Battle Royale (Batoru Rowaiaru) (2001)

Featured Audience Ratings

• paul o

  
  Made my stomach sick but I had to finish it. Its great and shows us the moral flexibilities of children. Its not just an action movie. Its something that can actually be interpreted towards human nature. A great find and probably worth a second viewing if you're up to it.

• Dan S

  
  An excellent, extraordinary action film concerning a group of junior high Japanese students who are taken to a deserted island where they are forced by one of their teachers to fight to the death until there is only one man (or woman) standing. What sounds like a sick exercise in… More
  An excellent, extraordinary action film concerning a group of junior high Japanese students who are taken to a deserted island where they are forced by one of their teachers to fight to the death until there is only one man (or woman) standing. What sounds like a sick exercise in pointless violence is actually a thrilling, completely arresting view of a society gone straight to Hell. Think "Lord of the Flies" times a million, with an impact so great and a message so strong it will definitely leave one thinking a lot about society. The main point is not the violence and the great fight scenes, moreso the societal message that preaches the importance of letting youth be youth, with a swift jab to the Japanese parents to stop pressuring their kids to become geniuses, and show sympathy for their teenage angst and early struggles in life. Definitely not a film for all tastes, but it becomes a surprisingly deep and powerful tale as the film progresses. Definitely one of the better movies of the 00's, and without question worth a view.

• Jan Marc M

  
  A class of ninth graders was selected and forced to play a game of survival due rampant youth violence and delinquency in Battle Royale with confronting elements of politics, rebellion, and ethics. Controversial, gloriously disturbing, and brutally precise.

• Sophie B

  
  From the beginning this was a brilliant film that slowly became a romance. It was difficult to watch how these friends just started killing each other and although some of them gave it a try to remain friends and look out for each other, the only people who really did were Nanahara… More
  From the beginning this was a brilliant film that slowly became a romance. It was difficult to watch how these friends just started killing each other and although some of them gave it a try to remain friends and look out for each other, the only people who really did were Nanahara and Noriko. Brilliant characters. The thing that ruined it for me was the "twist" where Kawada supposedly "killed" them when it was only them three left. I didn't understand the point of this. I couldn't get if he really did use them or if it was just to make the audience think he had killed them. The teacher must have known that he was faking otherwise he wouldn't have sent the troops off. I don't really understand the teachers relationship with Noriko. He obviously liked her but then he gave up his ilfe for her? Also at the beginning I thought that the girl who won that game was Noriko so it was quite confusing. It was difficult to tell them apart and to remember all the characters so that was a down point. Brilliant.

• Lee ?

  
  Although I feel it's slightly over-praised, this is still one of the best movies to come out of Japan in recent years. Violent, dark humoured, but also moving too. It's a real brave and original film that, despite the controversial subject matter, is worth a watch at least… More
  Although I feel it's slightly over-praised, this is still one of the best movies to come out of Japan in recent years. Violent, dark humoured, but also moving too. It's a real brave and original film that, despite the controversial subject matter, is worth a watch at least once to appreciate the intended message of the movie to put the shocking nature of the story into perspective. Then once you've grasped the meanings and messages of the film you can then watch it again with a more sadistic mindset and enjoy the ensuing bloodshed as friends and classmates selfishly kill eachother off to be the soul survivor of the Battle Royale Program.

