Battle Royale (2000) Batoru rowaiaru (original title)

Director:

Kinji Fukasaku

Writers:

Koushun Takami (novel)
Kenta Fukasaku (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 December 2000 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Could you kill your best friend?

Plot:

In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.

Plot Keywords:

Student | Island | Game | Battle | Class

Awards:

7 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Tatsuya Fujiwara	...	Shuya Nanahara - otoko 15-ban
Aki Maeda	...	Noriko Nakagawa - onna 15-ban
Tarô Yamamoto	...	Shôgo Kawada - otoko 5-ban
Takeshi Kitano	...	Kitano-sensei (as Bito Takeshi)
Chiaki Kuriyama	...	Takako Chigusa - onna 13-ban
Sôsuke Takaoka	...	Hiroki Sugimura - otoko 11-ban
Takashi Tsukamoto	...	Shinji Mimura - otoko 19-ban
Yukihiro Kotani	...	Yôshitoki Kuninobu - otoko 7-ban
Eri Ishikawa	...	Yukie Utsumi - onna 2-ban
Sayaka Kamiya	...	Satomi Noda - onna 17-ban
Aki Inoue	...	Fumiyo Fujiyôshi - onna 18-ban
Takayo Mimura	...	Kayoko Kotôhiki - onna 8-ban
Yutaka Shimada	...	Yûtaka Seto - otoko 12-ban
Ren Matsuzawa	...	Keita Îjima - otoko 2-ban
Hirohito Honda	...	Kazushi Nîda - otoko 16-ban
Ryou Nitta	...	Kyôichi Motobuchi - otoko 20-ban
Sayaka Ikeda	...	Megumi Etô - onna 3-ban
Anna Nagata	...	Hirono Shimizu - onna 10-ban
Yukari Kanasawa	...	Yûkiko Kitano - onna 6-ban
Misao Kato	...	Yumiko Kusaka - onna 7-ban
Hitomi Hyuga	...	Yûko Sakaki - onna 9-ban
Satomi Ishii	...	Haruka Tanizawa - onna 12-ban
Asami Kanai	...	Chisato Matsui - onna 19-ban
Satomi Hanamura	...	Yûka Nakagawa - onna 16-ban
Yousuke Shibata	...	Mitsuru Numai - otoko 17-ban
Shirô Gô	...	Ryûhei Sasagawa - otoko 10-ban
Yuuki Masuda	...	Hiroshi Kuronaga - otoko 9-ban
Shigeki Hirokawa	...	Shô Tsukioka - otoko 14-ban
Tamaki Mihara	...	Izumi Kanai - onna 5-ban
Tomomi Shimaki	...	Sakura Ogawa - onna 4-ban
Yasuomi Sano	...	Kazuhiko Yamamoto - otoko 21-ban
Shin Kusaka	...	Yoshio Akamatsu - otoko 1-ban
Gouki Nishimura	...	Tatsumichi Ôki - otoko 3-ban
Shigehiro Yamaguchi	...	Toshimori Oda - otoko 4-ban
Osamu Ohnishi	...	Yôji Kuramoto - otoko 8-ban
Satoshi Yokomichi	...	Tadakatsu Hatagami - otoko 18-ban
Junichi Naitou	...	Yûichiro Takiguchi - otoko 13-ban
Tsuyako Kinoshita	...	Mizuho Inada - onna 1-ban
Mai Sekiguchi	...	Kaori Minami - onna 20-ban
Takako Baba	...	Yoshimi Yahagi - onna 21-ban
Haruka Nomiyama	...	Mayumi Tendô - onna 14-ban
Ai Iwamura	...	Onna no hito - won last Battle Royale
Ai Maeda	...	Shiori - Kitano no aijô (voice)
Minami	...	Keiko
Michiko Yamamura	...	Reporter
Suzuka Tonegawa	...	Young Mitsuko (in Special Version)
Tarô Suwa	...	Middle-aged man (in Special Version)
Reiko Kataoka	...	Mitsuko no okâsan (in Special Version)
Takeyuki Hirai	...	Soldier
Tomu Asakawa	...	Soldier
Yûya Nakahara	...	Soldier
Takashi Komori	...	Soldier
Ryôta Nakamura	...	Soldier
Akihiro Ugajin	...	Soldier
Yôichi Murakami	...	Soldier
Tsuguharu Niizaki	...	Soldier
Jun'ichi Nashiki	...	Soldier
Hiroshi Kitagawa	...	Soldier
Hideaki Kawashima	...	Soldier
Umiji Tasaki	...	Soldier
Mitsuaki Tachikawa	...	Soldier
Hidetsugu Okumura	...	Soldier
Daisuke Yazawa	...	Soldier
Nobuki Baba	...	Soldier
Naoki Iwasawa	...	Soldier
Kôji Tokuhisa	...	Soldier
Mikiya Sanada	...	Soldier
Kazuhiro Yokokura	...	Soldier
Shigeki Homma	...	Soldier
Kazuo Araki	...	Soldier
Gôshi Matsuhara	...	Soldier
Akira Yoshizawa	...	Soldier
Kenzô Shirahama	...	Soldier
Kanji Okumura	...	Soldier
Shôji Takano	...	Soldier
Ryôji Sugimoto	...	Soldier
Hajime Yoneda	...	Soldier
Hideaki Kojima	...	Soldier
Nanami Ohta	...	Mitsuko no tomodachi (in Special Version)
Ayana Noguchi	...	Mitsuko no tomodachi (in Special Version)
Tetsu Masuda	...	Kurasu 3A no sensei (in Special Version)
Kazutoshi Yokoyama	...	Basketball referee (in Special Version)
Kotaru Kamijou	...	Jô Kitô, Basketball player of Class 3-A (in Special Version)
Hirobumi Seki	...	Kôsuke Okiyama, Basketball player of Class 3-A (in Special Version)
Kiyoyuki Matsumoto	...	Shinichirô Tanaka, Basketball player of Class 3-A (in Special Version)
Gou Ryugawa	...	Lieutenant Anjo
Takashi Taniguchi	...	Nanahara no otôsan
Ken Nakaide	...	Hayashida-san - Kurasu 3B no sensei
Kanako Fukaura	...	Basugaido
Yûko Miyamura	...	Training Video Girl
Kô Shibasaki	...	Mitsuko Sôma - onna 11-ban
Masanobu Andô	...	Kazuo Kiriyama - otoko 6-ban
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ivan Buckley	...	Kitano
Erin Fitzgerald	...	Yukie Utsumi / Yumiko Kusaka (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Stephanie Komure	...	Mitsuko Souma / Megumi Eto / Training Video Girl / Kayoko Kotohiki (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Stephanie Sheh	...	Takako Chigusa (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Spike Spencer	...	Yoshitoki Kuninobu (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Kaiji Tang	...	Shogo Kawada (voice: English version) (uncredited)

