Pmust-3

Battle Royale is based on the shockwave novel by Koushun Takami, which is a bestseller in Japan, and which has become very controversial in a very short time (and it is really easy to understand why). The plot is relatively simple (a class of junior high school students are forced to kill each other on a desert island, the last survivor wins and can go back home), but it is this simplicity that makes its strength. No need for a very long prologue before we enter the main act. Each of the 42 pupils involved in this "game" are not volunteers (no one would be..,), and of course they are forced to kill their best friends /girlfriends in order to survive this horror. The personalities and characteristics of each of the participants are of course very contrasted and even if there are some cliches, well, the worst has been avoided. There are even quite "realistic" (even if it is very difficult to judge what can be realistic with such a plot) moments. The transcription of the inner thoughts of the characters, which is one of the strengths of the book, is averagely well retranscripted. Takeshi Kitano plays a "teacher" (whose name is ...Kitano), leading the operation of surveilliance of this "game". It is very difficult to give an objective comment on this movie. Violent. Ultra-Violent. And bloody. This is for sure. The book has to be read for a more complete description of the hesitations and fears, but the movie restranscripts very well the book is the sense that it is all "absurd". There is no real meaning to this violence. The students know this, but it can not be avoided. It is quite sad that the movie dropped an essential background element of the book (the story in the book takes place in an imaginery Japan which would have not lost WWII, and the movie takes place in a slightly modified modern Japan), but I guess that making this happen in the "real-world" shows that there is no need to go to an imaginary world to see to what extreme behaviors humans are capable of.

Highly disturbing. Rated R-15 (forbidden to under 15), very, very violent, but nonetheless interesting.

I expected a lot, probably too much, from Ring 0. I was eager to follow Sadako as she was still alive, and I wanted to recover from the semi-deception of Ring 2.

There are good moments in Ring 0 (the finale is pretty spooky), but on the whole it lacks the weirdness and atmosphere of Ring. The story is also quite deceiving, introducing a "second" Sadako was not necessary a good idea...

The overall concept of the movie is also a step beyond Ring. After watching Ring, I gave suspicious looks at my videodeck from time to time, whereas Ring 0 is "just" an entertaining horror movie that you forget as soon as you leave the theater.

It is far from being a bad movie, it simply does not reach the intensity of the original.

Ring has become a major horror blockbuster series (with TV dramas), so there is no doubt there will be a Ring 3 or a Ring -1....

After Ring, I was expecting a lot for this sequel.

The story this time focuses on the emerging "powers" of Yuuichi (the son of Asakawa), and tries to give an explanation for the cursed video. All the (surviving or not) characters from Ring are here, the directing is still excellent, but the simplicity of the plot and the slow progress to a climax that made the charm of the first episode are not as brilliantly mastered. Nevertheless, it is still an excellent horror movie, rather based on ambiance than on gore. The music is still chilly and creepy.... Each appearance of Sadako on the screen will make you jump from your seat !

A last warning: watching this movie without seeing Ring is a nonsense.