The Hunger Games vs. The Maze Runner

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The dystopian genre has been used for many decades and has grown very popular in the movie industry, becoming an all-time favorite genre. Since the age of eight years old when my father introduced me to dystopian movies, I have loved them, and as I grew older, I started to also read the books of my favorite movie adaptations. The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner have different effects on their audiences because of their financial success, soundtracks, and meanings. And it is important to differentiate them, both movies have different approaches to the dystopian genre and their stories are different, so that watchers can pick which movie is more to their interest.

Financial success 

The Hunger Games movie came out in 2012, four years after the book was published. There was a huge rise in profit after the movie came out because hundreds of people were anxiously waiting for the movie adaptation of an amazing dystopian book. In Ryan Scott’s article, "10 Years Ago, The Best Bang-For-Buck Box Office Hit Of The YA Craze Arrived” it breaks down many aspects of how The Maze Runner movie was made as well as the financial aspects of the movie and its success while also mentioning other dystopian favorites. "In 2012, ‘The Hunger Games’ hit it big pulling in $678 million worldwide, paving the way for a $3 billion franchise that would unfold in the ensuing years” (Scott). The Hunger Games had huge financial success which shows how appreciated the movie is by its specific audience.

The Maze Runner movie came out two years after The Hunger Games in 2014 which is five years after the book was published. The Maze Runner also had a fortunate rise in profit. “All told, ‘The Maze Runner’ pulled in $102.4 million domestically to go with an outsized $245.8 million overseas for a grand total of $348.3 million worldwide” (Scott). The Maze Runner made a very large profit, though not as much as The Hunger Games, and became an adored movie by its many fans who made this movie and its franchise extremely popular, even though it had a low budget it still rose in profit and popularity.

Soundtrack of The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games movie has various moments where music is the center such as emotional, and hopeful moments.

When Rue, a 12-year-old tribute gets struck with a spear, she falls and is comforted by Katniss, she then asks Katniss to sing her a song as her dying wish. Katniss begins to sing the song “Deep in the Meadow”.This song is a lullaby that Katniss used to sing to her sister and while she sings it to rue the mockingjays start to mimic the melody making it echo in the forest, rue loved music and this was the best way to have let her go. This was one of the saddest moments in The Hunger Games movie and the soundtrack contributed heavily to that.

There are two moments that showed survival and eeriness through the soundtrack and the movie scenes. In the end when Katniss and Peeta are being crowned by President Snow although face-to-face by their biggest enemy there is still a sense of survival which is credited to the soundtrack. In the background of the crowning there is a melody of survival, not of victory but survival, showcasing how much the two tributes had to go through and how they fought. Another moment would be when the canons go off and the 74th Hunger Games begin, amidst the bloodbath and the tributes killing each other there is this quiet and ringing sound which causes discomfort and is very eerie.

The Hunger Games uses its soundtrack to attract its watchers by using more melodic, emotional, and suspenseful music. The soundtrack is specifically made based on those themes to attract people who love a somber and also delightful story that has moments for people to digest the details but also moments to take a grand sigh of relief.

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Soundtrack of The Maze Runner

There are also some moments where music plays a big role in the atmosphere in The Maze Runner movie such as scary, powerful, and adventurous moments.

When both Minho and Thomas get stuck in the maze with the deadly grievers there is a moment where a griever is chasing them. In the background of this scene there is a melody that builds up and turns into a haunting and alarming rhythm, this song showcases moments of uncertainty but also moments ,when Thomas finally gets away, of triumph. It is a song from the soundtrack that perfectly shows how the grievers represent a mystery and how the grievers haunt the gladers, the people that are stuck in the maze, because it is unknown to them how grievers look or act and it makes the idea of them even more haunting.

Another moment that the soundtrack takes over is when Thomas becomes a runner and goes back in the maze to explore it. The background music captivates the risky adventure and moments of discovery. At this moment he is also trying to prove that he can be a runner. Thomas is also hoping to prove that he can help others escape the maze, in the background the soundtrack does a very good job at showing how Thomas is fighting for approval. By playing a very grand classical composition that has a dark part because of the dangers the maze offers.

