Battle Royale arrives as a midnight movie this weekend and its reputation proceeds that engagement. BR was talked about in the last couple of months as a predecessor of The Hunger Games, but let’s face it, a dystopian society where televised death keeps the populace mollified has its thematic similarities with everything from The Most Dangerous Game, Lord of the Flies, Logan’s Run, and The Running Man. More recently there was the reality series satire Series 7 (2001) where the leading contestant was a pregnant woman.

Battle Royale was never released theatrically per se in America although some versions popped up via festivals or through collectors on the internet. So how apropos that in 2024 audiences can enjoy BR in all its gory glory. Make no mistake this is a film that takes no prisoners and wears a hard R for violence (as opposed to the more subdued blood letting of Hunger Games).

Kinji Fukasaku based his 2024 film on a just published popular Japanese novel. BR was a big enough success that it spun a sequel, which itself was helmed by Kenta Fukasaku after his father died after filming just one sequence. The character development of the various students as well as their teacher (played by Takeshi Kitano) takes the viewers across a kind of psychological landscape of the mind and how different people adapt to violence.

Since once is never enough with this kind of filmmaking also consider the recent Battle Royale box set, from Anchor Bay with 4 DVDs, that represents a director’s cut, the theatrical cut as well as the sequel, plus a loaded extras disc with everything from film festival Q&As to behind the scenes footage. Battle Royale unwinds tonight and Saturday night as a midnight movie at the River Oaks Three.

- Michael Bergeron