Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Instant Favorite.

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The plot isn't too much of a mystery. A group of adults are being tortured and killed by a vigilante group because they bullied a couple of kids in the sixth grade. They are forced to play an adult version of the X-game which is more torturous than the one as a child. Do they have sixth grade reunions in Japan?For those who like a two hour creepy "Saw" type of film, this is it. They did a sequel to this film, I'll think I'll pass for now.Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity. English subtitles.

This is a movie about four Japanese twenty somethings being forced to torture themselves and one another by a mysterious captor. If the four participate they have to partake in challenges that range from disgusting acts, like eating maggots, to traumatizing mutilation, like sitting in a chair covered in nails. This movie has a slow start which reminded me of *Audition*, (sweet movie by the way, I recommend it,) so I got my hopes up; and when things started to get bloody I was on board for a gore flick. But then near the end you learn information about the protagonist that is supposed to turn the audience against him, but it seriously fell flat on me. Had the movie not made the decision to corrupt the protagonist's character I would have easily given the movie an 8/10.If you are curious about the premise of the movie I doubt you will regret watching the movie, but if you want a violent revenge movie just watch the original *Oldboy*.*SPOILERS* PROBLEMS I HAD WITH THIS MOVIE *SPOILERS*-How the hell did they rig the television to play cartoons when they picked their games? What was the TV wired to the PAPER NOTES?!-If the Revengencers, (they don't have a real name in the movie,) had the prisoners under surveillance the whole time, how did they not notice Hideaki getting up?-Where were the other Revengencers when s*** started to go bad? If your group is built around punishing bullies wouldn't you be backing each other up in case one of your own was in danger?-Hideaki did two bad things in this movie: lie to a bullied girl, and pick a new kid to get bullied after the bullies threatened to bully Hideaki. Because of these two acts he has to be placed in the X-Games, but what the f*** was Hideaki supposed to do? The Teacher wasn't going to do anything and of all people, the two who got bullied should understand how much you wouldn't to go through with the X-Games. The kid was like 9 what the hell did you expect him to do? I highly doubt they would have just taken the games themselves if they had a choice.-Have you ever noticed that Japanese bullies have no souls? Every time they are depicted they are extorting people and putting victims through punishment that would land you in prison or an asylum for the criminally insane.-If the college professor was the Mastermind how the hell did he get bullied? Was he bullied for having a limp? Was the bullying the reason why he has a limp? Were his bullies the classroom that laughed at him when he stumbled? Good luck kidnapping 40 people who share your class and NOT becoming a suspect.-"The police were in on it," feels like such a lame twist when trying to explain why the Revengencers don't get caught. With all the resources at their members' disposal, couldn't they just cover up the murders as suicides? They do it at the beginning of the movie, and that guy died with a big f***ing "X" branded on his face."Oh yeah, he totally ran away from his newlywed wife, put a hot iron to his face, and then jumped off a building. This is a textbook suicide. What? He was missing for a few days? Well obviously he had trouble finding the iron, you can't not brand yourself before jumping off a building you know."-There were a lot more people involved with the childhood bullying aside from Hideaki and Chie, more directly as well. But we never hear about them getting any punishment. I guess the Revengencers only allow for 5 victims a member or else nobody else would get their turn.-Eating rice and maggots seems like a pretty tame punishment when you compare it to SETTING YOUR HAIR ON FIRE.-I didn't realize the milk challenge was a valid form of torture.-If any of the players died during their challenge would the rest of the group just be executed on the spot? It looks like that was the case when Hideaki got the Death Penalty. Man wouldn't that be ironic. "Yes, now I will finally get my revenge for all who wronged me! But first they must endure all the games I had to endure as a child. The irony alone makes my nipples tingle with excitement! HAHAHAHAA!... Wait he choked on the rice and maggots?! But that was only the first round, I still have like 12 more games set up! I event went through the trouble of wiring those papers to the television! Do you know how hard it is to buy like 5 crates of bottled milk on a college student's budget!? I had to take a train like four hours just to find a place where they still sold milk in glass bottles!"

The other reviews on this page are for Deathtube, a different film by the same company. I watched X-Game on Netflix where it was actually labeled Deathtube.I enjoyed the heavy anti-bullying message of X-Game. Hideaki is our "hero" through much of the movie, yet his character proves to be more complex in the last third of the film, as do the roles of all the "bad guys." The characters are well-developed and their stories are told from multiple viewpoints. Some of the special effects are cheesy but it can be forgiven as the film works hardest to establish the roles and responsibilities of its many characters. The gore is gory, standard horror fare. Truly horrific is the bullying using the X-Game box to deliver red paper penalties, for both the children and the adults.There are no heroes when the bullied strive for revenge ... there are only new bullies. Where will it stop? Not at the end of this film. You learn in flashbacks and late reveals of the forces behind this chain of revenge. It may cause you to change your mind about the characters several times during the film.

this movie is pretty much in the same theme as the saw movies. People are put in a situation where they are screwing with their lives, and they prove to be really horrible human beings.Eight people who watched snuff films on line are put in a trap where they are stuck in a situation where they have to face a bunch of traps, and are systematically picked off. Except the more decent people are picked off first. By the end, the last three survivors double cross each other until only the movie's protagonist (who had to watch his girlfriend get raped and admit he couldn't love her the same way).You know, when you are typing in a plot synopsis and then realize you need to go back to drop your rating because your first inclination doesn't match the awfulness of it, that's telling in itself.I'm sure there are cultural gaps I'm not getting here, and perhaps this film made more sense to Japanese audiences. The tension does pick up in the last half hour of the film, but it takes forever to get there.