12. Battle Royale (2000)
The film is the tale of a class of students selected by the government to kill each other off over a period of three days on a remote island. They each have electronic collars on their neck which will detonate if they don't obey or wander into random danger zones. The students are given back packs containing food, water, map of the island, a compass and either a lethal weapon or a random object. What follows is a highly compelling exercise in mass murder. The Japanese government and authorities were not particularly impressed with the film. They claimed it was crude and tasteless and the film provoked a widespread debate in Japan about media violence. Following in the wake of the Columbine shootings, the US authorities were tentative to release Battle Royale on a wide scale. Distribution companies would have been jailed if they had tried to release the movie in the US at this time. The film was so controversial, it took until 2012 until it got an official US DVD treatment by Anchor Bay.