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The film is presented in the original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio and in 1080p high definition, but whereas The Hunger Games: Catching Fire had the entire ‘game’ presented in IMAX, despite using the same director, not a single shot of this sequel has been made in that format, which is a shame as it looked great. I guess this is more of a drama than an action film, though, with no annual Hunger Games to watch.
The audio is presented in Dolby TrueHD Atmos 11.1, for those with the requisite equipment, but I was able to listen in the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 format. There’s also an option for Dolby Digital 2.0 which is “Optimised for late night listening” – pardon? As a whole, the soundmix is fine, but the movie is not as action-packed as the two previous installments and, as I stated, it feels more like a drama.
The copious amount of extras are as follows:
- The Mockingjay Lives: The Making of Mockingjay Part 1 (2:14:19): Longer than the film itself, this contains 8 sections split into concentrating on the continuation of the Hunger Games saga; designing the visuals; the cast; costumes, make-up and hair, shooting on location; stunts and special effects; the post-production; and a final segment which reflects on the saga so far, shows how they decided where to split the two films, and also looks forward to the final part, released in the cinema on November 20th.
What’s really not on is how director Francis Lawrence discusses how he’s looking forward to making a director’s cut of the Mockingjay films, once the regular versions have been released. Erm… shouldn’t the version put out the FIRST time be your own cut? That smacks of disgraceful intrusion from the studios, and just cons the audience into paying twice for the same thing.
- Straight From The Heart: A Tribute To Philip Seymour Hoffman (11:03): Naturally, and quite rightly, everyone sings the praises of the late actor. Mixed in with some clips, this makes for a nice little tribute.
- Lorde – “Yellow Flicker Beat” Music Video (4:05): The main theme which plays over the closing credits… the one starting with the hummmmmm. If you’re not familiar with the name of Lorde, you won’t have been able to escape her hit single, Royals, which dominated the airwaves for many moons back in 2013.
- Songs of Rebellion: Lorde on curating the soundtrack (8:10): The young singer talks not only about writing one song for the film, but also being asked to help put the whole soundtrack album together.
- Deleted Scenes (11:18): 9 scenes in total, none of which particularly need to be put back into the film.
- Insurgent Sneak Peek (4:11): A promo piece for the another young adult sequel, this one being the follow-up to the successful Insurgent. There will be a total of four films in that series and, againa, like The Hunger Games series, the final two films will also be a third book split over two movies. Money talks!
- Audio commentary: From director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson.
The menu mixes clips of the film with the signature call from Snow HQ as he then delivers his dastardly message which plays out early on in the film.
There are subtitles in English and Spanish, and the chaptering is a bit better than usual with 16 over the 123-minute running time. I’d prefer one every 5 minutes, on average.
The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1 is out now on Blu-ray, DVD and Limited Edition Blu-ray Steelbook, and click on the packshot on page 1 for the full-size image.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
4 10 8 8 |
| OVERALL | 7.5 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 123 minutes
Year: 2014
Distributor: Lionsgate
Cat no: LIB95183R0
Released: March 16th 2015
Chapters: 16
Picture: 1080p High Definition
Sound: Dolby TrueHD Atmos, DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 (“Optimised for late night listening” – pardon?)
Languages: English
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Format: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Panavision, 4K)
Disc Format: BD50
Director: Francis Lawrence
Producers: Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik
Screenplay: Peter Craig and Danny Strong (based on the novel by Suzanne Collins)
Music: James Newton Howard
Cast :
Katniss Everdeen: Jennifer Lawrence
Gale Hawthorne: Liam Hemsworth
Peeta Mellark: Josh Hutcherson
Haymitch Abernathy: Woody Harrelson
President Snow: Donald Sutherland
Plutarch Heavensbee: Philip Seymour Hoffman
President Alma Coin: Julianne Moore
Primrose Everdeen: Willow Shields
Finnick Odair: Sam Claflin
Effie Trinket: Elizabeth Banks
Boggs: Mahershala Ali
Johanna Mason: Jena Malone
Beetee: Jeffrey Wright
Katniss’ Mother: Paula Malcomson
Caesar Flickerman: Stanley Tucci
Cressida: Natalie Dormer
Messalla: Evan Ross
Pollux: Elden Henson
Castor: Wes Chatham
Egeria: Sarita Choudhury
Annie Cresta: Stef Dawson
Commander Paylor: Patina Miller
Antonius: Robert Knepper
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.