Battle Royale

Directed by the master of Japanese 70s Yakuza thrillers Kinji Fukasaku, “Battle Royale” is an adrenalin-fuelled extravaganza from 2000 that is being touted as “A Clockwork Orange” for the 21st century.

Sometime in the near future, anarchy has broken out in Japan. The government passes a new law called the Battle Royale-Act where each year a class of 9th graders (14- to 15-year olds) are chosen at random, dropped on a remote island, given various weapons and ordered to kill each other off. The last boy/girl standing gets to go home.

Extreme and controversial, this is obliged cult viewing for the computer-game generation and beyond.