Battle Royale (DVD) Reviews

The concept is a little hard to accept – it’s the near future and the Japanese government has brought in a new measure, called the Battle Royale Act. It’s intended to counter the problems in the country’s schools, students boycotting classes, abusing their teachers. On top of that unemployment is spiralling and young ...  Read the complete review

Could you kill your best friend? Battle Royale, actually pronounced Battle Royal by the actor Takeshi Kitano, is a film, taken from Koshun Takami's novel that only Japan could have produced. It's a weirdly surrealistic and ultra-violent portrayal of a world that has had to resort to the Battle Royale Act; an act passed by ...  Read the complete review

It had been sitting on my dvd shelf for many months, I bought it from Hong Kong for around a fiver but I had to wait. I had to wait to get my sound system back in order before I watched this film in all it's DTS glory. Battle Royale is an asian film that could be called a bit of a hot potatoe. There's currently not a US distributor who ...  Read the complete review

I bought the Battle Royale Special Edition on DVD. I won't go into the movie itself because the other opinions do that, instead I'll focus on the special features. It cost £30, substantially more than the ordinary version. For this you get the DVD in a metal tin/cannister (with the DVD itself in another, standard plastic case). ...  Read the complete review

Ultra-violent, ultra-dark, ultra-black comedy. Battle Royal shocked a nation , and the Japanese minister asked the cinemas not to show it. They did. In a society where crime is sky high and youth is running wild , disrespecting the adults, being violent, an anonymous governement passes the BATTLE ROYAL ACT. Each year a class is chosen ...  Read the complete review

Absolutely fantastic film. Best I've seen in a while. - Advantages: Thrilling, Engaging, Horrifying - Disadvantages: horrifying

In Japan the children are becoming unruly, teachers are stabbed and kids are boycotting school. Many of the adults fear them. So the government pass the Battle Royale act. Which means that every year a ninth grade class is selected at random and forced to go to a deserted island and kill each other. If they break the rules the necklaces they wear ...  Read the complete review

If the moronic England fans embarrass us again in Japan then the Battle Royal act might just be the solution. In this biting ultra violent version of Lord of the Flies a random class of school kids is selected by lottery to be drugged and dumped on an island. For three days with minimum provisions and equally random weaponry they have to cull ...  Read the complete review

I only watched this film because I heard that it was violent. Not that I just like violent films but anything different I like to see. I did have to wait until I was really awake to watch the film and not drunk because you have to concentrate. The film is Japanese and has English subtitles so you will have to read the subtitles and ...  Read the complete review

Japan has always been a conservative, male-dominated and conformist society, but if you judge the culture by the movies that have made a big impact in the West over the last couple of years, they're obviously starting to worry that the collapse of the might economy, a generation of kids seduced by western movies and pop music and questions ...  Read the complete review

I'm not a big fan of Japanese or HK films, I have seen a few that are good but most are of little interest. I heard about Battle Royale a little while ago and kind of ignored it, didn't read much about it and just thought it was another film that I wouldn't be interested in. But eventually I couldn't ignore all the talk and read a ...  Read the complete review

Battle Royale Year: 2000 When I heard about a new cult Japanese film about to be released on DVD, there was quite a bit of hype and anticipation among certain quarters that this is a must see movie. Having been out in the far east for a while, and now out on Region 3 DVD, Battle Royale is a movie rumoured to be heading for a ...  Read the complete review

It’s hard to imagine a film like ‘Battle Royale’ being made by a major Hollywood studio. I can just imagine the scene where someone is pitching the films plot to a major studio executive. “Well it’s about a group of schoolkids who get kidnapped and forced to play a deadly game called Battle Royale. They’re put ...  Read the complete review

The premise is this. At the turn of the millennium, the majority of students in Japan are unhappy with school and don’t see much of a future for themselves with changes in industry and a rise in unemployment. As a result, most of them become rebellious by nature, despising the whole concept of education. To deal with this, the government ...  Read the complete review

Battle Royale has shocked and disgusted many a film critic over the past few months, with its powerful depiction of child-on-child violence and murder. Recently it became available on DVD, and having missed it at the cinema I thought I'd better see what all the fuss was about. And to be honest, it's not as horrific and off-putting as it ...  Read the complete review

Director - Fukasaku Kinji Starring - Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Masanobu Ando, Kou Shibasaki, Chiaki Kuriyama, Beat Takeshi Length - 113 minutes Cert - 18 I advise you not to eat when watching this film. The release of Battle Royale has been rather low key in the UK. There hasn't been an ...  Read the complete review

You won't like me, not many do Some people have even threatened to sue But one things for sure and Im hear to stay Like it or not, I won't go away So abuse me and use me all that you can Some people hate me, to others I'm the man I write crap opinions some people may cry Well the simple truth is ...  Read the complete review

I think it's safe to say that when you go to see an art-house sort of a film from Japan, then you should be braced for a non-usual film experience. And this is certainly a film that could probably never have been made anywhere else. Set in a not too distant future, where unemployment is rife and the younger generation are becoming ...  Read the complete review

By a strange twist of fates my friends I found myself in Manchester on a Saturday night, alone with two hours to kill and in effect alone. Then a small cinema caught my eye and the title Battle Royale. It has been a little while since I had gone to see a film by myself and having heard “good things” I decided this was the perfect ...  Read the complete review

I think there are few films in recent times that I have been as anxious to see as the ultra-violent Japanese 'Battle Royale'. Based on a controversial novel by Koshun Takami, the film confronts modern issues in Japan, though apparently in quite a superficial manner. THE PLOT In Japan in the near future, unemployment rates ...  Read the complete review