I was actually not planning on watching this in the first place. It was on TV a few days before, and my mum had taped it, and watching it with my older sister. Anyway, I came in and saw they were watching a movie, so I decided to watch a few minutes and see what it was about. I couldn't tear myself away from the screen, and ended up watching the whole thing from there- and watched it again the next day as I had missed the beginning. So as you might have guessed I quite liked it.
The Plot
This Japanese subtitled movie shows how the future youth have become so violent, the older generation fears them. As appeared on the beginning of the film:
'At the dawn of the millennium, the nation collapsed. At 15% unemployment, 10 million were out of work. 800,000 students boycotted school. The adults lost confidence, and fearing the youth, eventually passed the Millennium Education
Reform Act. AKA: The BR Act.'
The BR Act is Battle Royale, an annual game in which a randomly selected low- performing class of students are, unkown to them, smuggled to an evacuated island, after being told they were going on a class trip. However, this is not exactly a trip you'd want to be part of. In this film, a mixed class of 42 teenagers wake up in a strange classroom, after being drugged with gases, causing them to fall asleep, whilst strange, unremovable necklaces are attached to each of their necks, and they are brought onto the island. They are told by their evil teacher that they have been selected for this year's BR Act, and that today's lesson will be to kill each other off. Some students nervously laugh, but he tells them this is no joke, and they will have to participate, or they will get killed anyway. The teacher then plays a rather quirky instruction video, in which an overly-cheerful host girl explains the rules to them. She tells the students that they have exactly three full days to kill off all their classmates, until only one is remaining. At the end of the 3 days, the necklaces will explode and kill everyone, if more than one person remains alive. She warns them the necklaces cannot be removed, and if they tug at them too hard, they will explode prematurely. The teacher kills two uncooperating students- one girl violently has a knife thrown at her head for talking during the instruction video, and one boy's (Nobu- Nanahar's best friend) necklace is ordered to explode for being rude. Kitano then creepily apologises, explaining he wasn't meant to kill any of the students before the game had begun. Two new boy students are also introduced to the class- they signed up for fun. (Kiriyama and another boy). The teenagers are then all handed a pre-packed rucksack with a randomly selected weapon, (Some are lucky, some not so) and released onto the island one by one. The main characters are a boy (Nanahara) and a girl (Noriko) who have had feelings for each other for some time. With this new situation inflicted upon them, Nanahara becomes very protective over her, and promises to only kill to protect Noriko until they find a way to get off the island. Among the 42 students, they all have a different way of dealing with the fight for survival. Some decide to commit suicide, some stick together and pretend nothing is happening, and some choose to ruthlessly kill their peers, and play for real, their motto being to 'trust no-one'. A group of friends decide to try and campaign against having to play Battle Royale, and use their loudspeaker to ask everyone to come and join them. They are soon violently shot by Kiriyama, and hope drains away for those watching- you won't get anywhere by trying to all stick together, as people's loyalties are being tested.
What I thought Of It
This movie, despite the bloody bits, is actually very interesting. I found it quite creepy, but very orginal and absorbing. The actors, despite most of them being very young, are very convincing. Many of them are quite modely looking (especially Keiko, Chigusa, Kiriyama, etc). I loved this film- it's probably one of my fabourites now. Watch this when you feel like watching a film which is a bit different from others.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
With the Japanese currently leading the way in thought-provoking cinematic violence its ... more
only fitting that Kenta FukasakusBattle Royaleis being touted asA Clockwork Orangefor the 21st century. Based on the novel by Koshun Takami, the film opens with a s...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
At the dawn of the new millennium, Japan is in a state of near-collapse. Unemployment is ... more
at an all-time high, and violence amongst the nation's youth is spiraling out of control. With school children boycotting their lessons and physically abusing thei...
With the Japanese currently leading the way in thought-provoking cinematic violence its ... more
only fitting that Kenta FukasakusBattle Royaleis being touted asA Clockwork Orangefor the 21st century. Based on the novel by Koshun Takami, the film opens with a s...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 3 to 4 weeks...
At the dawn of the new millennium Japan is in a state of near-collapse. Unemployment is ... more
at an all-time high and violence amongst the nation's youth is spiralling out of control. With school children boycotting their lessons and physically abusing the...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![Battle Royale [DVD] [2001]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78522790.jpg "Battle Royale [DVD] [2001]")
Jun 20th, 2004
(Jun 21st, 2004)
very helpful by (35%):
helpful by (54%):
somewhat helpful by (12%):
