Batoru rowaiaru (2000)

Director:

Kinji Fukasaku

Writers:

Koushun Takami (novel)
Kenta Fukasaku (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 December 2000 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Could you kill your best friend?

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.

Plot Keywords:

Game | Death | Teacher | Japan | Food

Awards:

7 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

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
Sayaka Ikeda	...	Megumi Etô - onna 3-ban
Anna Nagata	...	Hirono Shimizu - onna 10-ban
Yukari Kanasawa	...	Yûkiko Kitano - onna 6-ban
Misao Kato	...	Yumiko Kusaka - onna 7-ban
Hitomi Hyuga	...	Yûko Sakaki - onna 9-ban
Satomi Ishii	...	Haruka Tanizawa - onna 12-ban
Asami Kanai	...	Chisato Matsui - onna 19-ban
Satomi Hanamura	...	Yûka Nakagawa - onna 16-ban
Yousuke Shibata	...	Mitsuru Numai - otoko 17-ban
Shirou Gou	...	Ryûhei Sasagawa - otoko 10-ban
Yuuki Masuda	...	Hiroshi Kuronaga - otoko 9-ban
Shigeki Hirokawa	...	Shô Tsukioka - otoko 14-ban
Tamaki Mihara	...	Izumi Kanai - onna 5-ban
Tomomi Shimaki	...	Sakura Ogawa - onna 4-ban
Yasuomi Sano	...	Kazuhiko Yamamoto - otoko 21-ban
Shin Kusaka	...	Yoshio Akamatsu - otoko 1-ban
Gouki Nishimura	...	Tatsumichi Ôki - otoko 3-ban
Shigehiro Yamaguchi	...	Toshimori Oda - otoko 4-ban
Osamu Ohnishi	...	Yôji Kuramoto - otoko 8-ban
Satoshi Yokomichi	...	Tadakatsu Hatagami - otoko 18-ban
Junichi Naitou	...	Yûichiro Takiguchi - otoko 13-ban
Tsuyako Kinoshita	...	Mizuho Inada - onna 1-ban
Mai Sekiguchi	...	Kaori Minami - onna 20-ban
Takako Baba	...	Yoshimi Yahagi - onna 21-ban
Haruka Nomiyama	...	Mayumi Tendô - onna 14-ban
Ai Iwamura	...	Onna no hito - won last Battle Royale
Ai Maeda	...	Shiori - Kitano no aijô (voice)
Minami	...	Keiko
Michiko Yamamura	...	Reporter
Suzuka Tonegawa	...	Young Mitsuko (in Special Version)
Tarô Suwa	...	Middle-aged man (in Special Version)
Reiko Kataoka	...	Mitsuko no okâsan (in Special Version)
Takeyuki Hirai	...	Soldier
Tomu Asakawa	...	Soldier
Yûya Nakahara	...	Soldier
Takashi Komori	...	Soldier
Ryôta Nakamura	...	Soldier
Akihiro Ugajin	...	Soldier
Yôichi Murakami	...	Soldier
Tsuguharu Niizaki	...	Soldier
Jun'ichi Nashiki	...	Soldier
Hiroshi Kitagawa	...	Soldier
Hideaki Kawashima	...	Soldier
Umiji Tasaki	...	Soldier
Mitsuaki Tachikawa	...	Soldier
Hidetsugu Okumura	...	Soldier
Daisuke Yazawa	...	Soldier
Nobuki Baba	...	Soldier
Naoki Iwasawa	...	Soldier
Kôji Tokuhisa	...	Soldier
Mikiya Sanada	...	Soldier
Kazuhiro Yokokura	...	Soldier
Shigeki Homma	...	Soldier
Kazuo Araki	...	Soldier
Gôshi Matsuhara	...	Soldier
Akira Yoshizawa	...	Soldier
Kenzô Shirahama	...	Soldier
Kanji Okumura	...	Soldier
Shôji Takano	...	Soldier
Ryôji Sugimoto	...	Soldier
Hajime Yoneda	...	Soldier
Hideaki Kojima	...	Soldier
Nanami Oota	...	Mitsuko no tomodachi (in Special Version)
Ayana Noguchi	...	Mitsuko no tomodachi (in Special Version)
Tetsu Masuda	...	Kurasu 3A no sensei (in Special Version)
Kazutoshi Yokoyama	...	Basketball referee (in Special Version)
Kotaru Kamijou	...	Jô Kitô, Basketball player of Class 3-A (in Special Version)
Hirobumi Seki	...	Kôsuke Okiyama, Basketball player of Class 3-A (in Special Version)
Kiyoyuki Matsumoto	...	Shinichirô Tanaka, Basketball player of Class 3-A (in Special Version)
Gou Ryugawa	...	Lieutenant Anjo
Takashi Taniguchi	...	Nanahara no otôsan
Ken Nakaide	...	Hayashida-san - Kurasu 3B no sensei
Kanako Fukaura	...	Basugaido
Yûko Miyamura	...	Training Video Girl
Kou Shibasaki	...	Mitsuko Sôma - onna 11-ban
Masanobu Ando	...	Kazuo Kiriyama - otoko 6-ban
Takeshi Kitano	...	Kitano-sensei (as Bito Takeshi)

Directed by
Kinji Fukasaku

Writing credits
Koushun Takami		(novel)
Kenta Fukasaku		(screenplay)

Produced by
Kenta Fukasaku	....	producer
Kinji Fukasaku	....	producer
Kimio Kataoka	....	producer
Chie Kobayashi	....	producer
Toshio Nabeshima	....	producer
Masumi Okada	....	producer

Original Music by
Masamichi Amano

Cinematography by
Katsumi Yanagijima

Film Editing by
Hirohide Abe

Production Design by
Kyôko Heya

Production Management
Motoki Ishida	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kenta Fukasaku	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Yasushi Nakayama	....	designer: main title logo
Motomu Takaba	....	designer: BR logomark

