Zoals je vast niet is ontgaan heb ik bij elke trailer en clip van The Hunger Games het geniale Battle Royale uit 2000 er bij gesleept. Want beide films hebben namelijk een zelfde raak vlak, groepje tieners in een geïsoleerd gebied die elkaar naar het leven moeten staan etc etc. Nu is de website Shocktillyoutdrop.com dit ook niet ontgaan en heeft nu beide films een zeer nader bekeken en deze lijst gemaakt waar overeenkomsten en verschillen aan bod komen.

The Games

The actual "Hunger Games" event is made into an entire spectacle throughout the whole country. It was conceived and functions as a large-scale television even that is required viewing for the whole population of Panem. Every aspect of the game is part of the spectacle, too - the selection of tributes, the interviews prior to the games, the actual games, and the highlight reel/final interview with the victor.

Battle Royale's event is not televised. It is not known by anyone else in the country who was chosen for the challenge or who the victor is until the game is actually over, as seen in the start of the film. It's not even known to the participants that they're in the game until they've arrived at their destination. Many of them don't even seem to know what the Battle Royale act is even when the "rules" of the game are being explained to them.

When the Hunger Games start, the tributes are taken to the area where the games will be held and are placed at starting points all around each other. They are not given any supplies to start with, and, if they so choose, must go get supplies near the starting point, but risk being killed by the other tributes. They can also have supplies sent directly to them by their sponsors at any time during the games.

The children in Battle Royale are all given a survival pack before they're released into the playing field. Each pack contains different supplies that they might need, as well as a "grab bag" weapon which could range from an Uzi sub-machine gun to a crossbow to a frying pan.

Both stories do have a sort of "fail safe" in place in case things aren't going the way those in charge had planned. The Hunger Games can have anything occur in the event that The Capitol thinks things are getting boring for the audience at home. They change the games in the service of having a "more exciting" game for the viewers. The game in Battle Royale changes both because the "game masters" just want it to and because they're trying to encourage the participants to just go ahead and kill their competitors - a tactic used by The Capitol in The Hunger Games, but their primary concern is giving an enjoyable viewing product to the rest of the country.