The battle royale trend erupted in the latter half of the 2010s with the emergence of popular games like Fortnite, PUBG, Apex Legends, and many others. So much so that even the goliath first-person shooter franchise, Call of Duty, adapted to the style's growing demand with the release of Call of Duty: Warzone.
The film industry has also realized the widespread popularity of the last-man-standing deathmatch, as several recent films are centered around such contests. Additionally, there are several films from the 2000s that can be seen as early stepping stones to the genre's current popularity. Here are the five best and five worst battles royale in movies.
Best: The Belko Experiment
Bloody, suspenseful, and drowned in haywire, The Belko Experiment is a pulse-pounding ride that uncovers the inner savagery of everyday people when their lives are put to the test. The 2017 film is set in a corporate office, and everything is calm until a creepy robotic voice comes over the intercom, demanding each person kill three of their co-workers.
If employees refuse to obey, then they risk being killed by microchips implanted in their necks, which were required for employment at Belko. Near-literal hell breaks loose from there.
Worst: Condemned
Condemned is an action film centered around a televised battle royale between convicted felons that takes place on a deserted island. When the game begins, competitors are put in full-body chains and dropped from helicopters into the desolate island's surrounding ocean. This includes WWE legend Steve Austin, who is the protagonist of this blood bath from 2007. Contrary to what fans hoped for, Austin's underwhelming performance showed that he is no Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
Best: Ready or Not
No matter who your in-laws are, they will never be as terrible as Grace's in this 2019 horror flick. Played by the gorgeous Samara Weaving, Grace marries into the Le Domas family at their pristine estate. After the wonderous ceremony shared with her new husband Daniel, the Le Domases gather in the estate to play a game of hide-and-seek.
Grace is unaware of the family's true, nasty intentions, but, after a maid is accidentally killed, she quickly realizes her life is in danger. Ready or Not is a great modern horror filled with spine-tingling suspense.
Worst: Gamer
The 2009 action film starring Gerard Butler is like a gruesome, perverted version of Ready Player One. Death row convicts are inserted into a larger-than-life multiplayer videogame as characters played by everyday people. The twist is that, when the convicts die in the game, they die for real, but, luckily for Butler's character Kable, he is "owned" by the greatest player in the world.
The Gamer can certainly dazzle you with explosive action sequences and stunts, but, as a whole, the movie does not amount to much. Not even Dexter lead man Michael C. Hall can save this movie from falling as flat as its core villain.
Best: The Hunt
The Hunt sort of redesigned the typical battle royale format by having a group of abductees work together as a team to survive against elite overseers. A group of normal Joes and Josephines wake up together in an open field without any recollection of how they landed there. A few of the "hunted" come across a mysterious shed and find an arsenal of weapons inside.
Once each of them is equipped with a weapon, machine gun bullets start raining down on them, and the struggle for survival begins. The 2020 action/comedy hybrid has a stellar cast, frontwoman, and a final showdown that is unmissable.
Worst: Kill Theory
This 2009 horror film is your typical sexy teenage flick that doesn't have much to offer. A group of young partiers takes a vacation together to a friend's lakehouse for the fourth year in a row. But, this time... things are different. Dun-Dun-Dunn.
Similar to The Belko Experiment, a robotic voice talks throughout the calm household and challenges the vacationers to either kill their friends or die with them. The only real entertaining element of suspense in Kill Theory is the question as to who is "in" on the battle royale. The film is a relatively low-budget, cheesy waste of time in comparison to other horror flick options.
Best: Battle Royale
In many ways, this Japenese cult classic released in 2000 deserves almost all of the credit for the battle royale genre's current popularity. It is the first of its kind and a total innovator in the world of horror cinema.
Previously banned in North America, Battle Royale places a group of young teenagers who think they are going to a normal summer camp into a living nightmare where the only way to leave is to kill everyone else and be the last one standing. The 2000 film is brutal and gut-wrenching, but it ultimately leaves a viewer's eyes glued to the mayhem unfolding on screen.
Worst: The Tournament
The Tournament is a British action thriller that puts the top assassins in the world against each other in a battle royale. Similar to Condemned, critics challenged the 2009 film for being a rip off of Battle Royale and a far worse film as well. Despite a fairly decent cast lead by Robert Karlyle and Kelly Hu, the film fails to deliver the action sequences and pyrotechnics of other higher budget battle royale themed movies. It's best to avoid this one.
Best: The Hunger Games Franchise
Based on the series of books written by Suzanne Collins, the movie franchise started in 2012 with the Hunger Games, which earned around $152 M in the box office on its opening week. The next three sequels were also box office juggernauts, and rightfully so. Jennifer Lawrence was excellent throughout the tense and heart-throbbing series of blockbusters. Plus, the prequel to the Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is in the making and on its way, according to CNN. The franchise may also be the only battle royale movie that the whole family can enjoy.
Worst: Condemned 2
Condemned was already bad enough, but someone out there had the bright idea to make a sequel. Condemned 2 came out in 2015 and faced grave reviews. Little to none of the cast from the original were retained for Condemned 2, which makes the transition from the original to the sequel awkwardly disjointed. WWE Studios certainly didn't catch much acclaim for this one, as there is little to get excited about.