Tarantino’s Absolute Favorite Film of 17 Years Is a Bloody Japanese Gem with 90% Tomatometer

In 2009, at the request of SkyMovies, Quentin Tarantino named his 20 favorite films released between 1992 and 2009. 1992 was chosen as the starting point because that was the year Tarantino himself became a film director. Quentin cited a Japanese action movie that he felt was blatantly ripped off by The Hunger Games as his favorite project of the past 17 years:

“I’m a big fan of the Japanese movie Battle Royale, which is what Hunger Games was based on. Well, Hunger Games just ripped it off. That would have been awesome to have directed Battle Royale.”

Long before The Hunger Games, director Kinji Fukasaku captured the frenzy of teenagers stranded on an island to survive. Battle Royale is a Japanese film that has become a cult classic over the course of two decades, spawning a wave of works about deadly games.

What is Battle Royale About?

In the future, an economic crisis has left 15% of the Japanese population unemployed. Students boycotted schools and riots broke out. In order to stabilize the situation, the government launches a radical Battle Royale project, in which it is impossible to refuse to participate.

Under the pretext of a field trip, 42 students are taken to an island in the middle of the ocean and informed that Battle Royale is about to begin. It's a survival game in which only one teenager wins. If a champion is not identified within 72 hours, the collar everyone is wearing will explode.

All the rules are announced by the teenagers' former teacher Kitano. Every six hours, he announces new casualties and the number of players remaining in the game. You can ask questions, but you cannot run away.

Battle Royale Started the Trend for Deadly Game Movies

Kinji Fukasaku's movie is based on the novel of the same name by Koushun Takami. The Japanese director made more than 60 movies during his career; when Battle Royale was released, he was 70 years old. But it was not until the turn of the century that Fukasaku achieved international fame.

And despite the director's age, he produced an original movie at the intersection of science fiction, horror, thriller, action and adventure. There is almost no time wasted on empty talk, and for the sake of victory, knives, machine guns, crossbows and even poison are used.

Here are all the hallmarks of films about deadly games: an island closed off from the outside world, the counting of corpses in real time, and drama mixed with violence.

In any case, this is a unique opportunity to watch a kind two-hour reality show, and to be emotionally shocked by the sadistic scope of the film.

Sources: SkyMovies (via YouTube), Jimmy Kimmel Live