I was watching this the other day on TV (haven't seen it in ages) still an entertaining film, but there was something that bugged me about the whole BR program in the first place: Rather than just have random schools and classes picked to play the BR game, i felt it would have been much better if the people forced were kids with a track history of being ASBO/nuisances/hoodlums/punks.
It's kind of silly that generally nice, kind, polite and happy kids that aren't screwed in the head who care about getting an education and want to do something with their lives are chosen to play the game. To put it simply- anyone with a record of some sort, whether criminal or not, should have automatically had their name put into a database for the game, not just random schools and classes with nice kids that have done nothing wrong.
I know the game's purpose is the Government's desperate and radical way of cutting down on the troublemakers of the country thus weening the future so only "worthy" people inhabit it, but come on- some generally nice kids were killed off for no apparant reason except the fact that the school was chosen in a "random lottery" way. I think whoever made up that law should have thought about it more.
All i understand is the description at the start of the movie, where it explains that society has collapsed and kids were rebelling agianst the adults to make it a more dangerous place to live, and BR was a legitamte way of how adults fought back. Sure, but not all the kids were being idiots- hence not all the kids should have been forced to play the game, just the troublemakers as punishment. And then it would have been the survivor from that roster who would have learnt the lesson and then has the decision to turn their life around for the better. If they didn't, then they would have probably died in the game.
I just can't seem to understand how killing off the good kids too would help in the detoxification of the country. Surely it's adding to the problems and now you have a country that will be full of the screwed-up/punk kids that have won BR too? For example, the winner of the game shown at the start, how can she ever move on from her nightmarish experiences of the game and how is her mental instability supposed to help in society? Constant mental breakdowns would plague her and ruin her life, probably leading to suicide at some point, the same affect with anyone whho survived the ordeal. She's as good as useless in society now and can probably never make do in the real world wheras she would have if she had never been invloved- so agian BR is making things even more worse to the individuals involved.
Gather the fact that (from what i gather) this game happens every year (or even more often) and it's really not doing anything positive to soceity, ultimatly creating a situation where the kids unite and rebel in the sequel through acts of extreme terrorism trying to prove a point. And if the kids didn't fight back, the adults of the children involved would have.
I know it's a work of fiction but still these questions plagued me throught and detracted from my overall enjoyment. I would have liked it more if they were all thugs playing the game, and then we find out that they aren't really all that bad after all, just misunderstood, being the way the are becuase life/upbringing/other personal issues have made them who they are, and they learn about themselves and know they have failed and see their flaws and decide to do something about it, turn a new leaf etc. I think we would have felt sorry for them more once we got to find out about the characters much more this way, as we do with the messed up charaters in the movie who seem evil but really aren't (like the girl who was abused as a kid). I believe no-one is really bad in this world just misunderstood/lost, so in that sense as an audience we would have found out that we got them all wrong, just like all the adults did when they passed the law in the first place.
Considering the world is in a shithole right now and Governments in every country are doing everything they can to stop kids shooting/stabbing/murdering etc people (and failing to do something about it) i can totally see something like a BR program (to an extent) happening as a realistic form of punishment, it's certainly a lot more believable than bringing back capital punishment. Okay so the movie is entirly a work of OTT fiction, i'm not suggesting they do it how it is in the movie with neck-bombs and weapons like a Running Man type game, but sending off kids to a contained island to learn to work together and a chance to change themselves as a form of punishment is very believable, and a lot less harsh than any form of normal prison which would screw them up even more.
In that sense ony the people worth punishing should have gone. They should also have been given sentences through court hearings and verdicts and the public given a choice whether to send them there or not. At least it makes it more believable than a "random lottery".
I just like my films to have a certian foundation for their arguments, sure they do a simple enough job explaning why BR exists but too many questions are left unanswered becuase of this which gets in the way of me enjoying the movie as it should. Sorry, i just ask a lot of questions as to why thats all.
Good film nonetheless, a hell of a lot better than the sequel. However i'm not looking forward to the American remake (damn you!) but i hope it answers my dilemma properly.
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