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Tokyo Joe reviews BATTLE ROYALE! A film with one heck of a sick and twisted premise!
Folks, Harry here... and this sounds like the sort of sick and twisted stuff that unforgettable nights are made of. Read this review... instantly you will know whether or not this film is up your alley... for me, Yeah it sounds like a flincher to me... the type of film that you flinch alot in. Here's Tokyo Joe with our look....Oh, and you can see the trailer for the film at The French Premiere "BATTLE ROYALE" page!!!!
Battle Royale Review
A film called "Battle Royale" directed by Kinji Fukasaku is causing lots of fuss in the Japanese government right now, so on principle I went to see it to form my own opinion as opposed to some politician’s. Previous study of Media and Film allows me to, usually, form an objective opinion on a movie, while at the same time "experiencing" the movie in the way only a cinema viewing can achieve.
Occasionally movies are hard to watch. "Tetsuo – The iron Man" is so sick that it often takes two sittings (or a long beer break) before watching the rest. "Audition" left me horribly fascinated to the end. Both very well made movies, designed to shock and both achieve their goals admirably. Battle Royale is probably one of the hardest movies to watch that I’ve experienced in a long time. The problem being that movies such as "Tetsuo", "Audition" and "Tokyo Fist" contain such bizarre imagery that one can detach from the violence easily. B.R, besides the initial premise, is disturbingly realistic.
The basic plot is simple, 42 Junior high school 3rd grade students (14, 15 year olds) are sent to an island, fitted with explosive neck collars and given three days to kill each other, the last survivor gets to go home. If there’s more than one person left at the end, all the collars explode.
Battle Royale is, one presumes, designed to be a shocking movie. It’s a horror movie with no monsters, no "Boogie man", only each student’s individual terror and increasing paranoia at their situation. At least five or six people walked out of the theatre, when it became obvious what sort of film this was turning out to be. It’s incredibly violent, and unrelenting to the end. Often in watching movies involving just under two hours of slaughter (i.e Friday 13th part XXX) you become bored with overkill. It ceases to effect you in anyway. Not so with B.R. Maybe it’s just because I’m a teacher at Junior High school in Japan.
So, is it any good? As a movie designed to shock audiences, yes it is. Probably leaving audiences with the same feelings as the Exorcist gave twenty five years ago. But it’s very, very difficult to slot this into a horror category, it being a study of children coping (or failing to do so) in extreme conditions. The difficulty is a moral question, ‘are movies designed to entertain only, or to invoke an emotional response’. The movie, I feel, cannot be classed as entertainment (unless you go straight from a REALLY frustrating class at school). There appears to be a distinct lack of moral point, which will upset many, but ultimately is an undeniably effective film.
I personally feel that there is more "worth" in spending money on seeing this film than on an incredibly tedious, instantly forgettable movie such as Last years "Whiteout" or numerous Hollywood movies. On the other hand you could argue that for the same money a couple of hours of karaoke is probably a lot more fun.
If you’re looking for an entertaining "date" movie this is not it. If you’re looking for escapism from the harsh realities of today’s world, this probably isn’t it either. But if what you really need is a good slap in the face and followed by a feeling of relief that the world isn’t quite as bad as this one (at least not yet) then it’s probably worth seeing.
By the time this reaches the UK or USA then it’ll probably be in video (or DVD) form, and may well lose a lot of impact (and almost certainly be slightly cut).
I suspect that like "The Exorcist" and "T.Chainsaw Massacre", ten years from now, people will see this movie and wonder why people were so upset by it. Until then this is as bad (or good) as it gets.
Tokyo Joe @:-}=
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wow look at me
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ha hah hah boom
sounds like the moral majority will think its a good addition to the penal system. -
There was a 'Japan' season on British television recently and they showed some really intriguing stuff. Apart from the usual classics like Rahsamon, Onibaba (sp?) and the Original Godzilla. They showed some well known contemporary stuff like Takashi Kitano stuff, Tetsuo. Then in addition they showed some arresting underground stuff. All in all a brilliant season.
