During my early twenties, the success of The Ring opened the floodgates for a slew of Asian horror films to receive Hollywood remakes, as well as for American audiences to be exposed to the original films for the first time. However, thanks to legal conflicts regarding distribution rights, not to mention highly sensitive subject matter, one film that never made the jump to our shores was Battle Royale, the story of 42 middle-school students stranded on an island with one objective: kill or be killed.
[pullquote_right]The real treat here is the Director’s Cut, containing an additional eight minutes of footage.[/pullquote_right]With the release of the similarly themed Hunger Games adaptation this week, what better opportunity to finally introduce the American audience to one of the most controversial films of all time? Anchor Bay is giving this film the special edition treatment that its notoriety demands with Battle Royale: The Complete Collection, a 4-disc set that includes two versions of the original film, the sequel, and a bonus disc with more than two hours of special features.
Twelve years after its theatrical release in Japan, Battle Royale holds up extremely well, and is every bit as dark and disturbing as I remember from watching my imported copy so many years ago. The film still packs a serious punch, but the real treat here is the Director’s Cut, which contains an additional eight minutes of footage that helps flesh out the story and give more insight into some of the characters who might otherwise have gotten lost in the chaos.
Unfortunately, the quality of the original film and its alternate cut does not carry over to the sequel. Originally released three years after its predecessor, Battle Royale II: Requiem is a colossal mess, featuring a nonsensical plot involving a new middle school class trying to take down a terrorist cell led by survivors from Battle Royale. There are still 42 students with explosive collars around their necks, and there are still plenty of shockingly violent deaths, but long gone are any attempts at social commentary or emotional impact.
[pullquote_left]The digital restoration looks better than any previous iteration.[/pullquote_left]The special features disc is something of a mixed bag – there’s plenty of material here, but none of it is offered in high definition (the disc is actually a DVD), and there are absolutely NO supplemental materials for the second film. That’s not to say this is a bad thing, but there was a part of of me actually hoping for a “making of” featurette, for no other reason than to find out how the filmmakers managed to screw things up so badly.
The digitally restored version of Battle Royale a far cry from what we’ve come to expect from the Blu-Ray format, but this certainly looks better than any previous iteration, but its shortcomings can mostly be attributed to age, as well as the conditions under which it was filmed. Audio, however, is another story altogether, and all three films feature an incredibly effective use of rear channels, and plenty of kick for every explosion and gunshot.
Battle Royale: The Complete Collection is packaged in a gorgeous hardcover book format full of production photos and other promotional material, and despite a mildly disappointing video transfer and a truly awful sequel, this is still the definitive release of Battle Royale. Whether you’re watching the film again or experiencing it for the first time, this should be the only version you aspire to get your hands on.