Could you kill your best friend? (Battle Royale (DVD))

Member Name: wastingtime

Product:	Battle Royale (DVD)
Date:	08/06/09 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great concept

Disadvantages: Some scenes needed a bit more thought

I had been drawn to this film for an awfully long time, most of the friends of mine who had seen it spoke very highly of it so while I browsing some DVD's down at the local shop I saw this and thought 'why not'.

Having grown up with wrestling I realised what a Battle Royale was, in that sense it is when all the competitors start in the ring at the same time, and the last man left inside wins, the concept for this film is roughly the same. Set in the early 21st century Japan, the country has fallen upon rough times and strong actions are required to get the youth back under control, the concept of the film is that every year the Government have a lottery of sorts to pick a school class to compete in the game.

From there they are shipped out on to an Island and left to compete, the films opens with just this scenario, a bunch of kids are found disorientated in a school they have not been before - here they are given their instructions. The premise for the game is simple, each contestant wears a necklace, from here the authorities can check on their progress around the deserted Island, should they try and take it off the necklace will trigger an explosion and effectively blow through the contestants throat.

They are also given a pack, this contains a weapon of some description, this may be an uzi, a tracker device, numbchucks or perhaps even a pot lid, it is down to each contestant to try and find the best use for the item they are given. They are then given a map of the Island and a compass and pen, regular updates are given to the contestants because at certain times parts of the Island become 'danger zones', the only way to survive these zones is to get the hell out of them.

As you may realise the only way to win the game is to kill every other contestant, if after three days a winner has not been found, they all die.

Personal Thoughts

Okay, so it's an intriguing concept, and one that I enjoyed thoroughly, it also had its elements of humour, the callasnous in which some of the children go about their task but also some of the scenarios that are created. I suppose it's a very dry twisted humour, but hey, I am what I am.

The acting was not without flaw, now this film is subtitled, so some element of guess work is needed to work out if the characters behave in the way the subtitles would suggest at any given time, but I would certainly describe some of the children's acting at times as very over the top.

The biggest gripe I had with this film is that it's almost impossible to kill people, their were times when someone must have been shot about eight or nine times, and yet you would still see them stumbling to get away from their attacker, and also one of the characters seems to constantly have a problem hitting someone with an automatic from a distance of a few feet time after time.

Apart from these small grievances though I would suggest that the film is a must watch, now don't get me wrong, I would give it a seven or eight out of ten, but as a concept I thought it was brilliant, and can certainly see why it has claimed so many accolades over the years.

This may not be for everyone though, it deals with some subjects that are quite close to the line and was banned in America for many many years, I have said before that I believe some films rated 18 do not deserve the tagline, but this is one for the kids to stay away from, the continuous run of death and at such a young age could be a disturbing image for some.

Time for some facts
Buy new from amazon for £12.24 on DVD
Run time 109 Minutes
Language: Japanese

Summary: A worhty watch for any 18+