Game Box 1.0

Well, the first thing I saw after looking at the DVD box was "Best Screenplay" and thought this would be a good rental. WOW, was I mistaken! I'm sure at one time there was a good movie in here, but after the incredibly poor acting and "video game" production values, this ends up looking like Tron's retarded half-brother. The first scene sets up the overall atmosphere of the entire movie. Five minutes into it, you'll be asking yourself, "What the Hell am i watching?", and it will just snowball from there. An awful soundtrack that makes every song sound like Rob Zombie's "Dragula" rounds out this miserable piece of crap into a laughably bad movie. On a side note, #3 most romantic quote in a movie - "I think you're the final destination."

OK, this movie wasn't good at all. Video games aren't what I would brag on if I was over the age of 15. Cool to play games, but writing a comment about video game players may like this movie for that it is, that is strange. Just play a video game, don't make up a sorry story about getting trapped in one. I use my cell phone, I hope I don't loose my girlfriend in that. Grease being the worst ever? OK, Grease has a very well thought out story along with being a musical. Even if you don't like musicals, anyone would say Grease is good. My brother plays video games all the time and he watched 30 minutes and left because it was so awful. I feel asleep.

People come into movies with expectations. If you're expecting a thought-provoking drama, you won't be happy if the movie's a hokey musical. My advice? Don't go into a movie expecting the exact same thing you've always seen. I don't know what the budget was for Gamebox 1.0, but from what I can tell it certainly wasn't a "major motion picture." That being said, I think this was a lot more entertaining than people are giving it credit for. Starting off it was a little rickety. I didn't know what to make of the protagonist, but as the story went on and they developed his character it was a fun story to follow. I think the reason this movie won't appeal to everyone is the fact that it is what it promises. If you've ever played a relatively recent RPG or shooter, the game-scenes in the movie are like actual video game cut-scenes. It's an interesting idea -- not necessarily completely original, but certainly well executed. It was a journey for the main character and a way for him to grow, and the story only got more entertaining as it went along. I thought the ending was good. Each aspect of the film fit in neatly to make it so. People were probably put off by the simplicity or the unrealistic nature, but it comes back to going in with the right expectations. You don't play a video game to explore moral ambiguity or some deep, profound ideal. Don't go into a film that's supposed to be modeled after a video game expecting something like that.

So, Harvey Kinkel from Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Topanga Lawrence from Boy Meets World meet and fall in love. Sabrina hears about it and casts a spell…. Wait… sorry… that's just how I looked at the movie because of the VERY familiar characters I saw. Relax, I kid – I kid.

Honestly? Rated 1.9 on Netflix and 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, I expect nothing short of bullsh*t from this movie. I severely underestimated it, and I think I know why. Netflix went all sorts of crazy with the labeling of this films genres. This is not, I repeat NOT, a horror movie in anyway-shape-or form. If you are expecting to see a horror, quickly pick up your remote and skip this film. Whatever moron sat through this and said "Oh, hey, this is a horror movie!" was on way too much LSD that day. I hope you had a bad trip douche-bag.

If I were to categorize this movie I would keep the Sci-Fi & Fantasy, trash the rest and add "Indie Film," "Video Game Movie" and "Psychological Thriller"… then find the guy who labeled it a horror and kick him square in the nuts.

Now, as for the movie, don't go into it expecting an A class movie, it's definitely a B movie, but it's done really nicely. A video game tester getting over the death of his girlfriend receives a free virtual reality game in the mail and assumes he's meant to test it. He does and gets locked inside. It's an interesting concept – true it's something I've seen done before – but it was done well in my opinion. The acting was good, not great, but good and the storyline was great. I happen to especially love the ending.

My suggestion? This is one of those movie you need to say "fuck the critics" to, watch and judge for yourself. And for the love of the dice, don't expect it to be a horror.

The concept of this movie is somewhat interesting, and it is the overall story that gives this movie any value at all. Even though a large majority of the story is pretty lame and predictable, I was still able to get caught up in it and want to see how the plot played out, it is the only thing that kept me from turning this completely off. The graphics are just horrible and at times make it difficult to watch. The acting is pretty bad throughout, aside from Nate Richert who was decent as he made his depressing character very likable and genuine, he seemed to really take the role seriously. So, in all Gamebox 1.0 is pretty much what I had expected. I really can't recommend watching this movie, but hey, its not a COMPLETE waste of an hour and a half....almost though.