GamerZ

What a fantastic movie! Great characters you can't help but love, a quirky upbeat soundtrack and 100 minutes of pure fun! You really go on the journey with these characters and are excited by their relationships and antics. Excellent performances, fantastic cinematography and loads of laughs (fabulous writing and direction). GamerZ shows the comic side of Gaming and has characters everyone will recognise. Dungeons and Dragons took itself too seriously - this takes us back to the fun element of role-playing games and you really get involved with the game young Ralph has created. This is a film for everyone, we all know these people and it's interesting to see how a single interest can connect such different people. They may well be pariahs but you can't help but like them. Although the film is set in Glasgow it could be anywhere, any university campus with any group of people with a single interest. It's truly a universal film. There are some fabulous comedy moments which really do have you laughing out loud. I urge everyone to see this film. You don't have to have been a Gamer to enjoy this film, I'm not and I loved it. Give us more, Pure Magic Films - PLEASE!

I saw this at a game convention in Annaheim, southern California. Had to see good old Glasgow, but I was wondering whether the Californians would need subtitles. To my amazement they were all laughing and having a great time, and people told me afterwards that the dialect wasn't a problem for them because it was about being a human being and that communicated itself directly, and being gamers, they were all seeing themselves and the people they knew on the screen, so a great time was had by all. I thought the fantasy sequences were surprisingly hauntingly beautiful too. The lead actor has such a great face and he puts it and those eyes to good use! Hope this piece of Glasgow spreads further. I wonder how it would go down in Tokyo?

Definitely worth seeing. There is a lot of rubbish out there generally. A big budget and big hype certainly do not make a good movie but they make the general public and, even I am ashamed to say, me, more likely to see them. Which is unfortunate not least because movies like Gamerz can easily be overlooked.

The story does not involve complex characters, what it does have is believable and honest characters that are easy to relate to. Its a feel good story which doesn't try or pretend to be more. It's easy to watch with some genuinely funny moments. While obviously not produced with a big budget, It's well crafted.

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.

The subject matter of this film is hilariously familiar, the story is bizarre and the relationships between the characters are believable, complex and well-written. On one level it's a superb comedy, but it also works as a drama. It was a pleasant surprise as I had no idea what to expect when I went to see it. I will be recommending 'GamerZ' to people for a long time to come.

I would recommend this film to anybody who enjoyed 'Napoleon Dynamite'. It's got a similar geeky charm, great dialogue and the pace never lags. It's a funny, bittersweet film about the small things in life, things which seem like a big deal when they happen.