OK, Internet, we get it: you think The Hunger Games, a book-turned-movie about young adults who are forced by the government to kill each other, has already been made, and it's called Battle Royale, a Japanese book-turned-movie about young adults who are forced by the government to kill each other. 誰がたわごとを与える. That’s Japanese for “Who gives a sh*t,” but you probably knew that already.
You're CULTURED. You've seen a cult movie — a cult movie from another country. But that doesn't mean you to have write tweet after tweet with the theme of: I'M NOT GONNA SEE THE HUNGER GAMES THIS WEEKEND BECAUSE I'M COOL AND I'VE SEEN THIS MEGA-POPULAR JAPANESE FILM THAT HAS THE SAME PLOT. Those people are the same idiots who break up a conversation about the Ramones to say that they liked Joey Ramone before it was cool to like Joey Ramone, when he was a member of Sniper. Just because it's true that they have similar plots doesn't mean it has to be brought up again and again and again...
This isn't a defense of one movie or a condemnation of the other (I like them both, actually), but I do have one final message: we don't care that you've seen Battle Royale — we've seen it, too. Here are 10 of the most obnoxious Hunger vs. Battle tweets.
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Clearly, anything foreign and cult-y is automatically better than anything domestic and mainstream.
Way to miss out on something good because you’re too busy having better taste than the rest of us, jerks.
I’ve read both books and Hunger Games is better. I’ve just lost my street cred.
@patty boots thank you patty for reminding everyone how close minded and ignorant the average american is *bows* fucking retard
What about ‘The Running Man’?
Eh they’re prisoners. And they’re being hunter by killers. That’s more of a rip off of The Most Dangerous Game.
not in the novel….god, i really hate when the adaptation is so different than the book. however, the movie does use the game show format
If we’re going with the novel…it’s a little closer, but then you’re missing an arena and one of the main characters has to fly a plane into the TV building.
Someone sounds a little hurt. A little bruised.
As to not be lumped in with either group of idiots, I’d like to say I watch Battle Royale for the blood, violence that I’m sure not to get in The Hunger Games. It’s not high culture.
#whereistheoriginality <—*head explodes*
Somebody on the internet told me that the Bourne movies are just remakes of some old English movie called James Bond or something. That Robert Ludlum must be embarrassed.
Wait so Hunger Games is basically the paintball episode of Community but with real weapons instead of paintballs?
Community is just a Breakfast Club rip-off
I’m still coming to terms with something called GUTS that ran on Nickelodeon thanks to you, UPROXX. So in this case I will have to recuse myself.
nope…wont stop. why should collins get a pass for stealing other’s ideas? this concept amazes me? oh wait, it shouldnt….meyer got a pass on twilight and is getting one on the host
i need a book or movie to ripoff….i know, ill do salems lot…but with werewolves….thats different
Those better be sparkly werewolves!! Lol. I hate teeny bopper crap, but then again I hate at least a good 95% of people!! Every day we are getting closer to Idiocracy becoming a documentary!!
I think using the word ‘obnoxious’ is a little harsh, especially since none of the posts actually seem that obnoxious. So what if people are standing up for a film they like and feel is being trodden on by the mainstream without being given any credit? If it looks, sounds and smells like a remake then it probably is..
Can I just say that Battle Royale was incredible, and in all likelihood Hunger Games is probably a chick flick by comparison? If you’re going to remake a concept, you’d better raise the bar, and if you don’t, you deserve to be mocked, even by tweet.
Five commas in two sentences. boosh.
Right on the head!! Someone at work was hyping this crap the other day. First I had heard of it. Dude said maybe 2 sentences about the movie, and i said sounds like a rip off of battle royale. Wanna see another cool asian film? Old Boy, it’s ripping out teeth with the claw of a hammer great!!
I’m not going to see Hunger Games because I’m not a 16 year old girl.
Your loss.
On which count?
OH MAH GOD THIS MOVIE IS SIMILAR TO ANOTHER MOVIE THAT IS OBSCURE THAT I SAW. I WILL MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THIS BECAUSE I AM INSECURE. PLEASE LOVE ME.
