Battle Royale

Battle Royale

Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル) is a Japanese action-thriller film which was released on December 16, 2000. It was directed by Kinji Fukasaku, and written by his son Kenta Fukasaku.

Name: Battle Royale
Released: December 16, 2000
Genre: Action, Thriller
Rating: R15+ (Japan), 18 (UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Brazil, Argentina), R (Australia, Canada), R18 (New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan), 16 (France, Iceland), 21+ (Indonesia), B (Mexico), VM18 (Italy), 19 (South Korea), TV-PG (USA DVD), TV-14 (USA TV), TV-MA (USA Video), R21 (Singapore) Reasons: Violence & Gore, Sex & Nudity, Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking, Frightening & Intense Scenes, Profanity
Runtime: 113 minutes (1 hour 53 minutes)
Writers: Kenta Fukasaku
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Screenplay: Kenta Fukasaku
Producers: Masao Sato, Masumi Okada, Teruo Kamaya, Tetsu Kayama
Cinematography: Katsumi Yanagishima
Editor: Hirohide Abe
Music: Masamichi Amano
Production Company: Battle Royale Production Committee
Distributor: Toei Company, Ltd.

Plot:
In the near-future, due to a major recession and a high unemployment rate, the Japanese government has passed the “BR Act” to curb the nation’s juvenile delinquency, which takes a random class of delinquent students and sends them to the Battle Royale games where only one survivor makes it out alive, thus becoming a good citizen of Japan. Shuya Nanahara’s class is the latest to be sent to this game, and the class have three days to fight to the death until a victor emerges; explosive collars will kill uncooperative students or those within designated “danger zones”. Each student is provided rations, a map, supplies and a random weapon/item. Initially, the students don’t engage in combat, however, they later begin to accept their current situation and things take a turn for the worse. Could you kill your best friend?

Facts:
– The film was first screened in Tokyo with an R15+ rating, which is rarely used in Japan.
– It was the highest-grossing Japanese film for six weeks after its initial release, and was later released in 22 countries worldwide.
– The film grossed over $30 Million in 10 countries.
– This movie is often regarded as one of Fukasaku’s best films, and one of the best films of the 2000s.
– In 2009, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, known for writing and directing Kill Bill, praised Battle Royale as his favourite film of the past two decades.
– The film is notable for featuring many young unknown actors who become stars later on, such as Tatsuya Fujiwara who landed the role of Light Yagami in the Death Note films.
– Battle Royale spawned the battle royale genre, including games, anime, comic books, films, TV shows and manga.
– The movie is based on the novel Battle Royale by Koushun Takami.
– Roughly 6,000 actors auditioned for the film.
– Despite the characters being middle school students, only Aki Maeda, Yukihiro Kotani, Takayo Mimura and Yukari Kanasawa were aged 15-16.
– During the first weekend, the film grossed ¥212 Million/$1.8 Million, later going on to domestically gross ¥3.11 Billion/$28.9 Million, making it the third highest-grossing Japanese film of 2001, after the films Spirited Away and Pokémon 4Ever.
– Kazutaka Kodaka, the scenario writer of the Danganronpa series, cited the film as an influence for the series.
– The film was originally banned in Singapore and China, and is currently still banned in Malaysia, according to IMDb.