• Ariuza k

  
  I will say indeed the "Japanese" are some "fucked" up people to make a movie like this but I will say "Battle Royale" use to be my favorite movie. I was reading around 10 years ago about the controversy and they had a picture of a school girl in the paper… More
  I will say indeed the "Japanese" are some "fucked" up people to make a movie like this but I will say "Battle Royale" use to be my favorite movie. I was reading around 10 years ago about the controversy and they had a picture of a school girl in the paper getting shoot. And they indeed wrote- "Can a movie go too far?" Of course I wasn't interested in seeing it for the time because I thought it was going to be another "Running Man" movie. I only went to see it because one of my friends was seeing it with a lot of her friends and she wanted me to join. And so far I remember thinking how disgusting it was. I mean children killing themselves and stabbing and disemboweling each other just wasn't cool. Back then I would have seen it uncensored when it was first out and I hated it to death, but after many watches I would have called it the "Greatest Movie Ever Made!" Easy in my top 3 films of all time and this is my favorite action movie. Sometime in the future there national collapsed and there society begin to break down and children begin to resent there parents and as adults in general. Schools would be littered with violence, teachers and adults would be attacked and then the "BR" act would be in place. This survival simulation was created to offer children the true meaning of life. Respect and Value but to get that ever child must die until one is left alive. And I mean every child will die by there friends and class mates themselves. So the last one standing will go home a free person while there feeling the guilt of murdering so many to live. I believe at one stage during the film two friends ran out crying with each other because they were best friends and they wouldn't kill each other. Later you see them both dead with one shoot the other and the other "disemboweled" her. So the film itself is a take on 70s-80s "Japanese" action films and the film itself really shows just the editing, acting style, action of course. And as I said before this is my favorite action movie and my top 3 are. Die hard, The Inglorious Bastereds and of course this. Those movies of it's time played a major inspiration to this full on graphic movie. The acting is well how do I put it? Strange, I mean most of the kids are scared to kill each other and there a few kids smiling about this whole experiences. "Kiriyama" who is a 15 year old psychopath grabbed a machine gun and shot a group of students and one girl screamed for her life, and all he could do was smile and pull the trigger. So in any words the acting is perfect. The music is inspired by "Western" culture and 60s and 70s music of course to play it out like an old action movie of it's time. And even using the same technical way of "special effects". Such as when one girl gets her throat cut it has a rapid jump cut and she is spraying blood everywhere out of her neck. And yes the movie is ultra gory and violent is I may add. If you like at my profile photo I am one of the girls from "Battle Royale". Me as a person covered in blood from slaying my best friends. And I close by saying easily one of the most disturbing flicks of all time yet one of my all time "favorites". People should really have a look.

• Spencer S

  
  To simply state that this was an amazing action movie would be too singular. There are elements of political rebellion, moral superiority, and the always solid: favorable triumph between the factions of good and evil. To say that this piece of cinema was extradinary is less than… More
  To simply state that this was an amazing action movie would be too singular. There are elements of political rebellion, moral superiority, and the always solid: favorable triumph between the factions of good and evil. To say that this piece of cinema was extradinary is less than acceptable. The characters, each flawed but given license to stray, decide that just because there's a game, doesn't mean there will be a winner. Full of gore and teenage angst and murder, this is definitely in the forefront of Japanese cinema.

• E.J. B

  
  Battle Royale is a violent satire on the anxiety parents have towards their children. The fears of complete disrespect, attacks on teachers and authority in general, have led the Japanese government to pass a law called the BR Act. Delinquent classrooms are brought to a remote… More
  Battle Royale is a violent satire on the anxiety parents have towards their children. The fears of complete disrespect, attacks on teachers and authority in general, have led the Japanese government to pass a law called the BR Act. Delinquent classrooms are brought to a remote environment, with the consent of their parents, and are forced to kill each other off until one is left standing. The result is a film that plays almost like a video game. But the script devotes a lot of time to developing its student characters into people we really do care about. Not all these students are deserving to be placed inside this game. In fact, any of the problems that are established between the kids and authority can be traced back to failure of their parents and teachers to give them proper guidance in their lives. Some plot points and character arcs don't really make a lot of sense. But this is a film where inconsistencies don't matter. The concept is intriguing enough to promote thought and debate amongst its audience members. Any film that manages to do that is a pretty damn important one. Hopefully, some distribution company will bring this film to the North American market, or some competent filmmaker will consider remaking it. This is a violent, disturbing film that must be seen.

• Greg S

  
  A class of about forty Japanese 9th graders are selected by lottery to be shipped to a deserted island by the government, where they're given random weapons and forced to fight to the death, with the sole survivor granted his or her freedom. Despite the bizarre premise, it plays… More
  A class of about forty Japanese 9th graders are selected by lottery to be shipped to a deserted island by the government, where they're given random weapons and forced to fight to the death, with the sole survivor granted his or her freedom. Despite the bizarre premise, it plays out as a solid plot-driven action movie, with only a few notes of satire; it's surprisingly engaging watching the high schoolers form alliances and turn on each other and drop off one by one, and not nearly as perverse as it might have been.

