GamerZ (2005)

A love triangle with a twist of fantasy! The hero is Ralph, a young nerd from a bad neighborhood who's on his way to university for the first time. Ralph is completely downtrodden in life, ... See full summary »

Director:

Robbie Fraser

Writer:

Robbie Fraser

Stars:

Ross Finbow, Danielle Stewart, James Young

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ross Finbow	...	Ralph
Danielle Stewart	...	Marlyn
James Young	...	Lennie
Johnny Austin	...	Davy
Ross Sutherland	...	Hank
Edward Tudor-Pole	...	Dr. Denham
Lynne McCallum	...	Shona
Alan Tall	...	Security Guard
Jamie Honeybourne	...	Gavin
Stacey Sampson	...	Julie
Eileen McCallum	...	Nan
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arnold Brown	...	Z'rennk
John Conboy	...	Professor 3
Gary Cullen	...	Hemp Society (III)
Bruce Finlay	...	Professor

Storyline

A love triangle with a twist of fantasy! The hero is Ralph, a young nerd from a bad neighborhood who's on his way to university for the first time. Ralph is completely downtrodden in life, but he escapes from a cruel reality that he can't control by creating insanely detailed fantasy game worlds (as in fantasy games such as "Dungeons and Dragons" or "Tunnels and Trolls"), in which he is firmly in charge, as "Game Keeper". When Ralph arrives at university he immediately takes over the fantasy role-playing society from the resident Game Keeper in a ruthless coup. His new players include neurotic risk management student Davy, metal-head theology student Hank and - most importantly - the beautiful Marlyn, a crazy Goth chick who believes she is an elf. She's the ultimate object of geek lust, and Ralph falls for her hard. But there's a fly in the ointment: Ralph's old enemy from the hood, minor dope dealer Lennie who has undergone a near-religious conversion to all things fantastical having...

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Plot Keywords:

university | role playing | dungeons and dragons | goth | role playing game | 

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Taglines:

It's pure magic, by the way...

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 February 2008 (UK)

Also Known As:

GamerZ: One Game to Rule Them All

Filming Locations:

Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pure Magic Films Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Throughout the movie, the beer of choice is Fortitude, complete with the emblem of a double-sided battle axe. A clear nod to real-life roleplaying games (Fortitude being a key part of characters in mainstream rpg's, and the battle axe as a popular weapon with warriors).

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Quotes

Lennie: I never leave home without my vibrator.

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Connections

References The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

User Reviews

Brilliantly weird

On one level GamerZ follows a group of people for whom reality has two meanings: Their own persona, and that of their role-play game character. The film slowly twists one persona into the other - both on screen and in the mind of the viewer. Ultimately it blurs the line between genius and insanity, fantasy and reality, in quite a thought-provoking way.

At a second level, it attempts to create interesting dialogue between characters that are socially inept outcasts, whose prime activity is sitting round a table rolling dice. This could have created a very boring script indeed, but with a few exceptions, it doesn't. Instead GamerZ revels in its freedom to jump from the horrific to the sublime, from the lucid to the inane. Often in the same shot. The failure of the characters to interact 'normally' makes some exceptional comedy. Unfortunately GamerZ's screenplay is weakened by its meagre special effects budget. While attempts to convey 'in-game' actions using silhouettes almost work, there are a few moments when the cardboard cutouts on screen seek only to remind the viewer that Hollywood would never make a movie like this.

Down at level three GamerZ is underscored by some quite familiar themes of love, envy and growing maturity; not to mention fetishes, joyriding, and a few other things. These themes meld well with the earlier levels, but probably won't hold the film together on their own.

I suspect that if you find yourself stuck at level 3 of the dungeon, you'll walk out disappointed. This film isn't for everyone. But open your mind a little and GamerZ achieves something quite rare. It entertains and challenges. And it does both in a quite unexpected way.