Though audiences may recognise the story’s key elements and moral dilemmas from both Lord Of The Flies and The Hunger Games series (released 12 years after Fukasaku’s movie ), Battle Royale is an entirely different beast. Overseeing the carnage is 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano (Sonatine, Hana-bi, Zatoichi) as the teacher pushed to the edge by his unruly charges. Although potentially polarising for some audiences, Battle Royalemanages to strike up the right balance of heartache, humour, and bloodshed in an unforgettable experience.

When Class B of Zentsuji Middle School are chosen to take part in the massacre, the different students quickly take sides against each other, but Shuya (Tatsuya Fujiwara) and Noriko (Aki Maeda) form an alliance in an attempt to survive the experience together. But for most of the 42 students on the island, it boils down to a simple question, “Could you kill your best friend? Despite the harsh brutality that ensues (for instance, some students decide it’s better to off themselves rather than participate), Fukasaku handles the issue well by not allowing their plight to feel overly cruel or distasteful.

Including one card for the rules of the game, there are 42 cards featuring the characters, and their vital statistics. I was under the assumption the LE was ONLY released at 4k with BR2 and BR2: Revenge being the only standard Blu-ray’s in the set. Compared to the first film in this collection, it is lacking, a little soft and with unimpressive contrast, with darker shades tending more to grey-blues rather than genuine blacks. Set in a dystopian near-future Japan, in which an authoritarian government has passed the “BR Act” to address widespread juvenile delinquency, the first Battle Royale tells the story of middle schooler Shuya Nanahara (Tatsuya Fujiwara) and his classmates, who are surprised to learn that they’ve been selected to fight in the annual Battle Royale. Battle Royale ' has been a hit since it was first released in 2000, receiving rave reviews around the world.

For those of you who may already own previous editions of these films on disc, the good news is that everything from the 2012 Starz/Anchor Bay Blu-ray has carried over here, as well as all of the extras from the 2010 Arrow Video UK Blu-ray release, and the 2002 Tartan DVD too. Overseeing the carnage is ‘Beat’ Takeshi Kitano ( Sonatine, Hana-bi, Zatoichi) as the teacher pushed to the edge by his unruly charges. They offer an abundance of interesting background information on the director and his long career, as well as production details and context for the film. The HDR10 presentation is excellent, but those of you with Dolby Vision capability will appreciate its benefits, especially in darker scenes.

Granted Japan loves to take risks, especially when it comes to violence, sex and more like Takashi Miike‘s catalogue that ranges from family friendly films all the way to violent works that ended with some cuts or bans in some regions. Meanwhile, the teens themselves are society in microcosm; some are clearly good while others seem to embrace and enjoy the sinister nature of the game they’re forced to play. They awaken in an abandoned school room on a deserted island, surrounded by armed soldiers and awaiting them at the head of the class is their old teacher Kitano, the lesson of the day, “kill each other”. Fellow director and TV personality 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano (VIOLENT COP, BOILING POINT) takes top billing as a former teacher assigned to oversee the 'Battle Royale', but it's Fujiwara who steals the film, struggling desperately to retain his sense of moral justice at a time when a LACK of integrity could mean the difference between life and death.

I do feel that its strongest impact is with audiences closer to the age of its protagonists, but it is still a watchable piece of entertainment. 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. The Original Theatrical Version on Disc 1 gets a 4k restoration of the original camera negative which you can read more about in the booklet with the first disc. 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. This March, Anchor Bay Home Entertainment will bring Battle Royale: The Complete Collection to Blu-ray.The new set also comes with a 120 page book, a booklet filled with essays and articles, a set of cards, and a reversible poster, just to give one a little extra bang for your buck. All told, Arrow Video’s new Battle Royale: Limited Edition is a spectacular box set for fans of this film.