Blu-ray Review Battle Royale: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Before there was the Hunger Games, there was Battle Royale, Japan’s answer to the rampant unemployment and juvenile delinquency problems faced at the beginning of the new millennium. Anchor Bay Entertainment delivers a great Blu-ray of this Japanese cult favorite, released just in time to shake an an angry teen fist at the “The Hunger Games” movie premiering this Friday.

Battle Royale: The Complete Collection

Release Date: March 20, 2012

Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Year: 2000, 2003

Rating: NR

Running Time: 2:02:09 (director’s cut); 1:54:03 (theatrical cut); 2:12:59 (sequel)

MSRP: $49.99

The Features

• Battle Royale: The Director’s Cut – 4.5/5

• Battle Royale: Theatrical Cut – 4/5

• Battle Royale II: Requiem – 2/5

Followers of Japanese pop culture experienced more than a little déjà vu when Suzanne Collins’ young adult novel “The Hunger Games” hit the market in 2008. The premise of teenagers thrown into a fight-to-the-death competition by an authoritarian government struggling to maintain order had been explored in satirically bloody ways almost a decade earlier in Koushun Takami’s 1999 novel “Battle Royale.” Subsequent manga and movie adaptations in 2000 further cemented the work as a cult favorite, making the howls of protest all the more piercing when Collins’ novel took off like it did. Though the furor has died down with the author denying any previous knowledge of the other work, it’s hard not to notice the similarities between the two properties (though there are certainly key differences as well). And with Anchor Bay’s Blu-ray of “Battle Royale” coming out just a few days before the premiere of “The Hunger Games” movie, it’s clear the comparisons aren’t going to go away any time soon.

Unlike “The Hunger Games,” “Battle Royale,” directed by the late Kinji Fukasaku, makes a point of defining its time and place - Japan at the turn of the millennium. With the nation on the verge of collapse from rampant unemployment and juvenile delinquency, the government attempts to control its youth and restore the confidence of adults through the Millennium Education Reform Act. Also known as the BR Act, it mandates randomly selected members of a school class fight each other, to the death, in a three-day “battle royal.” Rules require a sole victor; if more than one is left standing, or if students refuse to fight or try to escape, all survivors will be killed by the explosive collars involuntarily attached to their necks. To facilitate combat everyone also gets a weapon, albeit of varying usefulness, with everything from a pot lid to a machine gun being placed in their young hands. Ultimately however, it will come down to a student’s innate brutality and resourcefulness to survive and win the game.

Chosen at random for the latest round are the 42 members of Shiroiwa Junior High School’s Class 3B, of which Shuya Nanahara (Tatsuya Fujiwara) and Noriko Nakagawa (Aki Maeda) are a part. Shuya is essentially an orphan after his mother abandoned him and his father committed suicide not long after. Noriko has a longstanding crush on Shuya, and through fate and circumstance the pair wind up trying to survive the game together as their classmates steadily pick each other off in various, gruesome ways. Ultimately allying themselves with past game winner Shogo Kawada (Taro Yamamoto), one of two volunteers enrolled in their class to liven things up, the pair look like they’ll at least make it to the third day. But the real victory will be had in outsmarting the system and the former Shiroiwa teacher (Takeshi “Beat” Kitano) who has become a key figure in the Battle Royale Program.

Though the movie gets attention for its gory, over-the-top violence, the lasting appeal ultimately comes from the dark social satire and poignant, “lost innocence” theme (which gets more play in the director’s cut, making it the preferred version). The students’ immediate distrust of each other and failure to unify against a common enemy provide some incisive commentary on human nature, while recurring flashbacks to a unifying school event emphasize how fragile bonds become when under pressure. The dystopian premise that “Battle Royale” shares with “The Hunger Games” provides some thought provoking moments, but frankly feels a little half-baked compared to Collins’ more fully realized Panem and Hunger Games mythology. The “Battle Royale” sequel (included in the set along with the theatrical cut of the first film) had a chance to expand to a richer, more detailed world with its larger budget, but ultimately it takes an easier route of delivering more of the same blood, guts and mayhem, but without the necessary suspense or biting subtext. In fact, it gets a tad preachy and didactic, draining the remaining life out of an already tedious retread.

“Battle Royale: The Complete Collection” Blu-ray includes the theatrical and director’s cuts of “Battle Royale” as well as the sequel, “Battle Royale II: Requiem.” Each film gets its own Blu-ray disc, with a fourth disc, in DVD format, holding all the extras.  All four discs are stored in sturdy cardboard book packaging with a clear plastic slipcover.

