Battle Royale

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Battle Royale

Released Dec 16, 2000

1h 54m

Mystery & Thriller

Action

Comedy

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Popcornmeter

90%

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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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Critics Consensus

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Benjamin H

Incredibly gory, unrelenting and tightly packaged, Battle Royale is such an exciting movie that keeps you engaged from scene one while also having some well handled moments of character depth. There are a couple of scenes that could have been changed slightly, but that is a nitpick, as i found this to be so much fun and it definitely falls under the category of an all killer, no filler type of movie.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/25

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Cee S

Battle Royale, directed by Kinji Fukasaku, was released in 2000. This is an educational movie to show adults how to make kids be more respectful. This movie takes place in Japen where the children have become delinquent and disrespectful. The government rounds up a random group of students to kill each other with-in three days. Battle Royale is very similar to the Hunger Games that was made in 2012. In one of the beginning scenes there is a student that whispers in class. This is very rude and disrespectful. The teacher had no other choice but to throw a knife at the child and kill them. To quote Lois C.K.’s YouTube Video, If Murder Was Legal, “Children would behave very differently if murder was legal.” Maybe Battle Royale has the right idea. Not only will adding a little more restrictions to children’s life make them more respectful, but it will also lower the population by the need to put certain unruly children down.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/29/25

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Marija P

Pointless, frustrating, not enjoyable by any metric and definitely not deserving of a higher rating.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/25

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Alex C

I don't know how, when, or why I watched this movie. I only know that I watched it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/01/25

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Felix G

Bro, this movie is so bad. Why does it have such high rating?

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/02/25

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MG_Claymore C

The great Japanese BATTLE ROYALE. Khaki clad waifus and boys battle each other to the death. Grisly kills, over the top reactions and lots of blood. drama too. its a must see.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/18/24

Full Review

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Kinji Fukasaku

Director

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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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