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The Channel 4 season was great. The trailer for this was posted in the Asia AICN section a while back and looks intriguing. Hey, at the end of the day its got Takeshi in it, i'm there. Tetsuo the Iron Man is a really dark movie, the sequel Body Hammer is almost a family film in comparison.
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I'm sure there's a dissertation in here somewhere about how the Japanese school system eats the young. Between Evangelion's severe father problems, "His and Her Circumstances" (KareKano) and it's clever dissections of what it takes to succeed... even the fifth episode of Sailor Moon, when Sailor Mercury shows up and is introduced at a cram school...
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Jan 09, 2001 5:05:03 AM CST
Sounds like a Japanese variation on Stepehn King's "The Long Wal
by ol' painless
Which, by the way, is one of King's finest short stories, which would also make a shocking short movie. Which also makes me wonder if Frank Darabont will ever get around to filming "The Mist", which is probably his best short story of the lot.
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but I thought the movie was crap and nothing but. Why? Simple answer: bad acting. Not to mention the unrealistic portrayl of the high schoolers. I mean most of them still never get over the "ohhhh we are soooo full of hope and togetherness that nothing can stop us" bull shit right up until the last minute. I don't want to sound like an asshole but the movie is a hypocrite. In the real world, if a human being where to be put into a situation like the one this movie is based on, there would be no "hope and togetherness and lets stay friends" BS that this movie pretends it exists. We become animals, that is what I wanted to see in this movie: chaos, treachery, betrayal, paranoia and hopelessness. And, if for some reason there still is a dumb enough kid who still hangs desperately to the above idea, then he/she would probably be the first ones to die. Granted, there are little nuggets of what I wanted to see, but the makers played it waaaaaaay too safe. Of course, it's a "movie" we are supposed allow it to proceed in its own way. But oh my god, the actions of these characters make absolutely no sense. I can understand a few "hypocrits" but almost everyone? There are only two characters that acted in a "real" way. And to top it off, the movie ain't all that violent, it makes Full Metal Jacket look like a gore-fest.
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I want my Guitar Wolf movie now.... all these crazy little flix are passing me by...
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This movie sounds like a wonderfully sick - in that uniquely perverse Japanese way. But actually there's another really disturbing but darkly funny satire headed our way from the US called SERIES 7. It's debuting at Sundance in a week or so, but I got to see a screening a few weeks ago. It's about a reality tv program where the contestants ("contenders")vie for their lives and try to kill each other. The reigning champion is a pregnant woman. It's really wild.
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When I read the review, I was thinking the same exact thing. The Long Walk was King's best short story, and I hope that story will some day grace the silver screen. If you readers haven't read it yet, go buy the Bachman books and read his other short stories. You won't be sorry
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I need to read this story...Somebody provide a quick synopsis? Is it good? What year is it set in? I wanna read a good vintage King story before he became the Oscar-worthy hot shit he is today.
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If memory serves, the Long Walk is about an annual 'walk race' in the future, where each state gets to send one representative to participate. The premise is that all 50 contestants start walking at 4 mph, no stopping, no food, no nothing. A half track follows behind and shoots anyone that stops or goes slower than 4mph. It's televised, and the whole country is behind it. The last one walking gets whatever he wants. At least that's what I remember. anyways, this Battle Royale creeps me out just from reading the premise. Is it out on video or something?
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Actually, it is a hugely supported deal that is an event not unlike the running man or other game shows in the short story of the same name. You win so much money (ammount escapes me at the moment) and you are a hero. It is accross the north american continent-north to south. You can eat, you can drink, you can piss, crap, or whatever, hell you can have sex if you can figure it out. But under no circumstances do you stop. You have three chances, if you fall below 4 mph 3 times you are shot. Of course after so many hours one of your stops rolls off and eventually you can have a clean slate, but if you get a charlie horse or pass out...you die.
