There is certainly this massive fanbase for the “Hunger Games” books and movies, and truth be told, the franchise has delivered a couple of good instalments, both of which starred Jennifer Lawrence.
That said, I’ve been writing for years about how “Hunger Games” is kiddie’s play when compared to its obvious influence, “Battle Royale.” It’s watered down for the YA crowd, lacking the bite of Kinji Fukasaku’s violent genre classic.
What’s more frustrating? “Hunger Games” author Suzanne Collins has long denied any direct connection to the Japanese film — a claim that grows harder to buy each time the similarities are stacked side by side. It’s rather laughable at this point.
Enter Quentin Tarantino, a massive “Battle Royale” fan, who is the latest guest on Bret Easton Ellis’ podcast, and voiced his frustration about how “Hunger Games” is such a blatant ripoff.
I do not understand how the Japanese writer didn’t sue [Hunger Games author] Suzanne Collins for every fcking thing she owns. They just ripped off the fcking book. Stupid book critics are not going to go watch a Japanese movie called “Battle Royale” so the stupid book critics never called her on it, they talked about how it was the most original fcking thing they’d ever read. As soon as the film critics saw the film they said, “what the fck this is just “Battle Royale except PG!
Tarantino is preaching to the choir, but I hope his words travel far and wide. It’s time for all to realize that there would be no “Hunger Games” without “Battle Royale,” and Collins can deny all she wants, but what are the odds she actually came up with the same story eight years after the Japanese film was released?
The similarities between “Battle Royale” and “Hunger Games” have been widely discussed: teens forced to fight to the death, government spectacle, televised violence, dystopian setting, etc. Numerous think-pieces have argued that the parallels are too close to be coincidence, even if unintentional.
Yet Collins never admits it. In interviews she has asserted that she “had never heard of that book or that author until my book was turned in.”
Imagine if she did finally cough up the truth, 17 years later — it just won’t happen. She’ll continue to deny that “Battle Royale” influenced “Hunger Games.”