Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
This complete 4-film collection brings together the entire on-screen saga based on the Suzanne Collins trilogy of YA novels. The Hunger Games started things off by introducing the world to protagonist Katniss Everdeen as portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence (Best Actress, Silver Linings Playbook, 2012) and started the story of the star-crossed lovers Katniss and Peeta, who would eventually go on to be taken prisoner in the capitol city of Panem and be brainwashed by the ruthless President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Over the course of the four films, Katniss and her band of friends break free from the brutal hunger games, unite the various districts that have been pitted against each other by the wealthy elites in the capitol, and launch a rebellion against Panem, with Katniss at the head as a symbol, the so-called Mockingjay, for the “plebs” as it were, to rally around.
Many, young and old alike, have rallied around Collins’ novels as an apposite symbol of the state of our culture today, of warfare, of the divide between the rich and the poor. While the films do not fully capture these grievances given their abundance of special effects, teen melodrama, and often superfluous violence, they can still be an entertaining set of popcorn movies. And Jennifer Lawrence was without doubt the Hollywood “it” girl of the moment.
The films contain young and veteran who’s-who Hollywood actors including Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Julianne Moore.
This collection is available exclusively at Walmart
The Video
The four films first two in The Hunger Games franchise were shot on 35mm, Super 35 film and Mockingjay 1 & 2 were shot on the Arri XT Plus at 2.8K. The Hunger Games was mastered with a 2K digital intermediate and the rest of the films used a 4K digital intermediate with HDR10. They are all on 4K Ultra HD in 2.40:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) HDR10 encodements. Lionsgate seems to have gone for a straight 2.40:1 framing for Catching Fire, unless I blinked and missed something. This is a real shame, because those 1.78:1 IMAX sequences really looked beautiful. That said, these films remain some of the better-looking films on home video, although time and advancements in technology have knocked them down from being the very best. The Hunger Games looks the least crisp and its visual effects do not hold up as well. The HDR grading looks fantastic across each film, but Mockingjay Part 1 really stands out with stunning specular highlights, and stark contrasts.
You can also read our older review of The Hunger Games 4-Movie Collection on Blu-ray.
The Audio
In this collection the 4K discs for all four films get English Dolby Atmos mixes. An earlier 4-movie collection on Blu-ray included only Dolby TrueHD 7.1 for the first two films. This sound has always been good for these films whether it was Atmos or 7.1. The Atmos mixes for the first two films make the sound more spacious and well utilizes the overhead channels, especially for the sound of the canon blasts and the voices over the PA in Panem during the hunger games. All of the mixes are just as aggressive, atmospheric and dynamic, with clear dialogue, solid effects in the surrounds and deep but well handled (read: not unwieldy) low end.
The Supplements
They seem to have left off a lot of the easter egg bonus features that were on the original Hunger Games Blu-ray Disc release although some of the older interactive features like BD Touch remain, which may or may not still work. The special features on the 4K (and Blu-ray Discs) have all been previously released. Furthermore, the set is packaged in a beautiful SteelBook set with the discs stacked on each other on two sides. Movies Anywhere Digital Code is also included.
The Hunger Games:
Bonus Features:
- Audio commentary with editor Stephen Mirrione, visual effects supervisor Sheena Duggal, and supervising editor Lon Bender
- Game Maker: Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games Phenomenon (1080p; 00:14:15)
- The World is Watching: Making The Hunger Games (1080p; 02:02:00)
- Letters from the Rose Garden (1080p; 00:09:08)
Catching Fire:
Bonus Features:
- Audio commentary with director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson
- Surviving the Game: Making The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (1080p; 02:24:56)
- Deleted Scenes (1080p; 00:04:36)
Mockingjay Part 1:
Bonus Features:
- Audio commentary with director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson
- The Mockingjay Lives: The Making of Mockingjay Part 1 (1080p; 02:14:19)
- Straight from the Heart: A Tribute to Phillip Seymour Hoffman (1080p; 00:11:03)
- Songs of Rebellion: Lorde on Curating the Soundtrack (1080p; 00:08:10)
- Deleted Scenes (1080p; 00:11:18)
- Lorde – “Yellow Flicker Beat” Music Video (1080p; 00:04:05)
- Insurgent Sneak Peek (Blu-ray Only)
Mockingjay Part 2:
- Audio commentary with director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson
- Pawns No More: Making The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (1080p; 02:21:45)
- The Hunger Games: A Photographic Journey (1080p; 00:10:17)
- Cinna’s Sketchbook: Secrets of the Mockingjay Armor (1080p; 00:09:22)
- Panem on Display: The Hunger Games: The Exhibition (1080p; 00:01:57)
- Jet to the Set (1080p; 00:41:58)
The Final Assessment
The Hunger Games films have had an impact on the younger generation of filmgoers and may have the sort of far-reaching effect that a franchise like, say, Harry Potter has had on some. Its biggest impact is putting forth a strong female character that did not have to be masculinized in order to become a hero or be considered strong. So, score one for the younger generation of women. And score one for a fine 4K collection from Lionsgate despite the missing 1.78:1 IMAX sequences for Catching Fire.
The Hunger Games 4-Movie 4K SteelBook Collection is out November 7, 2023 Exclusively at Walmart from Lionsgate
- Studios & Distributors: Lionsgate
- Directors: Gary Ross (The Hunger Games) | Francis Lawrence (Catching Fire, Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2)
- Run Time: 548 Mins.
- Street Date: 7 November 2023
- Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
- Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
- HDR Format: HDR10
- HDR10 Metadata:
- The Hunger Games:
- MaxLL: 558 nits
- MaxFALL: 230 nits
- Minimum Luminance: 0.0000 nits
- Catching Fire:
- MaxLL: 1127 nits
- MaxFALL: 612 nits
- Minimum Luminance: 0.0000 nits
- Mockingjay Part 1:
- MaxLL: 686 nits
- MaxFALL: 230 nits
- Minimum Luminance: 0.0000 nits
- Mockingjay Part 2:
- MaxLL: 3940 nits
- MaxFALL: 371 nits
- Minimum Luminance: 0.0050 nits
- The Hunger Games:
- Primary Audio: English Dolby Atmos
- Secondary Audio: Spanish DD 5.1 | French DD 5.1
- Subtitles: English | English SDH | Spanish