'Hunger Games' first 2012 blockbuster out on DVD

LOS ANGELES -- Is Jennifer Lawrence the Katniss Everdeen envisioned in Suzanne Collins' novel The Hunger Games? Apparently fans -- or at least the vast majority of them -- thought so. The first film in the series, out on DVD Saturday, took in some $683.8 million worldwide at the box office.

But I think the jury is out for some of us less initiated into the story of the teen heroine in a postapocalyptic world. Don't get me wrong, Lawrence is a terrific young actress, but it takes awhile to see her as an action figure in this movie from Gary Ross.

It's even hard to see that the director of Pleasantville and Seabiscuit had any real affinity for the material. The Hunger Games seems like a combination of a number of familiar stories, from movies like The Running Man (a televised game of survival) and the Japanese cult favorite Battle Royale (teens forced to battle on an island), to novels like Orson Scott Card's sci-fi Ender's Game (where children are trained to battle aliens as if playing video games) and William Golding's classic Lord of the Flies.

SNIPPETS: 'Full Metal Jacket'

The Hunger Games is about a future dystopian society in which a few wealthy overlords dressed like they came out of a bad Andy Warhol party rule over everyone else. Because the poor dared to rebel once in the past, each year a lottery is held in which two teens from each of 12 districts are selected. They are then trained in combat as the nation watches. Their stories are told like they are Olympic athletes, except that they are going to fight to the death in a controlled wilderness until only one of them is left alive.

None of this sits well with Katniss, who volunteers for the death trap when her younger sister is chosen.

No matter what you think of the concept, The Hunger Games has all the elements for an exciting picture, and occasionally it is. The best action scenes, however, were rumored to have been shot by Steven Soderbergh, a friend of Ross, who worked as a second-unit director on the film for a couple of days as a favor. If anyone knows for sure he or she is not saying, but a couple of the scenes definitely pop compared to the rest of the film.

The story also gave the filmmakers a chance to keep things interesting in the cast by mixing some young stars -- Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth -- with veterans such as Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Wes Bentley, and Elizabeth Banks, who even as a clueless mistress of ceremonies is a welcome addition.

The Hunger Games might not be great art, but at least it has gotten kids and some adults reading.

Ross was set to make the second movie, Catching Fire, but -- for whatever reasons -- left the project.

Francis Lawrence (Water for Elephants) is taking over for round two. Maybe next time there will be a little more spark.

In the meantime, the DVD includes a number of extras about the Hunger Games world, including a conversation between Ross and film critic Elvis Mitchell.

Catching up with 'Dexter'

The sixth season of Dexter, which became available on DVD Tuesday, ended with a zinger, but it wasn't about the mystery involving TV's favorite serial killer but of a personal nature.

This time the Miami police, where Dexter (Michael C. Hall) works as a blood-splatter specialist, are on the trail of the Doomsday Killers, who seek to bring about the end of the world through killings based on the Book of Revelation. That leads Dex to Brother Sam (Mos Def), a former drug addict and murderer who repented and became a minister.

At first, Dex thinks the ex-con might be the killer, but he becomes interested in his spiritual side and begins questioning his own life.

Dex, as we know, hasn't stopped killing (he only slays other killers), but the series is able to keep playing with his dilemma in interesting ways and has set up next season, which premieres Sept. 30 on Showtime, as possibly its best yet.