Is The Hunger Games overrated compared to other death match films? Is it a poor man’s Battle Royale, or does it have much more to offer than meets the eye?

The boys were not particularly excited to watch this one. Coming from the ‘young adult’ genre, it easily gets lumped together with other films from the late 2000s, and early 2010s, like Twilight but is that fair?

Tobias loved it so much that he watched all the sequels and checked the book out of the library! (Though he still maintains that there are better death match films.) The world-building is good, and while it treads similar territory to other death match films, the survivalist elements and a critique of talent shows like American Idol—both popular at the time—help it stand out as something unique.

This was supposed to be our fourth and final Death Match episode, but we’re all over the place at the moment and we’ve mixed up a few of our ‘months,’ or ‘seasons’ this year. Craig calls it Death Match summer although it’s now coming out in October… Stay tuned for The Running Man and Battle Royale!

Enjoy!

Follow us on social media:

• X: @FilmShrapnel
• TikTok: @filmshrapnel
• Instagram: @filmshrapnel
• YouTube: @FilmShrapnel