DVD, Blu-ray Release: Battle Royale: Complete Collection

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 20, 2012
Price: DVD $44.98, Blu-ray $49.99
Studio:
Anchor Bay


Battle Royale movie scene

The kids are all right--until they begin killing each other in the controversial Battle Royale.

Battle Royale: The Complete Collection includes the controversial 2000 Japanese action-thriller film Battle Royale and its 2003 sequel Battle Royale II: Requiem, a pair of cult favorites about groups of school children who are forced to fight each other to the death.

Their March 2012 Blu-ray and DVD release marks the first time the movies have been issued on disc in North America, though they’ve been available as both imports and unauthorized domestic editions.

Based on the 1999 novel by Koushun Takami, Battle Royale spins a pretty wild tale: In a near future decimated by a failing economy, unemployment and the rise of juvenile crime, the Japanese government passes a law that states that each year, a ninth grade class will be sent to a remote island where they will be locked into exploding neck collars, given a random weapon and forced to hunt and kill each other until there is only one survivor left.

The sequel, Battle Royale II: Requiem, features a new class, new rules and, in a fresh twist, a brutal terrorist plot by the first film’s young survivors.

Battle Royale: The Complete Collection, a four-disc set both on Blu-ray and DVD, includes two versions of Battle Royale: the original theatrical cut and director’s cut, each containing both Japanese and English language tracks and English subtitles. There is one version of Battle Royale II, a director’s cut, featuring a Japanese audio track and English subtitles.

The director’s cuts of each film run 133 minutes. As the original theatrical version of Battle Royale runs 122 minutes, we’re assuming there’s a lot of violence on hand.

Battle Royale, the more acclaimed of the two films, is also available individually in both Blu-ray and DVD formats for the prices of $29.99 and $24.98, respectively.

Here’s a list of the numerous bonus features available on the The Complete Collection:

  • “The Making of Battle Royale”
  • Battle Royale press conference
  • “Instructional Video: Birthday Version”
  • audition and rehearsal footage
  • special effects comparison featurette
  • Tokyo International Film Festival 2000
  • Battle Royale documentary
  • basketball scene rehearsals
  • behind-the-scenes featurette
  • “Filming On-Set”
  • original theatrical trailer
  • special edition TV spot
  • TV spot: Tarantino version

 

Buy or Rent Battle Royale: The Complete Collection
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About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.