Saturday, May 7, 2011

Battle Royale

Battle Royale (2000)
Action | Drama | Thriller

In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.



This is considered the apex of Japanese "shock" cinema, but this benefits from being based on a novel, and directed by an experienced and talented director Kinji Fukasaku. Fukasaku was old and near death when he decided to direct this, what inspired the decision was that Kinji was in a boarding school during the breakout of World War 2, and said he related to the book because he remembered, being abandoned by the adult staff, hiding in ruins beneath the corpses of other children. I'm adding this because a story which seems so fantastic to a lot of people, can be poignant and real to those with different experiences. That being said...holy s*&t! Holy s*&t was my first thought as I watched this movie, it was Lord Of The Flies, with arbitrary weapons and explosive collars. Between all the action is an immensely dark sense of humor (look out of the Godardesque in-titles), expressed through the children's immaturity and inability to comprehend the seriousness of their situation. Between the bullets there still 14 year olds, interested in crushes and clicks, which adds helpful drama and comedy to the constant mayhem.

The shock of the premise gives way pretty early on to one well developed scene after the next, as the body count rises. Takeshi Kitano, plays the teacher master-minding the project, and plays one of the best casual villains to ever grace a screen.

Not a movie for everyone, talks of the American remake were put on hold after the Virginia Tech shootings, and it's unlikely the mainstream of the states would accept a movie like this anyway. Highly competitive schools and high suicide rate, make movies like this and "Suicide Club" major hits in Japan and over seas, where the context makes more sense I guess. Anyway, believe the hype, if you get a chance see it.

I'd give the movie a 8/10


Have you seen it? If so, what's your opinion?

46 comments:

  1. I watched this a few years ago and Ive also seen Battle Royale 2. Excellent movies and 8/10 for me as well. following.

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  2. that one sounds like a kind of movie i could like. I will watch it as soon as possible,...

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  3. I watched it and enjoyed it even though it wasn't my usual type of film.

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  4. battle royale is a must watch movie !

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  5. dont knew this one - will watch it these days

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  6. I havent seen this movie before, ill look into it

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  7. haven't seen it but looks pretty awesome. i might check it out this weekend!

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  8. Never heard of it before, I'll check it out thanks.

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  9. Never seen this in theaters yet

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  10. This is a crazy movie. Just imagine being trapped on an island and the only way to live is kill everyone else on the island... and you're not even 18. That's some twisted stuff.... ><

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  11. I might see this movie after this comment

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  12. i've heard about it but i never watched it.. i might do :3

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  13. Check it out tonight

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  14. I think there is a pc game under that name..hmmm...If you give it an 8, I gotta watch it..tx

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  15. i'm reading the manga, just awesome!

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  16. Almost reminds me of the new game Homefront (except that was north korea) - This does look quite badass though!

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  17. Another classic, hyper-gore fest piece of work from Japan.

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  18. Definitely have to look into this.

    +followed

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  19. Gosh I haven't seen this either.

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  20. Ive seen this movie 2 times now, it's so fucking nice! Japanese people have really strange and cool movies :D

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  21. The review sounds good, must be a good movie

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  22. I have seen it, its really good

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  23. One of my favourite movies of all time.

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  24. Looks interesting, although its not really my sort of movie. Might look into it, anyway. Thanks for the review!

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  25. Great movie. Did you know this is Tarantino's favorite movie?

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  26. Looks cool, although its not really my kind of movie. Might look into it anyway, thanks for the review!

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  27. This movie sounds like it might be worth a shot. I'll have to look into it further. Thanks for the lead.

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  28. Nice background to the story. I love the book so much. The movie didn't really cut it for me though. But the sequel is much more like the book as far as character development goes, and it therefore much better. I'll compare the two in my blog pretty soon

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  29. First time i hear about this movie to be honest, might have to check it out first before i rate it

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  30. It looks a little disturbing..

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  31. Never seen it, but at that score I'll definitely check it out!

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  32. Yeah, ill have to look at few other reviews before I pick this one up.

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  33. Wow it seems really intresting.

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  34. Nice review! Battle Royale is a must watch!

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  35. i rmember seeing this movie at my friends movie. this movie was one of the most awesome.

    i recommend you watch oldboy

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  36. Found the book in a bookstore once, read the intro, and put it down. I actually just COULDN'T remember the name of the book, until now. Thanks a lot! So yeah, I'll read the book and then I might watch the movie.

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  37. It's an amazing movie, I remember watching it years ago and being awestruck, I watched it several times the next few days just to get to grips with it.

    AMAZING. MUST SEE.

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  38. This was such a good movie! I loved the crap out of it.

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  39. I enjoyed this movie, and I enjoyed reading your review.

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  40. Wow! I almost forgot about this movie.

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  41. It's so trashy, it's kind of cool again.

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