Battle Royale SE R3 (1 Viewer)

[JohnAD]

Hey All:
I picked up Battle Royale from asiandb.com and I have to say that this is the best movie I've seen this year. Since neither of the Japanese R2 releases have English subtitles, this one's probably the one to get. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes good cinema.
John.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Actually, the UK version has the supplements subtitled, which I don't believe the Korean disc does. And it has bitchin packaging So pair the 2 up and you're good to go
Please tell me I'm wrong, I'll order the Korean in a second

 

[JohnAD]

Jeff:
I didn't realize there was a UK release. The supplements are subtitled, but only in Korean. Too bad I don't do PAL. The packaging rocks, though. The keepcase comes in a cardboard sleeve, which has a funky 3D cover which shows the BR symbol at the top, with a caption of "Today, I killed my best friend". The bottom has the class picture with half a dozen X's through students, and the 'Director's Cut' caption in red. The top says "Special Edition" in white on a red background. The 3D effect is such that the BR Battle Royale logo seems to be floating about where the keep case would be.
It would be nice if Battle Royale got released in R1, but I would recommend the movie no matter which way you get it. I received my copy on Friday, and I've watched it three times already. I knew there was a reason why I loved Japanese cinema .
John.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Oh of course
The UK SE comes in a grey tin with the BR logo on it. It's quite snazzy

 

[Matthew Brown]

Jeff -
Do you reccamend the director's cut over the other release? Is the UK one the version that is from Tartan?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Jeff Kleist]

That's a tough one
The UK SE is the director's cut has some major problems with it (It seems to be sourced from an NTSC master and they kept an identical running time. This means it has 4% slowDOWN! They screwed up badly.
Tartan has an anamorphic NTSC issue of the theatrical cut with subtitles as well, however they screwed up again and it is not progressive as the cover claims.
The best thing to do is buy the Tartan NTSC and the Tartan SE version, then buy the Korean version, toss the 2nd disc of that and the first disc of the PAL, combine the 2 in the UK packaging and there you go
If you're looking for extras

 

[Matthew Brown]

Thanks jeff!

I dread that if I buy any version a new one will be released somewhere else.

Matt

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The only thing left is a US release, not happening any time soon

 

[JohnAD]

Matthew:
Battle Royale is worth it no matter how you pick it up. I paid ~40$ with shipping to get it from Korea, and after watching it, would easily have paid twice that much. It's that good (IMHO).
Jeff:
Since it's Halloween, I guess that would be the 'Frankenstein' version . I forgot to mention that the Korean release is anamorphic, and is only 1 disk.
John.

 

[Chris Xolotl]

John. The theatrical version is released R0 officially by Tartan UK that plays in US and Canadian Players.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1575838081

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Yup, for once an R0 disc of a Japanese film is actually legit

 

[JohnAD]

Chris and Jeff:
Thanks for the info. Does Tartan have a web site? Or do you have to order from someone else? Not that I'm thinking of getting another copy, but just for future reference. My region-free player doesn't get much of a workout for non R1 titles :frowning:.
John.

 

[DeanWalsh]

Theres also the theatrical version r3 from Universe in HK... It isn't anamorphic but has a full bitrate dts track.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

If memory serves, Tartan has a site like Lions Gate that tells you nothing beyond the existance of the title.

The full bitrate DTS track on the R3 is just sourced from the DD track, to satisfy the Asian DTS fetish. It offers no additional fidelity

 

[JohnAD]

The 5.1 track on my Korean version certainly satisfies me. It's about as loud as Gladiator's DTS 6.1 EX track. My subwoofer certainly gets a workout .
John.

 

[Mark_Wilson]

Another version of Battle Royale coming Jan 10th:
http://www.koreandvds.com/dvddetail.html?id=8791
Includes DTS. Doesn't say if its the Theatrical or DC.

 

[Jean-Michel]

Includes DTS. Doesn't say if its the Theatrical or DC.

But it does give a running time of 122 minutes, which roughly matches the special edition.

 

[Damin J Toell]

Another version of Battle Royale coming Jan 10th:

It looks like it's got the same extras as the previous Korean SE release. It would be nice if those extras get English subtitles this time around, too.

DJ

 

[ChrisJefferys]

I just got this new Korean edition that's being talked about. I ordered the DVD a couple months ago from DVDAsian but it was on back order. It looks like this new printing was just released and thats the one I got. Possible differences: no 3D cover (the first pressing had one right?), a map of the island is enclosed with details in Korean (was this included with the original?). The site linked above mentions that there is a DD 5.1 track in addition to the DTS but the packaging just mentions a DD 2.0 track(in addition to DTS 5.1). The biggest possible difference is that the packaging states that the disc is ALL region not just region 3 like the first pressing. Anyway, I'm at work now, but when I get home I will check to see if it is indeed all region and if there is a DD 5.1 track.
And yes the packaging says this is the 122 min. directors cut. The packaging says 2003 so this was just released. I'll also check if the supplements are subtitled in English this time (not expecting it but it would be nice!)