Hunger Games: Mockingjay "The Hanging Tree", The

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9.4
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Just finished watching this edit- I never write reviews, but this one definitely deserves one. This was an amazing take on the films and will be my go to version. Narratively, it is near perfect. I have 2 suggested changes that would make this, IMHO, perfect.

First - moving the Peeta propo to after Katniss sees the designs causes a rather large plot hole. The beginning of the film gives the impression that nobody knows what's going on with Peeta. No one has seen him, etc. With this in mind, Katniss' demands for full pardons for Peeta and the other victors now loses all impact and generally makes no sense. The scene has dialogue that hints at anti-rebel speech, but that also makes no sense based on what WE know at this point in the film - that no one has heard anything from the captured victors. While this could be ignored in a minor scene, Katniss' decision to be the face of the rebellion is the lynchpin of the entire film.

Second - There isn't enough time between Peeta's warning and rescue to make his "HiJacking" seem viable. It feels like it occurs over the course of a day which seems incredibly short. I would reinsert the roses sequence, just to add a small amount of time between the underground bombing sequence and Haymitch talking to Katniss.

I strongly encourage others to view this edit, and look forward to sharing it with friends and family.

Owner's reply April 21, 2016

Thanks so much for writing a review, I'm glad you enjoyed the edit and it means a lot that you took the time to do so.

Regarding your concerns about the edit. You're right that I did move the first Peeta 'propo' scene to a bit later in the film, but I disagree that it harms the film's narrative. In the scene with Finnick and Katniss, Finnick clearly states that the Capitol has taken Peeta, Johanna, and Annie captive. We see Katniss' dreams are haunted by the memory of Peeta so it is no surprise that she makes his rescue a condition of becoming the Mockingjay.

As for the reason that Katniss decides to become the Mockingjay, she makes the decision immediately after visiting District 12 and seeing the incinerated corpses of everyone she used to know. To me this was more powerful than the combination of District 12 and Peeta's questionable distress at the time of his first 'propo'.

Lastly I agree that the amount of time that Peeta was 'hijacked' seems short. I actually felt the same way when I watched the original film and was interested in finding out exactly how long the Capitol had abducted him. Surprisingly it turned out that it was only 2 months. This is why the edit begins with 2 months earlier...District 13, to give the viewer the sense of the correct amount of time passage that you mentioned.

Thanks again for watching and showing others!

N
Top 1000 Reviewer 3 reviews
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Overall rating
 
10.0
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10.0
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10.0
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10.0
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10.0
My wife and I watched this edit and thoroughly enjoyed it. The tagline for this edit, "The Epic Finale Hunger Games Fans Deserve", is 100% accurate. The Hunger Games took a page from Harry Potter and Twilight and split the final book into two movies because "there was just too much story to tell". What that obviously means is they wanted to milk the franchise. What Jerick does here is condense the story into a single 2 hour and 50 min. movie, making it a much more enjoyable and non-bloated finale. We didn't miss anything that was cut. Picture and audio quality are excellent, and I didn't spot any edits.

My only criticism of the film is I didn't care for the attack on the damn in the beginning. I wish it remained where it was and had the movie start as it did theatrically (minus the quote... that was a good call). Other then that I cannot recommend this edit enough.

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Owner's reply April 17, 2016

Thanks for taking the time to write a review, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! In regards to the attack on the damn sequence, the entire section where Katniss travels back to District 12 and then to the outskirts of the town where she begins to sing "The Hanging Tree" song was a real slog that was cut from my edit entirely. There wasn't really a way to insert the dam sequence without some sort of musical buildup. (I invented one from the existing score to begin the film) It's true that I could have inserted the singing scene after the visit to District 8 but it would have both been a very ugly edit and a radical shift to the tone of the film. The other option would have been to cut the dam attack from the film completely but I personally think it works as a more exciting start to the film.

Q
Top 100 Reviewer 38 reviews
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