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It's been three years since Battle Royale's survivors, Nanahara
and Noriko, escaped from the island and the world descended
into an age of terrorism. The Wild Seven, led by Nanahara,
is an anti-state organisation that has declared war on the
adults who force teenagers to kill each other under the murderous
BR act. Fearful and desperate, the government has now passed
a Millennium Anti-Terror Act, better knows as BRII. On their
way to a skiing vacation, a coach load of Junior High School
children are abducted by the military and forced to put on
uniforms with lethal explosive necklaces. They are given 72
hours to hunt down and kill Nanhara and The Wild Seven, or
they will face certain death at the hands of the authorities...
Battle
Royale II: Revenge is
simply a reissuing of Battle
Royale II: Requiem but with two additional
discs - one of which contains an extended version of the film,
and the other includes a collection of extras.
For
review purposes we were only sent the extended movie version
and the extras disc. It's been so long since I've seen the
original DVD release of Battle Royale II: Requiem,
that in all honesty I couldn't really tell you which scenes
have been extended. But, I don't think that's really necessary
as fans of the movie are going to want to buy this and see
what the differences are for themselves.
Rewatching
this movie I realised what a work of art the majority of it
is. The opening sequence, where the kids are drugged and led
into the military base, is one of the most beautiful scenes
I've seen in modern cinema. Every shot is like a carefully
lit photograph... and the music will send shivers down your
spine.
I
don't remember thinking that the original movie dragged on
a bit, but there were certainly times in the extended version
when I was looking at my watch and thinking that a few cuts
with the editor's scissors would have been welcome. The last
third of the movie really labours the point to the extent
that you start to wish everything would move along a bit quicker.
I
loved the anti-American message. The skyscrapers collapsing
was obviously a reference to 11 September - and the list of
countries that America has bombed in recent history will make
your jaw drop.
The
extras are quite impressive - even if a lot of them just go
over the same ground. These are split into four categories
(Music, Behind the Scenes, Interviews
and Trailers). The acting workshops and rehearsals
segments were interesting - showing the director trying to
get the young actors to believe in what they were doing. The
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra Music Performance (12 mins
featurette) was also entertaining as we get to see the composer,
Masamichi Amano, conducting several segments of his musical
score.
If
you already own Battle Royale II: Requiem, then I can't
honestly recommend you spend £30 on this collection.
And to be honest if you are thinking of buying this I would
seriously suggest buying the original release. Having said
that, it is great that Tartan are offering fans so many extras
- it's just a shame they weren't included in the original
DVD release.
Pete
Boomer
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