The Shocking Japanese Classic Available As A Stand-Alone Or In A Four Disc Set
With the emergence of "The Hunger Games" phenomenon of the last few years, the inevitable comparisons between that franchise and the cult novel "Battle Royale" by Koushun Takami have been plentiful. Sure, the two do share strong thematic and narrative similarities, but each has a distinctly unique vibe and explores the back story behind the violence in a different way. The film adaptation of "Battle Royale" by director Kenji Fukasaku garnered almost instant international notoriety in 2000 for its disturbingly bleak portrait of kids set upon one another in a violent death match. Despite being banned and reviled by many, the story's visceral and emotional punch was hard to deny. It was nominated for numerous Japanese Academy Awards including Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Screenplay and won that country's "Popularity Award." The rumor that Hollywood was flirting with an American remake has been circulating for years, but some seem to think that the film adaptation of "The...
We, who are about to die...,
So. At long last, the controversial film "Battle Royale" gets an official US release.
I suppose we have The Hunger Games to thank for that, bringing new interest to this film, as well the distance from the 2003 death of director Fukasaku Kinji. Fukasaku, a pacifist and anti-violence activist, is best known in Japan for his series Battles Without Honor & Humanity. He opposed an American release of "Battle Royale" fearing that Americans would not see the deeper message and only be excited by the violence, which was the opposite intention of his film.
Based off of the 1999 novel of the same name by Takami Koshun, Fukasaku also added his personal experience during WWII to "Battle Royale." As a child working in a munitions factory, when the Americans...
Beautiful Packaging, Crisp Picture, Nice Sound: what a Box Set Should Be
This is more of a set review than a movie breakdown because i like knowing what my boxset looks like and how it sounds when getting something I have wanted this long and I have wanted this a long time. I've been holding onto my set of Battle Royale discs from Korea for so long that I had almost given up on the movies having an American release. Its a beautiful thing to have, and on BluRay no less. I could not believe how much better the first movie looked this way and how nice the sound was when ported into after being mixed properly.
As far as the set goes, it comes with Battle Royale theatrical and director's cut, Battle Royale 2, theatrical cut, and a "bonus disc."
Battle Royale. Director's Cut, is in Japanese: TrueHD 7.1, English: Dolby TrueHD:5.1.
The Battle Royale, Theatrical, and Battle Royal 2, Theatrical, are both in Japaense Dolby TrueDd 5:1.
All are in widescreen and all have English subtitles.
The bonus disc is a normal DVD, which...
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