Battle Royale. Any views on this?? (1 Viewer)

Howdy,
Now that my HK thirst has been helped with the glorious "Hero" I now want to head east a bit to Japan. I read some intersting hype on the Japanese cult hit "Battle Royale" and was wondering if anyone saw an import of this (my new favorite DVD importer, Poker Industries, has a few All region discs). I am not well educated on japanese live action as I get most of my movie pleasure from anime vs. live stuff. Is this a good flick? Anything to compare to or is it its own beast? Any comments useful.

Thanks!

Phil

I really liked this movie. Its like Lord of the Flies. Kind of. Pretty violent. Basically kids are trapped on an island where they each get a weapon. The weapon depends on their skills. So the weak people get crossbows and guns. While the strong guys get as an example, a fan. So whoever is left living at the end can go home. Pretty violent, very entertaining, and if you like different kinds of movies, this is one of those.

It's a lot different than that, the film (and the original novel) is a social commentary on the clash going on between the old guard generations and the youth of today in Japan.

Without writing a 15 page paper, in an effort to control the wild youth, a class is randomly chosen each year to compete against each other to the death, last alive goes home. I know there's plenty of people who get off on the brutal murder parts, personally I dig the characters far more, but again, a lot is lost to those not familiar with the Japanese psyche.

You can usually do a lot better than Poker Industries, try http://www.dddhouse.com. In this case since the R0 BR's are UK imports it's a fair price

I can't recommend the film enough.

Whilst it's true that the film is viscerally entertaining at a basic action level it also crams more characterisation and empathy for the characters than most hollywood films have in many many years.

Fabulous film.

On the other hand I have friends who just thought I was a wierdo for liking it. Go figure.

FWIW I have the special edition tin from the UK and although the picture quality is a little muddy it's not enough to detract.

Definitely an excellent movie. I took a chance a while back on buying it blind since I didn't think I'd ever get a chance to see it in this country and I'm glad I did. It's quite violent but also downright hilarious (in a dark humored way ). And every person I've lended my copy to has also thoroughly enjoyed it.

I don't know, maybe I didn't read into the DDD site enough and maybe those prices are in pounds or something, but their costs were about twice what I was paying at Poker Industries for similar movies. That said, this is sounding more intriguing by the minute. Maybe this is the film version of "Ender's Game" that could have been?





Sort of?


Phil

Battle Royale is an absolute masterpiece. The film is thoroughly entertaining, while it also makes you think quite a bit afterwards. It's got the perfect mix of humor, violence and social commentary. I highly recommend this film to anybody with the stomach to watch it.

I can't wait to see Battle Royale 2. It continues where the last left off. (Not a retread of the first.) This time it takes on terrorism. From a trailer I saw, there is some Fight Club like imagery. Unfortunately the original director, Kinji Fukasaku, passed away while filming this, but his son has taken up the reigns.

One of my all-time faves! The light-house scene with the girls is a friggin classic!

I love Battle Royale, purchased the extended special edition 2-disc dvd imported from Korea. Definately worth checking out.

DDDHouse is charging in Hong Kong dollars, approx $7.75- $1 US

There is a thread in other regions section discussing the best special edition, with added CGI blood, director's cut, 2nd disc with extras all subtitled, etc.

The concept of Battle Royale was originaly done by Albert Pyun with Christopher Lambert and Ice T, only criminals and thugs in a newly built prison intead of kids on an island, so if you like one, you'll surely like the other.

Great film, and I would recommend the Korean 2 disc version (region 0, unlike the first Korean disc). Looking forward to part 2 and hoping someday, someone will translate the original novel into English.

The Korean disc looks to be the one elsewhere, too, so this is consistent. I am really stoked about this flick. Will get soon and report back.

Thanks for advice!

Ciao,

Phil

Phil, I forgot to mention the one down side of the Korean DVD. The second disc of extras does not have English subs (but the feature does). But if you're mainly interested in the film itself, you can't go wrong with this disc.

Lenny, the original BR novel was done long before tha movie

Just wanted to chime in and let you know that the Korean 2-disc set with DTS is probably the best way to go. I bought the film sight unseen due to the high praise I'd read (and the high unlikeliness it would ever see a US release), and I was absolutely thrilled with it. Even though the violence is what gets this film all its attention, the story is absolutely wonderful. It's all about character, and that's always the most important thing.

That said, I got my copy of the 2-disc SE from DVDAsian.com and I found their service to be absolutely stellar. It all came to about 27 dollars with Priority Mail shipping in the US, and they shipped very quickly. So, if I had to make a recommendation, I'd go with them based on past experience.

As for the extras, outside of the piece on the novel on disc two, you can actually watch all the behind the scenes and marketing stuff without worrying about subtitles. The segment on the scoring of the film is probably the easiest to watch this way. While it would have helped to have English subs, you can still get some enjoyment out of the extra material.

Chris, do you mean the novel of the second story? The first book of Battle Royale is on Amazon.com for about $12 (or, over $80 HK ). On the site, a guy reviewed it saying he picked it up at Borders so I think it must be widely available. I am definitely going to pick this one up! Movie...book...all goodness.


Phil