Battle Royale: Director's Cut (Collector's Edition)
by Kinji Fukasaku
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DVD details
Actor: Chiaki Kuriyama, Takeshi Kitano, Tatsuya FujiwaraDirector: Kinji Fukasaku
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Subtitled)
Format: AC-3, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC
Running Time: 122 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-06-15
Studio: Toei
DVD Reviews of Battle Royale: Director's Cut (Collector's Edition)
DVD Review: We were all children one day
Summary: 2 Stars
Sorry.. didn't work for me... I certainly get the point though. This life is nothing if not predictable in its utterly cruel way of recurring behavioral patterns. The key-words nowadays are "cool" and "hip" forms of parenting, in a ridiculous attempt to identify with the up-and-coming generations of alienated youths. Boundaries are blurred. Parents abandon their stoic posture and yield to hedonism, refuting egregiously their years of experience. When purposeful regression takes center stage, all hell will break loose. So, when haughty, hormone-driven adolescents see that they have their affection-deprived parents on their knees, a greater sense of already-gargantuan entitlement takes over. And this extends into the every sphere of life, especially in social gatherings, and even more in the classroom, where hiding under the surface of blatant infantile behavior lies intensely insecure thought processes. Anyway, the fabric of school tries to institute a neo-superego, but since the primordial one has been vanquished, why should this one be allowed to prevail??? It shouldn't, that's why students just don't care, and their parents are too afraid of losing their children completely (a cataclysmic death of self as well, since children are the redefinition of their rebirth) and simply don't choose to emphasize the importance of education. The movie tried to take the side of the kids, giving everyone a brief background that tries to be inspiring... it vilifies some of them as well so we know who to cheer against (there is an ineffectual attempt to humanize the girl with the scythe by showing her brush with a potential child molester). Now, the solution in this case is pure fascism, and it is a very moronic way of looking at life. The reason we have so many school shootings and whatnot in the US is because the culture causes a spiritual suffocation and death, there is no room for negotiation, there are no shades of gray, so extreme behaviors are adopted to get the point across. Here, it's the same thing, adopting radical dogmas for a much deeper-seeded behavioral issue that derives from the adults' lack of insight into self and how to raise their kids... bah... I usually try to stick with the story in my reviews, not focusing on technical aspects. Unfortunately, I must comment, the acting was very poor.. I love to be drawn into the realm of the film, but I simply couldn't because none of it rang true or believable. Anyway, in essence, an unnecessary statement which echoes the dumb way the world perceives its problems, and the primitive way it intends to resolve them.DVD Review: Battle Royale: Director's Cut (Collector's Edition)
Summary: 5 Stars
This uncut version of movie is finally available in the US. I had to buy it on ebay. What a trip, it's like Lord of the Flies on Steroids. This movie holds nothing back. I highly recommend this movie if you can withstand seeing extreme violence between kids. Well written and highly entertaining, enjoy. It's a shame Part 2 is not nearly as good. DVD Review: Are you kidding me? This is trash.
Summary: 1 Stars
This movie has an almost perfect rating? Wow. Truly mind-boggling.
What to say about this film?
Well, it sucked in almost every way possible. Despite the award nominations it garnered in Japan, the soundtrack, screenplay (can't speak for the novel), acting, action scenes, realism... everything basically... it all sucked. The acting is overplayed and jerky, but never convincing. In the film, guns seem to have the accuracy and lethality of banana peels thrown by a blind midget. Kids wave submachine guns about while firing in full automatic at targets five feet away, and miraculously miss for fifty consecutive shots. Teenage girls absorb three seconds' worth of fire, but remain standing while their faces contort in ludicrous dramatic fashion before they collapse (or dispatch their foe, last second, with a karate move, before collapsing). Is there any purpose in sitting for two hours and watching young actors pretend to shoot and slash each other non-stop in increasingly contrived and unrealistic ways?
