Movie #60 - Battle Royale

Battle Royale
Starmax
2000 - Not Rated - 1 hr 54 min
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto

Ok... wow. This movie... wow.

Let me first say thank you to my friend Derek for getting this movie for us. Let me also say that, after watching it, I promptly instructed Mike that he needed to watch it. Hell, I'll watch it again right now if he wants to.

Before you go and watch this, I have to worn you it's kinda gorey. I happen to think that's awesome, but you might not. Figured I'd worn you now.

So the basic plot is that the Japanese government (in an alternate timeline) passes the Battle Royale Act to thin the younger population. Unemployment is high, the economy is down, and adults are blaming delinquent youth for a lot of their problems. In the BR Act, a class of students is selected to spend three days on a deserted island, killing each other off until only one remains. In the movie, a group of 42 delinquent ninth graders must fight the Battle Royale to survive and "win."

You can tell that the film makers took great delight in filming a bunch of 13-year-olds wielding weapons and spraying blood everywhere... especially since they're all still wearing their school uniforms. And those scenes are fun, but what I enjoyed most was the Lord of the Flies like look at the human response to dire situations like this. Some of the students just start hunting, others find anyway they can not to participate even if it means taking their own lives, and some students try to band together. But when only one person can survive, even the tightest friends will have to turn on each other eventually.

So I really loved this movie and I want everyone to watch it now. (You know, as long as blood doesn't make you want to vomit.) It's one of those "what if" movies that are fun to watch but you hope will never actually happen...