Battle Royale 2 [HK Single Disc]: Technical Notes

Video:
The black levels are slightly up and down on this transfer and there are some mild compression artifacts but aside from that and some very slight grain and print damage, this isn't a bad looking transfer. Kinji Fukasaku's trademark shakey cam action looks nice and detailed and the colors are distinct and natural looking in this 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen presentation. Some of the colors are intentionally muted looking in a couple of scenes but for the most part, the oranges and reds of the fires in the background of the battle scenes look nice and rich, black levels stay pretty consistent in tone aside from a couple of scenes where they do move around, and flesh tones look lifelike and natural. There's a decent level of clarity present in the film, and aside from the minor issues noted, Battle Royale II: Requiem doesn't look half bad.

Sound:
Universe Laser has supplied two Surround Sound mixes on this DVD, a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix and a DTS 5.1 Surround Sound mix, both of which are in their native Japanese language. It doesn't matter which of the two mixes you choose, either one sounds just great. Both tracks are very aggressive and really pump up the action scenes. Gunfire zips around your head from all angles during the firefights, and when explosions go off your subwoofer gets hit hard, providing a nice rumble to the lower end of the sound effects. Dialogue is nice and clear and the score, one of the best parts of the film, rises up over top of the chaos and noise with some very nice clarity. Directional effects are plentiful and accurate, and even vocal positioning seems pretty much dead on in this mix.

There are optional subtitles available in traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, and English. I can't testify as to the accuracy of the Chinese subtitles but the English ones are, thankfully, almost completely free of typos (a rarity for a Hong Kong release) and are quite easy to read and follow...