Are we really supposed to care about Nanahara (or whoever) and the others after a couple corny flashback scenes? Are we supposed to 'learn' something, or find the movie's concept thought-provoking? I have no idea. After twenty minutes, I was skipping forward in little chunks, and managed to watch the entire thing in about under an hour. The only reason I made it to the end is because I wanted to at least have 'seen' the movie I paid for.
Honestly, the high rating on this movie baffles me. Maybe it's a big joke to which I'm not privy? In that case, the joke's on me. Do yourself a favor and learn from my mistake: don't waste your time, money, or brain cells on this stupid piece of garbage.
DVD Review: Battle Royale... Like Schoolhouse Rock Meets Dawn of the Dead
Summary: 5 Stars
Battle Royale: 10/10: Another classic is born. A fantastic combination of classical music and ultra-violence like a Japanese Clockwork Orange. Here is one Japanese film the major studios will not be remaking anytime soon.
The plot consists of a junior high school class sent to a deserted island, given weapons that vary in usefulness, and are ordered to kill each other. Oh and they have those exploding collars that are ubiquitous in sci-fi films today so if they don't kill all their classmates everyone dies.
The actors are actual kids and the film turns the bloody up to eleven. Add in child suicide, child prostitution, patricide, and worst of all basketball and you have yourself a winner.
Battle Royale falls solidly in the category of Dawn of the Dead or Kill Bill where it transcends its obvious pulp and horror appeal and says larger things about life as a whole.
But who am I kidding non-stop action, hot chicks in schoolgirl outfits, very dark humor and a great classical music score. Kind of like She's All That if Freddy Prinze Jr. killed a classmate every two minutes then had his head blown off by remote control. Throw in Anna Paquin dismembering Rachael Leigh Cooke with a fondue fork and that should give you the picture.
Man that movie would rule Sorry went all fan boy there for a minute. Battle Royale has deep things to say about society and is an important landmark film. [...].
DVD Review: Not that great
Summary: 3 Stars
I watch alot of movies, and I have watched quite a few Japanese movies... I'm not sure why so many people rate this movie highly, except that it has an audacious premise (a highschool class forced to fight to the death). First, the premise of the Battle Royale is given cursory attention... apparently spanking kids no longer works so teenagers just run wild with no consequence while adults suck it up. To punish these out of control teens, a law is passed where a random class if forced to fight to the death. But, for what purpose or point? When the kids wake up from being drugged, they have no clue what is going on. If the Battle Royale was suppose to be some kind of means of warning to teens to behave, why wouldn't these teens have realized right away what was going on?
The overall production values were mediocre, the acting over the top, and massive plot gaps abounded. I guess people equate this as some kind of cinematic equivelant of Lord of the Flies or something, but it is really much much less.
Description of Battle Royale: Director's Cut (Collector's Edition)
With the Japanese currently leading the way in thought-provoking cinematic violence, it's only fitting that Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale is being touted as a Clockwork Orange for the 21st century. Based on the novel by Koshun Takami, the film opens with a series of fleeting images of unruly Japanese schoolchildren, whose bad behavior provides a justification for the "punishments" that will ensue. Once the prequel has been dispensed with, the classmates are drugged and awaken on an island where they find they have been fitted with dog collars that monitor their every move. Instructed by their old teacher ("Beat" Takeshi) with the aid of an upbeat MTV-style video, they are told of their fate: after an impartial lottery they have been chosen to fight each other in a three-day, no-rules contest, the "Battle Royale." Their only chance of survival is through the death of all their classmates.Some pupils embrace their mission with zeal, while others simply give up or try to become peacemakers and revolutionaries. However, the ultimate drive for survival comes from the desire to protect the one you love. Battle Royale works on many different levels, highlighting the authorities' desperation to enforce law and order and the alienation caused by the generation gap. Whether you consider the film an important social commentary or simply watch it for the adrenaline-fueled violence, this is set to become cult viewing for the computer game generation and beyond. --Nikki Disney
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