Directed by
Kinji Fukasaku

Writing credits
Koushun Takami		(novel)
Kenta Fukasaku		(screenplay)

Produced by
Kenta Fukasaku	....	producer
Kinji Fukasaku	....	producer
Kimio Kataoka	....	producer
Chie Kobayashi	....	producer
Toshio Nabeshima	....	producer
Masumi Okada	....	producer

Original Music by
Masamichi Amano

Cinematography by
Katsumi Yanagijima

Film Editing by
Hirohide Abe

Production Design by
Kyôko Heya

Makeup Department
Rena Grady	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Motoki Ishida	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kenta Fukasaku	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Yasushi Nakayama	....	designer: main title logo
Motomu Takaba	....	designer: BR logomark

Sound Department
Kunio Ando	....	sound

Special Effects by
Kikuo Notomi	....	armourer
Kikuo Notomi	....	pyrotechnician

Visual Effects by
Yoshiaki Nakaichi	....	digital effects artist

Stunts
Ai Iwamura	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Yûki Izumi	....	technical coordinator: post-production, Battle Royale 3-D
Soichi Satake	....	3D colorist: Battle Royale 3-D

Music Department
Masamichi Amano	....	conductor

Other crew
Makoto Ashikawa	....	stand-in
Haruhi Terada	....	voice trainer

Production Companies

• AM Associates
• Battle Royale Production Committee
• Fukasaku-gumi (in association with)
• GAGA
• Kobi Co.
• MF Pictures
• Nippon Shuppan Hanbai (Nippan) K.K.
• Toei Company
• WoWow

Distributors

• Toei Company (2000) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Intercontinental Film Distributors (HK) (2001) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• Tartan Films (2001) (UK) (theatrical)
• SND (2001) (France) (theatrical)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Líder Films (2002) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Manga Films (2002) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Future Film (2002) (Finland) (theatrical)
• TransEuropa Films (2002) (Chile) (theatrical)
• Bir Film (2003) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Films (2011) (USA) (theatrical) (3-D version) (subtitled)
• Toei Company (2010) (Japan) (theatrical) (3-D version)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2012) (Canada) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2012) (Canada) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2012) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Asian Cult Cinema (video)
• Astro Distribution (2004) (Germany) (DVD) (uncut version)
• Capelight Pictures (2011) (Austria) (DVD) (classic and 3-D version)
• Future Film (2003) (Finland) (VHS) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• Nelonen (2007) (2008) (Finland) (TV)
• Palisades-Tartan Acquisitions (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Starmax (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (200?) (UK) (DVD)
• Toei Video Company (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Universe Laser & Video Co. Ltd. (2001) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Visual Filmes (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Malin Post (visual effects)
• Nippon Eizo Creative (visual effects)
• Toei Labo Tech (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Geiyu  stand-ins
• Gekidan Himawari  stand-ins
• Toei Academy  stand-ins
• Tohai  stand-ins
• Carrot  stand-ins
• Wakakusa  stand-ins
• Nac  stand-ins
• Aoi Studio  post-production sound services
• BA-TSU  school uniform design
• Continental Far East  Dolby consultant
• Kinoshita Komuten  funding
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• Malin Post  title design
• NAC Image Technology  camera equipment supplied by
• Nihon Shomei Co.  lighting equipment supplied by
• Toei Labo Tech  film processing
• Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra  orchestra (as Warsaw Polish State Philharmonic Orchestra)

