Film Rant

Ouch…

David Comments 6 1 min read
Battle Royale Girl

As any discerning readers will know – I absolutely HATE REMAKES, especially ones of great Asian films (Ju-On, Dark Water, Ringu…). It therefore came as a major shock to find out that a Hollywood remake of Battle Royale (one of my favourite films), is on the cards!!!

Battle Royale has never had a theatrical release in the US, and probably for quite a good reason – the story revolves around a class of Japanese school kids forced to kill each other whilst wearing explosive collars. Based on the novel by Koushun Takami, the story is set amid “an apocalyptic future in which schools are overrun by uncontrolled violence. The government responds by organizing an annual Battle Royale, in which a school class is picked at random and students are pitted against each other on an abandoned island in a game of survival“. The controversy that surrounds the film does not come from its violence but from the fact that it is committed by minors. Although it may be pretty gory and violent, it’s also satirical, witty and thought-provoking, making it a masterpiece of Japanese cinema.

I share the sentiments of fans worldwide – “Hell freezes over” wrote the editors at battleroyalefilm.net. “Let us pray for the best” said Harry Knowles at Ain’t It Cool News. Seriously, don’t do this – the original is already perfect, any remake will only do more harm than good! I just hope they don’t turn BR into just another teen slasher.

Author

Originally from the UK, David is designer and wanderer currently based in Kamakura. Prior to this, he lived in China and longs to explore more of this vast and varied land. He started Randomwire in 2003 to chronicle his travels and occasional musings. Feel free to drop him a line.

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6 Comments Add New Comment

  1. Ushi says:

    Hehehe. Erm…I have a horrible feeling it may be turned into a teen slasher. I'd be surprised if it wasn't. Let's hope they change the name. Better still, lets pretend the remake isn't happening…

  2. David says:

    this page:

    “No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no
    (catches breath)
    No no no no no no no no no no!!!

    The film was one of those rare treats, transending it's own faults to become an engrossing and captivating exploration of the violent theme of the original novel. The “Lord of the Flies” motif works well in Japan, where the youth versus adult tension is much higher than it is here in America.

    That and there is no way. NO WAY, that an American company will allow the level of carnage this film needs, and still claim that this is a bunch of 13-14 year olds being massacered.”

    “I am incredibly pessimistic about this – for one thing, there's no way the American censor will allow anything close to the level of violence directed at schoolchildren that made the original so controversial and powerful, so you can be sure it's going to be pretty severely toned down and lose a lot of its impact.”

    “Another American remake of an excellent Japanese film. Lets not fool ourselves here – it'll be crap and no doubt filled with dumb teen stereotypes. It will also replace the Japanese bleakness with an American gloss.”

  3. David says:

    It is indeed a classic but aside from the remake angle, you wouldn't make any other comparisons between it and Casablanca!

    Spread the word, see it before it's too late!

  4. Maria says:

    Nooooo! How dare they tamper with a classic! It's like the Casablanca remake – wrong, wrong, wrong! Sorry to keep ranting at you about it, it's just that Battle Royale is so good; it's such a unique film that it just wouldn't work in any other setting. Incidently, thanks for showing me Battle Royale last year – my brother watched it the other day and loves it too 🙂

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