One of my favorite movies of all time is the Japanese film Battle Royale.

An absolutely brilliant satire which is equal parts reality TV show and forced Lord of the Flies, Battle Royale is the tail of a Japanese high school class who is forced into a televised competition where 42 students are placed on an island, and only one may live.

While this may also sound quite a bit like The Hunger Games, Battle Royale did it first, releasing in theaters way back in the year 2000.  I’ve owned the movie in a number of formats since (VCD, Theatrical DVD, Directors Cut DVD), but Lionsgate is bringing it to the US this March, marking probably the first instance of me owning it legally!

The DVD and Blu-Ray release will be on March 20th, 2012 and will come in two flavors.

The standard edition, cover above, includes Battle Royale: Director’s Cut with Japanese Dolby TrueHD 7.1, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and English subtitles.

For the super nerds (i.e. me, who already has it pre-ordered on Amazon), there is Battle Royale: The Complete Collection!

This four disc set includes the following:

• Battle Royale Director’s Cut with Japanese Dolby TrueHD 7.1, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and English subtitles.
• Battle Royale Theatrical Cut with Japanese and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and English subtitles.
• Battle Royale II with Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and English subtitles.
• Battle Royale Bonus Disc (DVD), containing the following: -The Making Of Battle Royale -Battle Royale Press Conference -Instructional Video: Birthday Version -Audition & Rehearsal Footage -Special Effects Comparison Featurette -Tokyo International Film Festival 2000 -Battle Royale Documentary -Basketball Scene Rehearsals -Behind-The-Scenes Featurette -Filming On-Set -Original Theatrical Trailer -Special Edition TV Spot -TV Spot: Tarantino Version