10 Movies That Definitely "Influenced" The Hunger Games

1. Battle Royale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0p1t-dC7Ko Dystopian Future: Yes Reality TV Aspects: Sort Of Battle Arena: Yes Captive Fighters: Yes Children As Fighters: Yes Could the top choice really be anything else? The similarities between Battle Royale and The Hunger Games are so glaring that many people accused Suzanne Collins of completely ripping Battle Royale off, despite her protestations that she had never heard of it when she wrote her bestselling series. Battle Royale has the dystopian future setting and - more importantly - is the only film on this list where children are participants in the games. It appears that the vast majority of them are chosen at random - outside of the past contestants that may have volunteered - and the game takes place on an island where each child is monitored. Announcements are made upon death and the participants have a limited amount of time to be the last one standing. Oh, and every so often a particular zone in the island will become a kill-zone that causes the necklaces around the participants necks to blow up in much the same way as different areas of the arena in The Hunger Games throw deathly threats at people unfortunate enough to be caught in them. So...yeah. Pretty similar in anyone's book. Battle Royale is a must-watch for anybody who enjoys The Hunger Games - though it is far more graphic than the PG-13 violence shown in the latter film - and it is sure to leave you doubting the validity of Collins' claim that she had never heard of it by the time the film concludes. Thankfully, there are enough stylistic and thematic differences to make both a worthy watch, with Battle Royale's game focusing more on punishment of the children rather than entertainment for the masses, in addition to containing a darkly humourous slant that is missing from The Hunger Games.