Battle Royale is an oustanding film but not for the faint of heart. Based on the book by Koshun Takami.

"Battle Royale, a high-octane thriller about senseless youth violence, is one of Japan's best-selling - and most controversial - novels. As part of a ruthless program by the totalitarian government, ninth-grade students are taken to a small isolated island with a map, food, and various weapons. Forced to wear special collars that explode when they break a rule, they must fight each other for three days until only one "winner" remains. A Japanese pulp classic"

Battle Royale is gruesome and way over the top. Students must decide to kill, be killed, to trust or not trust...how far will you go and what choices would you make given the same situation?

If you can make it through all the blood and guts, you will find an extremely well written movie with real characters.

The story revolves around a boy named Nanahara and his would be girlfriend Noriko who are befriended (in an odd way) by a former Battle Royale survivor named Kawada who is seeking an answer to a smile his girlfriend Keiko gave him just before she died in their Battle Royale.

At the end of the movie I came away with the feeling that Battle Royale is not so much a movie about death (although there is tons of it) but about life. Battle Royale is one of those rare movies that is able to transcend the genre it is in and become something entirely different.

I liken Battle Royale to what a modern day William Shakespeare would write. It is a tragic film like all Shakespeare and is laced with eternal truths if you but look for them.

Some of the ideas are lost in the English subtitles, (having a japanese interpreter aka my wife Kana certainly helps) but most of them come shining through with no problems. Also, it helps if you know a little of Japanese culture and how youth are viewed here.

Battle Royale was almost not released in Japan back in 2000 and I believe it was (and is still) banned in the U.S. which is a shame but makes me think they (the US) would ban Bill Shakespeare if he were making movies today.

If you can get yourself a copy, close your eyes during the "red" scenes and see one of the best Japanese films since Kurosawa!