Anchor Bay to Issue Four-Disc ‘Battle Royale’ Blu-ray
by Marc Patterson
I thought getting the Zombie 2-Disc Ultimate Edition from Blue Underground last October was the shit. (Well, actually it was), but Anchor Bay just kicked over the most exciting Blu-ray release news this year. (Yes, all 9 days of it). On March 20th Anchor Bay is releasing Battle Royale to Blu-ray for the first time in North America. But that’s not actually the cool part. For the cash strapped you can get the single disc Blu-ray, or for the more serious collector there’s the four-disc Complete Collection, an edition that on paper fairs quite nicely up against Arrow Video’s Blu-ray release, in the UK, last year. Here’s the breakdown:
42 students, Three days, One survivor – No Escape. Welcome to the world of Battle Royale!
Battle Royale
In the near future, the economy has collapsed, unemployment has soared and juvenile crime has exploded. Fearful of their nation’s youth, the Japanese government passes The BR Law: Each year, a 9th grade class is sent to a remote island where they will be locked into exploding neck collars, given a random weapon, and forced to hunt and kill each other until there is only one survivor left. Chiaki Kuriyama (Kill Bill) and screen legend Takeshi Kitano (Boiling Point, Brother) star in the movie that has been argued, acclaimed and banned around the world. More than a decade later, it remains one of the most savage, shocking and emotionally powerful films of all time. Now experience the complete Director’s Cut of Kinji Fukasaku’s uncompromising masterpiece – nominated for 10 Japanese Academy Awards® – available uncensored and unrated for the first time ever in America.
Battle Royale: The Complete Collection
In 2000, director Kinji Fukasaku unleashed Battle Royale, his violently poetic epic about an innocent group of Junior High students forced by the government to hunt and kill their classmates for sport. It was nominated for 10 Japanese Academy Awards®, launched a global phenomenon, and banned from screens by frightened civic groups and distributors across America. Three years later, the equally disturbing sequel – featuring a new class, new rules, and a brutal terrorist plot by the first film’s young survivors – triggered its own tragic firestorm around the world. Now for the first time ever, you can see it all: Experience the entire Battle Royale saga on 4 discs that forever blasts open one of the most potent, shocking and savagely influential sagas in motion picture history.
Battle Royale: The Complete Collection’s four disc set in collectible high-end packaging will include:
· Battle Royale Director’s Cut with both Japanese and English language tracks and English subtitles
· Battle Royale Theatrical Cut with both Japanese and English language tracks and English subtitles
· Battle Royale II with Japanese language and English subtitles
· Battle Royale Bonus Content with Japanese language and English subtitles
SPECIAL FEATURES:
· The Making Of BATTLE ROYALE
· BATTLE ROYALE Press Conference
· Instructional Video: Birthday Version
· Audition & Rehearsal Footage
· Special Effects Comparison Featurette
· Tokyo International Film Festival 2000
· Battle Royale Documentary
· Basketball Scene Rehearsals
· Behind-The-Scenes Featurette
· Filming On-Set
· Original Theatrical Trailer
· Special Edition TV Spot
· TV Spot: Tarantino Version
The Battle Royale release will include:
· Director’s Cut with Japanese and English language and English subtitles
With impeccable direction by three-time ‘Director of the year’ Kinji Fukasaku, and featuring high-quality acting performances from every angle, Battle Royale: The Complete Collection is as cunning as it is ruthless, offering a unique and brutal depiction of what people are capable of when imminent death is everywhere you look.
