With the release of the third and final installment of the Hunger Games series, the archery industry is continuing to blossom. Over the last half decade, archery has seen strong growth, particularly within the women and youth segments. A key driver of this has been the proliferation of
bows / crossbows used by main characters in feature films and shows such as Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, Arrow and Walking Dead.
In the final Hunger Games movies, the Savannah, a hand-crafted traditional bow by Martin Archery’s Damon Howatt line, is being used by Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence). Lance Irving, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Martin Archery, says the bow is lightweight, easy to use and has the right look and feel for the blockbuster hit.
Martin became involved with the movie when the prop house called looking for quality traditional bows. The Company sent them a few including an extremely light draw-weight and customized Savannah (~18 lbs). The appeal of the light poundage was the ability for the prop shop to short-string the bow in order to use the lighter limbs to create different aesthetics. In many parts of the movie, viewers will see the bow having a very long brace height which helps the bow achieve an image of a recurve / longbow hybrid.
“We are extremely honored to have one of our most popular traditional bows selected by the ‘Hunger Games’ team. From what we understand, they wanted to go for a different look and feel as well as have Ms. Lawrence’s input from a shootability standpoint in the final installment of the movie and our Savannah checked all the boxes,” stated Irving.
The Savannah is a 62″ AMO longbow with a reflex / deflex design. This design characteristic provides the unique appearance in the movie, while still providing an outstanding shooting bow. Bubinga wood with a mix of maple highlights comprises the riser and a combination of bubinga and zebrawood provides quick and responsive limbs.
This is not the first time a Martin Archery bow has been used on a big stage. A Damon Howatt Hunter was used to help light the Olympic torch at the 1992 Barcelona games. Additionally, Martin Archery bows have been used in films and shows such as Rambo IV, Dukes of Hazzard and Killing Season.
“Martin is happy to help contribute to the ‘Hunger Games’ series and hopes that the continued featuring of bows in popular culture will drive further growth in the archery industry by drawing people of all ages and from all demographics to this great sport,” concluded Irving.
Disclaimer: The Savannah used in the movie is significantly short-strung. Martin Archery recommends using the standard string length to safely achieve maximum efficiency and performance.