Our previous list (https://infinitemoviessite.wordpress.com/2020/04/18/games-that-kill/) included a great number of movies, almost all the good ones except one. One which should be undoubtedly be the number one movie to be on that list. A movie that defined a whole genre and inspired hundreds of films and games. We’re talking about none other than the Japanese movie Battle Royale!
Released Twenty years ago, based on a novel and directed by Kinji Fukasaku (who died before completing the sequel) it is one of the most controversial movies out there for a lot of reasons.
As Kinji Fukasaku said in one of his interviews the inspiration to make the movie came after reading the novel, which reminded him of his time during the World War II. When he worked in a factory and once in order to save himself from the bombings had to hide under a pile of his fellow workers and later on dig their graves.
From the outside the movie seems to be another senseless slasher film, where everyone is just trying to kill each other but when you watch the whole movie, you realize how there’s a background life story behind each of the characters which have consequences later on in their life. Roughly 6,000 actors auditioned for the film, which was narrowed down to 800 potential cast members. These finalists were subjected to a 6-month period of physical fitness training under supervision of the director, Kinji Fukasaku, who eventually cast 42 out of the 800. None of the actors used any stunt-doubles.
Set in dystopian future where the government has sanctioned the killing of the young students, it was bound to have certain controversies . Kinji wanted that all the young teenagers should see the movie but the government gave it a rating of 15+. Fukasaku even said in one of his interviews that he would like youngsters to sneak into movie theatres to watch the movie. It was also banned in a lot of countries initially. Even in the U.S it released almost Ten years later to avoid controversies.
The movie was critically highly rated and its DVD sales turned it into cult film. A lot of Hollywood movies are said to be inspired by the movie. Movies like “The Hunger Games” are almost based on the same concept. Quentin Tarantino has said a lot of times that Battle Royale is one of his favourites. Also using star-cast from the movie into his films (like Kill Bill). Even before releasing in the U.S , the movie gained a cult status, a lot of movies indirectly referred to battle royale , in scenes, like putting posters in the room. Games like Fortnite and PUBG are based on the Battle Royale concept. The stories keep on going.
Battle Royale is a bold and one of its kind movie ( not even going to talk about the sequel). Filled with stories before and after its release and providing an inspiration for a whole generation of movies and games, this movie is a CLASSIC.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266308/
Infinite movies 