Battle Royale (2002)

Ninth grade students are taken to a small isolated island with a map, food and various arms. They have to fight each other three days long until the last one remains and are forced to wear a special collar which will explode when they break a rule. (Summary written by Killer-40) Product Description

I wish there was a zero star...

This movie started off being interesting, but in the last half hour it fell apart. I submit that the reviewers who left comments comparing this movie to 1984 and Brave New World were probably on acid when they watched this trash. March 21, 2008

read the manga

After reading the manga, I was expecting a little bit more. A lot more! But this is okay, I guess. There is just a lot more bang for your buck with the manga June 9, 2007

Very Good Movie!

Rated it only 4 of 5 because -

1. Subtitles used. I would rather have a dubbed version.
2. Stereotypes. A few were a bit over the top.

Excellent story and a very good movie IF you can overlook these two minor complaints. Would I buy the movie again knowing what I know now ? YES! April 9, 2007

The best way to select future leaders

That old silent film is of course a classic. It comes from the German school of horror films in the 1920s. It is an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, but it takes liberties with the original. It is situated in Bremen and not in London. His girlfriend or wife is quite rightly Mina. Rensfield is the boss of the real estate agency. The trip to Dracula's castle is standard. Dracula's voyage to Bremen is also very standard. The real change comes at the end when Mina sacrifices herself by giving herself to Dracula to keep him active up to after the cock crows. Then he dies and everyone is saved. Naive rewriting of the ending into some palatable cathartic compensation of the horror of life : salvation is possible and escape is a real eventuality. But it is also a very Christian ending in a way, or isn't it Jewish after all ? The woman sacrificing herself for the sake of the social group that is menaced by Dracula. And this sacrifice is epiphanic since it brings salvation. This fantastic and horror period in the German cinema seems to be longing for a happy ending, just as if the reality of Germany then was so bleak that happiness could only be a dream and a consolation or a solace the cinema could propose to people. The film though is admirable by the quality of the pictures and the shooting. A black and white film on such a subject could easily become drab, which it never does. The pictures are always innovative in a way or another with a contrast or a composition that makes the poor technique of the days quite able to translate complex situations. The acting of these silent actors is also quite admirable in the body language they use that is never overdone which would make it grotesque. It is just expressive enough to mean what it is supposed to mean without any negative second level reading.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Paris Dauphine & University of Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne
February 22, 2007

A little controversy is always good....

Battle Royale is a film that has gained an enormous following despite the fact that it was never released in most of the world. It was in fact the controversy created by it that helped to make it sought after by some. So what is the basis for this controversy and what is really so bad about a movie that is as great work of political satire as there is out there? Well, read on to find out.

Battle Royale takes place in Japan during a time in which the insolence and lack of motivation of the populous has driven the government into action. In order to stop the development of so many good-for-nothing people in society, the BR (Battle Royale) Act was passed. Essentially the act is used as a way to motivate students and weed out the weak from the strong and as such make society more productive. The way it goes about this however is a bit out of the ordinary. Once a year, a ninth grade class is randomly selected to participate. In the instance shown by the movie a class leaves to go on a field trip and along the way become drugged and shipped to an island where the "event" will take place. The event being a three day long battle royale in which only one person is allowed to come away alive or else everyone will be killed. Putting friend against friend, how do the children respond to the order they have been given. Supplied with weapons and provisions, can they really turn against the others and kill them in cold blood, or is there anyway that trust can be found amongst the others?

The cast does an amazing job of portraying the twisted emotions that are felt within the students and even their former teacher (played wonderfully by Takeshi Kitano) who is put in charge of overseeing the entire affair. It is a profound look into the human psyche as well as a look at the overbearing opressive that the government is capable of holding over its people if not kept in check.

There really is no reason that the movie has been unable to be released in places such as America, but it is pretty obvious that with all of the over the top violence that takes place all involving ninth graders, it would definately come under fire should it ever be widely released. It is a movie that will both shock and awe viewers a like, and despite how shocked one may be they can't help but feel the overall power and message of the movie. It is truly one of film-makings most profound creations in recent decades and underneath all the shock and controversy, there is a profound message to be seen that is as true as any other. Highly recommended. September 12, 2006

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