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Battle Royale Details

2000 Certificate 18
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 21,745 members

Japan at the start of the new millennium. The country is in a state of chaos, violence by rebellious teenagers in schools is completely out of control. The government hits back with a new law: every year a school class picked at random will be cast away on a desert island to fight it out among themselves. The rules are simple: .. Read more

Starring Fujiwara Tatsuya, Maeda Aki, Yamamoto Taro, Takeshi Kitano
Director Kinji Fukasaku
Genres Action/Adventure, Thriller, World Cinema

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Battle Royale cover art

Battle Royale

Japan at the start of the new millennium. The country is in a state of chaos, violence by rebellious teenagers in schools is completely out of control. The government hits back with a new law: every year a school class picked at random will be cast away on a desert island to fight it out among themselves. The rules are simple: it lasts three days, everyone gets water, food and a weapon and only one may survive. Then a class on a school trip is kidnapped. When they wake up, angry teacher Kitano tells them that the collar around their necks monitors their position and can be caused to explode remotely at any moment.

Starring Fujiwara Tatsuya, Maeda Aki, Yamamoto Taro, Takeshi Kitano
Director Kinji Fukasaku
Studio PALISADES TARTAN
Run time DVD: 1 hr 57 mins
Certificate Certificate 18
Genres Action/Adventure, Thriller, World Cinema
Language DVD: Japanese
Subtitles DVD: English
Released DVD: 23 Sep 2002
Production year: 2000
Format DVD

Battle Royale (2000)

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    In Kinji Fukasaku's shocking, apocalyptic film, Japan is on the brink of collapse. The nation's youth have bec...

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  • Critics' reviews of Battle Royale

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  • 2 stars out of 4

    Bracing, violent, blackly humorous satire on the bleaker aspects of modern society that manages to be more than merely an excuse for a killing spree.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
    • Posted 02 Mar 2006

  • Most helpful member's review of Battle Royale

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  • 72 out of 79 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Ah, It Takes Me Back...

    Battle Royale = The Running Man + Lord of the Flies. In Japan.

    Every year a class of schoolkids is chosen at random, landed on an island and told to get on with killing one another until there's only one of them left. Want to team up? Fine, but if at the end of three days there's more than one of you alive you all die by way of a personal exploding collar.

    I liked this film. I liked the basic premise, the story, the occasional red fountain, and the interesting non-glitzy way that human relationships are portrayed under one of the most immense (albeit far-fetched) pressures imaginable. On more than one occasion I found my mind stretching back to my schooldays and how I would have dealt with some of my classmates if I'd have found myself in this situation; lucky for a few of them that this is just a movie!

    BR has two main flaws. Firstly, much of the action is in the dark, so scenes that were probably perfectly visible in a cinema are just stretches of black with glints of light and a soundtrack when viewed on a TV screen.

    Secondly, the film starts off with too many characters. (42 classmates in all.) It's never quite obvious which of them you're supposed to be following, and as a result gets a little bit jumbled. Credit is due to the writer/s for bestowing personalities upon their cannon fodder, but once you've seen one profession and painful rejection of unrequited adolescent love, that's enough to get the gist: After three or four times, what was once sweet quickly becomes cloying.

    I haven't read it, but I'd guess that this wealth of characters is a symptom of the film being faithful to the book it is based on. But there simply isn't enough room in a movie like this for so many players.

    That said, just go with the flow and it soon straightens out. You'll enjoy BR much more if you don't try to concentrate too hard on where everyone is at any given moment.

    Well acted and well shot, ('scuse the pun,) BR is a movie that any fan of Asian cinema should see. However, I don't think there's enough here to coax your average moviegoing subtitle-o-phobe to sit down and concentrate for 109 minutes.

    • RJTaylor
      • RJTaylor from Manchester
      • Posted 22 Aug 2005 22:19

  • Most recent members' review of Battle Royale

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  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Fabulous! *****

    Take one good helping of The Running Man, blend in a generous amount of Lord of the Flies and mix it with some wonderful oriental spice and you have got one hell of a movie. If you are a fan of 'Asian Extreme' movies this will be a hit with you for sure! Gripping and Graphic stuff (this is not for the squeamish). I cant recommend it enough.

      • Paul from Minehead, Somerset
      • Posted 17 Mar 2006 unknown

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Rating breakdown

21,745 Member ratings
  • 100
3,670
  • 90
2,878
  • 80
4,844
  • 70
3,759
  • 60
2,818
  • 50
1,529
  • 40
852
  • 30
573
  • 20
540
  • 10
282

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      • Japan at the start of the new millennium. The country is in a state of chaos, violence by rebellious teenagers in schools is completely out of control. The government hits back with a new law: every ...