Or maybe we are just tired of grow ass people sounding like 12 year olds talking about how “original” the movie/book is. I’d say the best pub I’ve heard for the movie is “you have to read the book to understand the movie”. Now I have to buy a shitty rip off book, before I see the shitty rip off movie. Maybe that’s what deprecates people, I would never use someone else’s shit to get famous. Obviously many others with no real creativity, or pride can rewrite a movie in a weekend. How about a bunch of gangs who hate each other working together to kill a gang they all hate.
Good story is good story. Why do you think there are so many versions of the bible? Blood and sodomy have legs.
Remakes are all the rage in Hollywood, who cares nothing about originality. How many Batman/Spiderman/James Bond movies have there been? It’s all about execution, and I can guarantee these people that The Hunger Games is going to be executed at a much higher level than Battle Royal.
Actually it’s not. I’ve read that the aesthetic is almost exactly the same as just about every other dystopic future complete with bad hairdos and stupid costuming. The primary difference is Hunger Games won’t have any teeth because it’s a children’s movie.
ok so i can definetly see the similarities but the biggest difference to me is that a class was chosen because they were so awful in battle royale and in the hunger games its to prevent them from a rebellion. i mean honestly though hollywood doesnt have too many things that are original but i mean look at avatar and fern gully their the same movie almost just one has fairies and the other people are blue
yeah but avatar sucked.
That’s all I could think while watching Avatar. I think I am gonna take someone else’s artistic talent and turn it into over hyped teeny bopper BS. Then I can say I’m ripping off Rob Zombie at the same time.
if they were both based of a book shouldnt we be saying the books ripped eachother oh and yeah not to mention they both ripped off the running man movie or maybe the running man book which it was based off of by stephen king hmmm…..
they both ripped off the running man replacing adults with kids so fuck em both cause none will have arnold killing sub-zero then saying heres SUB-ZERO NOW PLAIN ZERO!!!!!
Simpsons did it!
If Hunger Games was a college paper, it would have had to use the proper citation. And put Battle Royale in the bibliography.
Everything is a ripoff of everything these days. Who cares if plots sound similar.
If any of these people have seen more than, like… 10 movies, then I’m calling shenanigans.
Also, I thought Battle Royale (the movie) was utter shit. Could not figure out what the big deal was.
You have lost all credibility with this comment.
The main difference here is timing. If Battle Royale hadn’t run into post-Columbine PC bullshit, the American remake would have come out a decade ago and Hunger Games probably doesn’t even get written.
All those people bitched are hipster d-bag’s. And if you think about it Hunger Games and Battle Royale could be seen as a combination of two of Stephen King’s Bachman Books, The Running Man and The Long Walk.
The Myth Of Theseus & The Minotaur
When King Minos had heard of what befell his son, he ordered the Cretan fleet to set sail for Athens. Minos asked Aegeus for his son’s assassins, and if they were to be handed to him, the town would be spared. However, not knowing who the assassins were, King Aegeus surrendered the whole town to Minos’ mercy. His retribution was that, at the end of every Great Year (seven solar years), the seven most courageous youths and the seven most beautiful maidens were to board a boat and be sent as tribute to Crete, never to be seen again.
In another version, King Minos of Crete had waged war with the Athenians and was successful. He then demanded that, at nine-year intervals, seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls were to be sent to Crete to be devoured by the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster that lived in the Labyrinth created by Daedalus.
On the third occasion, Theseus volunteered to slay the monster. He took the place of one of the youths and set off with a black sail, promising to his father, Aegeus, that if successful he would return with a white sail.
Point being: This is not a rip-off from 1999 AD, but from 1999 BC.
I’m not going to go see Pocahontas because it is an Avatar ripoff
Or The Last Samurai
Or Dances with Wolves
These films showed that white people are always helpful to other cultures. Just like in History.
Avatar ripped off fern gully almost to the T. 2 parts changed, human became small in FG, and tree is evil instead of good in fern gully. Even the special effect (trees glowing when you touch them). I think what frustrates people is stupid teeny bopper hype, and paying money to go see damn near the same movies over and over. Guess its better Than a full on americanized remake with the same name. I’m just waiting for someone to ruin Back to the Future.
