Battle Royale: Collection

 

 

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PRO: This edition has an English language dub on the Director's Cut of the film only (it's a pretty typically bad English dub done using voice actors that don't do the film justice, but it's there for the people that want to see the film but don't want to read the subtitles).

CON: Several; the BIGGEST and STUPIDEST is the fact that Anchor Bay forgot to add a, 'Signs Only' English subtitle option, as this film has a lot of onscreen text (i.e. the opening scrawl and an ongoing update of who's died in the game as it progresses, etc.) so what you have to do is keep the English subtitles on while you listen to the English track, but the problem with this (and the one thing that Anchor Bay got right, though without the 'Signs Only' subtitle option, this can be a tad annoying) is that the English dub track and the English subtitles differ which can be a tad disconcerting when watching them together (like you have to if you're watching with the English language dub and also want to get the subtitles for the Japanese text that appears throughout the film).

PRO: The picture quality is the best I've seen this movie look, even better than the European Arrow special edition Blu-ray (which is kind of odd, as the subtitles seem to be a direct port from the Arrow edition in content and timing, but the Anchor Bay picture quality is better, nowhere is this more prevalent then in the cave sequence near the beginning of the film; in the Arrow version there's a milky haze to the darkness as the two lead characters make their way into it, where as in the Anchor Bay version, the milky haze is gone).

CON: This edition claims to be the 'Complete Edition' but is missing the superior director's cut of the second film called, Battle Royale 2: Revenge (I'm not counting the resent 3D version of the first film because it doesn't add any new content, where as the second film has 20 minutes added to it's running time in the Director's cut).

CON: This set comes housed in one of those 'Book' type packages, where the discs are slid into the ends of hard cardboard pages, and upon trying to extract the discs from their housing, fingerprints where unavoidable as were scratches on the fourth disc (which is a DVD which doesn't have the extra durability coating that the Blu-ray's have) so once the discs are out, you may want to do as I did and put them in CD cases. The dumb thing is that the set's packaging resembles a book, but for what reason I don't know as there is no book used in the film to tie this in with (a cookie tin wrapped in cellophane would have made more sense if you know the film, or even a backpack).

CON: 'THE GLITCH'. Yes, every gosh darn version of the first film (be it Theatrical or Director's cut) has this stupid 'GLITCH' near the beginning of the movie (during the first class pandemonium scene where everyone is running around the classroom, there's this pause like 'GLITCH', you'll know it when you see it) which I had hoped would be fixed in this version (as it really is nothing more than a 'GLITCH' and shouldn't be in the film). I have several different Asian versions of this film on DVD and every single one has this stupid 'GLITCH' left in (kind of resembles a really bad DVD layer change).

So there you have it, hope this helps (oh, and the 4 star rating out of 5 is because of the screw up with the subtitles where the English language dub track is concerned, as well as the bad dub itself which could have been done a lot better).

So if you're coming to look at this, you probably have some idea what it is... Battle Royale, the movie based on the 1999 novel about a class of teenagers selected to take part in the BR Program, put on an island, and forced to kill each other until only one person remains. Deemed "too controversial" for North American audiences until another movie and book series with a similar premise became popular (The Hunger Games), clearly the sales strategy here was to capitalize off that hype (and fair enough, Battle Royale came first, so why shouldn't it steal some of that thunder).

In this collection you get the directors cut and theatrical cut of Battle Royale (the directors cut expands a little on a few characters and scenes but not much, the only thing I felt the theatrical cut could have used was the Mitsuko flashback but the rest is somewhat unnecessary). You also get Battle Royale II, which was not quite as good as the original but the concept is pretty interesting (everyone is paired up with their collars linked unlike the original where it was every person for themselves), and a fourth disc full of extras. If you're a massive Battle Royale fan, this is the collection you want. If you're just a casual fan, or someone recommended the movie to you and you've never seen it before, I'd suggest saving your money and getting just the first movie. If you become a super-fan and want this collection after watching Battle Royale, you can always gift the movie to someone else.

The video and audio is great, the subtitles are excellent (though I do remember seeing a mistake or two, something I'd expect from a $10 eBay bootleg but not on a professionally done disc like this), I'm told the dubbing is brutal (but I wouldn't ever listen to it), my only real gripe is with the packaging. It's cool that it's a book and all, but how many times will I be able to slide the discs in and out of the sleeves without them getting scratched? I'm not sure why people think this type of packaging is a good idea (or maybe companies know it's not and just want you to have to re-buy it when you finish ruining the discs) but I would have preferred something a little more traditional.

All in all, if you're a hardcore Battle Royale fan, buy this for sure. GAME OVER.

Excellent picture and sound quality. The dub isn't terrible but I would always suggest you watch foreign films with the original audio track with subtitles. Subtitles were excellent and clear. The movies themselves are excellent as well. Must buy for fans of Battle Royale.

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