Battle Royale (2001) - 4 out of 5 Stars

This was fun! The story was interesting enough. It sparked me to think about ways to make a story similar but not a complete ripoff; an homage. I have always enjoyed Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano for his off beat characters and stories.

This was an intense "Lord of the Flies," which I also recommend. The gore was great, lots of blood spraying out, made me sit up in the chair and kind of do a happy seat dance, like, "OOOOHH SNAP!" The acting was a bit melodramatic, and the kids seemed a little old to be 9th graders, but I gave into the story and allowed it to unfold before me.

It started off a little slow, and the opening, which showed the lone survivor from the BR (which I thought was from the BR I was about to watch), was jarring to comprehend. Apparently, she was the winner from the previous BR. So I got confused and kept trying to figure which girl in the movie was her, and when I thought I had it figured out, that girl got killed.

The movie seemingly had a lot of symbolism and metaphors, flashes back on the students lives as the movie progressed. I don't think I got all of what I should have but it was a good way to spend the evening. I did like seeing the characters reacting like everyday people, some came together others split up and fended for themselves; that speaks volumes on the human condition and what you can do when you really allow yourself to trust in fellow man. Yeah, it was that deep!