You pretentious cocksuckers…can I ever just enjoy a “new” movie. Jesus Christ.
If the opinion of total strangers ruins your enjoyment of a “new” (and you’re right it does belong in quotes because it’s not new) then maybe the problem is yours and not ours.
I’m Asian btw. Actually, i’ve known about Battle Royale for years and suddenly THG came to theaters these fags acted like THG is a complete rip it off. FYI, I’ve read the tame novel, the “Shuya Nanahara-fangirl inducing” Battle Royale and the uber violence manga series like 7 years ago. I still remember it because of the inconsistencies, and mostly because BR2 suck. BR is basically about how futuristic Japanese adults who cant understand teenage anymore that they force ONE class of a school each year to compete to the death. Thats totally different thing. The Tournament is more a proper rip off to Battle Royale than THG. People so need to get their priorities right. And read!!!!
No, I won’t stop calling it a ripoff because that’s what it is… A ripoff of Battle Royale, Series 7, Lord of the Flies, The Most Dangerous Game, and The Running Man (and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head). Stop reading/watching teenie bopper crap and you won’t have to hear this shit.
you sir are an idiot. please stop infecting other people with your lack of intelligence and the internet a favor and break your computer.
yours,
everyone, cause everyone actually hates you
rip off? maybe inspired by or something. a lot of films are like that. get over it, dude.
dude, if you’ve seen this movie, you would see its not much like most dystopian movies. when you’re in district 12 its a little bit of a downer but the second you hit the Capitol, its colorful and fun and very much what you see on the more avant garde runways these days. They manage to make it into something beautiful and the way you talk about the hunger games movie, half the time i don’t think you’ve even see it. Tom, i don’t think you’re proving your point any better than those 14 year olds you’re complaining about not proving the worth of this movie. watch it, watch it many times, then let us know.
Sssooooo because plots are similar movies arent relevant? Under that train of think 99% of wvery great movies isnt worth watching because the plots are similar to another movie…to all these people who claim they wont watch hunger games because of this idiotic line of thinking i ask ..how many zombie films you skipped with this line of thinking…how many horror/scary movies …action films…gangster films…..?
There’s a difference between being similar and being derivative. This one’s the latter. Plus, none of the people defending this heap have been able to explain to me why this should be relevant who isn’t 14, give or take.
All of you are morons. There are TONS of books out there like Battle Royale and Hunger Games, and none of them copied each other. There’s plenty of other things they got it from– Didn’t the author of Battle Royale say he got the idea partly off of some boxing or wrestling style? Any of the books could also based off of Greek customs where people fight to the death for honor and riches. Point is, both of them are good, so just enjoy both. Shut up and act like humans. Even though they are in my opinion, VERY similar, it doesn’t cut off the enjoyment from reading/watching both.
Actually I’m an advanced, hyper-intelligent spambot…
With a name like Tom Joad we can all see how you are clearly a literary genius. It must really impress all your friends, err cats when you can quote both Vonnegut and Homer Simpson. Just allow the rest of us simpletons to enjoy something that is fun without the indignity.
wow….how lame. its like we can’t enjoy anything anymore. what haven’t the americans brought in from other countries and remade lately? hell, what have other countries not taken inspirations from us for? the story in hunger games isn’t entirely unique, nor is battle royale’s. I hate people who go on and on about seeing some foreign film then comparing it to something similar here. i don’t wanna know about how “cool” you think you are cause you saw the original first.
I haven’t seen battle royale, but Hunger Games was amazingly stupid. Do the people in the game not realize that only one person can win, ie live/survive?!?!? Why be sad when anyone dies? Also if you were in a so called group or team, why not slit each persons throat the first night???? the entire premise of the movie is also stupid, you have future tech like hover ships, but you don’t give any tech to the slaves to better mine, farm or build, etc for the rich? Just like arab spring, you would think 75 yrs later the ppl would rise up and revolt. Also the age range of combatants is ridiculous, obviously anyone under 15/16 has no chance, let alone the 12 year olds. Also, not sure the population numbers, but 2 kids a yr is far from a deterrent. Maybe if it was 2 a week or month. Man never thought I’d see a movie that made twilight look good :S smh
Why be sad when someone dies? Because you’re a human being, maybe?
