| Battle Royale | |
|---|---|
 Special Edition DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Kinji Fukasaku |
| Produced by | Kenta Fukasaku Kinji Fukasaku Kimio Kataoka Chie Kobayashi Toshio Nabeshima |
| Written by | Novel: Koushun Takami Screenplay: Kenta Fukasaku |
| Music by | Masamichi Amano |
| Cinematography | Katsumi Yanagishima |
| Editing by | Hirohide Abe |
| Distributed by | Toei |
| Released | December 16, 2000 |
| Running time | Theatrical Cut: 114 min. Director's Cut: 122 min. |
| Budget | $4,500,000 USD (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
| JMDb profile | |
Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル Batoru rowaiaru) is a 2000 Japanese film based on the 1999 novel by the same name and directed by the late Kinji Fukasaku.
Plot[]
At the turn of the new millennium Japan is in economic turmoil and the nation's youth are becoming more violent and uncontrollable. Out of desperation the Japanese government decides to introduce the Battle Royale Act, a radical measure in which particularly unruly classes of students are dropped off on an island for three days and forced to kill each other until only one is left alive and declared the winner.
The rules of the game are enforced through the use of electronic collars around each of the students' necks containing explosives that will go off automatically whenever a student is outside of a designated area of the island too long. This insures that the students can't just hide somewhere until it's over and are forced to keep moving. If more than one student is left alive at the end of the three days all the collars will explode.
This year's participants, the 42 students of Shiroiwa Junior High class 3B are each given a backpack containing minimal supplies which may or may not include a weapon of completely random usefulness and sent out to fend for their lives. Each student reacts differently to the situation. Some panic, some remain staunch pacifists even in the face of certain death, and some group together attempting to figure out an alternative way to escape their predicament. The main characters, Shuya Nanahara (Tatsuya Fujiwara) and Noriko Nakagawa (Aki Maeda) simply try to survive as they witness their classmates dying all around them.
Cast[]
Students[]
| Boys | Girls | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Actor | Role | Item Issued | # | Actress | Role | Item Issued |
| 1 | Shin Kusaka | Yoshio Akamatsu | Crossbow | 1 | Tsuyako Kinoshita | Mizuho Inada | Knife |
| 2 | Ren Matsuzawa | Keita Iijima | Jitte (fighting staff) | 2 | Eri Ishikawa | Yukie Utsumi | Revolver |
| 3 | Gouki Nishimura | Tatsumichi Oki | Hand axe | 3 | Sayaka Ikeda | Megumi Eto | Stun gun |
| 4 | Shigehiro Yamaguchi | Toshinori Oda | Bullet-proof vest | 4 | Tomomi Shimaki | Sakura Ogawa | none (refused pack) |
| 5 | Taro Yamamoto | Shogo Kawada | Shotgun | 5 | Tamaki Mihara | Izumi Kanai | Grenades |
| 6 | Masanobu Ando | Kazuo Kiriyama | Japanese war fan | 6 | Yukari Kanasawa | Yukiko Kitano | Megaphone |
| 7 | Yukihiro Kotani | Yoshitoki Kuninobu | none | 7 | Misao Kato | Yumiko Kusaka | Shirasaya katana |
| 8 | Osamu Onishi | Yoji Kuramoto | Rope | 8 | Takayo Mimura | Kayoko Kotohiki | Service pistol |
| 9 | Yuuki Masuda | Hiroshi Kuronaga | Dagger | 9 | Hitomi Hyuga | Yuko Sakaki | Cyanide |
| 10 | Shiro Go | Ryuhei Sasagawa | Uzi | 10 | Anna Nagata | Hirono Shimizu | Semi-automatic pistol |
| 11 | Sousuke Takaoka | Hiroki Sugimura | Tracking device | 11 | Kou Shibasaki | Mitsuko Souma | Hand scythe |
| 12 | Yutaka Shimada | Yutaka Seto | Fork | 12 | Satomi Ishii | Haruka Tanizawa | Semi-automatic 9mm |
| 13 | Junichi Naito | Yuichiro Takiguchi | Machete | 13 | Chiaki Kuriyama | Takako Chigusa | Pocket knife |
| 14 | Shigeki Hirokawa | Shouta Tsukioka | Nunchuks | 14 | Haruka Nomiyama | Mayumi Tendo | Boxing gloves |
| 15 | Tatsuya Fujiwara | Shuya Nanahara | Pot lid | 15 | Aki Maeda | Noriko Nakagawa | Binoculars |
| 16 | Hirohito Honda | Kazushi Niida | Coat hanger | 16 | Satomi Hanamura | Yuka Nakagawa | Micro Uzi |
| 17 | Yosuke Shibata | Mitsuru Numai | Colt .357 Magnum | 17 | Sayaka Kamiya | Satomi Noda | Pump-action shotgun |
| 18 | Satoshi Yokomichi | Tadakatsu Hatagami | Baseball bat | 18 | Aki Inoue | Fumiyo Fujiyoshi | none |
| 19 | Takashi Tsukamoto | Shinji Mimura | Semi-automatic pistol | 19 | Asami Kanai | Chisato Matsui | Semi-automatic pistol |
| 20 | Ryou Nitta | Kyoichi Motobuchi | Revolver | 20 | Mai Sekiguchi | Kaori Minami | Pickaxe |
| 21 | Yasuomi Sano | Kazuhiko Yamamoto | Headband | 21 | Takako Baba | Yoshimi Yahagi | Plastic hammer |
Rest of cast[]
- Takeshi Kitano as Kitano
- Ai Iwamura as girl who won last Battle Royale
- Reiko Kataoka as Mitsuko's mother
- Ai Maeda as Shiori, Kitano's daughter (voice)
- Minami as Keiko
- Taro Suwa as Middle-aged man
- Suzuka Tonegawa as Young Mitsuko
- Michiko Yamamura as Reporter
- Nanami Oota as Mitsuko's friend
- Ayana Noguchi as Mitsuko's friend
- Tetsu Masuda as Home-room teacher
- Kazutoshi Yokoyama as Basketball referee
- Kotaru Kamijou as Jo Kito
- Hirobumi Seki as Kosuke Okiyama
- Kiyoyuki Matsumoto as Shinichiro Tanaka
- Gou Ryugawa as Lieutenant Anjo
- Takashi Taniguchi as Nanahara's father
- Ken Nakaide as Mr. Hayashida
- Kanako Fukaura as Bus conductress
- Yuko Miyamura as Training Video Girl
External links[]
- Battle Royale Fansite
- Battle Royale review at Snowblood Apple