Battle Royale

2000 ‘バトル・ロワイアル’ Directed by Kinji Fukasaku

Could you kill your best friend?

In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.

Takeshi Kitano Tsuyako Kinoshita Eri Ishikawa Sayaka Ikeda Tomomi Shimaki Tamaki Mihara Yukari Kanasawa Misao Kato Takayo Mimura Hitomi Hyuga Anna Nagata Kou Shibasaki Satomi Ishii Chiaki Kuriyama Haruka Nomiyama Aki Maeda Satomi Hanamura Sayaka Kamiya Aki Inoue Asami Kanai Mai Sekiguchi Takako Baba Shin Kusaka Ren Matsuzawa Gouki Nishimura Shigehiro Yamaguchi Taro Yamamoto Masanobu Ando Yukihiro Kotani Show All…

Alternative Titles

Кралска битка, Batalha Real, Battle Royale - Nur einer kann überleben!, Batalla Real, Batoru Rowaiaru, 배틀 로얄, 大逃殺, Battle Royale (Director's Cut)

drama thriller adventure

114 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Sarah Jane 🔪 ★★★★ 19

Every boy in this movie looks like he is a character straight from anime. Man, I hate that hairstyle. Then and now.
Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games) says she was inspired to write The Hunger Games after the poverty she saw in Iraq during the war. Uh huh.
Is anyone else buying that bullshit?
Still a great movie 14 years later.
Review by Todd Gaines ★★★★★ 24

Going on a school field trip has never fuckin' sucked so fuckin' bad. Sharing a Kodak moment with your friends. Waking up to a what-the-fuckin'-shit-hell-is-fuckin'-going-on nightmare. A fuckin' outrage as Professor Kitano takes over the class. No fuckin' talkin', not even a fuckin' whisper. A necklace that will fuck you up. Watching your best-mate's neck gush. The transfer students with two very different fuckin' agendas. Watch out, Death Note's finest will light you the fuck up with a pot lid. Mitsuko's smile. The way Kawada smokes. Kazuo, zero lines of dialogue and total fuckin' ownage. The boys from Anonymous try their fuckin' best to hack the system. Yummy spaghetti. The greatest fuckin' lunch ever served at a lighthouse. Kawada vs.…
Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★★★★ 2

Controversial Cult Classic, incredibly original and highly influential film that puts the Hunger Games to shame!
It has more than earned its reputation for its violence and brutality but the real star of the show is the diverse range of emotions and fears (Good and Bad) that are all too human!
Takeshi Kitano added some serious beaucoup depth and flavor to the film!
Naughty Approved!
Review by brat pitt ★★★★½ 2

better than the hunger games because jennifer lawrence isn't in it
is it too EDGY to hate on jennifer lawrence on letterboxd.com? whatever im gonna do it anyway

EDIT: lost a follower for hating on jennifer lawrence but i dont care because im committed to the truth
Review by YI JIAN ★★★★ 12

Run.
When you've already presented the main plot on the table in the first five minutes, and the rest of it are mostly predictable, what do you use to drive your film forward while keeping it interesting?
Testicle mutilation.

Wait. No.
Characters. That's right. Characters. Good ones. The ones with depth. And director Kinji Fukasaku, or rather, author of the original novel -- Koushun Takami, delivers. 43 of 'em! (Including Kitano-sensei.) The hardest part of telling a story about teenagers stabbing, choking and shooting each other is to make the audience care about them. Once that obstacle is crossed, what we have is an emotional, intense, shocking and insane little cult classic.
What makes Battle Royale even more special is…
Review by suzie jenkins pendragon ★★★★★ 2

everyone looked like they had fun

Recent reviews

Review by roma

one year at sca be like
Review by Kevin Shields ★★★★★

Hadn't seen this one in over a decade. It, along with Oldboy and Ichi The Killer, was my earliest introduction the world of extreme Asian cinema (RIP Tartan Asia Extreme) - I went for the superior director's cut. I remember seeing this first and when I saw the theatrical cut it was way less effective. Remains a phenomenal piece of work. It's mad how well I still remembered it and enjoyed it. It's also not as extreme or violent as I remembered but I suppose when you put it in the context of them being 15 year old teenagers and how when I first saw this, I hadn't seen anything like it, it still has power. Excellent stuff and Takeshi Kitano is phenomenal and hilarious.
Review by Dalton Reyburn ★★★★★

Parents Just Don't Understand (1988)
Review by vilzujami ★★★★½

(DVD)
Kids killing each other on an island before it was mainstream.
Review by Angeles ★★★½

Life is a game. So fight for survival and see if you're worth it.
I didn't expect to like this as much as I did, but this was amazing, so full of heart and emotional.
For me, just imagining to be forced to kill my friends and classmates, all the people I've loved, grown and shared my experiences with is much more effective than just putting random characters that don't know each other in a random arena and fight themselves to death. I think that's why this works so well, because of just the thinking of that first scenario feels so heartbreaking and devastating, so watching 42 kids randomly chosen to have this battle is already sad and intriguing.
You…
Review by Sparkess ★★

You thought destiny the game had bullet sponges? Well think again, this is the movie equivalent of shit EA rng, Bungie bullet sponge enemies, and 4chan levels of memery.
Review by schmocrispy ★★★½

A very good recount of high school, featuring a teacher that just wont die
Review by Christopher Ansefelt ★★★

Part of my Films I’m Embarrassed to Admit I’ve Never Seen series.
Review by wickednicky ★★★★

field trip bus rides were never the same after i watched this