Why would you give slaves better technology which they could later use to revolt against you (again)? The provinces already revolted years ago, that’s why the hunger games exist, to make an example of them. And the point isn’t that any of them has to win at all, the point of choosing teenagers is to send the message that “if you ever think of revolting again we have the power to kill all your children in front of you and make you watch, so don’t fuck with us”. Its actually a pretty straightforward story, but it apparently went completely over your head.
OK, Internet, we get it: you think The Hunger Games, a book-turned-movie about young adults who are forced by the government to kill each other, has already been made, and it’s called Battle Royale, a Japanese book-turned-movie about young adults who are forced by the government to kill each other. 誰がたわごとを与える. That’s Japanese for “Who gives a sh*t,” but you probably knew that already.
You’re CULTURED. You’ve seen a cult movie — a cult movie from another country. But that doesn’t mean you to have write tweet after tweet with the theme of: I’M NOT GONNA SEE THE HUNGER GAMES THIS WEEKEND BECAUSE I’M COOL AND I’VE SEEN THIS MEGA-POPULAR JAPANESE FILM THAT HAS THE SAME PLOT. Those people are the same idiots who break up a conversation about the Ramones to say that they liked Joey Ramone before it was cool to like Joey Ramone, when he was a member of Sniper. Just because it’s true that they have similar plots doesn’t mean it has to be brought up again and again and again…
This isn’t a defense of one movie or a condemnation of the other (I like them both, actually), but I do have one final message: we don’t care that you’ve seen Battle Royale — we’ve seen it, too. Here are 10 of the most obnoxious Hunger vs. Battle tweets.
By Robert Townsend and no one else helped.
(plagiarism is why people are pissed mouth-box, god i hope you drew a paycheck for typing out that drivel. im off to get acclaim for being the first to post on this website about how people should ignore plagiarism)
that’s odd, you posted 11 obnoxious hunger vs battle tweets… and one of them was waaaaaay more than 144 characters.
More importantly, it is a rip off of the Sliders Tv Series episode “Rules of the Game”
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When battle royale has a tweens fallowIng it due to actors from a Millie Cyrus film are in it, then you can bitch.
I think the one thing this thread has taught us all is that Tom Joad is just sad and pathetic enough to post a dozen+ redundant posts about this, just because he’s bitter that people are enjoying Hunger Games. There are only 4 stories in the history of man, everything you’ve ever read or seen is just a permutation of one of those stories. No idea is original.
The plot of Battle Royale which came out in 2000.
“It’s a story of adolescent boys and girls being randomly pulled into a filmed game show of a gory deathmatch in an arena filled with natural and artificial hazards set in a dystopian society with a totalitarian government that likes to show the people that they’re still in charge. Some of the contestants embrace the opportunity to cause mayhem; others try to navigate the situation with diplomacy, only to be ruthlessly murdered by more vicious players. The story ultimately focuses on a trio of protagonists, one slightly older and embittered by loss because he has played the game before; the other two are younger and more innocent, and turn to their more mature peer for guidance and inspiration. In the end, instead of the usual one winner, there is a plot twist and the two younger players become lovers and end up winning the game in the end. Then they go on in the next story to try and overthrow the totalitarian government.”
Preeeeettttty similar
I’ve read this article. And I’m still not going to see Hunger Games because I saw Battle Royale already.
A movie about a dystopian future with a game in which kids have to die… PG-13? That’s the same rating as “The Mummy” with Brendan Frasier!
It’s funny how this idiot denounces people who say that they’ve seen Battle Royale so they won’t see Hunger Games, when there are idiots like him who think they’re cooler than other people because they’ve read the book that they get so butthurt when people don’t want to see that piece of shit ripoff turned to a movie. By the way, I saw the movie. It was boring as shit. lol.
Wow, one of the very few instances where uproxx is filled with a fuckton of comments.. Kudos sons, you’ve outdone yourselves!
