Battle Royale

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Film Description

In Fukasaku's controversial comment on the competitive Japanese educational system, a class of high school students are taken to a desert island and forced to kill each other until only one remains. A shocking portrayal of a society in ruins. Described by the Guardian as 'a cross between "Clockwork Orange" and "Lord Of The Flies".' A must.

Film Information

DVD Extras

Extended version with extra footage and new ending; Poster art collector's card; 4 page booklet; 'Making-of Battle Royale' featurette; Battle Royale press conference; Instructional video: Birthday version; Audition and rehearsal footage; Special Effects comparison featurette; Tokyo International Film Festival 2000; Battle Royale documentary; Basketball scene rehearals; Behind the scenes featurette; Filming on set; Theatrical Trailer; TV Spot; Tarantino TV Spot; Director's Statement; On-screen filmographies.

Technical Details

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Reviews & Articles

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Review by D Hunter on 2nd February 2002

Based on the cult book which became a gigantic success in Japan, Kinji Fukasaku brings a view of the future to the fore - teenage rebellion has become so crippling that the government implements some fairly radical policies to cope. Namely, that every so often a randomly selected class of school kids should be kidnapped en masse and let loose on a remote island. The kids are given a weapon each (of varying usefulness) and the simple objective of being the only one left alive after 72 hours.
The book's success indicates that it struck a deep chord in Japan. I can only assume - having not read the book - that the film has dropped the majority of substance extraneous to the core plot, as what's left isn't exactly deep social commentary. What it is, however, is a frequently hilarious, bloody romp. A bit Lord of the Flies meets Series 7 but substantially more fun than both put together. Take part in dark, comic fun by keeping a tally of the hits so far…

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Review by Mike McCahill on 1st March 2002

Now that most American teen-pics - even those in the horror genre - are being shot and cut for a PG-13 rating, its somewhat liberating to see a Japanese film dealing with young adults in a manner showing no restraint whatsoever. Here we have a filmmaker (in Kinji Fukasaku) who, when shooting kids shooting or stabbing one another, does so in all sincerity; or, if there is irony employed here, its an irony thats grim but never facile.

Set in a jittery millennial Japan where unemployment has gone through the roof and adults no longer have faith in the future, Battle Royale packs truant schoolkids off on a state-approved class trip, during which theyre expected to bump one another off; the last boy/girl standing wins. As expected, the science club geeks hole up in a shelter to try and compute their way out, but the drama really begins when the groups various emotional attachments come into play, and life and death decisions are made on the basis of playground crushes and previous rejections.

Kinji has fun with his set-up - each student gets a random weapon, from a crossbow to a tin-pot lid - and with minor but telling details like how each of the games contestants wears their uniform. A running scoreboard keeps the viewer up to date on events, but also appears to be counting down to a last-reel apocalypse which the rules of the game necessarily dictate.

But in its portrait of a society breaking down through lack of trust, there is horror with a deep-seated (but not unenjoyable) streak of misanthropy; it recognises that there is something deeply rotten at the heart of any such nation, and that the horrors of the human mind are nothing compared to the horrors of the State. This seriousness sets Battle Royale apart from the smirky and self-satisfied Series 7 The Contenders: Kinji acknowledges that there is no greater sport in its unpredictability than the pursuit of death, and no greater prize than life itself.

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Review by anon on 10th November 2003

The novel is a classic, a work of genius. The movie has merit, but makes certain plot changes that insult the intelligence. For instance, Kazuo and Shogo are not \"ringers\" in the book, but rather fellow students, one a sociopathic genius who decids to participate in The Game on the flip of a coin, and the other a previous \"winner\" of the game who is repeating the year because of missed time due to injuries. Portraying them as ringers subtracts from the overall meaining.
Shogo is one of the best characters in the modern era. Read the book, and you will see how much better it was than the movie, I think.

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Article - "There is nobody quite like … Takeshi Kitano" by Peter Wild
Friday 9th November 2007

There is nobody quite like Takeshi Kitano. Not in the East, not in the West. Nobody. It's difficult, at first, to come to terms with precisely what this means.

In Japan, for example, Kitano is not known primarily as the auteur film-maker the rest of the w...  View article in full

Collections & Lists

This film is part of the following Film Collections

High School Films

Including: American Graffiti, Back to the Future Trilogy, Battle Royale, Carrie, Dazed and Confused, Donnie Darko - Directors cut, Election, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Ferris Buellers Day Off, Heathers.

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This film is part of the following Customer Film Lists

Japanese Eigas by Monkey Boy

Top ten Japanese films by Gillian Holmes

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