Video Quality: 3.5/5

Each film is presented in 1080p with the AVC codec, framed at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. “Battle Royale” has a noticeably grittier, less polished look compared to its sequel, which shows off its higher budget with more refined, but in some ways less interesting, cinematography. Neither film is what you’d call nice to look at however, as the grim subject matter and production design create an environment dominated by drab colors, darkness, and shadow. Black levels are decent through much of the films, though there’s some obvious struggles in the nighttime scenes, where blacks look too open and contrast is flat. Detail tends to have the same inconsistency, looking decent at times, but then falling victim to softness or muted clarity. Still, much of the films’ visual issues appear inherent to the source material, making the transfers at least faithful to available elements. The lack of noise reduction or sharpening artifacts tends to confirm this, making for an imperfect, but honest presentation.

Audio Quality: 4/5

Dialogue in the Japanese language Dolby TrueHD audio tracks are consistently crisp and clear. Surround effects can be quite aggressive with some nicely localized foley work and seamless panning across extreme ends of the speaker array. The bombastic score found in both films also gets some nicely balanced support in the surrounds, producing a satisfying immersion effect. In respect to bass and LFE, the sequel is obviously superior, with more large explosions in the story leading to more instances of room shaking effects. In contrast, LFE seems practically non-existent in the first film, and bass activity tends to sound a bit thick and ill defined. Still, considering the more limited budget of “Battle Royale,” the track comes across quite well, and is no doubt the best its sounded for some time.

Special Features: 4.5/5

Culled from the films’ numerous DVD releases over the years, the extras – presented all in standard definition on a DVD – include a number of strong behind-the-scenes pieces, though some of the items further down the list are merely trimmed down versions of the longer documentaries. Given it’s been over 10 years since the film’s release, some retrospective interviews with the cast and crew would have been a nice touch, but alas all the items are archival in nature.

The Making of Battle Royale (50:24): The somewhat free form documentary includes copious amounts of behind-the-scenes video footage chronicling the production experience from beginning to end.

Battle Royale Press Conference (12:03): Held while in the middle of production, members of the cast (still in wardrobe), the director and the novelist answer standard press junket questions about their motivations to make the film and impressions of the work so far.

Instructional Video: Birthday Version (3:04): Special cut of the orientation video created in honor of the director’s 70th birthday, along with video footage of the cast and crew singing “happy birthday” at a surprise party.

Audition and Rehearsal Footage (7:12): Includes video recordings from the classroom scene rehearsal, physical training sessions, auditions, and the director rehearsing scenes with actors one-on-one.

Special Effects Comparison (4:18): Displays the separate elements making up things like arterial blood spray, multiple gunshot wounds, and backgrounds.

Tokyo International Film Fest 2000 (4:28): Includes the introduction of the film by members of the cast and the director at the sold-out gala screening.

Battle Royale Documentary (12:10): The electronic press kit briefly touches on the plot, characters and action sequences through much of the same material found in the “Making of.”

Basketball Scene Rehearsals (8:40): The cast returns six months after principal photography to shoot the poignant school event that features prominently in the director’s cut.

Behind-the-Scenes Featurette (10:10): A shorter version of the “Making of” focuses on key sequences like the classroom scene.

Filming On-Set (11:02): More of the same behind-the-scenes footage, cut to a shorter run time.

Original Theatrical Trailer (1:51)

Special Edition TV Spot (:32): Commercial for the special edition DVD release.
 

TV Spot: Tarantino Version (:32): Director Quentin Tarantino throws in a few soundbites to encourage the purchase of the special edition DVD.

Previews: Pre-menu-loading trailers include "Red Line" (1:55, HD) and "First Squad: The Moment of Truth" (1:52, HD).

Recap

The Features: 4.5/5; 4/5; 2/5

Video Quality: 3.5/5

Audio Quality: 4/5

Special Features: 4.5/5

Overall Score (not an average): 4.5/5

Anchor Bay Entertainment delivers a solid audio and video presentation for both cuts of “Battle Royale” and the “Battle Royale II” sequel, Japanese films that share some marked similarities with the wildly popular “Hunger Games” franchise. The extras are significant in depth and scope, though they get a little repetitive with the re-editing of existing material into smaller video packages. Nevertheless, the collection is a more than welcomed addition to the international film catalog, as it’s the first time the movies have been available in North America on the Blu-ray format. Ultimately it’s a win for fans, and definitely a title worth checking out if the premise of “The Hunger Games” seems even remotely intriguing.