The Kommentariat broke 1000+ comments once…and crashed uproxx!! woohoo us!
I was one of those saying THG = BR, but that was before reading THG.
When I finally read it, I found out they are VERY different (besides the bit about kids fighting to the death).
Yeah besides the centerpiece of the story–game show with teenage kids fighting to the death–they are completely different.
I’m not reading these comments because they are a rip-off of the tweets mentioned in the article.
*Slow clap*
Nice…now I KNOW not to watch the crappy Hollywood version of Battle Royale…Thanks man
I used to like a metal song from my country, until someone pointed out it was a Metallica rip off, and listened to the original. And I felt like such a fool. So I understand that HG fans are upset, having read the books and anticipating the movie. It has been spoiled for them to varying degrees, coming to terms that is plain plagiarism. When they get to watch BR, because of the hype. They will probably feel what I felt, when listening to Metallica’s original song, a feeling of being ripped off.
So a song from your country was a copy of another song, so everything must be a knockoff, that’s your logic right?
Remember, HG fans were freaking out about the movie in part because of the original plot. And now they have gradually become aware from being similar, to being a straight rip off, and eventually, after watching BR, to being a bad rip off.
I barely know anything about Battle Royale, but in HG the story wasn’t what drew me in so much as the pacing and the complex characters. HG was based off elements of Greek mythology. Star Wars was based off of the history of the Roman Empire, with elements from other science fiction writers thrown in. And Metallica didn’t invent the style of music they play; they could embrace influences from other music without being percieved as ripoffs. Everything is influenced by something, and I don’t know who told you that HG was plagiarized, but a) I’ll assume that you didn’t come to that conclusion yourself, and b) you should look up what plagiarism actually means sometime. Bottom line, people will look for any excuse to hate on something, especially something that is starting to become popular.
Man, I lost patience just trying to see if anyone else had come up with the same thought as me, so I’ll just throw it out there myself.. Thunderdome! Seriously, anybody else see how both movies/ novels could have borrowed the whole death match thing? Or the fact that almost all books/ movies/ hell even music borrow or share ideas with each other. I probably had a point to this but whatever. Just keep saying the same thing the guy before you said, but get pissed when someone else does. Sheesh.
Never seen Battle Royal, but enjoyed the Hunger Games. But the real comparison is Everything like Hunger Games is a direct comparison to Theseus and the Minotaur of ancient Greek Mythology. They are all the same story, just a different version, who cares, everything that has been done, has been done hundreds and thousands of years ago, this one just with a modern twist.
I feel sorry for people who dismiss something solely for the fact that it reminds them of something else. If you look at any property with a generalized enough perspective, then you can easily find something to compare it to. A lot of stories are similar to other stories, but their execution is just as important as those stories. My point: similarities in stories do not in themselves make those stories ripoffs, and calling something a ripoff of something else without actually having experienced both properties doesn’t make you smarter than anyone else; it makes you close-minded.
Hating on the people who hate on Hunger Games for plagiarizing directly from Battle Royale? You’re so meta, Josh Kurp.
I’ve seen both, Battle Royale few years before Hunger Games was soup in her daddys nut sack. I honestly liked Hunger Games book better.
Josh Kurp, you mad bro?
Should we not focus so much on the similarities to Battle Royale and acknowledge all the the other sources this story rips off. Is that the problem?
I like stories about dystopian society game shows where the contestants fight to the death as much as anybody. But it’s still fun to take jabs at THG because of the monumental hype following about it like it is some new undiscovered concept.
I’m sure every guy who wrote one of these stories is now kicking themselves for not grabbing onto a chick empowerment angle, so they would be the ones swimming in cash.
The point isn’t that they’re wrong to make the comparison; the point is, who gives a fuck. These people clearly think they’re smart to connect those two dots, as if Koushun Takami was the original auteur of that extremely basic plot. They deserve a bit of ridicule.
By the way, the proper spelling is, “U mad bro?” for future reference.
How about a book about the USA tyrant Ruler Ben Bernake forcing retired American who saved a lot of money to Now Kill for food or go broke .
