Battle Royale

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Battle Royale

2000

1h 54m

Mystery & Thriller

Action

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

90%

Tomatometer

51 Reviews

89%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

42 9th graders are sent to a deserted island. They are given a map, food, and various weapons. An explosive collar is fitted around their neck. If they break a rule, the collar explodes. Their mission: kill each other and be the last one standing. The last survivor is allowed to leave the island. If there is more than one survivor, the collars explode and kill them all.

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Critics Consensus

Battle Royale is a controversial and violent parable of adolescence, heightening teenage melodrama with life-or-death stakes.

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Sara Stewart

New York Post

05/25/2012

3/4

Stylistically it's a beauty, with khaki-uniformed waifs fighting for their lives to a crashing classical score.

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A.O. Scott

New York Times

05/24/2012

3.5/5

Awful deaths (and hysterical reactions to them) punctuate declarations of love and friendship, revelations of treachery and heavily armed expressions of angst.

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Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out

05/22/2012

4/5

Forgive the film its small flaws of histrionic performances and cheap execution for the giddy rush of its banal, Verhoevenesque atmosphere...

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Gregory Nussen

Screen Rant

Oct 13

9/10

Kinji Fukasaku's dystopian high school-set murder spree is more prescient than ever.

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Panos Kotzathanasis

Asian Movie Pulse

03/03/2024

8

Battle Royale” stands as a definite cult movie, from Takeshi Kitano's presence to the way it inspired Tarantino, to the violent portrayal of youth and sociopolitical criticism unfolds against a backdrop of dark humor and an evocative soundtrack.

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Javier G. Trigales

Espinof

11/27/2023

3/5

The "groundbreaking" premise of Battle Royale remains a good black comedy diversion that's more conventional than some wanted it to be. [Full review in Spanish]

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Dre A.

@PlayboiTenell 4d

Battle Royale is the blueprint of all battle royales. The action and the gore is amazing until you realize how sad and emotional the stakes are for these highschoolers having to kill eachother. Overall an amazing film that must be watched.

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Jonathan K

@aFIREintheattic Mar 21

Deserves acclaim simply because it spawned movies like The Hunger Games and Squid Game. Credit where it’s due. I’m sure at the time it felt revolutionary, subversive, and genuinely shocking. Now, having seen so much content that clearly draws from it, it doesn’t land with quite the same force, but you can still sense how impactful it must have been at the time. There’s some comedy mixed in, which works in a similar way to moments in Squid Game. The score is also sneaky good. It sounds inspired by John Williams, in particular one piece that feels like a major homage to the theme for Star Wars: A New Hope. The ending is a bit confusing in its execution. You can tell what's going on but maybe just barely. I think the direction and editing let it down here. And I also found myself wanting more variety in the deadly encounters. Just a minor gripe though. Ultimately, I think this is an important film. In its controversial nature, it paved the way for a genre.

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Geraldine V

@Gerald3n111 Dec 18

It was very intense, violent, and brutal to watch but it did catch my eye on seeing how the suspense was plotted. Overall it was really interesting for me.

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Valeria P

@valp15 Dec 18

This movie is a shocking, intense, and unforgettable dystopian thriller that mixes social commentary with intense action, earning its cult status!

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Sami A

@RT02101229 Dec 18

Watched Hunger Games before I knew what this was, then I watched this and man this was what I was looking for. I can see Hunger Games taking from this movie cause of a lot of similarities but Battle Royale does it way better. Definitely a fun watch.

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Bnk 3

@TylerSalazar Dec 18

The movie was violent but it grabbed my attention, a movie where teenagers are forced to kill each other in order to survive. It had emotion and shocking moments where friendships lead to betrayals. It was hard to watch a little but very attention grasping.

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Kinji Fukasaku

Director

Tatsuya Fujiwara

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Synopsis

42 9th graders are sent to a deserted island. They are given a map, food, and various weapons. An explosive collar is fitted around their neck. If they break a rule, the collar explodes. Their mission: kill each other and be the last one standing. The last survivor is allowed to leave the island. If there is more than one survivor, the collars explode and kill them all.

Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Producer: Akio Kamatani, Tetsu Kayama, Masumi Okada, Masao Sato, Kenta Fukasaku, Kinji Fukasaku, Kimio Kataoka, Toshio Nabeshima, Chie Kobayashi
Screenwriter: Kenta Fukasaku
Production Co: WOWOW, Toei Company, AM Associates, MF Pictures, GAGA, Kobi Co., Battle Royale Prod. Committee, Toho Company, Nippon Shuppan Hanbai (Nippan) K.K.
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Action, Comedy
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 16, 2000, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Oct 12, 2025
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Runtime: 1h 54m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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