Battle Royale 2000

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Awful deaths (and hysterical reactions to them) punctuate declarations of love and friendship, revelations of treachery and heavily armed expressions of angst. Read more

Maggie Lee, Hollywood Reporter: 3D conversion of a classic teen massacre thriller raises the gore level. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: Stylistically it's a beauty, with khaki-uniformed waifs fighting for their lives to a crashing classical score. Read more

Time Out: A minor sensation in Japan where questions were asked in parliament, this noisy and bombastic adaptation of a recent pulp novel doesn't shape up as satire or death-sport fantasy. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Forgive the film its small flaws of histrionic performances and cheap execution for the giddy rush of its banal, Verhoevenesque atmosphere... Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: Departing from two decades' worth of domestic and personal dramas and returning to his roots as Japan's maestro of mayhem, Kinji Fukasaku has delivered a brutal punch to the collective solar plexus with one of his most outrageous and timely films. Read more

Eric Hynes, Village Voice: It may suit a certain worldview, but Battle Royale's cynicism is still a form fantasy-a balm as well as a bomb. Read more