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Jan 09, 2001 10:18:16 AM CST
and we all remember what happened to the kid with blue balls
by sundown
damn that was a great series of short stories. Speaking of Columbine Rage in the Bachman books really saw intot he future at all that stuff. He did seeit coming. And his Running Man was INCREDIBLE. Even Roadwork which took me a long time to get into and actually was amazing. All of those stories really captured desperation and how people deal with it beautifully. At different points in my life I was able to 'get' each of the stories. Roadword was the last it being the most adult. Long Walk and Rage are teen anthems and Running Man is just damn fine suspense. Bachman books highly rec'd. This film looks freaky and I hope it delivers the way the reviewer says. I will keep my eyes peeled for an uncut dvd in a few months...
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Jan 09, 2001 10:25:14 AM CST
You Know, If Kurosawa Weren't Dead, He'd Committ Sepuku.
by buzz maverik
"Youthinkyouaresotricky!Butlookatme!" "No.Youarenowinthelandofthedead!" "Iammostimpressive!" "Mostimpressivewithoutyourhead.Ha!HA!Ha!" Somebody, for God's sake, please drop another bomb on 'em!
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Jan 09, 2001 11:25:58 AM CST
They should make this into a REALITY-TV show, but have harden cr
by iamlegolas
The prize would be FREEDOM or a lessened sentence, depending on what they went to prison for.
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What the hell is wrong with Japanese people? They seem to be stuck in some kind of post-war sado-masochistic mental psychosis. Sarin gas attacks. Hello Kitty fixations and infantalism. Rocketing suicide rate. Schoolgirl porn and perversions of all kinds. What the hell is wrong with them? Now they go and make a movie about little KIDS with BOMBS on their NECKS who have to KILL each other. I mean - for God's SAKE GET SOME THERAPY, YOU PEOPLE. YOU ARE NUTS. YOU NEED HELP. One day people in Japan will look back at the days when businessmen used to buy used schoolgirls pants from vending machines in the street as masturbatory aids as 'the good old days when people had values and decency.' My God.
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This movie is more a rip off of mean guns, starring Ice-T and Christopher Lambert. Ice-T traps a bunch of gangsters in prison, the last three to survive share the prize
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Apparently the book is set in an alternative Japan which assumes that they won the second world war (kinda like Fatherland I suppose), so it's a little bit more acceptable to the reader that society is completely fucked up. For those who want more than the average stereotype of modern Japanese films should check out "Kikujiro", "Hana-bi", "Gohatto", "Swallowtail", "Love Letter", "Kids Return" and a whole lot of other stuff which never seems to get released outside of Japan. In fact it's almost as though western audiences ONLY want to see Japanese High school porn and ultra-violent anime. On the subject of "The Long Walk", I noticed the comparisons quickly, but again there's just abouts enough Sci-Fi elements to make it slightly removed from reality. On the subject of "lets all remain friends", I think the scene at the lighthouse proved that the "group friendships" were mostly a show to cover their true feelings (get a lot of that in Japan)
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From what I get from the review this movie is just an ultra-violent twist on lord of the flies. And I'm definatly not surprised its a Japanese movie. Here in UK/Ireland Channel 4 (The Tv station who owns Film4 productions) are just winding up a look and Japanese life and they showed The Iron Man (As well as the original Godzilla and Takeshi Kitano's Hana-Bi). Jesus when it comes to fucked up the Japs have it covered hands down but when they get it right, hell even when they get it wrong it put most of the crap we put up with to shame.
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Alright, as usual there's going to be some wuss ass individual who is not going to like this. Let me explain that this is not Pocahontas or the Little Mermaid. It has been so long since I'd seen a movie that makes me want to watch it over and over and over again. I say the more blood, guts and dismemberments, the better. If you can't handle it, then go see Castaway or Dude Where's My Car (if that piece of turd is still playing)or some goddamn "feel good bullshit". In closing, the Lonewolf Has Spoken.
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Hey folks. I've just spent six months in Kyoto Jp and am overjoied at the problems this film is causing If there's one thing the collective consciousness of this country needs, it's a controversy. I just hope that there exists a vocal opposition to those who would have this film banned, I'm not sure if anyone will have the guts to speak out on behalf of this film, regardless of it's profitability.
