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Anyone see Battle Royale?

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E

Ecrofirt

Member
I watched it last night, and I must say that I thought it was fantastic. Anyone else see it? What are your opinions?
 
K

kumanoki

Member
Ecrofirt said:
I watched it last night, and I must say that I thought it was fantastic. Anyone else see it? What are your opinions?
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Just a moment....

From my wife's journal:

Battle Royale
Saturday night I saw Battle Royale for the first time. Since the movie has been on my mind since then, I thought I'd write my impressions of it. I'm dividing it up into subcategories, since it's probably going to be pretty long.
For those who haven't seen it, (you should)
it's set in the not-too-distant future, when Japanese students have become so unruly and disrespectful that adults fear them. In response, Japanese politicians proposed and passed the BR Act. Every year a class of ni-nensei chugakko (7th graders) are put on a deserted island, partially as punishment and partially to force respect from other students. There, they will systematically kill each other off until only one is left.
That's ridiculous, you might say. The Japanese wouldn't kill off students like that--they have an insanely decreasing birth rate there. And Japanese students are hardly unruly--they pale in comparison to American students now. (Even those who have seen Battle Royale will probably agree with this--the fear-inducing students still wear uniforms to school, and when they cut class, they leave nice notes for the teachers.)
But the movie is not actually a prediction for the future. It is a metaphor for current student challenges and a reflection of change in Japanese society.
Many people have bluntly said that Battle Royale is a flat-out metaphor for high school and college entrance exams. I believe this is partially true. A certain supporting example stands out in my mind--students skip classes because they don't actually learn anything in school, they learn everything at juku (cram school).
I think Battle Royale also shows how Japanese society has changed. Students no longer have the intense, almost familial relationship with their teachers as they used to. Many students used to consider their homeroom teachers as surrogate parents. They spent too much time away from home, doing club activites and juku, to really rely on their families. But now they don't seem to have a strong adult influence in their lives at all. Japanese students are becoming more disrespectful and individualistic. I think that's partially due to outside influences from other countries, particularly Western ones, where teenage rebellion is considered necessary for the growing process. Adjusting to this has proved difficult for Japanese adults, since they generally never had to demand obedience from students before. Anyone who's worked in a Japanese school will attest that few disiplinary policies exist.
Generally, it's been said that the Japanese are pessimists regarding humanity. Battle Royale could serve as an example of that--in the movie, the dysfunction between adults and children has become so great that the only solution seems to be murder. It also predicts that human beings will turn on each other with astounding speed. One student starts killing the moment he is released with his weapon, so fearful for his life is he. Two students--one of whom was issued a megaphone--plead atop a mountain for the others to band together and figure a way out of the situation, only to be mown down by another student. It seems that civilization will quickly go out the window when lives are at stake. Of course, this isn't an original idea.
What balances this is a surprising optimism regarding love. There are four couples in the movie. In all instances, they resist the game so that they don't compromise their love. (spoilers ahead) Two couples commit love suicides, a common theme in Japanese theatre and literature. Kawada, one of the "transfer" students, is playing the game to avenge the loss of his girlfriend, Keiko. And then there's the two main characters, who defy all odds to stay together.
One aspect of this movie that makes it different from, say, Lord of the Flies, is that instead of de-humanizing the people involved (as an aspect of the de-evolution of society) the victims become increasingly more human and more individual as they die. The Japanese can be alternately subtle and blatant, sometimes creating the whole of the students' lives with a few spoken words, sometimes through detailed flashbacks. There are very few characters in the movie that you know nothing about, that you don't understand their story, that you don't care about their death. Each death strikes one as tragic, demonic, unnecessary, cruel.
This movie is a must-see, not just because of the gripping storyline and the amazing characterization. This movie deeply reflects the Japanese ideas about education and society as they stand today--any student of Japanese culture should watch this movie to gain a better understanding of the culture that produced it.
Anyone wanting to know more about the movie should visit http://www.battleroyaleonline.com/
Click to expand...
 
