Hunger Games is the 7th episode in Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Brett Weiner, Jason Mathews, Dan Perrault and Andy Signore. It was narrated by Gannon Nickell. It parodies 2012 YA dystopian film The Hunger Games. It was published on August 17, 2012, and is 3 minutes long. In the 6 years since its initial publication, the trailer has been viewed over 14 million times.
Watch Honest Trailers - Hunger Games on YouTube
"It's basically just a rip-off of Battle Royale" ~ Honest Trailers - Hunger Games
Script[]
This summer, prepare for the poorly directed movie adaptation of the young adult phenomenon that isn't about gay vampires:
The Hunger Games
In a dystopian future, the rich dress like second-rate Lady Gagas in cities leftover from The Phantom Menace, while the poor struggle for survival in unnecessary shaky cam, but can still somehow afford futuristic projection thingies.
One girl (Katniss) must choose between a short, boring, one-dimensional, worthless blond guy (Peeta) and this much hotter dude (Gale). In a world where children are ripped from their families and their parents seem oddly okay with it, she will make the ultimate sacrifice (Katniss: I volunteer as tribute) and enter a life-or-death game where competitors learn the deadly arts of lying in rafters, button-pressing, playing with balls, and frosting decoration (Peeta: I used to decorate the cakes down at the bakery.). What the hell is this? (shows Peeta camouflaged with frosting resembling rock) Seriously? That is f*cking ridiculous.
A girl that will enthrall a nation through her stupid face, cheap-looking CGI fire, and completely emotionless delivery (shows Katniss speaking in monotone); a film that forces two actors with no chemistry to awkwardly fall in love, which would've been far more believable if they would've cast him (Liam Hemsworth) as Peeta -- I mean, I'm not gay, but I'd totally s*ck Gale's d*ck -- a future so advanced, they can conjure fire and monster dogs, but not food for the poor; the ultimate game of "kill or be killed", except for these kids who don't kill each other for some reason, who Katniss will outsmart by hiding in trees, falling from trees, sleeping in trees, and basically being around a lot of trees.
Not Starring These Important Parts from the Book: Katniss' Hearing Loss, The Avoxes, Peeta's Amputation, Political and Social Satire, The Subtle Nuances Explaining the Relationships Between the Districts and the Capital (text reads "Mythology and Context"), The Inner Turmoil of Katniss As She Struggles to Love Peeta for the Sake of the Cameras (text reads "Katniss' Inner Monologue Wrestling with the Fact That She Doesn't Love Peeta, But Is Possibly Starting to Warm Up to Him, Except She Must Put On This Show of Young Love To Become the Audience Favorite So She Can Get Sponsors to Survive the Hunger Games"), and The Actual Hunger. (shows characters eating) Seriously, they all look very well-fed.
The Hunger Games. It's basically just a rip-off of Battle Royale.
Trivia[]
- Screen Junkies have produced Honest Trailers for every other film in the Hunger Games franchise, including Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1 and Mockingjay Part 2. They have also produced Honest Trailers for many movies based on YA books including Mortal Engines, The Maze Runner, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars, Twilight, and Harry Potter. See list of Honest Trailers for more.
- In the Honest Trailer Commentary for this episode, Brett Weiner revealed he read all three Hunger Games book over the course of one weekend in preparation for making this trailer. He liked them.
- The Honest Trailer Commentary used to be available on Screen Junkies Plus until the website/app was discontinued. Screen Junkies don't currently have any way of releasing the video.
Reception[]
Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - Hunger Games
Honest Trailers - Hunger Games has an 96.3% approval rating from YouTube viewers. Geek Tyrant said the video was a "hilarious brutally truthful trailer." The Huffington Post declared the Honest Trailer offered some "hilarious, and pretty spot-on, commentary on the movie." In the same article, The Huffington Post drew attention to Screen Junkies' criticism of the film's love triangle, and agreed with the Honest Trailer that "the citizens of Panem do look remarkably like they belong in a Lady Gaga music video." In a separate article, The Huffington Post highlighted the Honest Trailer's criticisms of "the shaky cam or the people in the districts’ strange ability to procure high tech projectors."
Production credits[]
Previous thumbnail for Honest Trailers - Hunger Games.
Series Created & Directed by Andy Signore & Brett Weiner
Executive Producer Mitch Rotter
Written by: Brett Weiner, Jason Mathews, Dan Perrault & Andy Signore
Edited by Brett Weiner
Voiceover Narration by: Gannon Nickell
Music by Sean Motley
External links[]
- ‘The Hunger Games’ Honest Trailer (VIDEO) - Huffington Post article
- ‘The Hunger Games’ Honest Trailer: Hilarious Spoof (VIDEO) - The Huffington Post article
- An Honest Trailer for The Hunger Games - Neatorama article
- Hilarious Honest Trailer for THE HUNGER GAMES - Geek Tyrant article
- The Hunger Games Gets an Honest Trailer - The Mary Sue article