Battle Royale Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.0

Battle Royale Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 10, 2010

Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku's "Batoru rowaiaru" a.k.a. "Battle Royale" (2000) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Films. The supplemental features included on this release are overwhelming - various featurettes; interviews; behind the scenes featurettes; making of documentaries; deleted scenes; trailers and TV spots; and more. Arrow Films have also included 32-page comic; 36-page booklet with various essays; another 16-page booklet with concept art; 5x7 postcards; and fold-out reversible poster of original artwork. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Two players

Paul Michael Glaser’s The Running Man and Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale share similar ideas. Both films are set in the not too distant future, which according to some estimations I have done should be right about now. Both films are also obsessed with violence, though the former definitely looks kitschier than the latter.

In The Running Man, Arnold Schwarzenegger is a cop who gets arrested and sent to a penal colony after he refuses to shoot at some hungry citizens. Together with a group of friends, however, he manages to escape – and ends up on a strange TV show where together with other criminals he has to fight for his life.

In Battle Royale instead of one big superstar there is a large group of high-school students, forty-two to be exact, who are gassed and transported to an unnamed island where they are told that they have been selected to participate in a sponsored by the Japanese government game of death called Battle Royale. The students are then given various weapons, food and water and warned that if they don’t play along the army will eliminate them. The game will last three days and the winner, which would be the last student left standing, gets to go home.

And so Battle Royale begins, monitored closely by Kitano (Takeshi Kitano, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, Violent Cop), the students’ former teacher. At first, most of the players attempt to form small groups and defend each other, but quite a few of them snap and things quickly get out of control. Kitano routinely informs us how many boys and girls have been killed.

While the game is on, memory flashbacks, most of which appear only in the Director’s Cut of Battle Royale, reveal various relationships, which in the grand scheme of things are absolutely meaningless. Even learning about Kitano’s softer side isn’t a good distraction from the ongoing carnage.

As sociology, Battle Royale is seriously disappointing. Anyone claiming that the film has anything meaningful to say about violence, or teenage psychology, or a fictional relationship of some sort between the two is giving it credit for something it does not deserve. From start to finish, Battle Royale is a pure exploitation film, which clearly isn’t meant to stimulate the mind.

Fittingly, the performances are over-the-top. A lot of the young actors appear notably stiff in front of the camera, which actually makes the various graphic scenes look hilarious – which is how I believe they were intended to look. Kitano’s part in Battle Royale is also relatively small.

If there is one thing that impresses about Battle Royale, it is the soundtrack. Masamichi Amano’s original music, as well as various excerpts from Verdi’s "Dies Irae", Strauß’s "The Blue Danube Waltz", and Bach’s "Air" from Suite No. 3 in D Major, amongst others, performed by the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, truly make a lot of the kitsch in Battle Royale a little easier to endure.

Note: in 2001, Battle Royale won three Japanese Academy Awards – Most Popular Film, Newcomer of the Year (Tatsuya Fujiwara and Aki Maeda), and Best Editing (Hirohide Abe).

Battle Royale Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Films. Please note that this 3-disc set includes the film's Theatrical Cut, which runs at approximately 114 minutes, and the longer Director's Cut, which runs at approximately 122 minutes. Screencaptures 1-9 are from the Director's Cut, while screencaptures 10-19 are from the Theatrical Cut.

Both cuts have been struck from a dated source. As result, fine object detail and clarity are inconsistent. Contrast levels also fluctuate quite a bit, especially during the daylight scenes. Both cuts have an overall soft look - the Theatrical Cut appears marginally sharper, but the difference is indeed very small. Some of the softness is inherited, but I also noticed numerous traces of mild to moderate noise corrections. Mild edge-enhancement is also easy to spot. Various small compression artifacts are present as well. This being said, there are no serious stability issues, and a lot of the background flicker that is present on the Tartan SE SDVD edition of Battle Royale has been eliminated. Color reproduction is marginally improved, but none of the prominent colors are as vibrant and well saturated as I assume they could be. To sum it all up, there are a number of limitations with this Blu-ray release of Battle Royale, some of which are inherited while others are not. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Battle Royale Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks for each cut of Battle Royale: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Japanese DTS 2.0. For the record, Arrow Films have provided optional English subtitles for each cut.

The Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is quite good. The bass is potent, the rear channels active and effective, and the high-frequencies not overdone. The shootouts have a decent range of nuance dynamics, while the dialog is mostly crisp, clean, stable and easy to follow. There are no serious issues with Masamichi Amano music score either. I also did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or dropouts to report in this review.

Battle Royale Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: All of the supplemental features found on the SDVD are in PAL. Therefore, if you reside in North America, or another region where PAL is not supported, you must have a Region-Free SDVD or Blu-ray player that can convert PAL to NTSC in order to view them.

Disc 1 - Theatrical Cut

• Trailer - in Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (2 min, 720p).

• The Making of Battle Royale - an abundance of footage from the shooting of Battle Royale, cast and crew discussions, etc. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (52 min, 720p).

Disc 2 - Director's Cut

• Special Edition Theatrical Trailer - in Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (2 min, 720p).

• TV Spot: Tarantino Version - in English and Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (1 min, 720p).

• Shooting the Special Edition - raw footage from the cast and crew reunion for the Special Edition of Battle Royale. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (10 min, 720p).

• Takeshi Kitano Interview - the famous Japanese actor answers a series of questions about his decision to appear in Battle Royale, the character he plays, the production process, etc. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (12 min, 720p).

• Conducting Battle Royale with the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra - raw footage from a soundtrack rehearsal conducted by Masamichi Amano. With optional English subtitles. (8 min, 720p).

• The Correct Way To Make Battle Royale: Birthday Version - a look at various "weapons" needed to survive Battle Royale. Raw footage from an important birthday celebration is also included. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (4 min, 720p).

• Tokyo International Film Festival Presentation - raw footage from the gala screening of Battle Royale at the Tokyo International Film Festival. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (5 min, 720p).

SDVD -

• Premiere Press Conference - footage from a press event during which cast and crew members answer various questions. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (13 min, PAL).

• Opening Day at Marunouchi Toei Move Theater - in Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (15 min, PAL).

• The Slaughter of 42 High School Students - raw footage from the shooting of Battle Royale. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (11 min, PAL).

• TV Add - in Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (1 min, PAL).

• TV Promo - in Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (2 min, PAL).

• TV Commercials - in Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (4 min, PAL).

• Promo 1 - in Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (1 min, PAL).

• Promo 2 - in Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (1 min, PAL).

• The Correct Way To Fight Battle Royale - a hilarious explanation of various rules and strategies. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (3 min, PAL).

• Royale Rehearsals - Kinji Fukasaku directs the Battle Royale participants. Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (8 min, PAL).

• Masamichi Amano conducts Battle Royale - Maestro Masamichi Amano conducts the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (10 min, PAL).

• Special Effects Comparison - a loot at some of the most disturbing killings/special effects in Battle Royale. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (5 min, PAL).

• Behind the Scenes Featurette - a standard featurette containing comments from various cast and crew members. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (13 min, PAL).

• Filming on Set - raw footage from the shooting of various scenes from Battle Royale. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (11 min, PAL).

• Trailer Gallery - a collection of trailers for various Kinji Fukasaku films. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (23 min, PAL).

• 32-page Comic-

• 36-page Booklet - includes Tom Mes' essay "A Battle Without An End"; printed interview with director Kinji Fukasaku; Jay McRoy's essay "Today's Lesson is...You Kill Each Other"; extract from Koushan Takami's original novel (LE Exclusive); and original promotional material, including Director's Statement, cast and crew biographies (LE Exclusive).

• 16-page Booklet- including concept artwork for the limited edition set (LE Exclusive).

• 5x7 Postcards of stills from Battle Royale- (LE Exclusive).

• Fold-out reversible poster of original artwork -

Battle Royale Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I understand that Battle Royale is a cult film a lot of people like, but I have never been able to warm up to it. Considering what Arrow Films had to work with, I assume that the presentation is probably as good is it could possibly be. There are certain limitations, so keep that in mind. The amount of work and care that has gone into this lavish Limited Edition set, however, is very impressive. RECOMMENDED only for those who can stomach the violence.