Product Details

• Actors: Takeshi Kitano, Chiaki Kuriyama, Tatsuya Fujiwara
• Directors: Kinji Fukasaku
• Format: AC-3, Full Screen, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, Import, NTSC
• Language: Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Toei
• DVD Release Date: June 15, 2004
• Run Time: 122 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (205 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000F4LPJ6
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,879 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Battle Royale (Director's Cut Collector's Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With the Japanese currently leading the way in thought-provoking cinematic violence, it's only fitting that Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale is being touted as a Clockwork Orange for the 21st century. Based on the novel by Koshun Takami, the film opens with a series of fleeting images of unruly Japanese schoolchildren, whose bad behavior provides a justification for the "punishments" that will ensue. Once the prequel has been dispensed with, the classmates are drugged and awaken on an island where they find they have been fitted with dog collars that monitor their every move. Instructed by their old teacher ("Beat" Takeshi) with the aid of an upbeat MTV-style video, they are told of their fate: after an impartial lottery they have been chosen to fight each other in a three-day, no-rules contest, the "Battle Royale." Their only chance of survival is through the death of all their classmates.

Some pupils embrace their mission with zeal, while others simply give up or try to become peacemakers and revolutionaries. However, the ultimate drive for survival comes from the desire to protect the one you love. Battle Royale works on many different levels, highlighting the authorities' desperation to enforce law and order and the alienation caused by the generation gap. Whether you consider the film an important social commentary or simply watch it for the adrenaline-fueled violence, this is set to become cult viewing for the computer game generation and beyond. --Nikki Disney

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing Director's Cut, June 10, 2007

By 

Alli (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battle Royale (Director's Cut Collector's Edition) (DVD)

Before you type out a retaliatory positive review- read on!

I want to start off by saying I absolutely LOVE Battle Royale- It is most certainly on my list of favorite movies. HOWEVER- this 'Director's Cut' is total garbage.

Sadly, as with the case for many 'Special Edition' DVDs, Battle Royale: Director's Cut adds unnecessary footage that does nothing to enhance the film. The end is extending by 8 minutes or so - and delves into a sort of epilogue and series of dream sequences.

The Battle Royale wiki explains the changes here: (...)

No attempt was made to clean up the subtitles: I can ignore misspellings and incorrect conjugations - however at one point the subtitles ran off the screen. The subtitles in the added scenes were far worse than that of the rest of the movie.

I am not bashing Battle Royale; I want people to buy the regular version and forget that this Director's Cut is even an option.

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars battle royale the movie is excelent, August 25, 2006

By 

Steve Payne - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battle Royale (Director's Cut Collector's Edition) (DVD)

this movie has alot of qualities that i liked from the start. the way the students tried to find a way around the game, the social interactions of the students, and the question of could you kill your best friend. the movie goes smoothly from the start, with everyone on the bus, and then comes to on the island. i even have a soft spot for kitano, the cookie eating teacher. the cast did a superb job giving the book characters life and keeping to the plot. and the fact that it didnt save characters that you get to like made it sad, yet, gave the sense that the students really were trying to survive. the one thing i like to point out is the way the students' clicks fell apart after one or two days. some worked better as a team, while others got ripped apart at the seams.

35 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Movie, October 4, 2003

By 

Joeseph Barborak (Michigan, Michigan, Michigan.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battle Royale [Region 3] (DVD)

Very good movie. I strongly reccomend this movie to anyone who enjoys strange movies, because you've never ever seen a movie like this.
It's the future... Kids have stopped going to class, and are becoming pests. So the government has started a new program called the "BATTLE ROYALE SURVIVAL PROJECT." What happens is that one class of 9th graders a year is chosen by impartial lottery to go onto a deserted island. The kids then get 'voted off' the island. And by 'voted off' I mean they kill each other. Each kid gets a bag, inside is food, water, a map, and a random weapon. With this weapon, they are ordered to kill each other until one remains.
This movie has everything. Violence, plot, character development (somewhat -- enough to satasfy me), and an amazing story. It'll keep you on the end of your seat, or couch, or whatever.

Oh, and if you go out and see the new Tarantino movie, KILL BILL, the actress that plays Liu's bodyguard is one of the kids from Battle Royale.
Buy this movie. I can't stress it enough.