SparkMore
n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.
DipitySkillful
an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.
Humbersi
The first must-see film of the year.
kluseba
This is a very emotional, gore and philosophical psycho thriller coming from Thailand that is well played by diversified actors and that has a couple of memorable ideas that lead to a surprising end even though the last sequence of the movie left me somewhat confused, disappointed and empty. Everything in the movie is extreme but it all makes a sense even if you can't be sure what is fiction or reality in the end.The movie is about the question how far you would go to solve your problems and fight the demons of your past and portrays a young man that has lost everything and has no easy way out to get some money and some respect. The story reminds me a little bit of the great American movie "Falling Down", the intense and sometimes obscure gore moments are similar to the "Saw" series and the structure of the flick is close two "Twelve Rounds" with the exception that you have thirteen unholy steps to triumph or agony.The movie is rather fast paced and always entertaining but it would have definitely needed a better conclusion concerning the reasons behind the events you see throughout the whole film and what happens to the characters after these events. This is why I cut off one point out of my final rating while the rest is nothing truly innovating but always intense entertainment and another great modern movie coming from some creative masterminds in Asia.
dschmeding
This is a nice movie from Thailand that basically deals with the subject of movies like "Running Man", "The game" and similar movies... that is reducing life to a thrill-seeking reality show. Where "13 - game of death" starts is with salesman Pusit. His life is rather on the way down at the moment. Sales are slow for his job in a musical sales business where a colleague steals his best customers. His car gets repossessed, his mum needs to borrow money from him and it seems he still struggles with the loss of his girlfriend. To top things off his boss fires him and just as it couldn't get any worse his phone rings and someone tells him he was chosen from a pool of unlucky people who need some money to participate in a reality game show. There is no information about the show, he is just contacted by cellphone and presented with one of his 13 challenges... if he masters all 1Million Dollars is his.The first challenges start of rather harmless... Pusit has to kill a fly, then eat the fly and you can guess they crank up the demands of their challenges. Where the movie starts of in a drama/Thriller fashion it soon incorporates some comedic elements when Pusit has to go to a playground and make some children cry which is a rather odd scene. He is soon looked after by the police for beating up people and no one knows he is just following the orders given through his cellphone that has a pretty annoying car alarm sound ring-tone. Beside the comedy elements the movie tends to freak out with some gross scenes where Pusit chucks down a nicely garnished plate of poo in a restaurant or he has to get a decomposed corpse out of a well. The mixture of these offbeat elements with fights, comedy and chases is kind of interesting and different and to top it off there is a lot of social commentary in the movie. I especially like the black humor that is incorporated like when Pusit has to beat the boyfriend of his ex-girl unconscious with a chair but the guy just won't get knocked out. Every time he wants to explain to his ex-girl he has to get back to work and beat the guy again. You can guess that it soon leads to questions of life or death and the question if Pusit will become a murder for money. In the end you realize that all the challenges and the game have more in common with Pusits life than you thought and this is where the movie takes a fall. There sure are several flaws like he duration of 120 minutes which start to drag after a while or the bad English dubbing and some rather bad acting and plot holes. But the finale doesn't just keep the whole game show concept obscure but also adds elements that make absolutely no sense in how the challenges were chosen and how they monitored the whole city with Pusit running amok. If you like a littleoffbeat movies give this one a try but don't expect to much plot-wise because it really gets pretty messy in the script towards the end.Anyway, it kept me entertained for most of the time... only thing thatjust didn't get into my head was the final scene with the girl on the bench... what the hell was that supposed to mean?
anacleto_biloba
I saw this movie last night at the Fantasia movie festival here in Montreal. I cannot believe that this movie won the "Best Asian film" award of the festival. Don't get me wrong, the movie is entertaining but you cannot compare it with for example the Japanese film "Memories of Matsuko" (http://imdb.com/title/tt0768120/) which is a far superior film also shown at the festival. 13 Beloved started as a funny, sick dark comedy. Too bad that by the end the comedy was gone and replace by criticism of our violent society. It turned too serious for its own good. Still, the movie is entertaining, but for gosh sake it doesn't deserve an award. 6/10
yeti-32
Chit is a desperate guy : he has debts, his car has been seized, he lost his job and his love life is no better... He then receives a call to participate to a game show, with enough money involved to solve all his problems. 13 tasks, more money every time. How far will he go for 100 million bahts? The main actors are good, the humor (at the beginning) is nice, with a bit of gore it makes a really nice mix. And asks some question about the evolution of the Thai society, which are also valid everywhere. Probably the best Thai movie I've watched so far, and just a very good movie.
