Battle Royale (2000) – Soundtrack review
So the time has come to talk about another of my beloved CD soundtracks: BATTLE ROYALE!
I’m saying it like Kitano says it at the beginning of the film when he’s standing next to the chalk board – anyone know what I mean? I do hope so.
BATTLE ROYALE!
So anyway I bought this album last year, it’s not a soundtrack I particularly wanted to listen to that much but I thought it was a cool addition to my collection and the film is one of my favourites and the price was fairly good so it all made sense.
It’s a scored soundtrack (my favourite type), but one of the most recognisable tracks was written about 150 years ago by Giuseppe Verdi. The piece is called Dies irae, from Requiem and Tarantino fans may also recognise it recently, from Django Unchained.
The whole album has a very classical feel, as well as sounding very exciting and quite emotional at times. Most of the other tracks were scored by Masamichi Amano – a Japanese composer and the entire album was performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. All together now – “ooooooh!” (said like an audience watching The Generation Game).
Happily, upon listening to the Battle Royale soundtrack I did find it much more fun than I anticipated. Individual tracks were written specifically for their individual scenes (duhhhh) and it was fun replaying the movie in my head whilst listening – I mean if you know the film well, you can pretty much follow the whole story just by listening to the music. In all honesty I probably won’t ever listen to it LOADS on a recreational basis but still, it’s a CD that I’m very pleased to own as it contains many atmospheric and passionate pieces of music. And it’s a cool fucking film!
emmakwall (explains it all) 
Im kinda jealous that you own this Emmy. I would love to hear this It is cool to read that it was done by a full orchestra instead of just reusing tracks
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Yeah that is pretty darn cool isn’t it! I usually learn something new about each soundtrack I review 🙂
Ah Verny!!! You just tell me when your birthday is and I’ll have a Battle Royale surprise for you!
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I have no clue about this but now I’m getting a feeling that I’m missing out on something EPIC… so it goes off to my “check these out” list… Thanks Emma, I’m learning so much through your blog and in your company (you get my drift… right!?)
Thanks dear!
Have a wonderful day! 😀
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You are so sweet Heena thank you! And I’m sure I learn far more from you and your marvellous blog 🙂
This is definitely a film worth watching!!!!!
❤ 🙂 🙂 take care missy!!!
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Awww… you are the sweetest ❤
I'll definitely watch it 🙂
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Yay!! You’re the sweetest ❤ ❤ ❤
🙂
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Awwww…. *blushing*!!! 😀
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The movie is fantastic, I’ll have to give this a go sometimes.
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Thanks so much Geoff! I hope you enjoy it if you do. Have you read the graphic novel? Only wondered because I know you like that kind of thing (I think!)
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No, and I want to. I have been looking for the Battle Royale Ultimate Editions but they have been out of print for a long time now and they go for a small fortune on ebay. Hopefully one day I luck out, but who knows if that will ever happen.
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Keep the faith!! You never know when things will go up or down in value. I like scouring charity shops for things like that too! It’s fun making it a mission to find something 🙂
If ever I see one I’ll be sure to let you know!!!!
I remember a few years ago I almost bought the Let the Right One In soundtrack but it was about £25 so I downloaded it on Spotify and didn’t bother with the CD………….it’s now pretty much impossible to buy on CD…unless you have hundreds of pounds spare!
But it’s fun thinking I might find it one day 🙂
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Well I’ll keep my eyes open for that soundtrack for you too! 🙂 I also scour various used item stores as well. You never know what you’ll find.
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Thanks Geoff! 🙂 🙂
It’s kind of fun isn’t it! I’ve found loads of soundtracks in charity shops, nothing worth money but still pretty exciting sometimes! I found both Kill Bill soundtracks for 50p each once!
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This is awesome. How much did you pay for it. It’s cool to listen to a soundtrack and just see the movie reply in your head. Great post
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Thanks Verny! (Jason)
It wasn’t too expensive, about £13 I think so a little over a normal CD but nothing crazy! I think it’s still around the same price, I would recommend it actually and since writing that post I’ve learned to appreciate the OST even more!! 🙂
Thanks again you star 🙂
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I’m gonna have to give this one a listen, one of my favourite movies!!
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Yay!!! 🙂 hope you enjoy!
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