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.
Battle Royale(バトル・ロワイアル)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Japan · 2000
Rated R · 1h 54m
Director Kinji Fukasaku
Starring Takeshi Kitano, Tsuyako Kinoshita, Eri Ishikawa, Sayaka Ikeda
Genre Drama, Thriller, Adventure
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
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.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
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.
Maybe Battle Royale's ultimate punchline is its inexplicable ability to fool some people into taking it seriously.
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.
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.
Users who liked this film also liked
Zatoichi
(座頭市)
His sword made him a hero...his courage made him a legend.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2003
- Director Takeshi Kitano
- Cast Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano, Michiyo Ookusu, Gadarukanaru Taka, Daigorō Tachibana, Yûko Daike
- Genre Adventure, Drama, Action
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Pluto TV
Dogville
A quiet little town not far from here.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Netherlands, Denmark, United Kingdom • 2003
- Director Lars von Trier
- Cast Nicole Kidman, Harriet Andersson, Lauren Bacall, Jean-Marc Barr, Paul Bettany, Blair Brown
- Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
3-Iron
(빈집)
A young man rides around Seoul entering empty apartments, eating residents' food, and completing housework before he leaves.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea, Japan • 2004
- Director Kim Ki-duk
- Cast Lee Seung-yeon, Jae Hee, Kwon Hyuk-ho, Choi Jeong-ho, Lee Mi-suk, Lee Ju-seok
- Genre Crime, Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Battle Royale II: Requiem
(バトル・ロワイアルII 鎮魂歌)
- ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2003
- Director Kenta Fukasaku, Kinji Fukasaku
- Cast Shugo Oshinari, Ai Maeda, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ayana Sakai, Takeshi Kitano, Natsuki Kato
- Genre Action, Thriller
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Freevee, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Fireworks
(HANA-BI)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1997
- Director Takeshi Kitano
- Cast Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi, Susumu Terajima, Tetsu Watanabe, Hakuryu
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Hoopla, Film Movement Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Cineverse, Kanopy
Ichi the Killer
(殺し屋1)
A sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer and a psychotic killer find love in their violence.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan, Hong Kong • 2001
- Director Takashi Miike
- Cast Tadanobu Asano, Nao Omori, Shinya Tsukamoto, SABU, Paulyn Sun, Susumu Terajima
- Genre Action, Crime, Horror
- Available on Peacock, Hi-YAH, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Bad Taste
A group of investigators discover that a village has been taken over by aliens, who are harvesting its residents for their fast food franchise.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- New Zealand • 1987
- Director Peter Jackson
- Cast Terry Potter, Pete O'Herne, Craig Smith, Mike Minett, Peter Jackson, Doug Wren
- Genre Action, Comedy, Horror, Science Fiction
- Available on IndieFlix, Amazon Video, Popcornflix
Django
Bloodshed abounds as a drifter and a runaway take on two vicious armies on the US-Mexico border post-Civil War.
- ✭ ✭
- Italy, Spain • 1966
- Director Sergio Corbucci
- Cast Franco Nero, José Bódalo, Loredana Nusciak, Ángel Álvarez, Eduardo Fajardo, Gino Pernice
- Genre Action, Western
- Available on Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, IndieFlix, Peacock, ARROW, Midnight Pulp, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Pluto TV, VUDU Free, Plex, Plex Channel
Audition
(オーディション)
She always gets her part.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1999
- Director Takashi Miike
- Cast Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Jun Kunimura, Tetsu Sawaki, Renji Ishibashi, Miyuki Matsuda
- Genre Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Screambox, Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Hi-YAH, AsianCrush, ARROW, Apple TV, Vudu, Tubi TV, Midnight Pulp, Kanopy
Departures
(おくりびと)
An out-of-work cellist unknowingly accepts a job offer to prepare dead bodies for their funerals.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2008
- Director Yojiro Takita
- Cast Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo, Takashi Sasano
- Genre Drama
- Available on Google Play Movies, Vudu, YouTube, Plex, Plex Channel
Ranma ½: The Movie, Big Trouble in Nekonron, China
(らんま1/2 中国寝崑崙大決戦! 掟やぶりの激闘篇!!
)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1991
- Director Shuji Iuchi
- Cast Kappei Yamaguchi, Megumi Hayashibara, Noriko Hidaka, Kaneto Shiozawa, Sakiko Tamagawa, Koichi Yamadera
- Genre Animation, Comedy, Action, Romance
- Available on Vudu, Apple TV
Julia's Eyes
(Los ojos de Julia)
You can't hide in the dark
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain, Mexico • 2010
- Director Guillem Morales
- Cast Belén Rueda, Pablo Derqui, Joan Dalmau, Clara Segura, Lluís Homar, Francesc Orella
- Genre Horror, Thriller
- Available on AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Space Battleship Yamato
(SPACE BATTLESHIP ヤマト)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2010
- Director Takashi Yamazaki
- Cast Takuya Kimura, Meisa Kuroki, Toshirō Yanagiba, Naoto Ogata, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Shinichi Tsutsumi
- Genre Science Fiction, Action, Adventure
- Available on No streaming locations found.
As the Gods Will
(神さまの言うとおり)
Oh my God, please return my tedious everyday.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2014
- Director Takashi Miike
- Cast Sota Fukushi, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Hirona Yamazaki, Mio Yuki, Jingi Irie, Shota Sometani
- Genre Thriller, Horror, Comedy
- Available on Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Vudu
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.