20131002: Action Review--Battle Royal

Battle Royale 3D

1. Production Fundamentals; reception
1. Japanese live action feature length film, 113 minutes, NR, 2000, action, thriller.  Spoken language is Japanese, with imperfect English subtitles.
2. IMDB: 7.7/10.0 from 102,374 users; estimated budget, 4.5 million USD.
3. Rotten Tomatoes:  86% on the meter; 89% liked it from 82,213 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.9/5.0 from 837,924 user ratings.
5. Directed by Kinji Fukasaku; screenplay by Kenta Fukasaku.
6. Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara as Shuya Nanahara (male), Aki Maeda as Noriko Nakagawa (female), Taro Yamamoto as Shogo Kawada.


2. Setup, Plot
1. Massive civil unrest leads to the passage of legislation that calls for the random drawing of a single class of 15 year olds.  The class is taken to a deserted island where each student is fitted with a remote controlled collar that can explode fatally.  The class members are encouraged to kill one another until one survivor is left.  If more survive than one, the collars are set off and everybody dies.  Additionally, certain grid areas must be vacated before certain deadlines or the collars of those left in the areas go off.  Each student is given a bag of weapons and survival items; each bag contains different items. There is a three day limit as well; if more than one lives at three days in, everyone dies.


2. The main part of the film is about the young people killing each other off in order to survive.  Friendships end, loyalties are lost, affections are terminated.


3. Two 'transfer' students are added to the mix, both hoodlums who have weapon skills and experience in using them on humans.  The transfers do a lot of the early killing.  The first such case killed off 4 boys and 1 girl.  The transfers got guns, grenades, and ammunition out of it.


4. The film follows Fujiwara, Nanahara and Kawada as they try to stay alive, and futile attempts by a few subgroups to get off the island alive.


5. Old petty wrongs get converted to reasons for homicide.


6. The island has an amazing amount of material left on it after it was forcibly made deserted.  Several of the early survivors try to make the best of this.


7. In the end, though, it's pointless.


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Japanese 15-year-olds are forced to fight until only one survives.
2. Five stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 Beautifully shot.


2. Sound: 9/10 Usually fine.


3. Acting: 9/10 So much better than cheap American films.


4. Screenplay: 9/10 Well done.


5. Special Effects: 7/10 The blood effects were iffy.