Battle Royale Coming to North American Blu-ray This March

I see your Hunger Games, and I raise you 42 crazed Japanese teenagers fighting for survival.

This is probably the slowest news day in the history of ever, so in order to keep the flow going here on the site, I'm going to just go ahead and report on a thing I tweeted about yesterday, because dammit, I'm excited.

Battle Royale, otherwise known as the first movie featuring dystopic future teens brutally killing one another for our amusement, is finally getting a release date in North America. Specifically, a new Blu-ray special edition of the movie is coming on March 20 courtesy of distributor Anchor Bay, and to put it in no uncertain terms, it sounds awesome.

Those looking to pick up the movie can either just get a stand-alone copy of the first film, or pick up a four-disc collector's set that features the original theatrical film, the director's cut (which is easily the best version), the sequel, Battle Royale II, and a whole disc filled with bonus features, which include:

• The Making Of Battle Royale• Battle Royale Press Conference• Instructional Video: Birthday Version• Audition & Rehearsal Footage• Special Effects Comparison Featurette• Tokyo International Film Festival 2000• Battle Royale Documentary• Basketball Scene Rehearsals• Behind-The-Scenes Featurette• Filming On-Set• Original Theatrical Trailer• Special Edition TV Spot• TV Spot: Tarantino Version

This is awesome for a variety of reasons. One, again, Battle Royale has never seen any kind of official release in North America. Theatrical releases were once toyed with, but the film's initial release had the misfortune of coinciding with the Columbine shootings, thus making the whole notion of releasing a movie about teenagers shooting each other a tad unpalatable. Years later, noted J-horror plunderer Roy Lee had planned to produce a remake of the movie, but then the Virginia Tech shootings happened and the whole thing fell apart yet again.

Secondly, that collection is insanely good. Some of it was available on the region free Hong Kong edition of the DVD release, but a good chunk of it hasn't been seen before, I'm pretty sure. And whatever you may think of the horrendously inferior sequel (nobody I've ever talked to who has seen it has liked it), it's worth watching at least once if for no other reason than to see how a generally cool concept for a movie can go so unbelievably, painfully wrong. Also, to see Japan's answer to Michael Madsen on copious amounts of angel dust. AKA, this dude:

The timing of this is interesting, given the recent upsurge in interest regarding The Hunger Games, AKA that other story about teenagers killing each other that every young adult lit fan on the planet has suddenly made into the most important thing in their lives. Granted, Kinji Fukasaku's film is a good deal more violent and absurd than anything in The Hunger Games. Yes, even Elizabeth Banks' JRPG-meets-Victorian-era-zombie announcer lady. The announcer from Battle Royale does laps around Elizabeth Banks' weirdness, and does so with an unnerving smile and a giant axe.

If you've never seen Battle Royale, its dedication to twee-teenage-crushing, geyser-like blood spurting, and Beat Takeshi creepily munching on cookies might strike people as a bit...off-putting. But seriously, give it a chance. It's easily one of the most ludicrously awesome movies to ever come out of Japan. And for those who are already fans, now you can get rid of those old region free DVDs with the barely functional subtitles you bought off eBay. Your day has finally come!