Battle Royale II (2003) Batoru rowaiaru II: Chinkonka (original title)

Directors:

Kenta Fukasaku
Kinji Fukasaku

Writers:

Kenta Fukasaku (writer)
Koushun Takami (characters)
(more)

Release Date:

5 July 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

This time it's war.

Plot:

Three years after the failure of the last BR program, a second act is forged and a class of students are sent to an island with one objective: kill international terrorist Shuya Nanahara.

Plot Keywords:

Terrorist | Island | Sequel | Teenager | Loss Of Loved One

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Tatsuya Fujiwara	...	Shuya Nanahara
Ai Maeda	...	Shiori Kitano (Transfer Student)
Shûgo Oshinari	...	Takuma Aoi
Ayana Sakai	...	Nao Asakura
Haruka Suenaga	...	Haruka Kuze
Yûma Ishigaki	...	Mitsugu Sakai
Miyuki Kanbe	...	Kyoko Kakei
Masaya Kikawada	...	Shintaro Makimura
Yôko Maki	...	Maki Souda
Yuki Ito	...	Ryo Kurosawa
Natsuki Katô	...	Saki Sakurai
Aki Maeda	...	Noriko Nakagawa
Riki Takeuchi	...	Riki Takeuchi (Sensei)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aja	...	Kazumi Fukuda
Munetaka Aoki	...	Jun Nanami
Riasu Arama	...	Rena Niimi
Sonny Chiba	...	Makio Mimura (Shinji's revolutionary uncle)
Seiichi Ebina	...	Tatsuro Morishima
Ryoji Fujihira	...	Masami Shibaki
Maki Hamada	...	Chizuru
Ayumi Hanada	...	Ryoko Hata
Kenji Harada	...	Naoki Jo
Hitomi Hasebe	...	Asuka Motomura
Takaaki Ikeyama	...	Yasuaki Hosaka
Asuka Ishii	...	Maho Nosaka
Hiroaki Ito	...	Soldier
Ai Iwamura	...	Mai (Smiling Winner from BR1)
Kotaru Kamijou	...	Kenji Maezono
Minami Kanazawa	...	Yuko Natsukawa
Ryo Katsuji	...	Haruya Sakurai
Asami Katsura	...	Risa Shindo
Mika Kikuchi	...	Ayane Yagi
Takeshi Kitano	...	Kitano (as Beat Takeshi)
Musashi Kubota	...	Wataru Mukai
Miku Kuga	...	Kengo Yonai
Maika Matsumoto	...	Shiho Matsuki
Michiho Matsumoto	...	Sanae Shioda
Yoshiko Mita	...	Takuma's mother
Chisato Miyao	...	Hibiki Yano
Akane Mizuno	...	Sayaka
Yuuko Morimoto	...	Kana Yûki
Aiko Moriuchi	...	Miki Ikeda
Mitsuru Murata	...	Soji Kazama
Ami Nakagawa	...	Honami Totsuka
Kayo Nayuki	...	Eri Yoshiyama
Yûya Nishikawa	...	Nishi
Takashi Nishina
Kenji Ohba	...	Mimura's Comrade
Nanami Ohta	...	Hitoe Takeuchi
Yuka Ozawa	...	Shinobu
Reina	...	Mayu Hasuda (as Nana Yanagisawa)
Gou Ryugawa	...	Lieutenant Anjo
Rika Sakagushi	...	Yuka Mifune
Mai Sakamoto	...	Shoko
Makoto Sakamoto	...	Osamu Kasai
Mikiya Sanada	...	ATAT soldier
Shoko Sato	...	Nozomi Sagisawa
Takeru Shibaki	...	Shugo Urabe
Mitsuki Shimada	...	'Wild Seven' Member
Sae Shimizu	...	Ai Yazawa
Hikaru Takahashi	...	ATAT soldier
Kei Tamura	...	Tatsuhiko Hasegawa
Takeshi Tanaka	...	Masakatsu Taguchi
Takashi Taniguchi	...	Leader of the Anti-Terrorist Attack Team
Masumi Tooyoka	...	Yukari
Toshiyuki Toyonaga	...	Shota Hikasa
Masahiko Tsugawa	...	The Prime Minister
Haruka Umeda	...	Aya
Sôkô Wada	...	Satoshi Imakire
Kouta Yamada	...	Tetsuya Shimura
Kazuki Yamamoto	...	Yosuke Miyadai
Michiko Yamamura	...	Reporter
Takahiko Yanagisawa	...	Shiro
Kazutoshi Yokoyama	...	ATAT soldier
Yasutake Yuboku	...	Kiyoshi Minamoto
Takashi Yukawa	...	'Wild Seven' Member
Yuuma	...	Yuuma

