Battle Royale II....most of the world will never see it....

[Naniwan Kid]

Just went and saw Battle Royale II:Requiem. The story isn't as good as part 1, but it's got all the great violence, and a great tribute to Saving Private Ryan. There aren't many Japanese movies I'll pay the big bucks to see in the theater, but this is a good one if you like it bloody and fun.

[Crispy]

The plot wasn't as good? Exactly what plot did you think the first movie had? All I saw was, kids get sent to an island, become friends and enemies, kill each other.

[Naniwan Kid]

Maybe I should say part one had a more original story...and I thought the original movie was interesting as it explored the inner human thinking.

As the movie poster said "Could you kill your best friend?"

I thought it was interesting as it asked a question we would hope we would never be asked, put in a situation most of us would find unthinkable, and forced the forty teenagers to deal with it.

I am not saying Battle Royale is a Godfather or Citizen Kane level movie, but I think it is interesting watching it, and then watching a movie like Matrix Reloaded, where hardly a gun is shot, there are almost no explosions, and not a single drop of blood is shed (maybe in slow-mo you can see some).

I just appreciate it partly that it is a ballsy movie that could NEVER BE MADE IN THE U.S.A.

America prides itself on it's movie independence, but the ones with real balls hardly ever make it out of the indie festivals. A movie like Battle Royale is unconceivable in the U.S.

Sadly just 30 some years ago the U.S. was on the cutting edge of mainstream originality (Easy Rider, The Conversation, The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy). Battle Royale has that same "oomph" that I think is missing in so much American (and world) cinema today.

I will step off my soap box now (but leave it close to the ready).

[Andocrates]

I thought Battle Royale I was awesome, it's very chic in America now to have a long winded opinion of battle Royale (see this NYC Ravers message board) http://pub26.ezboard.com/fhugeravediscussionfrm1.showMessage?topicID=9931.topic Parts of the first movie bogged down for sure, but the overall concept was original and compelling. So I wan't to see Battle Roaye, but I'm not coming back to Japan till January so It'll be years for I see it.

[Naniwan Kid]

You never know, the video could be out by January....

[Caustic Saint]

Yesasia.com has the 2-disc SE (Korean Version) for $23.99.

Director's Cut, 122 minutes, region 3, Japanese dialogue with English and Korean subtitles. Free shipping to most of the world too.

I just ordered mine. w00t!

Sure beats the heck out of the $51.75 for the Japanese version.

[Molokidan]

Battle Royale was a landmark for japanese film, and I've heard nothing but good things about BR-II, which is good, because I was nervous when I heard that the director's son took over halfway through production. (We all know what happened with the DUNE book series....) I'll definitely try and see it as soon as possible.

[cliffy]

So is it just me or does battle royale sound like it was influenced by Goulding's "Lord of the flies"? Too many paralells to list but very samey to my mind or am I just too old??

[Caustic Saint]

So is it just me or does battle royale sound like it was influenced by Goulding's "Lord of the flies"? Too many paralells to list but very samey to my mind or am I just too old??

Nah, there are lots of parallels in it. I ordered the DVD because I really dug the book and buying the DVD is probably the only way I'll get to see the movie.

[Caustic Saint]

Got my DVD on Monday and stayed up late to watch it. Very cool.

But probably moreso for having read the book. I already knew who all the characters were and pretty much remembered how everybody got offed. The changes they made didn't bother me at alll, and made sense. A lot of the relationships between characters got cut out, but it held together pretty well.

It's okay if you haven't read the book, but I doubt I'd think as highly of it if I hadn't. I think the people behind the movie were counting on the audience being fans of the book and the manga.

Has this ever gotten even a limited release in the US? I can't imagine it has. I don't see this as one that'll ever get a big release, or get remade for an America audience.

[bejiita]

What was interesting to me was how the future neo-tokyo looked exactly as it does today with no major changes; right down to the Metropolitan Government office building.

Does this mean FG Battle Royale is coming soon?

The government has determined that there are too many crimes committed by foreigners. Therefore, it has implemented the Emergency Gaijin Act whereby random gaijin are plucked off the street and forced to kill each other. The last surviving gaijin will be granted residency status.

[Caustic Saint]

Just went and saw Battle Royale II:Requiem. The story isn't as good as part 1, but it's got all the great violence, and a great tribute to Saving Private Ryan. There aren't many Japanese movies I'll pay the big bucks to see in the theater, but this is a good one if you like it bloody and fun.

I finally saw this last night. I felt it wasn't nearly as good as part one, and only liked part one as much as I did because I'd read the book.

The plot in BR2 was pretty nonsensical. Shuya's still a putz, I couldn't be bothered to care about any of the new characters and the battle between the kids and the adults was laughable at best. But my main complaint?

CGI Blood

Will they PLEASE stop using this crap?!? It worked okay in the couple of scenes in BR1 where they used it, but it was all over BR2. It's pathetically fake and just looks stupid. Hell, I'll take the gushing fountains of Kill Bill vol. 1 over this stuff.

Other gripes - the videogame-esque "mission" structure of the first half of the movie, their teacher's appearance at the end, "soldiers" who can't hit somebody 6 feet in front of them, and Shuya's babbling monologues. Oh, and can somebody tell me how the military had "danger zones" set up on the island when they didn't have control of it?

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

[quote="bejiita"]What was interesting to me was how the future neo-tokyo looked exactly as it does today with no major changes]
Good idea I will borunteru to be the transfer student.

[vvx]

In BR-I, Shuya is this innocent kid kinda person who manages to survive mainly out of luck. It's definetly not his violent nature that saves him. Fast forward to BR-II and he's made out like a major ass-kicking leader. Seemed like a totally different person to me.

[Boo]

The reason Shuya became such a major ass kicking leader in the second one is because it was the only way for him to survive and bring the change he wanted to see to the system.

I watched it in Japanese with my wife translating for me so I could be off in what happened in the whole movie but I found it a good follow up to the first one.

[Ptyx]

Battle Royale was a landmark for japanese film, and I've heard nothing but good things about BR-II, which is good, because I was nervous when I heard that the director's son took over halfway through production.

In what way Battle Royal was a landmark for japanese film ??