prior to the release of film number one), a dedication to remaining faithful to Collins' plotlines, and a mix of genres that works for both genders and all ages.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire found director Francis Lawrence taking over after The Hunger Games director Gary Ross opted not to return for the sequel citing timing issues.  That caused a bit of a stir since fans, in general, were supportive of the work Ross had done on the first adaptation. But with Catching Fire's release in theaters on November 22nd, the worries were forgotten as Lawrence's directing style fit perfectly with the material. Plus, there was the added bonus of the loss of shaky cam preferred by Ross but abandoned by Lawrence.  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire earned $158 million over its domestic opening weekend and went on to net $828 million worldwide before exiting theaters.  And with the release of the Blu-ray Combo Pack and the DVD on March 7, 2014, Lionsgate's coffers are sure to swell dramatically.

The Blu-ray Combo Pack comes complete with the film on Blu-ray, obviously, as well as a DVD copy. It also comes with nearly three hours of bonus material (not including the commentary track), most of which is worth checking out.

Audio Commentary Track:

Director Francis Lawrence teams up with producer Nina Jacobson to walk audiences through the intricacies of bringing the second book of the series alive on the screen. Lawrence and Jacobson provide a running commentary and unlike other tracks of this sort, they don't get sidetracked off the subject. The focus is on allowing Hunger Games fans behind-the-scenes by providing as much information on specific scenes as possible, divulging the secrets of the Hunger Games arena, what it was like to bring in new members of the cast, altering the design and colors of a few of the elements featured in the first film, and the reasoning behind changes that had to be made from the book in order to make the story flow better cinematically. Lawrence and Jacobson even talk about recasting the Everdeens' cat, Buttercup.

Deleted Scenes:

About five minutes-worth of deleted scenes are included on the Combo Pack, all taking place before the Quarter Quell and none being necessary to tell the story. The one scene which fans of the series were told existed but didn't make the final cut - Finnick (Sam Claflin) teaches Katniss about tying a knot (Jennifer Lawrence) - is a stand-out from the batch of deleted scenes included on the disc.

Making Of Featurettes:

The behind-the-scenes featurettes make up the heart of the bonus feature material, consisting of over two and a half hours of Making Of goodies. This collection is for the hardcore Hunger Games fans as everything from costumes to sets to the cast to details on the stunts and locations are covered in depth. The featurettes include interviews with the cast, director, and other behind-the-scenes crew members and are worth checking out if you have a good two hour time block set aside.

There's also an extended look at Divergent, the Summit Entertainment release starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James.


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