Battle Royale

Battle Royale is considered to be the original Hunger Games in more ways than one. It first debuted in Japan in 2000 and then made its way west with dubbed and subbed versions. Considered controversial to some, Battle Royal is graphic, bloody, and, in my personal opinion, a hell of a lot of fun.

The film focuses on a class of ninth grade students who are thrown into a massive battle to the death set up by the Japanese government. The students are released on a remote island and are given unique weapons and tools that they use either to defend or attack. The story highlights different students throughout and their interactions and hardships, ranging from adolescent love to
petty rivalries and they often end in murder. There is a good mix of action and the story progresses smoothly as more and more students are picked off. Although the ending is a little bizarre, so is the entire premise of the movie so in a way, it fits pretty nicely. Some characters are definitely more developed than others which kind of gives away who's going to make it to the end but there are enough twists and turns to still keep it unpredictable along the way.

I would definitely recommend the subbed version over the dubbed in this case. While some people may find reading while watching distracting, I can say through first-hand experience that the unsynchronized dialogue and subpar voice acting in the dubbed version is even more distracting in the long run. I would recommend this to people who would be interested in seeing a less kid friendly version of The Hunger Games and to anyone who enjoys action packed and violent movies in general. Overall, Battle Royale was a inventive idea that inspired The Hunger Games series in many ways, though the author won't openly admit it to the public.