Netflix Movie Monday

For this week's pick, I'm adding a little bit of international flavor.  I've heard about Battle Royale for a couple of years but never really got around to watching it.  I'm surprised it took me so long to get around to it because Quentin Tarantino lists it as his favorite movie of all-time.  He even said, "If there’s any movie that’s been made since I’ve been making movies that I wish I had made, it’s that one."

 

 Last year, I read The Hunger Games and really enjoyed it.  It was written really well, the author did a great job of making you feel connected to the characters and it really made you use your imagination  I watched the movie a month or two ago but wasn't impressed.  Everything was rushed, character development was terrible and they left out so many smaller aspects about the story.
But that's how movies made from books usually go for me.  I was a huge Harry Potter dork and to this day, it's far and away my favorite book series.  However, I never cared for the movies and only saw the first couple.  Stephen King movies were pretty terrible and don't even get me started on the Dean Koontz movies.  However, the Lord of the Rings series were great books and movies.  People always say you should read the book before the movie, but I feel the opposite is true. If you read the book first, you spend the whole movie gripping about everything they got wrong.  If you watch the movie first, you are potentially impressed with what you see and then reading the book takes it to an entirely different level.

But anyway, yeah, Battle Royale is the movie of the week.  I used to believe this was a manly version of the Hunger Games but since the Hunger Games is a total rip-off, I would call the Hunger Games a sissy version of Battle Royale.

I don't want to give any spoilers, but there are so many similarities between the two movies.  In Battle Royale, people revolt against the government, so the government decides to put them in their place. It becomes an official military project used to scare people from revolting ever again. A class is selected to compete in the Battle Royale.  A to-the-death competition on an island where they are given three days to find a victor.  If the fighting isn't over after three days, everyone dies.  As mentioned, there are so many similarities between the movie, it's insane.  One battle scene in the Hunger Games is almost a carbon copy of a scene in Battle Royale.  And when the movie is over, there is another strong similarity.

Some people may be put off by the subtitles, but with this type of movies, it's not an issue at all. It easily captures your attention and after watching this movie, you'll never want to see the Hunger Games again. And even better, the full movie is also on YouTube. Sayonara.