BATTLE ROYALE 3-D: The Real HUNGER GAMES Comes to a Theater Near You in 3-D

About 7 years ago I was in the middle of some chaotic surf video tour sleeping on the couch of some kid nicknamed Tweak when he pulled out his favorite movie, this weird Japanese flick called BATTLE ROYALE. It was banned in the United states and, as such, he'd had to order it through some special importer via the old Interweb (though now I think they've finally loosened that up - in fact, you can Netflix it). The plot's simple enough - it's a dystopian future in Japan. The grown-ups who run the country, becoming frightened of the unruly children and young teens forming gangs and making trouble, as is par for the course during troubled times, have come up with an annual tradition to keep the kids in line and remind them who's boss - they take one randomly-selected class of 9th graders and unleash them in a desert island with weapons that vary from a paper fan to an uzi and a single edict - only the last kid standing can leave. The winner becomes a media star and the flick opens with a blood-stained little girl smiling at the bevy of reporters descending on her. This sound familiar, HUNGER GAMES fans? And just to establish who came first, the novel BATTLE ROYALE on which the movie was based, written by Koushun Takami, was first published in 1999.

The movie was and still is one of my favorite of all time. Not just for the commentary it makes about modern culture via the surrounding media hoopla that revolves around the survivor. Not for the statements it makes about friendships (a group of girl best friends who, quickly moved to suspicion, slaughter each other faster than you can say "frenemy") and relationships (one couple kills themselves almost immediately; the protagonist, on the other hand, is motivated by his quest for the girl he loves though he could never tell her) or the sick fantasy of where everybody's roles would lay along the spectrum were our schools plunged into a LORD OF THE FLIES situation (the bad girl with the bad family history is tough as nails and inflicts merciless punishment on all who made fun of her; the athlete doesn't stop going for her daily jog, even on the island, always with her training - she's also played by the chick who plays Gogo in KILL BILL; the computer geeks try to figure out a way to get away; the smooth killer who wants to be there and finally the teacher, a washed up has-been and horrible father who takes perverse joy in the deaths of his former pupils).

There are some truly beautiful scenes - Mitsuko sharing a romantic moment of gratitude with Shuya under a leaf bathed by soft raindrops after he saved her - some truly gruesomely amazing scenes - many violent deaths that make HUNGER GAMES look like the children's tale it is - and deep layers attached to this movie that weren't breached by HUNGER GAMES.

A friend of mine brought up the fact that she felt a big ball dropped by Suzanne Collins was her lack of exploration of such elements as "what happens when you truly have to kill somebody you love; what happens when you have to kill your friends." Even in the upcoming second movie, based on the book, friendships aren't tested but instead written into a conclusion that prevents Katniss from having to ever kill anyone she likes. The death scenes are tame in the movie version of HUNGER GAMES and as such moviegoers can somewhat avoid the horror of death in all its cold glory - but BATTLE ROYALE doesn't let you off the hook so easily. Even more, while the lesson in HUNGER GAMES seems to be the on-the-surface one that the government is evil, that rich people in shiny cities will always oppress the lower class unless the lower class rebels (OCCUPY Panem), and that absolute power corrupts absolutely and as such can only be held by enforcing policies that breed absolute fear, the lessons in BATTLE ROYALE are a bit wider and you gotta do some deeper thinking to see them

There's the lesson about how adults can make children into twisted things. About how trust is truly a rare present to be savored and rarely to be bestowed on anybody. How some people will simply hate us no matter what. About the fact that love doesn't make the rest of the world go away and love doesn't necessarily trump self-preservation.

And in BATTLE ROYALE this story of children being forced to kill for their own survival is presented with breathtaking visuals, uncensored harshness, and a lyrical rhythm which tie this melee together into a masterpiece filled with deep beauty and ugliness and tragedy and horror and love and meaning in equally indulgent portions as only Japanese cinema seems to be able to accomplish. I had been worried that they were going to remake this into some overly-lurid or overly-campy or simply "overly" American remake. But thank god they haven't done that. At least not yet. No, what they've done is remastered it in 3-D. And they're releasing the 3-D version in American theaters starting May 25th (thanks for the heads-up, Kyle), having already done a limited run of screenings in the new Blu-Ray version. Keep checking in for more 3-D showings as Anchor Bay capitalizes on the HUNGER GAMES' popularity to showcase the better and first story. And while you're at it, pick up a copy on Blu-Ray. HUNGER GAMES may be entertaining but, as the classification claims, it's for YOUNG ADULTS. Time to graduate to something actually written for, you know, adults.

- Ryan