THE DANMAN CAN

Overwrought.

Many people hold Battle Royale  (2000) in very high regard. While I think the film is a lot of fun, it is far from exceptional. Each time I watch it, it means a little less to me. When I saw it in 2000 or 2001, from a bootleg DVD c opy, I thought it was the coolest shit in the world. These days, it's a film I still enjoy, but it hasn't aged as well as many films. Honestly I think it's the same type of popular entertainment that The Hunger Games   probably is (haven't seen it yet), with more gore. But I won't form a true opinion on that, not having seen THG —that film could be terrible and pandering.

My previous post explains how I feel. After a rewatch I actually gave this a 1/2 * less. It's a great film and I'd be very interested to see what the same cast/crew could do with the other 2 films, but this is second tier Fincher for me.

 

Whew. Lots of people consider this the "greatest film ever made". I can't figure out why exactly. I thought it was just "OK". I'm not going to write it off completely, but I have little desire to rewatch it. Smiles Of A Summer Night was made long after this film and reminds me of it, but I enjoyed Smiles much more. Maybe it's one of those films like  Taxi Driver   (my review  here ) , which took me 4 - 5 viewings before I considered it a masterpiece.  Who knows...?

3 reasons to see this film:

One of the coolest movie promo items that I've ever seen, a paper weight that is supposed to be filled with coke, given to me by a former co-worker (thanks Andy!)