Batoru Rowaiaru [Battle Royale] (2000)

Storyline:
A group of ninth-grade students from a Japanese high school have been forced by legislation to compete in a Battle Royale.
The students are each given a bag with radomly selected weapon and a few rations of food and water, and then sent to a desert island where they have to kill each other untill only one has survived, for a time limit of three days.
The movie focus on a few of the students and how they help or kill each other.

Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Writers: Koushun Takami, Kenta Fukasaku
Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266308

Year: 2000
Genre: Action, Thriller
Country: Japan

Trailer:


Review:
Battle Royale is a disturbing and shocking movie with great scenes of violence.
It's interesting to watch how a group of teenagers, who belong to a supposedly civilized world, find themselves in a position where they have to kill or be killed. The violent killing between them start rapidly as they arrive to the desert island, with desperation and fear on most of their faces.
The whole grotesque and violent scenes are basically what makes the movie that great, because on the other hand, i hated the interpretation of almost all teenagers. Seems like there was no casting at all to choose the actors, they just randomly selected a bunch of teenagers and hope that they would fit. But no. Apart a couple of actors, the rest of the cast seem completely amateurs. This is a shame, because the movie has so much potential that it could be a real masterpiece.
Don't be discouraged to watch it, because it is still a beatifull and great action movie to watch. There are great scenes that compensate the actors' bad performance.

Personal Rating: 7/10

Posted in: 2000,Action,Japan,Thriller