Battle Royale is back on Netflix: some regions get sequels too

The 2000 Japanese film Battle Royale is back on Netflix in some regions, and in a few territories the sequels have turned up as well. Directed by Kinji Fukasaku and adapted from Koushun Takami’s 1999 novel, Battle Royale is set in a dystopian Japan where ninth-grade students are sent to an island and forced to fight to the death. That last-person-standing setup still feels surprisingly current if you’ve spent any time with PUBG or Fortnite.

Netflix Download

Quentin Tarantino has been praising Battle Royale for years. He once said it was the film he most wished he had made, even though he’s more often associated with calling Jaws the greatest movie ever made.

If you mostly know Battle Royale through the games and later YA dystopias it helped inspire, it’s worth going back to the source. The film was a ¥3.11 billion hit, sits at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was banned in several countries because of its graphic content and the age of its characters. And the violence isn’t just there for shock. It’s tied to themes of authoritarianism, social pressure, generational breakdown, and lost innocence.

You can stream Battle Royale on Netflix in some countries. Battle Royale II: Requiem, which Kinji Fukasaku began and his son Kenta Fukasaku completed after Kinji Fukasaku’s death, was never as acclaimed, but it may also be available depending on where you are.

NordVPN Download