Also Known As:

"Batoru rowaiaru" - Japan (original title)
"Battle Royale 3-D" - International (English title) (3-D version)
"Battle Royale: Special Edition" - USA (director's cut)
"Battle Royale: Special Version" - Japan (English title) (director's cut)

Runtime:

114 min | South Korea:120 min | 122 min (director's cut)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Belgium:KNT | Canada:R | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Singapore:(Banned) (original rating) | Singapore:R(A) (edited for re-rating) | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) (uncut) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted | Taiwan:R-18 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Portugal:M/18 | Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) (cut) | Canada:18A (Alberta) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Germany:Not Rated (uncut) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Brazil:18 | Mexico:B | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Hachijo Island, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

AM Associates

Trivia:

The characters from the anime/manga series "Slam Dunk" (1993) appear as icons used by the hackers.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kitano throws the knife and hits the first girl to die we see the knife land in the middle of her forehead, yet when he kneels down to retrieve the knife he pulls it out of her eye. (In later versions of the film this error was digitally fixed)

Quotes:

[first lines]
Reporter:This year Zentsuji Middle School number 4's Class E was chosen from among 43,000 Ninth grade classes. This year's game, said to be more blistering than the last - - Oh look there! There she is! The winner's a girl! Surviving a fierce battle that raged two days, seven hours, and 43 minutes - the winner is a girl! Look, she's smiling! Smiling! The girl definitely just smiled!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Doomed (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Shizuka na hibi no kaidan wo

A Haunting Film That Demands Repeated Viewing

The Place: Japan. The Time: The not-so-distant-future. Faced with the prospect of losing control over the nation's young people, a totalitarian government decides upon a ruthless demonstration of power. The Battle Royale Act annually sends a randomly-selected class of high school students to an uninhabited island where they are compelled to kill each other until only one of their number survives.

The reasoning behind this bizarre piece of legislation is perhaps the weakest part of the plot - but the Director deftly causes us to suspend disbelief by drawing us surely and touchingly into the feelings of the young cast. Unlike many western movies which trot out a body count of simplistic characters who are only there to die horribly for our entertainment, Battle Royale somehow manages to rapidly introduce us to the story's potential victims and make us care about them.

You will read reviews that describe this film as excessively violent. I believe that this is a gross overstatement. Though there are many deaths and not a little blood, the main emphasis is upon simple human values - issues such as trust, friendship, love and hate - which the competition tests to their very limits. Children who have little genuine experience of living are forced to evaluate their relationships with each other if they want to stay alive. Alliances are formed and broken; long suppressed crushes and barely buried antagonisms influence their decisions.

There are no easy or mindless deaths in Battle Royale. The violent scenes make the point that violence and death are not cool or funny. This is not Kill Bill; every character in Battle Royale has value as a living, breathing human being. It may sound corny to say that the movie is an emotional roller-coaster ride, but it truly is - having dared to give us three dimensional people who bleed when they are cut, the Director sometimes further dares to cruelly follow scenes of tragedy with jarring moments of biting, dark and sarcastic wit.

If this was an American movie, the class would be played by people in their twenties and thirties. Two or three of the students would be given a lot of screen time and the rest would be faceless cannon fodder. Five seconds after the opening titles, you would know who was going to survive. Despite its odd premise, Battle Royale seems closer to reality because its teenagers really are teenagers and it allows no comforting certainties about who lives or dies.

The true genius of Battle Royale lies in the talented playing of the entire cast. Although young, not one of them strikes a dud note and the script gives almost all of the students a chance to shine at some point. The fight scenes are not staged in the style of 'Enter The Dragon' - the kids are not weapons experts or Karate champions. We see them kill each other but we are not invited to hate them - they are, after all, children and they are scared and desperate. Even a student who takes to killing with apparent relish deserves our sympathy.

Some reviewers have criticised aspects of the dialogue as unrealistic. There are certainly times when the script seems stagy - but it is important to remember that these Japanese children are products of a national culture which often finds the expression of passionate emotions problematical. If anything, the formal phrasing and awkwardness of their most heartfelt expressions only serves to make them more meaningful.

The Special Edition ends (quite literally) with a question. You will find yourself going back to this movie time and time again to answer it. Each viewing is rewarded with details that you probably missed previously - the depth of characterisation and the layers of hidden-in-plain-sight clues continually allow you to understand the story from fresh perspectives.