STARRING:
SYNOPSIS:
Thinking they
are about to enjoy a field trip, a class of 9th graders calmly boards a bus that brings them face-to-face with the worst instincts
of mankind. Director Kinji Fukasaku decided, at the age of 70, to make a film warning young people not to trust adults. The
message may be obvious, but its delivery is chilling. Its a nightmare teenage version of Survivor, a deadly game with no talk
show appearances awaiting the victor. And your host for the carnage is the stone-faced Takeshi Kitano, a past teacher of the
students.
Kitano explains the rules. Each student is given a backpack with minimal supplies
and one weapon (some of which appear completely useless). They are given a limited time to kill each other off; failure to
do so will result in their own termination, via bomb-enabled collars affixed to their necks. The disbelieving teens are shocked
into action when Kitano demonstrates the deadly force of the neck collars, and the murdering quickly begins. Some students
band together, some try to figure out how to avoid killing anyone, and some give in eagerly to their basest instincts in order
to exact revenge. The question changes from Who will survive? to Who wants to, when the price is so high?
|