Battle Royale

Anyone out there want to give this a try in the flesh? If so, February 29, Střelecky Island, it’s a date. If you take some good speakers with you, you’ll be able to play the genius soundtrack. Kitano won't be there, but finding a charismatic bum to play the victim for a box of wine shouldn’t be a big problem. The next opportunity will be February twenty-ninth, the year of our lord 2012. I'm looking forward to it, happy hunting! (10/07/2007)

Battle Royale is a beautifully shocking murder flick whose absurdity you just have to laugh at (even out loud in a few places). It’s superbly filmed and edited, with locations that are reminiscent of both Bad Taste and Ring. But I'm not a fan of it. The million-dollar idea is half-baked. The initial decadent fun tries to come across as something more at the end and it only gets halfway there. *** SPOILER FOLLOWS! *** The important dramatic motif involving Takeshi Kitano’s character betraying the whole system and the rules of the game for the love of one of the players almost doesn’t work at all and the final ideas that stem from it seem overly contrived in the context of the preceding show. (11/08/2005)

A killer game with a lot of blood and maybe even a hidden message. You can think of it as a big fling that doesn't make any sense, or you can think of it as a reflection on the causes of violence, on how, in a liminal situation, even the greatest of friends can become mortal enemies. Personally, I would lean towards the former, but it’s certainly worth watching, and I appreciate the originality. (01/07/2003)

The Japanese precursor to all the Hunger Games and similar style films. I rewatched it after years and it had the same effect on me as it did back then. At times it is a chilling, gritty thriller. At times it shows the typical Japanese enthusiasm seen in Japanese tourists. At times the film slows down almost to a halt due to the also typically Japanese sentimentality. The whole film is strangely unbalanced with hardly any detriment to the plot. I especially want to highlight the excellent soundtrack (Radetzky March on the Blue Danube was fantastic), and the unforgettable instructional video. The film was entertaining, terrifying, and thought-provoking at the same time. (09/11/2016)

I read an excellent sci-fi story on the topic depicted in this movie about a twisted reality show where a group of inmates sentenced to death fought for survival, and the winner received not only mercy but also a decent reward. This dystopian spectacle aimed to divert the attention of the viewers from the economic crisis and societal stagnation. The main problem with Fukasaku's film is the inadequate portrayal of the background, of why society and the government had agreed on such a twisted game because, without its filming and broadcasting in the media, it somehow loses its meaning. If we accept the screenwriter's game, the director made the most out of the idea. The fight for survival within a closed community of high school students naturally offers tremendous opportunities to display a wide range of emotions, tension, and measured brutality so that the viewer remains appropriately excited throughout, and the relatively surprising ending is their reward. Everything is accentuated by a provocatively chosen musical background; you wouldn't believe the shots the director can combine with "The Blue Danube" waltz. Takeshi Kitano in the role of the tough teacher is naturally flawless in terms of acting, although his motivation, or rather the transformation from an intellectual to a cynical killer, is somewhat forced from a screenplay perspective. Overall impression: 80%. The film can rightfully be criticized for gratuitous naturalistic violence, but for the majority of its duration, the director successfully balances on the edge of bearability. (28/03/2009)