Battle Royale

At dawn of the new millennium, the country is in a state of collapse. Unemployment stands at 15% with millions out of work. School violence is out of control and rebellious teenagers stage mass boycotts. The beleaguered government retaliates with Battle Royale... Each year a randomly chosen class is pitted against itself on an abandoned island in a cruel game of survival.

A boisterous group of 9th graders embarks on a school trip. A typical group of adolescents, they flirt, tease, bully and joke as the bus rolls along the highway. Nanahara Shuya, his friends Nobu and Noriko share cookies along the way. When they wake from a drug-induced sleep, they find that they have been hijacked to fight this year's Battle Royale.

A former teacher, Kitano (Beat Takeshi), will oversee the battle. Flanked by gun-toting soldiers, Kitano explains that each student has been fitted with a necklace that monitors their location. It can also explode on command. He casually murders Nobu to make the point.