It’s the tenth anniversary of the release of Battle Royale, which feels strange since it seems like it was the tenth anniversary of Pokemon only a few years ago. In order to celebrate, the movie is getting 3D added to it and a re-release.
If you missed Battle Royale in the cinemas first time around, the story takes place in the near future when society has decided that the only way to deal with teenage violence is to choose a class of school children, take them to an island, and force them to fight until only one is left alive. Along the way, their rivalries, relationships and friendships are revealed and new ones created.
The trailer for the newly 3D-arrised (is that a word?) movie is now out in cinemas across Japan, revealing some of the techniques used to revitalise the film.
The most obvious is the blood. When characters get hacked up, blood spurts out towards the audience. I’m in three minds about this. 1) Blood should obey the laws of physics. 2) It makes everything ten times more gratuitous. They’ve changed the genre by making it about the extreme violence rather than a commentary on it. 3) Sometimes it’s kinda cool.
There are more atmospheric edits too. In one of the final scenes where everything is on fire, flecks of ash rise into the sky. The iconic Battle Royale logo has also got a makeover.
Other sections were a mess. All 3D films should have a temporary ban on firing bullets towards the camera. It looks neither cool nor realistic.
I noticed what seemed to be new background music and shots I don’t remember seeing previously. Could be additions, trailer editing, previous cuts for the UK version or my shoddy memory. Overall, I was left wanting to see it, but it’s not my biggest priority. I probably won’t miss anything.
Battle Royale 3D can be seen in select cinemas across Japan from November 20th. Rumour has it that it will also be released in the US in 2011 or thereabouts.
