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The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1 continues the story of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her uprising against the fascist state, and President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is off on his high horse trying to stamp her out, stating that anyone who promotes the use of the Mockingjay symbol is a baddie and they will have a bullet put in their brain. He claims his actions are to bring about some respect for law and order. And he expects to get re-elected?? Then again, maybe he’s like Robert Mugabe and Vladimir Putin, where they all fix the result to get what he wants.
Katniss starts off is sort-of in hospital, but it’s actually in District 13, unaware of the commotion she created in accidentally starting a revolution. So it’s a bit like when Kevin Arnold walked out of class in The Wonder Years, and started a… walkout. Hence the name.
Her home district in ruins – looking like a scene from Sniper Elite III – she’s upset not only for this but because Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) has gone missing. So imagine how she feels, before long, when not only does he turn out to be alive, but he’s also batting for the baddies, these days!
In this third entry in the series, District 13 want her to be their Mockingjay, i.e. their representative in the revolution, something she’ll only do if they’ll go back in and rescue Peeta and the others who were left behind at the end of the second film. However, she might be none too popular given her male friend having turned traitor.
The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1 plays on how the media can be vultures when it comes to picking their latest ratings-grabbing poster girl or boy, not caring at all for their welfare, as long as they can, effectively, get their money shot.
As for how successful I found this as a film, the whole thing felt massively uninvolving and I think it would’ve been better to have tightened things up and to make one near-three-hour film based on the entire Mockingjay novel, rather than two films. But then, when Peter Jackson was asked why he made The Hobbit into three films instead of two, just before the third one was released, he pointed out that the first two each grossed $1bn… And there’s your answer.
Replace the setting with World War II, and swap one of Katniss’ rousing speeches with some jingoistic fluff from Winston Churchill and you see from the scenario this draws its inspiration.
At one point, Katniss keeps saying “President Snow” repeatedly, and it makes me think she’s about to burst into song as it’s quite melodic. And in another part when she’s sobbing uncontrollably at something, she sounds like Beaker from The Muppets!
Acting-wise, most of the cast are as wooden as always in this series, but Sutherland hams it up nicely. Lawrence, however, sulks throughout (understandably, given the subject matter).
The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1 runs for a just over a mere two hours, but even a day after watching it, I still feel like I’m waiting for it to start! Then again, it’s got Natalie Dormer (below) with a rather fetching half-shaved head, so I’ll watch her in anything.
Oh, and there’s not many 12-certificate films out there which show mass slaughter by machine gun fire.
And when it comes those four musical notes that denote ‘Mockingjay’, is it just me or does anyone else hear Simon Bates' Our Tune theme ? Okay, so it’s the love them from Romeo & Juliet, but how did the filmmakers licence it for their movie, or have they just taken it without consent?
Part 2 will be the last movie starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the greatest actors of a generation. He passed away while it was being made but I hope he still gets to do more than he did in Part 1, since he’s mostly just drifting through it.
Go to page 2 for the presentation and the extras.
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.
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