The Gamers (film)
| The Gamers | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Matt Vancil |
| Produced by | Various |
| Written by | Matt Vancil |
| Starring | Matt Cameron Chris Duppenthaler Justin McGregor Emily Olson Phil M. Price Nathan Rice |
| Music by | Ben Dobyns Phil M. Price |
| Edited by | Ben Dobyns |
| Distributed by | Dead Gentlemen Productions |
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Running time
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48 mins |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1000 |
The Gamers is a 2002 very-low-budget cult film written and directed by Matt Vancil and produced by independent movie company Dead Gentlemen Productions. It is an affectionate spoof of role-playing games, and often shown at gaming conventions. A sequel entitled The Gamers: Dorkness Rising was set to be released in 2006, but was delayed due to problems finding a distributor; it was eventually released on DVD in August 2008 at conventions and online.
A second sequel The Gamers: Hands of Fate was funded via Kickstarter and its extended cut is as of GenCon 2013 revealed in segments via YouTube
The movie flips between following a group of gamers in a dorm immersed in a role-playing game, and their characters (played by the same actors) as they journey through a world of fantasy and wonder to defeat a being known as "The Shadow" and rescue a princess. The latter is theoretically a heroic quest, but while the game master attempts to foster in a narrative, the players tend to be more interested in their characters' tolerance for ale, trying to apply the sneak attack damage multiplier to siege weaponry, et cetera.
The movie both makes fun of gamer stereotypes and plays the discrepancy between an optimal RPG plot and the events of an actual RPG session for maximum absurdity. Characters attempting something dangerous freeze as dice clatter in the distance. The party thief picks the pocket of a bystander, then steals that bystander's pants—not because he wants the pants in any way, but solely to see if his skill statistics allow it. When an unlucky dice roll causes the death of one character, the other players' characters mourn him for a moment, and then immediately start squabbling over the items he was carrying. Characters spring to action, then keel over as their players forget and are reminded that the characters are asleep, players argue and make snack runs, and their game is frequently interrupted by a girl from the same dorm who demands they keep quiet so that she can study.
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Wikipedia