BATTLE
ROYALE (2000)
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Directed
by Kinji Fukasaku A renowned director whose career stretches five decades and whose films range from "yakuza" gangster films to wacky sci-fi flicks. Kinji Fukasaku passed away on January 12, 2003 from bone cancer, in the midst of filming the sequel to Battle Royale. A filmography can be found at http://us.imdb.com/Name?Fukasaku,+Kinji |
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Screenplay
by Kenta Fukasaku Kinji's then-28-year-old son, Kenta was considering making BR his first foray into directing when his father decided to take on the film himself. |
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Based
on the novel by Koushun Takami Takami's first novel was a critical and commercial hit even before it was made into a film. For more on the novel, go to the Novel section of the site. |
CAST
Beat Takeshi
as Kitano
Tatsuya Fujiwara
as Boy #15
Shuya Nanahara
Aki Maeda
as Girl #15
Noriko Nakagawa
Taro Yamamoto
as Boy #5
Shougo Kawada
Masanobu Ando
as Boy #6
Kazuo Kiriyama
Chiaki Kuriyama
as Girl #13
Takako Chigusa
Kou Shibasaki
as Girl #11
Mitsuko Souma
go here for a more extensive
cast list.
"At the dawn of the Millenium, the nation collapsed. At 15% unemployment, 10 million were out of work, 800,000 students boycotted school. The adults lost confidence, and fearing the youth, eventually passed the 'Millenium Educational Reform Act'...AKA: The BR Act."
- opening graphics introduction to Battle Royale
Battle Royale,
a film by the veteran Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku, tells the story
of a dystopic future in which each year, a randomly-selected 9th grade
class is kidnapped and sent to a deserted island where they are equipped
with weapons and are forced to kill each other until one survivor is left.
The movie, which premiered in Japan on December 16, 2000 amidst much controversy,
is based on a bestselling novel by Koushun Takami.
LINKS:
Battle
Royale review
by Keith Allison
- one of the more thought-provoking reviews of BR on the net.
Battle Royale article on Animefringe.com - a great overview
of the BR universe.
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Looking
for a copy of the film? Visit the VIDEO
section. |
Is it really banned in America?
No. Visit
this page for the lowdown on this.
Battle Royale has screened a handful of times in the United States, in some instances as part of a Kinji Fukasaku retrospective that toured the U.S. in 2001 and in the 2001 Seattle and Cleveland Film Festivals.
Who produced Battle Royale?
The production
companies behind BR are The Battle Royale Production Committee
and Toei Company, Limited (which also handled domestic distribution).
Toei is better known for producing the "sentai" television series that
are adapted into the Power Rangers TV series by Saban Entertainment,
as well as Digimon and Dragonball Z.
What's the SPECIAL VERSION?
The Special
Version of Battle Royale was released theatrically in April 2001,
four months after the theatrical release of the original version. The
Special Version adds about eight minutes of new footage (mostly shot in
February 2001 specifically for the new version), along with a few tweaks
to audio, special effects, and pacing. Go here
for SPOILER information about what was added and changed.
What's BATTLE ROYALE:
GAIDEN?
Gaiden
(meaning supplementary, or additional) was a home video released in Japan
shortly before the theatrical release of the movie. It's a 50-minute behind-the-scenes
documentary on the film. Gaiden is available in Japan as a region-free
NTSC DVD, or an NTSC VHS tape. Gaiden was finally subtitled in English
and released along with the Special Version
of the movie in England by Tartan Video.
MORE NON-SPOILER TOPICS
THE
MOVIE SOUNDTRACK AND THEME SONG
MERCHANDISE
TO
THE BR SPOILER INDEX
The
Spoiler FAQ, Locations, Maps, Trivia, and more stuff than you need to
know about Battle Royale.
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