
Battle Royale
2000, Mystery and thriller/Action, 1h 54m
48 Reviews 50,000+ RatingsWhat to know
critics consensus
Battle Royale is a controversial and violent parable of adolescence, heightening teenage melodrama with life-or-death stakes. Read critic reviews
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Battle Royale Photos
Movie Info
Cast & Crew
Shuya Nanahara - Boys #15
Noriko Nakagawa - Girls #15
Shougo Kawada - Boys #5
Kazuo Kiriyama - Boys #6
Mitsuko Souma - Girls #11
Takako Chigusa - Girls #13
News & Interviews for Battle Royale
Critic Reviews for Battle Royale
All Critics (48) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (6)
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Stylistically it's a beauty, with khaki-uniformed waifs fighting for their lives to a crashing classical score.
May 25, 2012 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review… -
Awful deaths (and hysterical reactions to them) punctuate declarations of love and friendship, revelations of treachery and heavily armed expressions of angst.
May 24, 2012 | Rating: 3.5/5 -
Forgive the film its small flaws of histrionic performances and cheap execution for the giddy rush of its banal, Verhoevenesque atmosphere...
May 22, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review… -
It may suit a certain worldview, but Battle Royale's cynicism is still a form fantasy-a balm as well as a bomb.
May 22, 2012 | Full Review… -
3D conversion of a classic teen massacre thriller raises the gore level.
May 22, 2012 | Full Review… -
Maybe Battle Royale's ultimate punchline is its inexplicable ability to fool some people into taking it seriously.
May 20, 2012 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for Battle Royale
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Jun 05, 2017If you've seen The Hunger Games, forget all of it and get yerself strapped in for oneupsmanship on a grand scale. This has got better writing, better acting, better everything on steroids. Just one action film with balls.Kevin M. W Super Reviewer
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Jul 18, 2016Here's a Japanese film ripe for an American re-make. Made in 2000, this is a manga-style tale of a society upset with teen violence that the government picks a classroom every year to participate in a three-day Hunger Games type of kill or die survival ritual. The whole thing is meant to be a crass representation of the social mores of young people. There's plenty to dislike about the movie - the over the top acting, achingly annoying dialogue - but, the movie has a campy, cultish charm to it. Would love to see Eli Roth, Fede Alvarez or Ryan Coogler direct an updated version.Aldo G Super Reviewer
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Jun 20, 2016It is argued on the internet that this film is where the idea for The Hunger Games came from. After watching it, there are pretty striking similarities, although this movie is much more violent and graphic than The Hunger Games. Every year, Japan sends a 9th grade class into the Battle Royale to kill each other and crown a winner as a way of the adult population to maintain some level of control over the younger generation. It is pretty well acted and the script is a very interesting concept. The sheer brutality of it is probably more real-to-life as what would happen as some would care to admit. Great Japanese film.Patrick W Super Reviewer
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Jun 01, 2016In this Hunger-Games-like Japanese film, one class of 42 students are taken to a remote island, given supplies and a random weapon each, and instructed to fight to the death, leaving one winner. The dialogue is cheesy and the acting is unimpressive, but this bloody and violent affair has a lot of strong points.Peter B Super Reviewer
Battle Royale Quotes
Mitsuko Souma: | Why not kill? Everyone has their issues. |
Kitano: | Life is a game. So fight for survival...and find out if you're worth it. |
Kitano: | If you hate someone, you take the consequences. |
Kitano: | The last one....Cookies sure were good. |
Kitano: | The last one... Cookies sure were good. |
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