Battle Royale | Telescope Film
Battle Royale

Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル)

Critic Rating

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User Rating

In a dystopian future, the Japanese government pits teens against one another in a televised "battle royale." They must kill each other to survive, and only one can make it out alive.

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What are users saying?

Megan Rochlin

I absolutely love this film. I don't understand why some are being so hard on this film. Sure, the premise is kind of silly and requires a certain amount of suspension of disbelief. You could also say that some of the satire and character depth has been lost in the translation from book to film. For all it's flaws (and I don't think there are that many), however, this is just an awesome film. I can't think of many other action films that pack as much of an emotional punch while still packing so many actual punches. The action is both gritty and super stylishly choreographed, the stakes feel high, and the characters are likable. If you're a fan of the Hunger Games (well... you have bad taste), but you will love this movie.

What are critics saying?

90

Village Voice

[Fukasaku's] genius is finding the overlap between teenage dreams and nightmares, between the intensity of first love and the terror of extinction.

90

Variety by Robert Koehler

Departing from two decades' worth of domestic and personal dramas and returning to his roots as Japan's maestro of mayhem, Kinji Fukasaku has delivered a brutal punch to the collective solar plexus with one of his most outrageous and timely films.

90

The New York Times by A.O. Scott

American fans of "The Hunger Games" may not embrace - or even be permitted to see - Battle Royale, which is too bad. It is in many ways a better movie and in any case a fascinating companion, drawn from a parallel cultural universe. It is a lot uglier and also, perversely, a lot more fun.

90

Village Voice by Eric Hynes

[Fukasaku's] genius is finding the overlap between teenage dreams and nightmares, between the intensity of first love and the terror of extinction.

80

Time Out by Joshua Rothkopf

Kinji Fukasaku's slick, sick nightmare is best left to the quasi-banned realm where it exists as a perfect satire; when brought into reality, it's a touch awkward.

75

New York Post

This one's a thoroughly campy exercise in teen melodrama and Grand Guignol gore (how gory? it's one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite movies), the other (The Hunger Games) a straight-faced action picture.

75

New York Post by Sara Stewart

This one's a thoroughly campy exercise in teen melodrama and Grand Guignol gore (how gory? it's one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite movies), the other (The Hunger Games) a straight-faced action picture.

70

The Hollywood Reporter

Bloodhounds will lick their lips experiencing the re-launch of Kinji Fukasaku's trendsetting Battle Royale (2000) with 3D effects, which basically make the splatter scenes gorier and stickier.

70

The Hollywood Reporter by Maggie Lee

Bloodhounds will lick their lips experiencing the re-launch of Kinji Fukasaku's trendsetting Battle Royale (2000) with 3D effects, which basically make the splatter scenes gorier and stickier.

38

Slant Magazine by Chuck Bowen

Maybe Battle Royale's ultimate punchline is its inexplicable ability to fool some people into taking it seriously.