1 of 5 | Tatsuya Fujiwara (L) and Aki Maeda star in “Battle Royale,” returning to theaters Sunday. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate
Battle Royale, returning to theaters Sunday for its 25th anniversary, is as vicious a satire as it was upon its release. The film in fact may be even more relevant now, as the social issues it predicted have gotten worse.
Based on the 1999 Koushun Takami novel, Battle Royale depicts a society ravaged by violent youth. In this world, the government passes a law authorizing a “game” that pits 42 high school students against each other in a deathmatch.
The outrageous violence against kids seems clearly satirical. At least, school teacher Kitano (Takeshi Kitano) throwing a knife into a girl’s forehead would be satire in the United States.
Perhaps sensibilities were different in Japan, but the satire seems universal as a flamboyant television personality explains the rules to the involuntary competitors. Kitano also takes glee in his demonstration, as he was once stabbed by a student.
All of the competing students are outfitted with an explosive collar. If there is no winner at the end of three days then all of the collars explode, preventing anyone from being a conscientious objector.
Classmates Shuya (Tatsuya Fujuwara) and Noriko (Aki Maeda) pair off, while Kawada (Taro Yamamoto), who survived a previous game, forms a plan for several survivors to escape.
The satire of the violence extends to the teenagers hashing out their drama. Now, if Chigusa (Chiaki Kuriyama, who later wielded a meteor hammer as Gogo in Kill Bill) doesn’t approve of Niida’s (Hirohita Honda) advances, she can stab him in the crotch.
Kiriyama (Masanobu Ando) and Mitsuko (Kô Shibasaki) individually resort to aggressive violence with weapons. Meanwhile, Yuko (Hitomi Hyuuga) relies on surreptitious poison, which sows enough distrust in several students that they all turn on each other.
Though the situation and extreme violence are satirical, Battle Royale takes the characters seriously. They’re not hollow archetypes. Whether scared or conniving, desperate to survive or in love, they are sincere.
The 15 certificate rating for the film’s violence was considered controversial in 2000. Officials at the time probably couldn’t have imagined a series of young adult novels and films that would deal with a similar subject.
Battle Royale is often cited in reviews of The Hunger Games, but there are significant differences. The Hunger Games is a cautionary tale set in a distant sci-fi future, but it’s not really satirical.
The Hunger Games takes the world of Panem seriously. Its premise of forcing children of the 12 districts to compete in annual Hunger Games illustrates the oppression.
That franchise also explores the propaganda machine but in an accurate way. It’s not a Robocop-style embellishment of the media.
The otherwise modern kids of Battle Royale committing this type of violence is closer to reality. The movie released one year after Columbine, and unfortunately, teen school shootings continue to this day.
Written and adapted at the end of the century, Battle Royale was based in fears of the economy collapsing in the millennium and violence growing out of control. Financial fears were only off by about eight years.
Therefore, watching Battle Royale in 2025 may seem even less far fetched than it did originally. The hope remains that a real-life Battle Royale is needed to bring order to society, but it is an entertaining hypothetical.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
