by postexitus on 1/10/25, 4:31 PM
There is a much stronger connection between Battle Royale and Hunger Games, than Squid Game. Very similar government depiction, the announcement of deaths etc. Moreover, we should appreciate Battle Royale even more - because it was done waaay before any prior art existed.
by keiferski on 1/10/25, 8:29 AM
It’s a little odd to me how much media attention these shows are getting, yet how little
debt, more specifically usurious interest rates that lead to inescapable debt, as a general factor of modern life is discussed.
I suppose most of the contestants in the shows are in debt because of gambling or overtly irresponsible decisions, but it would be more interesting IMO if the contestants were in debt from student loans, credit cards with 25% interest rates, medical debt, and so on. But I guess a show making that particular social critique isn’t going to get funded by a major studio or tech company.
by forgotoldacc on 1/10/25, 7:12 AM
And before Battle Royale, there was Kaiji.
It's identical. People with debt invited to a game and a chance at loads of cash. People die in the game and some get enslaved. Rich people sit in another room and laugh while they watch people suffer. There's even a game where the "contestants" walk high up and fall to their deaths.
Then the main character gets called back into the game and you get a season 2.
by wodenokoto on 1/10/25, 8:50 AM
While the comment section seems hell bent on pointing out other deadly game themed shows and movies, let's just take a moment to appreaciate how great a movie this is.
The setup is absolutely bonkers: Something, something, things are going bad in the future so we have children battle each other - even a seemingly well functioning class.
But to hell with that. It is quickly forgotten, once the game starts. Why the kids starts killing each other is much better shown in Battle Royale than why contestants in squid game accept the game.
by b8 on 1/10/25, 4:47 PM
Yep, and Battle Royale inspired the Hunger Games. Arma 3 created a Battle Royale mod that Lystic (Keegan Hollern) wrote most of the scripting for which won the Make Arma not War contest. Playerunknown then made PUBG which lead to Fortnite etc. being created. Playerunknown scammed Lystic out of like $5k and blocked him on X after they won. Lystic works at Tesla now and makes tons of money anyway.
by riedel on 1/10/25, 7:25 AM
Regarding gameshows in which you have to pay with your life there was a mockumentary called 'Das Millionenspiel' [0] from 1970 . People where rather shocked at the time.
[0] https://m.imdb.com/de/title/tt0066079/
by gdubs on 1/11/25, 1:32 AM
I saw the world premiere in Edinburgh, Scotland when I was 18. Audience really had no idea what we were getting into. I had met a girl at a summer art program in France and she invited me to the festival so I got a eurorail pass and headed up there.
The premiere was so cool. They served Red Bull and vodka with these little commemorative battle royal cans. Some people got plastic umbrellas like the one in the movie.
At the time I feel like it was the most mind-blowing movie experience I'd ever had. Nobody was expecting what was coming, and there's something extra special about experiencing that together with a theatre full of people.
by NooneAtAll3 on 1/10/25, 7:29 AM
no
before Squid Game there was Liars' Game
and that one teaches muuuch better lesson - that players can cooperate so that nobody loses, no matter how much organizers want to make players clash with each other
by Nursie on 1/10/25, 7:40 AM
And very shortly before the first season of Squid Game there was Alice In Borderland, which I enjoyed more.
A quick search shows me S3 is happening this year which makes my mind boggle because I though S2 wrapped that whole thing up nicely and completely.
by openasocket on 1/10/25, 10:05 PM
It’s been years since I’ve read the book or seen the movie, but I had the exact opposite impression of the book vs the movie. The book is very deep, I found it compared rather well to dystopian novels like 1984. The movie, by contrast, felt like a weird slasher film, more interested in gratuitous violence than telling a compelling story. The characters in the book felt more nuanced. For example, the main female antagonist (I can’t remember her name) was a victim of abuse, and her trauma motivates her drive to live and her lack of hesitation to manipulating others to survive. Maybe someone else who has read the book here has a different take away?
by ekianjo on 1/10/25, 3:33 PM
There's not much relation to it. In Squid Game people play games and happen to kill each other in some of them, but not all the time, in order to make money because they are deep in debt. In Battle Royale, they just kill each other's, there is no real motive.
by rglover on 1/10/25, 8:41 PM
BR is a masterpiece. First pulled a rip of Battle Royale 1 + 2 off of Limewire back in high school. It became the underground "crazy" movie we'd burn to cds and pass around to friends.
by hunglee2 on 1/10/25, 7:21 AM
Wonderful movie adaptation. Remains so watchable, 3 decades afterward.
by Avshalom on 1/10/25, 3:24 PM
"I tried to express a sentiment specific to Korean culture, [but] all the responses from different audiences were pretty much the same. Essentially, we all live in the same country, called Capitalism"
-Bong Joon-Ho
by benreesman on 1/10/25, 7:12 AM
by traspler on 1/10/25, 4:06 PM
There is also the manga "As the Gods Will" which is not only a similar concept but has the exact same first game. Strange that this is never mentioned as an influence.
by Tepix on 1/10/25, 8:17 AM
Running man (1987) was an important film in this genre
by charlieyu1 on 1/11/25, 2:20 PM
BR was fun. BR2 not so much, very cringe when the director tried to include message about Afghan war
by rado on 1/10/25, 7:20 AM
Check out Robert Altman’s Quintet (1979)
by jas39 on 1/10/25, 5:55 PM
Great movie. I noticed the character Gogo Yubari in Kill Bill was actually stolen from Battle Royale.
by m3kw9 on 1/10/25, 7:27 PM
I like squid game better, the everyone for themselves is a bit chaotic
by retinaros on 1/10/25, 11:32 PM
battle royale is a masterpiece of filmmaking, acting, cinematography, entertainment and the last movie of a master of its craft. squid game is a fun tv show.
by valorzard on 1/10/25, 7:16 AM
There’s also danganronpa, which I am always seeing fanart of
by nimish on 1/10/25, 5:19 PM
Battle Royale is required viewing IMO
by jrm4 on 1/11/25, 5:16 PM
Not quite the same by, but I believe a criminally underrated film sort of in this space is "Surviving the Game."
On it's surface, an absolutely wacky survival action film; but also subtly excellent commentary on class, race, crime and capitalism.
by alsetmusic on 1/10/25, 4:54 PM
Squid Game s1 and Parasite took the world by storm in the same year. I thought we were seeing commentary on the horrors of capitalism and people were on the verge of demanding change. But no, it was mindless entertainment. People remain angry about their lot under capitalism, but they are successfully rerouted to place their rage with other targets that don’t meaningfully affect them.
Good job, elites. You’ve secured your place at the top yet again.
by PaulHoule on 1/10/25, 3:41 PM