CGI blood spatter and digital effects make "Battle Royale 3D" a 3D trainwreck

by Chris MaGee

Here's another story in the continuing saga of studios retrofitting classic films with 3D effects so they can squeeze a few more dollars out of their fans. Back in June we reported that Toei studio execs had announced that they would be converting Kinji Fukasaku's final film "Battle Royale" into 3D. To add insult to injury they said that this conversion would include the use of various CGI elements to the original film that would make the teenage bloodshed pop right off the screen. Fun wow!

Now we can finally get a glimpse at the computer-generated improvments (ie: mangling). The official site for Toei's "Battle Royale 3D" now has a full trailer up and streaming. It includes crude-looking CGI blood splatter, bullets spraying and some fancy 360 degree shots of a gleeful Takeshi Kitano wreaking havoc amongst his frightened students. The trailer hasn't migrated over to YouTube (yet), so to get a look at how Fukasaku's film has been fiddled with you have to head to the "Battle Royale 3D" website... and shudder and cringe at what you see.

Thanks to Wildgrounds' Facebook page for the heads up on this.