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Batoru rowaiaru (2000)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
16 December 2000 (Japan)
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Tagline:
Could you kill your best friend? more
Plot:
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
7 wins
&
7 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(10 articles)
Antm Cycle 13 Finale: And 'America's Next Top Model' Is... (Live Thoughts)
(From BuddyTV. 18 November 2009, 8:28 AM, PST)
DVD releases for Oct. 27 - Nov.3, 2009
(From QuietEarth. 3 November 2009, 2:56 PM, PST)
(From BuddyTV. 18 November 2009, 8:28 AM, PST)
DVD releases for Oct. 27 - Nov.3, 2009
(From QuietEarth. 3 November 2009, 2:56 PM, PST)
User Comments:
A Haunting Film That Demands Repeated Viewing
more (494 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Tatsuya Fujiwara | ... | Shuya Nanahara - otoko 15-ban | |
| Aki Maeda | ... | Noriko Nakagawa - onna 15-ban | |
| Tarô Yamamoto | ... | Shôgo Kawada - otoko 5-ban | |
| Chiaki Kuriyama | ... | Takako Chigusa - onna 13-ban | |
| Sosuke Takaoka | ... | Hiroki Sugimura - otoko 11-ban | |
| Takashi Tsukamoto | ... | Shinji Mimura - otoko 19-ban | |
| Yukihiro Kotani | ... | Yôshitoki Kuninobu - otoko 7-ban | |
| Eri Ishikawa | ... | Yukie Utsumi - onna 2-ban | |
| Sayaka Kamiya | ... | Satomi Noda - onna 17-ban | |
| Aki Inoue | ... | Fumiyo Fujiyôshi - onna 18-ban | |
| Takayo Mimura | ... | Kayoko Kotôhiki - onna 8-ban | |
| Yutaka Shimada | ... | Yûtaka Seto - otoko 12-ban | |
| Ren Matsuzawa | ... | Keita Îjima - otoko 2-ban | |
| Hirohito Honda | ... | Kazushi Nîda - otoko 16-ban | |
| Ryou Nitta | ... | Kyôichi Motobuchi - otoko 20-ban |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Battle Royale (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
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Parents Guide:
Runtime:
114 min | Japan:122 min (director's cut) | South Korea:120 min | USA:121 min (director's cut)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Taiwan:R-18 |
Malaysia:(Banned) |
Portugal:M/18 |
Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) (cut) |
Canada:18A (Alberta) |
Canada:18+ (Quebec) |
Argentina:18 |
Australia:R |
Belgium:KNT |
Canada:R |
Finland:K-18 |
France:-16 |
Hong Kong:III |
Iceland:16 |
Ireland:18 |
Japan:R-15 |
Netherlands:16 |
New Zealand:R18 |
Norway:18 |
Peru:18 |
Singapore:(Banned) (original rating) |
Singapore:R(A) (edited for re-rating) |
Singapore:R21 (re-rating) (uncut) |
South Korea:18 |
Spain:18 |
Sweden:15 |
UK:18 |
Germany:BPjM Restricted
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The director offered the role of Yoshitoki Kuninobu to popular rock vocalist 'Kyō' (from Dir en Grey), but Kyo's management forbade him to take it.
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Goofs:
Continuity: Before Kawada reveals the picture of him and Keiko, we can see its outline from behind, and it shows a different couple.
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Quotes:
[first lines]
Reporter: This year Zentsuji Middle School number 4's Class E was chosen from among 43,000 Ninth grade classes. This year's game, said to be more blistering than the last - - Oh look there! There she is! The winner's a girl! Surviving a fierce battle that raged two days, seven hours, and 43 minutes - the winner is a girl! Look, she's smiling! Smiling! The girl definitely just smiled!
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Reporter: This year Zentsuji Middle School number 4's Class E was chosen from among 43,000 Ninth grade classes. This year's game, said to be more blistering than the last - - Oh look there! There she is! The winner's a girl! Surviving a fierce battle that raged two days, seven hours, and 43 minutes - the winner is a girl! Look, she's smiling! Smiling! The girl definitely just smiled!
more
Movie Connections:
References The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
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Soundtrack:
Air
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FAQ
What are the differences between the Theatrical version and the Extended version?Is the Battle Royale supposed to symbolise anything or is it just a gore-fest?
What is the relevance of the girl seen at the beginning of the film?
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more (494 total)
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The Place: Japan. The Time: The not-so-distant-future. Faced with the prospect of losing control over the nation's young people, a totalitarian government decides upon a ruthless demonstration of power. The Battle Royale Act annually sends a randomly-selected class of high school students to an uninhabited island where they are compelled to kill each other until only one of their number survives.
The reasoning behind this bizarre piece of legislation is perhaps the weakest part of the plot - but the Director deftly causes us to suspend disbelief by drawing us surely and touchingly into the feelings of the young cast. Unlike many western movies which trot out a body count of simplistic characters who are only there to die horribly for our entertainment, Battle Royale somehow manages to rapidly introduce us to the story's potential victims and make us care about them.
You will read reviews that describe this film as excessively violent. I believe that this is a gross overstatement. Though there are many deaths and not a little blood, the main emphasis is upon simple human values - issues such as trust, friendship, love and hate - which the competition tests to their very limits. Children who have little genuine experience of living are forced to evaluate their relationships with each other if they want to stay alive. Alliances are formed and broken; long suppressed crushes and barely buried antagonisms influence their decisions.
There are no easy or mindless deaths in Battle Royale. The violent scenes make the point that violence and death are not cool or funny. This is not Kill Bill; every character in Battle Royale has value as a living, breathing human being. It may sound corny to say that the movie is an emotional roller-coaster ride, but it truly is - having dared to give us three dimensional people who bleed when they are cut, the Director sometimes further dares to cruelly follow scenes of tragedy with jarring moments of biting, dark and sarcastic wit.
If this was an American movie, the class would be played by people in their twenties and thirties. Two or three of the students would be given a lot of screen time and the rest would be faceless cannon fodder. Five seconds after the opening titles, you would know who was going to survive. Despite its odd premise, Battle Royale seems closer to reality because its teenagers really are teenagers and it allows no comforting certainties about who lives or dies.
The true genius of Battle Royale lies in the talented playing of the entire cast. Although young, not one of them strikes a dud note and the script gives almost all of the students a chance to shine at some point. The fight scenes are not staged in the style of 'Enter The Dragon' - the kids are not weapons experts or Karate champions. We see them kill each other but we are not invited to hate them - they are, after all, children and they are scared and desperate. Even a student who takes to killing with apparent relish deserves our sympathy.
Some reviewers have criticised aspects of the dialogue as unrealistic. There are certainly times when the script seems stagy - but it is important to remember that these Japanese children are products of a national culture which often finds the expression of passionate emotions problematical. If anything, the formal phrasing and awkwardness of their most heartfelt expressions only serves to make them more meaningful.
The Special Edition ends (quite literally) with a question. You will find yourself going back to this movie time and time again to answer it. Each viewing is rewarded with details that you probably missed previously - the depth of characterisation and the layers of hidden-in-plain-sight clues continually allow you to understand the story from fresh perspectives.