Battle Royale

UPC: 013132376295

Studio: Starz/Anchor Bay

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Graphic Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children]

Summary: In a future where society is on the verge of collapse, the government takes drastic action against the problem of rebellious teenagers in this violent sci-fi opus from Japan. In the year 2002, Japan's economy has taken a dramatic turn for the worse, and massive unemployment and inflation have thrown most adults into a state of chaos; the nation's youth culture responds with unprecedented violence, delinquency, and truancy. Desperate to restore order, the Japanese parliament responds by creating the Millennial Reform School Act, in which groups of junior high students are selected at random, sent to an isolated island, and forced to play a rigorous war game, in which all but one of their number are killed. Kitano (Beat Takeshi) is an embittered school instructor who guides the 44 students of the Zentsuji Middle School's Class B through the deadly game known as "Battle Royale," as they struggle to survive against the elements and each other. Battle Royale proved to be both successful and highly controversial in Japan, where it set box-office records and prompted political leaders to call for stricter controls on violence in Japanese entertainment; the film was initially rated R-15 (no one under 15 admitted), unusual for violent films in Japan, though director Kinji Fukasaku later prepared a re-edited version that earned a more lenient classification. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Thriller

Battle Royale

Format: DVD

Release Date: 03/20/2012

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Alternate Wide Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 122 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Battle Royale
1. Main Title/Crazy World [7:29]
2. Battle Royale [13:13]
3. The Game Begins [8:16]
4. "It's Tough When Your Friends Die" [12:11]
5. Great Weapons [8:35]
6. The Coolest Girl In The World [7:55]
7. "I'm a Survivor" [4:23]
8. Suspicions Lead To Bloodshed [6:38]
9. "I'll Protect You" [10:47]
10. Blind Rage [15:05]
11. The Last Cookie/Epilogue [8:45]
12. End Credits [13:58]

Jonathan Crow

If anything else, Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale is timely. Fukasaku capitalizes on the fear of children in contemporary Japanese society and savages it. Adults in this film are portrayed as petty and sadistic (such as Kitano), craven and selfish (as in Shuya's father who kills himself in a flashback), or simply absent. Instead of being given love, these teens are literally thrown into the wilderness and told to fend for themselves. To his credit, Fukasaku keeps the social commentary light and the film funny --surprising, given its subject matter. The film juxtaposes animalistic bloodletting with crushes, schoolyard cliques, and other cliches of teendom. Fukasaku also populates Battle with images that simply radiate with a certain pungent absurdism. The Battle Royale instructional video, for example, features an announcer sporting punky hair, a nose ring, bangled arms, and the grindingly sunny disposition of an airport stewardess on Ecstasy. The satirical elements of Battle Royale, however, lie uneasily alongside the inherent horror of the characters' predicament -- having to kill one's best friends in order to survive -- giving the film an oddly ambiguous tone. The result is that the viewer is unclear as to exactly how to react to the work; laughter often dies in one's throat. Perhaps because of the terrific darkness that Fukasaku evokes through the film's mid-section, Battle Royale's d?nouement feels too pat and easy. Nothing short of a brisk march into the abyss would feel appropriate. Though not a work for Andy Griffith fans or Sound of Music enthusiasts, Battle Royale is a fascinating, disturbing film that will in turns make viewers laugh, jump, and cringe. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Ai Maeda  Actor 
Ai Iwamura  Actor 
Sousuke Takaoka  Actor 
Masumi Okada  Producer 
Kinji Fukasaku  Director 
Hisao Nabeshima  Producer 
Masamichi Amano  Composer (Music Score) 
Masao Sato  Producer 
Kataoka Kimio  Producer 
Kobayashi Chie  Producer 
Fukusaku Kenta  Producer 
Fukasaku Kenta  Screenwriter 
Teruo Kamaya  Producer 
Ikuro Takano  Executive Producer 
Tatsuya Fujiwara  Actor 
Aki Maeda  Actor 
Taro Yamamoto  Actor 
Masanobu Ando  Actor 
Kou Shibasaki  Actor 
Chiaki Kuriyama  Actor 
Takeshi Kitano  Actor 
Yamamoto Taru  Actor 
Shibasaki Kou  Actor 
Beat Takeshi  Actor 

Country: Japan