• Keiko A

  
  *One of my top 10 *Kinji Fukasaku best movie *Quentin Tarantino's favortie movie Directed by Kinji Fukasaku and staring Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Masanobu Ando Eirin Rating-Banned God I am old I remember seeing this with my family when… More
  *One of my top 10 *Kinji Fukasaku best movie *Quentin Tarantino's favortie movie Directed by Kinji Fukasaku and staring Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Masanobu Ando Eirin Rating-Banned God I am old I remember seeing this with my family when it was first out. I think I was about 9 when I saw this and I think I was closing my eyes throughout the whole movie because of how disturbing it was to watch kids kill each other in very violent and disgusting ways. I still remember the controversy on it with all the parents trying to get it banned and one quoted. "We can't be showing our children this trash, Kids murdering each other? Who the fuck would make something like that?" Not long after the film was banned along with the book but the manga's were still around. Today the film is available but not the special edition that's still banned. The special edition just makes the film even more cruel then what it is with new CGI, Death scenes, Violence. So the moral of the film is Can you kill your best friends? In the beginning of the 21st Century, the economy of Japan is near a total collapse, with high rates of unemployment and students skipping their classes. The government approves the Battle Royale Act, where one class is randomly selected and the students are sent to an island wearing necklaces with few supplies and one weapon. After three days, they have to kill each other and the survivor wins his or her own life as a prize. The 42 students of a ninth-grade class are selected to participate in the survival game and abducted while travelling in their bus. Under the command of their former teacher Kitano, they have to eliminate each other following the rules of the sadistic game where only one wins. Like Meany Shuya Nanahara wants to protect the girl he loves but by the end there can be only one. I still can't bring myself to think of what it would be like to be in there position. Its just so suspenseful Just think you or your best friend is left and you realize that one of you is going to have to die. 2 people who have been friends for years suddenly have to kill one so they can go home. 100% for story: Just so Meany scenes make you realize the suspense of being killed by your friends. Being chased and shot by them or stab by them. 100% for acting: there all kids but there performances are just brilliant. You really feel for them when they die. 100% for special effects: there just so disgusting yet 100% realistic. 100% for characters: there is 42 characters some will committee suicide with there friends. Others will do anything to live. 42 will soon be 1. 100% for everything else: Just everything the music, the feel, all the suspense is just amazing. One of the sickest movies ever made yet it is one of the best of its kind. Americans could never make a movie like this movie here broke the border in everything. Not sure if I can recommend it though. But if so this movie isn't on Netflix because of major legal issues. Involving the films theme. Keiko's score 100%

• Lewis C

  
  "What idiots. We might have all survived." How to even begin to describe this? It's like Lord of the Flies meets Hard-Boiled meets any of the countless anime about high school kids battling each other. Very violent, very un-PC, very entertaining, and very Japanese.… More
  "What idiots. We might have all survived." How to even begin to describe this? It's like Lord of the Flies meets Hard-Boiled meets any of the countless anime about high school kids battling each other. Very violent, very un-PC, very entertaining, and very Japanese. The story is simple. A group of disrespectful Japanese ninth graders are chosen by the government to be drugged while on a trip and sent off to an island for a kill or be killed battle royale. The only way to survive is to be the only living student by the third day. Some of the kids try to resist and band together to find a way out of this deadly game, while others immediately take to all the killing and mayhem. Either way, the results are usually the same: a lot of violence and dead bodies. And some genuinely sad moments, as well. Battle Royale is easily one of the best action flicks I've seen this year. All the shooting, explosions, and double-crosses, mixed with frequent talk about crushes and other normal teenager stuff, is just surreally awesome. I'm seen this kind of stuff in anime tons of times, but to see it in live-action takes it to an entirely new level. The pacing is excellent, there's nary a dull moment to be seen, and the carnage is frequent. This was one of the rare movies that I didn't want to see end. It's obviously not for everyone, but if my brief description sounded cool, don't waste any time on getting your hands on this.

• Bruce B

  
  Not sure what the age group this film is geared to. My guess is 15-18 years olds but maybe not cause they would have to read subtitles. But it has little value for anyone over 21. A 9th grade class is taken to an island and the classes goal is to be the lone survivor. Even in Japan we… More
  Not sure what the age group this film is geared to. My guess is 15-18 years olds but maybe not cause they would have to read subtitles. But it has little value for anyone over 21. A 9th grade class is taken to an island and the classes goal is to be the lone survivor. Even in Japan we have teenagers believing they can survive being shot with a high powered gun more then once and it having very little effect on those there shooting. 1 Star for this trash.

• Conner R

  
  Not exactly the masterpiece that it's made out to be, but it's really fun to see forty kids trying to kill each other. The real flaw is the storytelling structure, this should have never been told as a narrative. You know from the beginning who is going to live, which is sad… More
  Not exactly the masterpiece that it's made out to be, but it's really fun to see forty kids trying to kill each other. The real flaw is the storytelling structure, this should have never been told as a narrative. You know from the beginning who is going to live, which is sad because this could have played as an extremely suspenseful and dark movie. I have to hand it to the character of Kiriyama, by far one of the coolest characters i've seen in a while. He personifies evil in every way possible.

