25 book adaptations that surprisingly lived up to the books they’re based on

The Hunger Games

Of all of the adaptations based on young adult novels, The Hunger Games is definitely one of the most successful ones. Based on Suzanne Collins’ bestselling dystopian trilogy, the four films follow Katniss Everdeen as she volunteers to fight to the death in a televised event called the Hunger Games, the only alternative to watching her sister be thrown into the Games instead.

But things in Panem begin to change after Katniss volunteers in place of her sister, and the series soon becomes a story about a political uprising. The films capture Katniss’ struggle to survive as well as Collins’ books do, with Jennifer Lawrence’s stellar acting as an added bonus.

All four Hunger Games films tackle the serious subjects of Collins’ novels, and they do so in a way that makes it easy to empathize with the large cast of characters. Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth’s Gale Hawthorne both live up to their book counterparts, and Woody Harrelson makes for the perfect Haymitch Abernathy.

The Hunger Games films also don’t hold back when it comes to the action scenes, nor do they shy away from the more difficult moments the book addresses. In fact, the films more than do Rue’s death justice, and they feature a number of suspenseful action sequences, both during the Hunger Games and during the districts’ uprising against the Capitol.

And beyond adding development to certain characters and subplots, the Hunger Games films rarely make changes to Collins’ work. The story remains true to the books, right up to the epilogue, which shows what becomes of our characters following the war. The Hunger Games movies are a testament to how modern film adaptations should be done, and we can only hope more filmmakers take note.