Which Teen Dystopia Film Series Is The Best?

Hunger Games is my favorite distopian movie franchise by far. I just love how Katniss isn't the 'chosen' one. She is just a teenager who tries to save herself and her loved ones from the capitol. It has beautiful themes about human nature even Peeta and Gale was supposed to represent showing kindness and being true to yourself or choosing revenge and contribute to cycle of violence but sadly most of these got overshadowed by love triangle ugh. edit: 5k likes??? when did this happen lol anyways the ballad of songbirds and snakes is on the way we won!!

We need a resurgence of teenage dystopian stories. I loved them as a kid and it sucks that new kids don't get new original stories and are instead left with stories our generation grew up with

The Maze Runner will always have a special place in my heart. The author of the books actually had cameos in the films.

All 3 Maze Runner movies are actually really good. And the third one has a truly epic and intense ending. Those movies just have such a unique style and feel to them.

I think part of the point in Mockingjay was that Katniss didn’t want to be a leader and she really wasn’t, she was a figurehead that they were using. She gave a lot of speeches because that’s all they would let her do, but in reality she’s more like a soldier want to be on the front lines making an effort. She doesn’t start being a leader until she finally decides that she is going to break off from the group and kill snow.

The problem with teenage anything is the lack of depth. The world building is either superficial or missing alltogether. In Hunger Games it's actually pretty well done. Even plausible

The problem with the adaptation of the Hunger Games is that you lose Katniss’ internal dialogue. In the books it’s clear that the things that she says and does are often done just for the audience, whereas it’s more difficult to show that in the film. Also the books are first and foremost about how the things that happen to her change her - Collins inspiration for the books was her soldier father’s PTSD. But, again, without a direct pipeline to the inside of her head, this is much harder to portray. The third book in particular isn’t about the rebellion or the wider world, it’s about Katniss’ internal journey. Since the films can’t do that they have to make it about everything that’s going on externally (almost all the scenes of the rebellion which Katniss isn’t direclty involved in aren’t in the source material) which, as you say, the story suffers for. That said, it’s easily the best of the three options here. I’d also say that Katniss not really doing anything is the point. Throughout the trilogy, she basically has two moments of agency - volunteering in Primrose’s place at the start, and killing Coin at the end. For all the rest of the time she is doing what she’s told to do because it’s the only way she can keep herself and the people she loves alive. That she’s not a hero or a leader is the point.

catching fire is so unbelievably good it actually blows my mind, so many stand scenes and performances, and endlessly rewatchable.

fun fact, the kid at 10:07 actually had a death scene filmed where he dies in the mall, but apparently test audiences were confused at the death scene because they never really noticed him before, so it was deleted from the final movie

I watched every Maze Runner film before I read the books and I will always be happy I did. I was able to enjoy all of the movies without constantly comparing them to the books, while also having respect for the books being the source material. It also made it super easy to visualize and put voices to characters.

The Hunger Games is definitely the best. Everything about the series was excellently thought out and well planned. I've read it over 5 times now, and each time I pick out something new to analyse that's fascinating

the thing i love most about maze runner is just the fact that it doesn’t care for your attachment to characters, the only characters that don’t have a scene where they’re almost dead are frypan, vince and jorge. im still gaslighting myself about newts death but i think it’s a really interesting thing to do to kill off most of the main characters in your story while still having people watch.

So, I have one criticism of your take on the Hunger Games, and it's a very important one. Katniss ISN'T the leader of the rebellion. She's never the leader or even in power until she's given a vote in the very end of the story because of one incident where she stuck up for herself. She's a propaganda tool created by Coin. That's key to understanding her story. The movies DID do a poor job of making that clear. Edit: it doesn't matter what all these commenters interpretation of the movie was, you guys. I'm talking about what this creator said IN HIS VIDEO about what he understood, and I was being NICE when I said "it might not be clear". I thought it was perfectly clear. I was being KIND and not mocking him for saying she was a leader.

As for the best movie between these franchises it’s between The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and The Maze Runner.

For me the Hunger Games trilogy easily holds a special place in my heart. There were so many interesting themes, the world building (albeit a little flawed) was pretty engaging and fun to learn about and it's one of the rare instances where the main characters themselves make the dystopia look like it was personal and not just an info dump through the main character. Additionally, The Hunger Games still remains politically relevant at the time so that's a bonus for me.

Maze Runner is probably my top pick because I love the world, the characters, and the action. The world itself is a little unique. I also think you could adapt some good prequels by following the other books like Kill Order and Fever Code. I also would have to give best supporting role to Haymitch but I’d also give it to Newt! 😊

I whole heartedly disagree with your take on mockingjay p1. While slower in pace, the film was all about the politics of running a rebellion. The propaganda, the difficulty of getting everyone united, the horrors of war, etc. This film also has many memorable moments. The dam scene for example

I just loved the mystery aspect of maze runner and how you were really put into Thomas's shoes as you were just as curious and confused as he was as the viewer

The hunger games is by far the best book series and franchise of the three. It may not be as visually entertaining but it is more of a social commentary and really thought provoking and psychologically thrilling.

Divergent is so fascinating to me. It went from a juggernaut to sputtering out in a whimper. It literally quit half of the last book adaptation, that was practically unheard of. I can’t be sure, but I think Divergent was the one that killed the practice of splitting the final book into two films.