Battle Royale (2000 Japanese Film)

"Could you kill your best friend? Today, I killed my best friend. Have you ever killed your best friend?"

"Thank you. I'm glad I found true friends."

WATCH THE TRAILER BELOW TO KNOW HOW THE PEOPLE AND QUENTIN TARANTINO DESCRIBE IT.

So I just watched the 2000 Japanese controversial film Battle Royale for the second time and this moment, I've watched the director's cut which is 7-9 minutes longer than the standard version of the film. I actually watched the standard version earlier this year, I think last January, and I got hooked up, moved, and loved it instantly, especially the characters. This is the first media that I have watched with the Battle Royale theme and also the reason why I got addicted to the films, animes, and others with the same theme like the anime Mirai Nikki (Future Diaries), The Hunger Games, and some others.

About the film:

The film took place at the time when Japan is falling apart. Many people were unemployed, its economy is almost dead, and the worst part is the students are boycotting classes and doing abusive and unpleasant stuff like committing crimes, and disobeying adults. This made the government to create a law, Battle Royale Act (BR Act), forcing a chosen class to participate in a deadly game where everyone must kill to survive until only one student is standing and alive.

I don't want to say more anything about the film so I can't spoil the people who'll read this. I don't want you guys to miss this especially when you haven't watched it yet.

What I think about the film:

For me, this film is one of the darkest, most disgusting, grossest, most controversial, hardcore, terrifying, best, most epic, saddest, most dramatic, most thrilling, and of course, one of my most favorite Japanese or Asian films in the history of my eyeballs. 

I mean, this film has it all. The plot is very good, the actors are all good also, the script is undoubtedly fantastic and flawless. It's very professionally done and perfectly stirred, thus, created an overwhelmingly beautiful piece of art. The thrill is over the top. The fight and death scenes are creatively shot. I don't know what more to say. Different genres are all mixed up in this movie; thriller, horror, drama, and most of all, comedy on top of all that. 

This film is actually a box-office and a critical success. Many people liked it, favored to it, enjoyed watching it, and gave good and positive feed backs than those who hated it. I can't blame them. Just like I always say, we all have different opinions and views in life. Some may see this disturbing, gross, and cruel especially on using teenage actors and for using disturbing and gross scenes, but people like me see it differently, we like it. The Saw film series is way much grosser and more disturbing, and I watched and liked it. HAHAHA.

People also say that Battle Royale copied the 2008 novel and the 2012 film, The Hunger Games. I just want to clear that this film is also based from the novel by Koushun Takami with the same name which was published in 1999, which is 9 years earlier than the publication of the novel The Hunger Games. The film adaptation was released in 2000, 12 years earlier than the release of the 2012 film. So now, tell me. How did the former copied the latter? Are you catching up? It's very impossible to copy anything that's haven't been released or published yet. Actually, there are lots of novels and I think films, too, that share the same plot and Battle Royale theme and stuff that's been released way back in the 80's and 90's.

I'm a fan of The Hunger Games too, really, I am. But, for me, Battle Royale is way better and more realistic than The Hunger Games although they are both fictionally created. I also read that the writer of The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins, is the one who copied the idea and she said she never heard of the book until her book was turned in. But haven't she heard of the film, too? It's pretty famous. Well, whatever, as long as their books and films are enjoyable to read and watch, those are what I care about. :)

Cast: (from asianwiki.com)



Takeshi Kitano - Kitano
Tatsuya Fujiwara - Shuya Nanahara (Boys #15)  
Aki Maeda - Noriko Nakagawa (Girls #15)  
Taro Yamamoto - Shogo Kawada (Boys #5)
Kou Shibasaki -  Mitsuko Souma (Girls #11)
Chiaki Kuriyama - Takako Chigusa (Girls #13)  
Masanobu Ando - Kazuo Kiriyama (Boys #6)  
Sousuke Takaoka - Hiroki Sugimura (Boys #11)  
Takashi Tsukamoto - Shinji Mimura (Boys #19)

Additional characters:
Shin Kusaka - Yoshio Akamatsu - Boys #1
Ren Matsuzawa - Keita Iijima - Boys #2
Gouki Nishimura - Tatsumichi Oki - Boys #3
Shigehiro Yamaguchi - Toshinori Oda - Boys #4
Yukihiro Kotani - Yoshitoki Kuninobu - Boys #7
Osamu Ohnishi - Yoji Kuramoto - Boys #8
Yuuki Masuda - Hiroshi Kuronaga - Boys #9
Shiro Go - Ryuhei Sasagawa - Boys #10
Yutaka Shimada - Yutaka Seto - Boys #12
Junichi Naitou - Yuichiro Takiguchi - Boys #13
Shigeki Hirokawa - Shota Tsukioka - Boys #14
Hirohito Honda - Kazushi Niida - Boys #16
Yousuke Shibata - Mitsuru Numai - Boys #17
Satoshi Yokomichi - Tadakatsu Hatagami - Boys #18
Ryou Nitta - Kyouichi Motobuchi - Boys #20
Yasuomi Sano - Kazuhiko Yamamoto - Boys #21
Tsuyako Kinoshita - Mizuho Inada - Girls #1
Eri Ishikawa - Yukie Utsumi - Girls #2
Sayaka Ikeda - Megumi Eto - Girls #3
Tomomi Shimaki - Sakura Ogawa - Girls #4
Tamaki Mihara - Izumi Kanai - Girls #5
Yukari Kanasawa - Yukiko Kitano - Girls #6
Misao Kato - Yumiko Kusaka - Girls #7
Takayo Mimura - Kayoko Kotohiki - Girls #8
Hitomi Hyuga - Yuko Sakaki - Girls #9
Anna Nagata - Hirono Shimizu - Girls #10
Satomi Ishii - Haruka Tanizawa - Girls #12
Haruka Nomiyama - Mayumi Tendo - Girls #14
Satomi Hanamura - Yuka Nakagawa - Girls #16
Sayaka Kamiya - Satomi Noda - Girls #17
Aki Inoue - Fumiyo Fujiyoshi - Girls #18
Asami Kanai - Chisato Matsui - Girls #19
Mai Sekiguchi - Kaori Minami - Girls #20
Takako Baba - Yoshimi Yahagi - Girls #21
Ai Iwamura - Girl - won last BR
Ai Maeda - Shiori, Kitano's daughter (voice)
Minami - Keiko
Michi Yamamura - Reporter
Gou Ryugawa - Lieutenant Anjo
Takashi Taniguchi - Nanahara's father
Ken Nakaide - Mr. Hayashida - Home-room teacher of Class 3-B
Kanako Fukaura - Bus conductress (Basugaido)
Yuko Miyamura - Training Video Girl

photos are from asianwiki as well.

No copyright infringement intended.

Posted in: 2000,asian,film,Japanese