Directed by
Kenta Fukasaku
Kinji Fukasaku

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kenta Fukasaku		writer
Norio Kida		writer
Koushun Takami		characters

Produced by
Shigeyuki Endô	....	planner
Kenta Fukasaku	....	producer
Kimio Kataoka	....	producer
Hikaru Kawase	....	producer
Masumi Okada	....	producer

Original Music by
Masamichi Amano

Production Design by
Emiko Tsuyuki

Art Direction by
Toshihiro Isomi

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Koji Yamaguchi	....	first assistant director

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

Visual Effects by
Megumi Kanazawa	....	digital artist

Other crew
Yuta Morokaji	....	action director

Production Companies

• Fukasaku-gumi
• GAGA
• Nippon Shuppan Hanbai (Nippan) K.K.
• Sega Corporation
• TV Asahi
• Toei Advertising K.K.
• Toei Company
• Toei Video Company
• Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co.
• WoWow

Distributors

• Toei Company (2003) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Tartan Films (2004) (UK) (theatrical) (London Film Festival)
• Bright Angel Distribution (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Films (2011) (USA) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Intercontinental Film Distributors (HK) (2003) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Palisades-Tartan Acquisitions (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Universe Laser & Video Co. Ltd. (2003) (Hong Kong) (DVD)

Special Effects

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

Other Companies

• Aoi Studio  post-production sound services
• Griffith  lighting equipment supplied by
• Kitakyushu Film Commission  film commission
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• Malin Post  title design
• NAC Image Technology  camera equipment supplied by
• Nihon Shomei Co.  lighting equipment supplied by
• Shu Tokki  grip equipment supplied by
• TOVIC  post-production facilities
• Toei Labo Tech  digital intermediate
• Toei Labo Tech  film processing

Also Known As:

"Batoru rowaiaru II: Chinkonka" - Japan (original title)
"Battle Royale II: Requiem" - International (English title) (literal English title)

Runtime:

Japan:134 min | Japan:155 min (director's cut)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:R | Germany:18 | Japan:R-15 | New Zealand:R18 | South Korea:15 | UK:18 | Finland:K-18 | Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 | Hong Kong:III | France:-16 (DVD rating) | Sweden:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Mexico:B15 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Nishisinoki-gun, Nagasaki, Japan

Company:

Fukasaku-gumi

Trivia:

Quentin Tarantino was offered a role but couldn't do it because of scheduling. He said, "They wanted me to play the President of the United States."

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Shuya impales a commando with a pipe, the strap holding the pipe in place is visible, when he turns towards the camera

Quotes:

Sensei:Boy # 15 Makimura Shintaro, Girl # 15 Fukuda Kazumi.
Shintaro Makimura:I absolutely refuse.
Sensei:Huh?
Shintaro Makimura:I absolutely refuse to participate.
Ryo Kurosawa:Loser.
Kazumi Fukuda:Sorry, but I'm going.
Shintaro Makimura:Go right ahead.

Movie Connections:

References Wedlock (1991)

Royale with too much cheese

The enjoyably histrionic Lord Of The Flies-meets-The Running Man premise of Battle Royale is taken a film too far and far too seriously in this confused, confusing mess of a sequel.

Another class of errant schoolkids is abducted by the Japanese authorities, fitted with explosive collars, and despatched to a bleak island for a particularly harsh lesson in survival. But instead of killing one another, they must fight a band of young terrorists led by previous Battle Royale 'winner' Shuga. To the death. The very messy death.

The opening scene is identical to the first Battle, with a wacko 'teacher' (think Mr Blonde in a leather jacket) pairing up the kids and gleefully demonstrating that if one of the pair dies, so must the other. Then, from the chaotic Saving Private Ryan-like landing on the island to the dreadfully protracted denouement, it's an epilepsy-inducing procession of carnage and cod philosophy.

Had Fukasaku and Son stuck to pure action, BRII would have made for queasy fun. But their propensity for heavy-handed sermonising on the nature of war and society is not only unconvincing, it's boring. If the characters put as much effort into fighting as they do delivering 'profound' speeches, their chances of survival would be infinitely higher.

That's not to say that lots and lots of people don't get blown up, shot, eviscerated and decapitated. They certainly do. Unfortunately, BRII looks like a video game and sounds like a sociology lesson as given by someone who's had too much saké.