One of the craziest action movies of all time is on TV tonight

Stephen Porzio

It’s a favourite of filmmaking icon Quentin Tarantino.

Our TV movie pick for tonight (Wednesday, 8 May) is Battle Royale, the legendary action flick from 2000.

Based on the 1999 novel of the same name, the film follows a group of young teenagers forced to fight to the death by a Japanese totalitarian government.

“42 9th graders are sent to a deserted island. They are given a map, food, and various weapons. An explosive collar is fitted around their neck. If they break a rule, the collar explodes. Their mission: kill each other and be the last one standing,” its plot synopsis reads.

“The last survivor is allowed to leave the island. If there is more than one survivor, the collars explode and kill them all.”

Featuring amongst its cast Japanese acting and filmmaking icon Takeshi Kitano, Battle Royale is essentially The Hunger Games if it was way, way, way more visceral and subversive.

Despite courting controversy for the violence doled out onto its young characters, the movie was acclaimed upon release for its deeper themes about adolescence and the division between the youth and the old, along with its great performances and its hard-hitting action set-pieces.

Its reputation has only improved further in the time since. In 2009, writer-director Quentin Tarantino even described Battle Royale as the best film he had seen in the past 20 years.

The movie is airing on TV tonight on Sky Sci-Fi at 11.30pm. It is also available to stream via Sky Movies.

You can check out Battle Royale’s trailer right here:

Here are the other movies on TV tonight:

Space Cowboys – ITV4 – 8pm

Clint Eastwood directs and stars – alongside Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner – in this adventure drama about four older ex-test pilots who are sent into space to repair an old Soviet satellite.

War for the Planet of the Apes – Film4 – 9pm

With a new Planet of the Apes movie landing in cinemas this week, what better time to revisit the beloved last entry in the franchise?

The Purge: Anarchy – ITV4 – 10.40pm

The second and widely considered best entry in the dystopian horror thriller franchise.

The Shape of Water – Film4 – 11.45pm

Best Picture winner at the Oscars in 2017, this gorgeous romantic fantasy film centres on a lonely janitor (Sally Hawkins) working at a top-secret research facility in the 1960s who forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature (Doug Jones) that is being held in captivity.

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