Review of Battle Royale (2000) by Renzo V — 26 Aug 2012

42 students. 3 days. 1 survivor...

In my opinion one of the best movies ever made! "Battle Royale" is the adaptation of the novel by Koushun Takami and even has its own manga-series. There was a lot of controversy about it, because of the brutal and explicit violence, but now it's considered a real genre-masterpiece. The Battle Royale-character Takako Chigusa even inspired Quentin Tarantino with 'Kill Bill' s schoolgirl-character Gogo Yubari, who is played by the same actress, Chiaki Kuriyama.

In a nearby future juvenile crime has gotten so large that the Japanese government accepts the BR-law: Every year a random class is chosen to participate in a Battle Royale, a game in which the participants have to kill each other until only one of them is left alive. This year the class of Shuya Nanagara is selected. When going on a fieldtrip all students are gassed on the schoolbus and taken to a desolated Island. Each of them gets a neck collar armed with explosives.

The teenagers wake up in a school building guarded by soldiers and are greeted by their former teacher Kitano, who explains the rules and introduces them to 2 grimm-looking exchange students, Kawada and Kiriyama. The 42 participants, 21 boys and 21 girls, get three days to kill each other, if they do not succeed, the collars will explode. When a girl whispers during the explanation, Kitano gets angry and kills her by throwing a knife into her forehead. The whole class starts to panic and during the commotion Shuya's best friend, Kuninobu, tries to attack Kitano, but fails. As punishment he gets his head blown off by the neck collar. Only 40 remain...

Before the kids begin, they are equipped with a map of the Island and a bagpack, containing food, water, a compass and one special gift (some get weapons while others get useless items). One by one they leave the school building and enter the gamefield. It doesn't take long before the killing begins... Some of the students decide to team up, while others 'play' alone and transform into ruthless killing-machines. Who is to be thrusted? And who will survive the massacre?

Hint: If you liked the movie, you must check out the manga-series!