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I can't wait to see this. I hope it comes out here on DVD soon; it sounds extremely fucked up. I have a Japanese friend whom I e-mail a lot; I'd ask her to see this for me but I'm afraid that she won't write me anymore afterward ^_^. Oh, and solstiss--I think you and suger-ray2 are absolutly right about the violence and sickness in Japanese films and culture. But in fairness, they're not ALL that way--why don't you two go rent a nice little family anime called "Ch
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Maybe the trailer focused a lot on the two Senior high students (17,18+) who went with the group, but for the most part all 42 of the younger kids looked about the same age as the third years I teach (14 - 15). They're probably only a year or two older. Which makes the film all the more nastier...
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Saw this in Hong Kong. Yes, just about everyone dies in it, but it is also predictable, and at the end, I was asking myself why this was made in the first place. It has not message, no moral. Perhaps it says that decency wins in the end, but it doesn't, especially when a lot of innocent students "died" in the story. Once you get used to the violence (no gore by the way, but lots of blood), it's nothing else but a film version of a first-person shooter PC game, with stats and everything. And you don't really win in the end, so you ask yourself: was that it?
It's a big deal in Japan and in Asia, because of the copycat factor. Soon, junior high schoolkids will start beating up their teachers and each other just for fun...
Irrelevant, guys, and probably won't be available in the States (not after Columbine...) -
From seeing that trailer and reading the article description, it doesnt seem as hardcore as he suggested gore-wise. I mean, if he thinks the most violent intolerable stuff is Tetsuo and Friday the 13 Part 3 then he hasnt been seeing the same movies I have. As far as subject matter, yeah, its a pretty intense concept, and voilence with youth always causes an uproar. As far as people bemoaning the fact that it has no point, well, it seems to be pure exploitation/shock cinema. Its always funny to me when people read the description and then start trying to dissect the film, searching for some meaning. It aint got one. The point is- pay money, watch violence, go home. I mean, do people try to dissect Die Hard? No, its pay maney, see man make funny after blowing away terrorists, go home. No point, its brainless entertainment either way.
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The exploding neck collar thingamabob reminds me of "Deadlock," one of the endless multitude of B-Movies Rutger Hauer has done (where oh where has his career gone since "Blade Runner" and "The Hitcher" anyway?). He and Mimi Rogers are "wedlocked" in a futuristic prison with no fences. Get too far away from each other and *blam-o*, free decapitations all around. I did like Rutger in this straight-to-video HBO sleeper. He's a supercool ne'er-do-well electronics genius and overall this a fun movie.
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DAMN, JAPANESE PEOPLE ARE FUCKED UP! I MEAN REALLY FUCKED UP! not all of 'em, mind you. just a lot of 'em. just check out the culture. case in point: rapeman, the superhero who punishes female villains via a rough, non-consensual rogering. sweet! and sith lord jesus, you're right on recommending the 'urotsukidoji' movies - they're fun for the whole family.
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doesn't seem to be the most violent flick on the market today, I think we can all conclude on some level that the age of the kids being killed is what creates such friction. innocence is a very lucrative product, and movies like this tend to devaluate it some what. That said, I sure hope Larry Clark signs on to make the sequel.
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Iaido, I think I said Friday 13th part whatever was "boring to sit through", not "intolerably violent." I mentioned Tetsuo as an example of a hard film to sit through (especially at the cinema), not to compare the graphically sick visual horrors with Battle Royale. Having said that, I haven't seen the trailer, but I would class the film as a very violent one. Not Intestines-and brain-splatter-the-camera-for-two-hours ammounts of gore, but certainly more than a lot of "normal" people (i.e not us twisted,fuck Tetsuo, Man bites Dog loving geek crowd) could feasibly handle impassively in one go. But again the subject matter increses the effect ten-fold.
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How the hell can I see this film?! The premise is right up my alley!!! Every once in a while I need to see something sick just to realize where the hell I am in this world. Help me out, Tokyo Joe...
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A Junior high school girl gets a knife in the head?!!! That's fuckin BALLS, man!! I need to see this. Oh, and Harry...your flash graphic is fucking up my computer.
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Takeshi Kitano the director of
Fireworks and Sonatine is starring in this film, and he gives a wonderful performance.
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