• Tim S

  
  Fantastic social commentary/ultra-violent and over the top piece of cinema from the east.

• Tsubaki S

  
  The more i think about it the more i convince myself of something: Battle royale was the only way a story like this one could had been made to the big screen, and it was the right approach. After seeing this so many times now i actually have found how well acted most of the kids roles… More
  The more i think about it the more i convince myself of something: Battle royale was the only way a story like this one could had been made to the big screen, and it was the right approach. After seeing this so many times now i actually have found how well acted most of the kids roles are. When you have 40 something characters wandering around an island not everyone is going to get the spotlight. So, fat nerveous guy is going to get killed near the beginning because, well, he was just the fat nerveous kid in the class. Fukasaku's direction is tight, never distracting, never trying to remind you of how over-the-top the premise is. It focus on it's characters and never lets them go away. It's a serious triumph that should be praised far more from all the things that it get's right.

• Anthony L

  
  Battle Royale is part social comm entry, part dark vision of the future. I can't help but notice a George Orwell influence too as its much like a modern mix of 1984 and Lord of the flies. It is also darkly humoured and very violent, not to mention absolutely brilliant!

• Dean M

  
  This is one wild ride. The Japanese have a way of turning the most mundane of concepts into a visual tour de force. The gore is over-the-top, the acting borderline amateurish, and the plot nonexistent but, man oh man, does this puppy move along like a lightning bolt.

• xGary X

  
  A Japan increasingly concerned with spiralling urban violence makes an example of troublesome teens by stranding them on a desert island with the sole purpose of making them kill each other off until just one remains. Kinji Fukasaku's magnificently tasteless satire on reactionary… More
  A Japan increasingly concerned with spiralling urban violence makes an example of troublesome teens by stranding them on a desert island with the sole purpose of making them kill each other off until just one remains. Kinji Fukasaku's magnificently tasteless satire on reactionary politics could be considered the logical conclusion of reality TV. The concept is a kind of cross between The Running Man and Lord Of The Flies. All the usual High School shenanigans are involved, but the introduction of lethal weapons throws the cliques, crushes and rivalries into a whole new light! The young cast are all great and Fukusaku was a veteran of Japanese Yakuza films and therefore a dab hand at stylized violence; the unrelenting drama and action of a type of slasher film where EVERYONE is the killer means it's virtually impossible to get bored! The sentiment can get a little heavy handed in places but Takeshi Kitano's surreal and sardonic host pops up at strategic intervals to routinely steal the show and stop the schmaltz before it goes too far. Certainly not as profound as it thinks it is, but it's a wonderfully entertaining and unique film that's destined to become a cult classic. Just avoid the dismal sequel (completed by his son after Fukusaku's death) like the plague.

• Justin Y

  
  What can I say? <i>Battle Royale</i> is an instant classic Japanese thriller based off of a manga by the same name. Kinji Fukasaku is a lucky man to have this film on his directing resume.<p>The story is without question unique, controversial, and entertaining.… More
  What can I say? <i>Battle Royale</i> is an instant classic Japanese thriller based off of a manga by the same name. Kinji Fukasaku is a lucky man to have this film on his directing resume.<p>The story is without question unique, controversial, and entertaining. Teenage classmates are forced to kill each other or be killed themselves. Yep, I'm sold.</p><p>The run time is just under 2 hours, and this is one of those films where there is room to make it longer. The pacing is pretty quick and the story wastes no time at jumping into the good stuff. The development of the major characters happen as they become a part of the story and there are a lot of characters to follow. There is never a dull moment in this picture.</p><p>The violence is a plenty, as it should be, and the blood is kept in check. This may sound like a gore fest, but it really isn't that bad. Don't get me wrong though, this is not for a younger audience.</p><p>The acting is fantastic, with Takeshi Kitano providing a little weirdness. A ton of the actors and actresses become memorable after this film. Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Masanobu Ando, Chiaki Kuriyama, and Kou Shibasaki come to mind.</p><p><i>Battle Royale</i> is a film that most people will want to check out in their lifetime. "Life is a game. So fight for survival and see if you're worth it."

• Robert C

  
  Not without its flaws story wise....but an interesting concept, nicely executed (no pun intended). I couldn't help but think that perhaps something similar might be a useful tool in helping to prevent prison over population.

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