K

kumanoki

Member
Ecrofirt said:
the second sound like it's just trying to cash in on the first.
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Exactly what happened. The second movie (which blows, BTW) was begun and had gotten as far as having a concept greenlighted by the production company. Then, the director died. So, his son decides to 'finish' the movie.
 
L

Lyte Edge

All I got for the Vernal Equinox was this stupid tag
I never did get to read the book (let my brother "borrow" it when I first got it and it's long gone!), but if you want a more violent and in-depth version of Battle Royale, read the manga. It's much gorier and goes into great detail about almost all the students' backgrounds.

I never did see Battle Royale 2 and was told not to by several people, as well as this forum. :)
 
F

Fresh Prince

Banned
Aren't there schools in Japan where student beat each other up. I think one school in particular had two children dying- but this was seemed to be considered 'good' from a discipline point of view.
 
S

shuri

Banned
Lyte Edge said:
I never did get to read the book (let my brother "borrow" it when I first got it and it's long gone!), but if you want a more violent and in-depth version of Battle Royale, read the manga. It's much gorier and goes into great detail about almost all the students' backgrounds.

I never did see Battle Royale 2 and was told not to by several people, as well as this forum. :)
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I saw random pages from the manga in a french horror magasine who did an article about the movie. What the fuck was up with the random scenes of Kitano raping a student? Well I think it was a student. The thing about Battle Royale is that its legend was amplified by the internet. I remember reading about it back when aintticool.com was about good movies, and then I saw it at my friend's place a few weeks after. It just came out of freaking nowhere. It was so shocking.

But with times people just hyped the movie to death, so since the movie is nearly 5 years old now, when people finally see it, they are usually underwhelmed
 
M

Matlock

Banned
Naked Shuriken said:
I saw random pages from the manga in a french horror magasine who did an article about the movie. What the fuck was up with the random scenes of Kitano raping a student? Well I think it was a student. The thing about Battle Royale is that its legend was amplified by the internet. I remember reading about it back when aintticool.com was about good movies, and then I saw it at my friend's place a few weeks after. It just came out of freaking nowhere. It was so shocking.

But with times people just hyped the movie to death, so since the movie is nearly 5 years old now, when people finally see it, they are usually underwhelmed
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He's raping the caretaker of Shuuya and Yoshi.
 
M

michael000

Banned
Have to second on reading the manga, gives alot more background info on each character as well as having some of the nicest art i've seen in a manga in awhile. As a side note in case the point wasn't hit home, stay away from Battle Royale 2 like the plague.
 
F

Flynn

Member
The director Kinji Fukasaku is amazing.

I a fan of his early work, particularly Black Lizard and Blackmail is My Life.

FYI he was 70-years-old when he helmed Battle Royale -- name a Western director that's shot a movie that cool at that age.
 
F

Flynn

Member
hXc_thugg said:
Clint Eastwood has got to be getting up there.
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Million Dollar Baby vs Battle Royale... :lol

America's best chance to beat the Japanese (Kurasawa still kicked ass as an octagenarian) is John Huston.
 
F

Flynn

Member
nitewulf said:
yeah, clint eastwood, come on. whats with the east vs west thing always. geeze.
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Because great American directors usually go to crap when they get older.

Many greats from the '70s started making stinkers after 40.
 
F

Folder

Unconfirmed Member
Brian Fellows said:
No I havent seen it.
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Thanks Bri! ;-)
I saw it and ended up thinking that (oh god, the shame) there should have been nudity and sex included.
 
D

Dujour

Banned
Saw it a few weeks ago with some old junior high friends. I thought it was great and most of the cool moments happen at the beginning when they're in class being told the rules. That teacher seriously rocked hardcore.
 
