Battle Royale Limited Edition [4K Ultra-HD] [Blu-ray]

Product Information

Now both the first and second films gets a gorgeous 4K Limited Edition Bluray release from Arrow Video, allowing audiences the chance to see this genre-defining piece in amazing quality. Two additional Blu-rays then host the ‘Requiem’ and ‘Revenge’ edits of Battle Royale II, the first UK hi-def disc releases for the (disappointing) 2003 sequel.

That’s virtually all of the special features that have been produced over the years (save for a few items created by Capelight Pictures’ for recent German BD releases).Playing like a turbo-charged hybrid of Lord of the Flies and The Most Dangerous Game, the final completed work by veteran yakuza-film director Kinji Fukasaku (Battles without Honor and Humanity, Graveyard of Honor) helped launch a new wave of appreciation for Asian cinema in the 21st century.

Hell, when I was a teenager back in the early 1980s, all I had to worry about was whether or not the Russians loved their children too. In line with the new law, a class of 42 students from the ninth grade are captured and sent to an island, where they must participate in ‘ Battle Royale’. The original Battle Royale was shot on 35 mm photochemical film using Arriflex 535B cameras with Zeiss and Angenieux spherical lenses, and was finished on film at the 1. Overall detail is a bit muddy looking, with the image having a soft and digitally-processed appearance (it’s likely baked into the original DI). Disc Two, meanwhile, presents the Special Edition Director’s Cut (122:01) which runs about 8 minutes longer.There’s no sign of compression or the like, and the odd soft looking scene seems to be an issue with the original source. Based in an alternative dystopian Japan, Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale is set in a world where the government has passed a law named the ‘BR ACT’ in an attempt to rid of disobedient youths (it’s a bit harsh… but go with it! Drab and murky, the big issue has always been the near total lack of genuine blacks within the film’s palette. There’s also anime of course which we know how that went back then (especially in the UK with Urotsukidoji).

Meanwhile, daylight scenes are naturally bright, with bold highlights—almost to the point of being eye-reactive—yet there’s still more detail in the glare as well.These are particularly interesting for the way that Kenta offers insights on his father’s personal history, his reaction to the original novel, and his thoughts on the overall subject of violence. Movie: Director Kinji Fukasaku's controversial near-future shocker Battle Royale follows a class of 42 Japanese high school kids taken to a remote island, strapped into exploding necklaces, and forced to fight each other
to the death as part of a government scheme to tackle the rising tide of juvenile delinquency.

The film’s palette is occasionally muted, but when there is color—especially with regard to grass and foliage—it’s vibrant and beautifully nuanced. Both discs feature a new 4K restoration from the original camera negatives by Arrow which Kenta Fukasaku approved. When you know a story and its characters that well, you start seeking the screen for trivialities and background curiosities. While my adolescent appreciation of Battle Royale has faded with middle age, I was still driven to double dip; the original HD presentation of the film wasn’t the greatest.Here you’ll find one Original Theatrical Trailer, two TV Spots and two Promos for the original version, and for the Special Edition, one Theatrical Trailer and two TV Spots.