This has been an unusual week in that I have had the opportunity to review not one, but two entertaining independent films. That in itself is not so unusual, but the fact that both of them revolve around the wonderful world of Role Playing Games… is. The one I’m here to tell you a little about first actually came to me completely by accident, due to my having requested a copy of the other. I happened to loan out the other requested film to a ‘gamer’ friend of mine, who in turn… turned me on to this one (Confused? Good…). It is called, simply, “The Gamers.” If you’re not familiar with Role Playing Games, such as “Dungeons and Dragons”, or my personal favorite, “Chill,” I can try to break the concept down as simply as I can.

In a role playing game, several friends (well, usually friends…) gather around a table and pretend they are characters in some other worldly adventure. They use various dice to roll up ‘stats’, or numbers, which establish the levels of their abilities and such. The games are run by a ‘Dungeon Master’, who leads the players through an adventure (sometimes lasting years) and also uses dice to determine the outcome of various situations, battles, etc… Granted, the games are often a lot more complicated than that, but this gives you the ‘nutshell’, as it were.

Produced by a group of improvisational comedy performers known as the “Dead Gentlemen”, “The Gamers” is an extremely low-budget film that brings viewers into the world of these often highly imaginative folk, in this case, a group of five (occasionally six). These particular ‘Gamers’ are spending a late night in a dorm room, playing an adventure game. Now, since this in itself would probably be a bit on the boring side, the film is mixed with footage of the action taking place within the game, with each of the ‘Gamers’ portraying their respective characters. Complete with costumes that look like they came out of the local Renaissance Festival and special effects that are often refreshingly cheesy, we are carried through the adventure, both real and imagined.

I mention that it is very low-budget film and looks it, but this actually works for the style of comedy it offers. I do realize a lot of hard work and time went into making the feature, yet director Matt Vancil delivers a film that looks like a bunch of friends simply got together to make a video. The humor is very broad, and while there are a lot of jokes that will appeal to a wider audience, a good portion of the better scenes will probably only be gotten by those who have played RPGs before.

I spent several years playing on and off with a group of friends, and while none of us ‘lived the game’ to the level that some players do, I was able to appreciate the entire film.

In one case, ‘characters’ are reminded that they are still asleep when trying to question another character and they fall out of frame. It was a quick gag, but drew a huge laugh. And listening to some of the arguments the ‘Gamers’ had about what their characters could, or couldn’t do, brought back a lot of memories.

As I understand it, “The Gamers” was originally available on video but can now be had in the glorious DVD format. This of course opened up the opportunity for the filmmakers to offer up a few extra features. And when I say a few, I mean hours and hours worth. The film itself only runs about 48 minutes, but when you get into the extra features, prepare to sit a spell. You’ll find four different audio commentaries, a ‘Making of…’ featurette, nine mini featurettes, and on and on it goes. It was also these featurettes that made me appreciate the work that went into the film.

From what I’ve seen on the DVD of “The Gamers” as well as their website, the “Dead Gentlemen” are definitely an extremely talented group of individuals. They’ve made several other films (some of which I’ll be reviewing in the weeks to come), and are busily at work on a sequel to “The Gamers.” (Can’t wait!) If you get a chance, I highly recommend checking out the website (where you can see the hilarious short video “Ninja Syphilitic Vampires”), and if you like what you see there, order yourself a copy of “The Gamers.”

Directed by: Matt Vancil
Starring: Nathan Rice, Matt Shimkus, Phil M. Price, Justin McGregor, Matt Cameron, Emily Olson
Extras: Four Audio Commentary Tracks – Writer/Director Matt Vancil & Editor Ben Dobyns, Cast Members, Psychological Analysis, “A Gamer’s Perspective” by RPG Designer Monte Cook; The Making of “The Gamers”, Nine Original Mini-Featurettes, Music Mixing Workshop, Explore the World of Fartherall, Trailers for Other Dead Gentleman Productions
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Dead Gentleman Productions
Release Date: Available
Region: Region Free
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give The Gamers a B-.