The evil tyrant ben will stop at nothing . Ben will use all his power to starve the retired into compliance for his killing game.
Ben will hold the college education and their families whole future in his hand
thumbs up or thumbs down on The American savings interest rates.
If we do not comply rate will never go up and our families will never get the education and medical assistance we saved so long and so hard for.
Its Kill so your kids will have a better tomorrow or there will be no tomorrow.
Sounds like a good book to bad its not fiction .
If Federal reserve chairman Ben Bernarke keeps fucken with the American savings interest rates on us retired Savers.
I am going to have to sit out on the highway with a sign .
Will kill for food.
That’s no game and it’s the only animal you don’t need a license to kill so its all profit
Don’t forget it’s also a rip-off of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”!
Personally, I enjoy both stories for different reasons. With THG, I feel like I’m getting in touch with my inner tween. Everything is so navel gaze-y and emotional. With BR, you’re more removed from the kids’ emotional outbursts, so you can laugh at them while they gossip about who’s getting their period, who has a crush on someone, who still looks cool, etc. And the fact that the BR kids are thrown into the games wearing school uniforms is just awesome.
I think its less a comment about the movie being remade but the fact that Hunger Games is a completely Plagiarized book. Susan Collins keeps getting praised for a story that would get any writing student expelled from school for blatant plagiarism. its not a matter of being too hip for the room its a matter of not giving due credit and due punishment for lazy publishing and writing.
Why should we, HG is a complete rip, But it seems that’s what you do when you want a hit these days, you rip off the original and re-write it in your own way and then when people point out that you ripped the original off you pretend you’ve never even heard of the original. “Battle…What?, No, never heard of it…” As SB just says it’s just lazy and I hope the original author sues
Well, I will start off by saying I have read Battle Royale and the whole Hunger Games trilogy. I hate the Hunger Games not only because it ripped off Battle Royale but because it’s a piece of shit excuse for dystopian literature. It’s too “PG-13″ making it unrealistic given the situation, the emotions are shallow and don’t get across to the audience, the characters a bland and irritating, the writing style is simplistic, immature and overall crappy, and, worst of all, it claims to be oh-so deep and meaningful when in reality it sacrifices these deeper themes to instead focus on the horribly predictable and quasi-Twilight love triangle between Katniss, Peeta and Gale. It’s all in execution. The Battle Royale BOOK (the movies are a whole different story) and Hunger Games trilogy have the same great premise, but while Battle Royale is wonderfully written, Hunger Games is almost as bad as Twilight.
Hahaha that lying bitch suzanne colins said she had never even heard of battle royale. Its the same fuckin plot with different settings… If you arent blind enough to see a preteen cash cow of a p.o.s. for what it is, have fun with that. All I see is 10 tweets from people with half a brain.
Not a rip-off: Minor one or two similarities.
Rip-off: Many Major similarities in plot. Can not be hidden by additional elaborate details.
Well, there are 9 major similarities in Plot between the Hunger Games and Battle Royale. If you’re not convinced yet, read this and then decide for yourself.
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#1 the title of this article should be called Dear Internet STOP denying the Hunger games is a rip off of Battle Royale because you know it is
#2 saying that hunger games is not a rip off of battle royale is like saying jesus isnt a rip off of many mediterranean gods he is and whether you want to accept it or not is your problem but either way you know its true and your just deluding yourself
face it fanboys hunger games IS a rip off whether you like it or not or accept it or not it is done deal case closed.
Now I personally have read the battle royale novel and manga and watched the movie same applies to the hunger games and YES IT IS A RIP OFF A BLATANT RIP OFF.no ones gets these exact ideas and details from “flipping through tv then coming across the war in iraq” WHAT IN THE FUCK does the war in iraq have to do with a dystopia? because iraq is not a dystopia its a land waste
TOO many similarities everything about the series is a rip off the cave scene the players who are there to kill, past players re entering the games the neck devices the constant moving the last 2 contestants living boy and girl do I need to say more? because I can and will
typical ignorant americans that cannot watch something outside there own country or even outside the main stream