Late Stage Marxist

Late Stage Marxist

Member
Movie was pretty badass

46486.GIF


+1 Chiaki
 
F

FnordChan

Member
Flynn said:
I a fan of his early work, particularly Black Lizard and Blackmail is My Life.
Click to expand...

Black Lizard is amazing stuff; here's hoping for a DVD release from HVE before long. I still need to see Blackmail, but I've been enjoying his 70s yakuza flicks. Street Mobster and Graveyard of Honor were excellent, and I'm about to dig into The Yakuza Papers box set. Awesome, awesome stuff.

For cool old Western directors my favorite is Luis Buñuel, who shot some of his best flicks when he was in his 70s, such as That Obscure Object Of Desire. Okay, so he ain't American, but I figure Europe qualifies as the West.

FnordChan
 
S

Strike East

Member
Tuvoc said:
I agree w/ Coin Return. The book was twice as good.
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Agreed, but the movie held its own, Book to film adaptations are a tricky art. This is one of the best out there. The second one(movie) on the other hand blew hard!
 
T

Tuvoc

Member
Strike East said:
Agreed, but the movie held its own, Book to film adaptations are a tricky art. This is one of the best out there. The second one(movie) on the other hand blew hard!
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perhaps you'd like to suckle from my vagina? :lol
 
C

cubicle47b

Member
haven't read "lord of the flies"?
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I have, but I don't remember Jack and Ralph being given weapons, fiesta-style, right after their plane crashed or being forced into zones where they have to fight each other. Also, they didn't have a crazy ex-teacher reading the names of dead children into PA systems. And there were no girls who are responsible for some hilarious moments throughout the movie.

Lord of the Flies had something to say about the nature of man. Battle Royale is right up there with Wild Zero as the greatest Eastern B-movie I've seen.
 
L

Litigation Manuel

Member
I read the book first and really liked the book. It was very easy to read and had some good points. I think almost all of them were lost in the transition to the movie. The movie was entertaining, but it seemed horrible in comparison to the book. It was, as someone else said, a cheesefest, which the book (at least for the most part) wasn't.
 
P

Prince of Space

Banned
The movie was a pretty decent adaptation of the book, but I hated that they left out certain character's little plotlines (most notably, when Mitsuko is captured and you see a brief glimpse of humanity in her), and I absolutely HATED that they tried to humanize the teacher. Part of what made you hate him was that he was the most ruthless character in the whole cast; giving him a relationship with Noriko and trying to explain his actions ruined his character and the ending, IMO. Still a good movie, and a MUCH better adaptation than the terrible manga.
 
J

Jim Bowie

Member
Yup! This is a really good movie!

Also, about the BR2 hate, I'd just like to mention that BR2 has a very cool concept, but it wasn't a very good movie. I actually do own it, but because it was 8 bucks and I wanted to see it.
 
T

Team Rancid

Member
I finally saw it last night and enjoyed it. Good B movie.

There was one issue in the plot that bothered me:

Where did the hacker get his computer and the cell phone ? Didn't see them carrying any personal posessions when they began. The bags were supplied by the army and don't think a pc would be one of the weapons. I can accept the fact he may have smuggled the notebook on building bombs in his shirt. But a laptop?
 
M

Manabanana

Member
Team Rancid said:
I finally saw it last night and enjoyed it. Good B movie.

There was one issue in the plot that bothered me:

Where did the hacker get his computer and the cell phone ? Didn't see them carrying any personal posessions when they began. The bags were supplied by the army and don't think a pc would be one of the weapons. I can accept the fact he may have smuggled the notebook on building bombs in his shirt. But a laptop?
Click to expand...

Part of the whole opening video was explaining that you could bring your personal items along.
It ties into the beginning with the girl asking to go to the bathroom and a tampon being in one of the toilets later, too.
 
S

shuri

Banned
They were allowed to bring their backpacks. You can see the students grabbing them before getting their weapons bag.

As for the cellphone, we assume this is a special japanese only cellphone!
 
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