Review of Battle Royale (2000) by Wayne S — 02 Aug 2012

Battle Royale is an entertaining film that predates The Hunger Games, yet the premise is very similar. A class of Japanese students is abducted, taken to a remote island, fitted with high-tech tracking collars. Each is given a pack with a few meager supplies and a "weapon," although while some of the weapons are quite deadly, others are no more substantial than a garbage can lid or a folding paper fan. They are told that they must track and kill each other, because if more than one student is left alive after three days, the collars of the remaining students will explode insuring that there will be either one lone survivor, or none.

How the various students accept this dire scenario, the factor of past friendships and rivalries, the different ways each copes with almost certain death, is played out with clever plotting twists and turns and some insightful psychology. Never dull, sufficiently well acted, visually exciting and rather moving at times, Battle Royale achieves high marks and give the more commercial "Hunger Games" a run for the money.