Sound Department
Kunio Ando	....	sound

Special Effects by
Kikuo Notomi	....	armourer
Kikuo Notomi	....	pyrotechnician

Visual Effects by
Yoshiaki Nakaichi	....	digital effects artist

Stunts
Ai Iwamura	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Other crew
Makoto Ashikawa	....	stand-in
Haruhi Terada	....	voice trainer

Production Companies

• Battle Royale Production Committee
• Fukasaku-gumi (in association with)
• GAGA
• Kobi Co.
• M Associates
• MF Pictures
• Nippon Shuppan Hanbai (Nippan) K.K.
• Toei Company
• WoWow

Distributors

• Bir Film (2003) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• Líder Films (2002) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Manga Films (2002) (Spain) (theatrical)
• SND (2001) (France) (theatrical)
• Toei Company (2000) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Asian Cult Cinema (video)
• Astro Distribution (2004) (Germany) (DVD) (uncut version)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS) (retail)
• Intercontinental Film Distributors (HK) (2001) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• Palisades-Tartan Acquisitions (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Starmax (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (200?) (UK) (DVD)
• Toei Video Company (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Universe Laser & Video Co. Ltd. (2001) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Visual Filmes (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Malin Post (visual effects)
• Nippon Eizo Creative (visual effects)
• Toei Labo Tech (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Geiyu  stand-ins
• Gekidan Himawari  stand-ins
• Toei Academy  stand-ins
• Tohai  stand-ins
• Carrot  stand-ins
• Wakakusa  stand-ins
• Nac  stand-ins
• Aoi Studio  post-production sound services
• BA-TSU  school uniform design
• Continental Far East  Dolby consultant
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• Malin Post  title design
• NAC Image Technology  camera equipment supplied by
• Nihon Shomei Co.  lighting equipment supplied by
• Toei Labo Tech  film processing

Also Known As:

Battle Royale (International: English title) (UK) (USA)

Runtime:

114 min | Japan:122 min (director's cut) | South Korea:120 min | USA:121 min (director's cut)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

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:

Battle Royale Production Committee

Trivia:

The movie was shot in different locations all over Japan. The one location that was actually a small island was Hachijô-Kojima, an uninhabited island in the Izu chain hundreds of miles south of Tôkyô - it is used in many scenes where the students are seen by the seashore, as well as the shot of the island at the end.

Goofs:

Continuity: Hirono's weapon changes from being a Browning High Power to an Colt .45 Model 1911 (just after she throws Mitsuko's weapon).

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!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Accepted (2006)

Soundtrack:

The Blue Danube Waltz

The Best Japanese film I have laid my eyes on

I couldn't believe my eyes. Out of all of the horror/survival films I have ever seen, this is definitely on top of the list. I don't just mean that in terms of foreign films, I mean in terms of film. I was immersed into this crazy scenario that may seem absolutely ridiculous at first, but once you look at it, it almost turns into a not so outlandish thought.

The story is laid out like this: Japan has is going down the proverbial crapper. Unemployment is at an all time high and kids everywhere are boycotting school. The country is in chaos. The government decides to pass a law that is basically aimed at scaring the country into order. The Law is called the BR Act. Heres the crazy part. A class is selected by impartial lottery (and the grades seem totally random, as indicated by the shot of the 1st or 2nd grader in the opening sequence) and sent to an undisclosed, evacuated location. The classmates then have 3 days to kill each other off until there is only one student left. This year, it is a class of 9th graders (keep in mind that Japanese kids go to school year round. in our school years, these kids would be seniors). They are sent to an island, given weapons, and fight to survive.

The cast in this film is chock full of Japanese Stars. Kitano Takeshi (Kitano) plays the teacher that basically plays the ringleader. If you have watched spike TV, you have seen him before. This is the actor that plays as "Vic Ramono" on MXC. The rest of the cast is comprised of Japanese teen pop idols. Most notably, the gorgeous Chiaki Kuriyama (Chigusa). You probably know her too. She was Gogo Yubari in Kill Bill Vol 1. Ando Masanobu (Kiriyama) plays the most menacing villain I have ever seen.

Asside from the classic Japanese blood sprays and the amount of ammo some of the guns put out, there is great attention to detail in this film. From what I have read, since the author (Kinji Fukasaku) of the original book directed the film, everything is kept true to the book as close as possible. Every time a student dies, their names appear on the screen in the order they died. Inside the main building, there is huge system of screens that show who is dead and what not. Anyway, that screen is exact on the names as well as the 'danger zone' map. I had to look twice to realize that. That is damn good editing right there.

The characters in the film, though Japanese, can be related right back to the kids you knew in high school. I joke around with my friends all of the time saying, "Oh thats so and so" and, "oh man, that is definitely so and so." This brings so much depth into the film. It is simply amazing to watch how everything plays out. This is like Darwinism in the 21st century. I watch this film just saying, "this is what would happen." That is what the entire film is based on, the crazy idea of 'this could happen.' The whole tag line of the movie is, "could you kill your best friend?" The question is so spooky, I don't even know if I could answer it. It taps into something so deep that you really have to think about it.

This film does have some comical moments. It is just too damn funny to watch Takeshi Kitano sit on a couch and eat cookies while at the same time watching his former pupils kill each other. There is just everything in this movie. There are those love stories that you saw all too often in school as well as those feuds between certain cliques and egos.

If you want a superb psychological thriller, this is the movie. This film sent shock waves across Japan when it burst onto the scene. Intelligent writing, great acting, beautiful locations, and decent effects bring this film together. Its Lord of the Flies with High School Kids. Its just great.

10 out of 10