The Maze Runner has a different approach, though still through the soundtrack it has different themes such as action and power while still bringing a bit of haunting to reach its audiences. The Maze Runner’s soundtrack is made to attract people who love a meaningful story but still a bit of action and adventure where there are moments that people are holding their breaths but there are also moments where people are cheering for the character to keep fighting.

The different meanings behind The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games Movies

The Hunger Games:

The Hunger Games has a very important meaning behind it of rebellion.

The Hunger Games shows many examples of rebellion and the prime example of this is the character Katniss. Katniss is named the symbol for the district's rebellion. In the 74th Hunger Games Katniss volunteered as tribute because the person who was originally called to be the female tribute was her sister, this put the districts in absolute shock because no one had ever volunteered as tribute in District 12. That was the first time the districts started watching her and the capitol, during The Hunger Games she wore a mockingjay pin which is a mix of a jabberjay, a product of the capital to spy on enemies, and a mockingbird. After the capitol didn't want the jabberjays they let them go and they mated with mockingjays which made it so the bird would now mimic songs instead of phrases, which is seen as a huge rebellious act and President Snow despised mockingjays. At the end of the 74th hunger games there was only Peeta and Katniss left and it was agreed upon that there could be two winners but when the announcer said that the rule was not allowed anymore. Katniss brought out poisonous berries and gave Peeta some and in a point to rebel they gestured that they would both eat them and the capitol would have no winner, this made it so the announcer stopped them and announced them both as the winners. This act made President Snow extremely upset because this was an act of rebellion against his rules. To worsen the situation the game maker allowed it which then started rumors of rebellion among the districts.

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The Maze Runner:

The Maze Runner has some very important meanings behind it.The most common themes being strength and identity.

The Maze Runner shows through the characters how losing your identity can affect people. Each time the box of resources came up, so did a new person that would join the gladers. It is explained in the movie that when a glader first woke up from being in the box they lost all memory of their past self. The only aspect of themselves that they could have is their name which didn't come back to them until a few days after, this affected the gladers extremely because they had no idea of what was happening in the outside world with the deadly disease. Later on it is discovered that Thomas was actually one of the people who were testing the gladers meaning that he was a part of WICKED and it absolutely shocked him, he was faced with reality and didn't know how to react. This huge part of his identity being taken away changed his perspective and made it so he would be against WICKED and help his fellow gladers escape.

The Maze Runner shows the different types of strengths people have throughout the movie through the characters and how everyone’s different strengths are important. In the maze there is a group of gladers who are called the runners. Their major strength is being able to run very fast, they are picked between the gladers because of their strength. Their job is to run through the maze when it opens and memorize the maze so that they can find a way out. There is also the leader of the glade which is Alby, he is known for his leadership and because he is always looking out for the gladers and making sure that there are rules that everyone follows in order for them to stay alive. Another character that showed great strength was Newt. He was a great example of optimism. He was always there for Thomas from the beginning when he was new, and even when people never approached Thomas Newt did. Newt also always gave the best words of encouragement to the gladers even when they were going through hard times. Newt was a great example of how optimism can make a huge difference.

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The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner are both great movies and have made their own stance in the world. They have both affected their audiences in their own ways and though different they still have many similarities. The Hunger Games represents a story of rebellion and hopefulness while The Maze Runner represents a story of adventurousness and powerfulness. They have both proved to be well respected movies and cater to their own specific audiences.

By: Jennifer Leyva Vargas

Work Cited

Scott, Ryan. “10 Years Ago, the Best Bang-for-Buck Box Office Hit of the Ya Craze Arrived.” SlashFilm, SlashFilm, 11 Dec. 2025, www.slashfilm.com/1664620/the-maze-runner-box-office-hit-ya-craze-10-years-ago/.