BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL [DVD]

From producer Ryuhei Kitamura (writer/director of "Versus," "Azumi") comes a new over-the-top comic book based action comedy, starring Tak Sakaguchi of "Versus" fame. It's an "apocalyptic sports" movie that gives an uproarious new spin to the genre formerly typified by "Rollerball"'s serious approach. Imagine a movie that's a zany combination of laugh-out-loud elements from "Shaolin Soccer" and blood and violence from "Battle Royale," and you get the picture.

The story begins with a new student - a punk who's been expelled multiple times from other schools for his erratic and violent behaviour - who is talked into joining the local Seido baseball team by the school's principal for the upcoming tournament. The team's first opponent in the season happens to be the feared Gedo High team whose players are known for their brutality and their match-to-the-death approach that leaves nobody playing against them left alive when the game is over. However, the unthinkable happens on the day of the match. Seido's new "fighter" finds himself locked up in a jail cell, and with no guarantee that he will show up in time, the Seido team must face Gedo, the deadly team from Hell!!