BATTLE ROYALE

When I first heard the plot of Battle Royale from a friend, I was interested right away. Ninth grade class is kidnapped by the government, brought to a deserted island, and told that they have to kill each other off until there's one left. Oh, and if they try to escape or no one wins in three days or less, their heads blow off courtesy of necklaces with sensors built in. (Try to take it off and your head still explodes.)

Let's just imagine this situation for a minute. Think back to your high school days...the people in your homeroom or first period class (Note: In Japan, you have one class of people you're with all the time. Instead of switching rooms and classes for each subject, Japanese classes stay in one room while teachers switch rooms.) Could you point a gun at your friend's head? Would you play the game at all? Or maybe this is just what you need to take revenge on that bitch that stole your boyfriend. It's really fucking scary to think about, right? No wonder some people wanted to ban the book when it was first published.

While all the major themes and significance may not apply directly to us Westerners, there's still a good deal of universality present. But aside from themes, there's just a shitload of violence. We're talking...GORE. Blood, blood, and more blood.


Now, I knew I was going to like this movie but I didn't know I would like it as much as I did. I've already watched it about four times and my favorite scene is when all the kids are ordered to begin and are leaving one by one. The government/army guys are tossing their packs (food, water, random weapon, map) at their faces and they run out. It's pretty intense.


I highly recommend you pick this one up. Download it, rent it, buy it. Just watch it.