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Battle Royale

Play trailer Poster for Battle Royale Released Dec 16, 2000 1h 54m Mystery & Thriller Action Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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90% Tomatometer 50 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
42 9th graders are sent to a deserted island. They are given a map, food, and various weapons. An explosive collar is fitted around their neck. If they break a rule, the collar explodes. Their mission: kill each other and be the last one standing. The last survivor is allowed to leave the island. If there is more than one survivor, the collars explode and kill them all.
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Battle Royale

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Critics Consensus

Battle Royale is a controversial and violent parable of adolescence, heightening teenage melodrama with life-or-death stakes.

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Critics Reviews

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Sara Stewart New York Post Stylistically it's a beauty, with khaki-uniformed waifs fighting for their lives to a crashing classical score. Rated: 3/4 May 25, 2012 Full Review A.O. Scott New York Times Awful deaths (and hysterical reactions to them) punctuate declarations of love and friendship, revelations of treachery and heavily armed expressions of angst. Rated: 3.5/5 May 24, 2012 Full Review Joshua Rothkopf Time Out Forgive the film its small flaws of histrionic performances and cheap execution for the giddy rush of its banal, Verhoevenesque atmosphere... Rated: 4/5 May 22, 2012 Full Review Panos Kotzathanasis Asian Movie Pulse Battle Royale” stands as a definite cult movie, from Takeshi Kitano's presence to the way it inspired Tarantino, to the violent portrayal of youth and sociopolitical criticism unfolds against a backdrop of dark humor and an evocative soundtrack. Rated: 8 Mar 3, 2024 Full Review Javier G. Trigales Espinof The "groundbreaking" premise of Battle Royale remains a good black comedy diversion that's more conventional than some wanted it to be. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 3/5 Nov 27, 2023 Full Review Grant Watson Fiction Machine It is not simply satire, but social commentary; not simply a sensational over-the-top movie, but an important one as well. Rated: 9/10 Jun 29, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Justin T This film wasn’t as gory as I would have expected for the story. The day-for-night stuff looked a bit strange but I guess that it worked. I liked the cinematography as it was relatively minimalistic. Some of the music came in a bit awkwardly but overall it was pretty good sound. It was all pretty convincing. The story was a little confusing in places but the pace never died. I’m not a big fan of flashbacks but it kept the film moving. You were never far from some murder death kill. I thought that too many people loved each other but I guess that is true of school kids anyway so that gripe can be ignored. It’s a pretty good film with some teenage drama that I didn’t understand but the violence helped that gripe. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/22/25 Full Review Darren D Adults, get out there & make sure you vote in favour of the Millennium Educational Reform Act. Send them kids packing to Takeshi's Castle. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/20/25 Full Review John W Good film that is suspenseful and well directed. The idea is awesome and was probably even better at this time, when there weren’t so many similar movies. There is tension and you never know what’s going to happen. The kills are shown in a gory way. The only downside is that there are so many characters which means they don’t have a lot of depth. But that didn’t bother me because they all seem realistic and the story is good. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/21/25 Full Review Matty D Battle Royale is the prime example of an absolute perfect action horror film. Filmed in the year 2000 and based on the 1996 novel of the same name, Battle Royale came out long before series like The Hunger Games, The Purge, and other “royale”-type of movie. Setting itself up with the difficult task of maintaining a cast that includes nearly four dozen characters, Battle Royale has well-rounded teens who you root for their survival. It maintains a sense of drama and suspense throughout its sprawling two hours runtime, without missing any attention to detail for a single one of the students’ deaths. The cast is spectacular across the board in their committed performances, with some having earned recognition by the Japanese Oscars for their work. Although the film differs from the also sprawling novel, it does a fine job of adapting the material without too many omissions to fit a time limit for most attention spans. While I feel young people would benefit from seeing this film, I do recommend caution for younger viewers as this is any incredibly violent and brutal movie. Overall, if you are a fan of foreign horror or action films, be sure not to miss the legendary gem! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/02/25 Full Review meiji r Boring.............. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 06/28/25 Full Review Marcus U Battle Royale is a movie about 42 9th graders who get sent to a deserted island to kill each other. The goal is to be the last one standing. They are given necessities such as food, water, weapons, and a map. The kids have an explosive collar on their neck that explodes when they disobey a rule. I enjoyed it because it's a plot based on teenagers that is filled with tense moments and drama. It wasn't afraid to include violent, gory, and intense action-packed scenes. A lot of the time it showed and made you think of themes like companionship, survival, and morals. Battle Royale showed how the primal, animalistic instincts can kick in for one to survive the rest of the people in the same mindset. If you can withstand the violence, I reccomend this movie. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/20/25 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis 42 9th graders are sent to a deserted island. They are given a map, food, and various weapons. An explosive collar is fitted around their neck. If they break a rule, the collar explodes. Their mission: kill each other and be the last one standing. The last survivor is allowed to leave the island. If there is more than one survivor, the collars explode and kill them all.
Director
Kinji Fukasaku
Producer
Akio Kamatani, Tetsu Kayama, Masumi Okada, Masao Sato, Kenta Fukasaku, Kinji Fukasaku, Kimio Kataoka, Toshio Nabeshima, Chie Kobayashi
Screenwriter
Kenta Fukasaku
Production Co
WOWOW, Toei Company, AM Associates, MF Pictures, GAGA, Kobi Co., Battle Royale Prod. Committee, Toho Company, Nippon Shuppan Hanbai (Nippan) K.K.
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Action, Comedy
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 16, 2000, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016
Runtime
1h 54m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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