Batoru rowaiaru (2000)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Kinji Fukasaku

Writers:

Koushun Takami (novel)
Kenta Fukasaku (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 December 2000 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Sport | 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 | Battle | Death | Teacher | Japan

Awards:

7 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Tatsuya Fujiwara	...	Shuya Nanahara - otoko 15-ban
Aki Maeda	...	Noriko Nakagawa - onna 15-ban
Taro 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)
Taro 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)
• Toei Company

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)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• Palisades-Tartan Acquisitions (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Starmax (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (200?) (UK) (DVD) (VHS)
• 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)

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
• BA-TSU  school uniform design

Also Known As:

Battle Royale (International: English title)

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:

1.78 : 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:

Many members of the Japanese Parliament tried to get the novel banned, but to no avail. When the film was released, they attempted to ban it also. Both efforts resulted in the novel and film becoming even more successful as people bought the book and went to the movie to see what the fuss was all about.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Noriko tells Kawada that the food that he cooked was good, we hear him reply that his father was a cook even though at that moment his mouth doesn't move.

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:

References Falling Down (1993)

Soundtrack:

The Blue Danube Waltz

A Great Foreign Action Film... And You Gotta Love Chiaki Kuriyama!

Battle Royale, or Batoru Rowaiaru as named in Japan, was a pretty cool Japanese action flick. Most of the special effects were pretty awesome looking, but a few could be considered a bit cheesy, such as the over splattering of blood. Believe it or not, the movie actually had it's funny moments as well. The instructional video from the overly perky girl telling the rules of the death game was a pretty funny bit. Usually the humor from Japanese movies can escape me, but I liked the humor here quite a bit, at least until the action and killing started.

The premise of the movie is that, due to escalating violence in schools, a law is passed which allows the military, or some kind of militia, to take one troubled class and turn them all loose on an island with the object of killing each other until one is standing. They have 3 days to complete their objective or they all die.

As the game begins, every 6 hours there is an update on which classmates were killed and how many were left. These updates also alert the students to danger zones, which are just places you do not want to be when the time comes. The students are all issued a survival pack and a random weapon as well. Some weapons are horrible and useless and some would be great to have in a situation of this kind.

The main characters are Shuya Nanahara (Tatsuya Fujiwara) & Noriko Nakagawa (Aki Maeda) who are close friends and refuse to kill each other. The game is also somewhat rigged with the addition of two "ringers". One of whom plays for fun, another who has another reason. Basically, one good and one evil. The good one is named Shougo Kawada (Taro Yamamoto) and helps the students who he does not find a threat. Also, Chiaki Kuriyama (Gogo Yubari from Kill Bill) puts in an amazing performance. I can see why Quentin Tarantino chose her for his movie based on this part here.

Overall, I really liked this movie - violence, action, humor and all with very few complaints or annoyances. I can recommend this movie with a clear conscience. 8.5/10