The Dragon’s Breath #21

21 November 2003

A FDP FILM REVIEW:
"THE GAMERS"

By Todd Secord

“The Gamers”: From Dead Gentlemen Productions (www.deadgentlemen.com );
Not Rated (parental discretion advised); Running Time: 48 minutes;
Written and Directed by Matt Vancil

Way back in the day, James and I (already having been friends in high school) ended up working together in a video store. Good times to be sure, because we made a lot of other friends in those days, but also, we amassed an amazingly huge amount of stories and experiences that we still joke about to this day.  We also had the opportunity to see just about every film ever made for free. If you know us personally, you’d know that we know a lot about gaming – but we know even more about film.

At any rate, the two films that I remember us getting jazzed over were Reservoir Dogs and Clerks; Reservoir Dogs because: A) It was a fantastic film and B) Quentin Tarantino – this was a guy who worked in a video store, wrote a script, and suddenly found himself director of a 2 million dollar picture. It was certainly the kind of success story we were looking for.  Clerks followed with a similar kind of mystique – Kevin Smith, armed with a $21,000 budget, managed to do a very funny film about something we already knew was funny – video stores. And then, of course, there’s Robert Rodriguez, but I won’t get into him, because neither he, nor his film (El Mariachi) had anything to do with video stores. We love him anyway, but I digress…

Anyway, time moved on, and years later James and I (with our good buddy Jason at the helm) start up Fiery Dragon Productions (as in film productions – heh) and here we are now – big shot game designers in search of our Spy Kids. Needless to say, when we heard about The Gamers, a wry little smile crept across our wry little faces. Somebody had done it!  Somebody made a film about gamming! It also didn’t hurt that our buddy Monte Cook had done a guest commentary on it. When we arrived at GenCon, The Gamers was going to be one of those little gems that one seeks out when one is a freakish gaming geek/movie guru, which, of course, we are. So, we got it.

Well, I thought it was a hoot. Exactly what the doctor ordered. If you’re a hardcore gamer, casual gamer, or somebody who used to game with some regularity, you have to give this sucker a look-see. Yes, its production values aren’t as slick as - let’s say - Lord of the Rings, but it does have a charm about it that any gamer could love. And really, that’s its strength - it’s aimed directly at us. It makes no attempt to repackage RPG’s for non-gamers. It uses generic gaming terms (only because of trademark laws), but non-gamers still wouldn’t understand them; and lastly, all the jokes have punch lines that only gamers would get. Is it funny? Yep. Which is its other strength – it pokes more fun at the gaming experience rather than gamers themselves. A smart choice.

It has two stories: One that takes place at the gamming table in a dorm study room, and one being the adventure they’re all participating in (A somewhat similar device used in The Princess Bride, or The Neverending Story ;) ). Getting in the way of all the fun is the pretty girl down the hall who’s trying to cram for her finals. The real world and fantasy world intersect amidst the sounds of dice rolling and voice-overs from the DM/PCs.  They tackle all the scenarios and situations that are of the all-too familiar (like funny arguments over rules – a backstabbing attempt with a ballista, for instance) and the not so-familiar (like the one player who isn’t at the game, but during all the fantasy world scenes his character is present, but stands inert in the background). I’m also proud to say that there isn’t one fart joke.  More-over, it’s full of Star Wars and Ghostbusters references, but not a single Monty Python (the exclusion was noted – nice of them to break it up a bit). The funniest laugh for me is when the barbarian fails his Bend Bars/Lift Gates, only to have the elf (Str 6) make his roll and rip the gate out (with a hilarious tusken raider howl ;) ). There’s even a pink ninja.

Being a DVD, it has a number of special features like the “Making of The Gamers”, Mini-featurettes, and Audio Commentaries by the Writer/Director/Editor, Cast, and - as I’ve said - Monte Cook.  Nice.

It was about time somebody made a movie like this.  It does have its flaws: The lighting in the third act is a little too “shadowy”, but that could just be the contrast on my TV, and - like I said - keep an open mind on the FX/costuming. I also have to add that they’re not playing with counters, which was a big omission from our stand-point, but all-in-all this is a great buy for anyone in gaming.  Stocking-stuffer, pre-game warm up, panty remover, whatever, if you get a chance to see it, take it.

Cheers!

Next Week (hopefully): An in-depth look at writing up Prestige Classes, as Dragon's Breath takes an unforeseen turn towards gaming!

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