• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4 (2D)/MVC (3D)
• Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
• Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz/24-bit), Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH
• Subtitles Color: White
• Region: A (Region-Locked)
• Rating: R
• Run Time: 95 Mins
• Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray 3D/2D)
• Digital Copies: UltraViolet
• Studio: Lionsgate
• Blu-ray Release Date: April 7, 2013
• List Price: $19.99

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Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:1/5]
Video Quality
HD: [Rating:4.5/5]
3D Effect: [Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(The below TheaterByte screen captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray Discs and losslessly compressed in the PNG format. There should be no loss of picture quality with this format. All screen captures should be regarded only as an approximation of the full capabilities of the Blu-ray format.)

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The Film

[Rating:1.5/5]

Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the duo behind Crank, reunite for this over the top sci-fi thriller starring Gerard “what went wrong with his career” Butler (300). Although Neveldine and Taylor believe themselves to be offering up something edgy, cynical, and thought provoking packaged in a visually stunning 3D delivery system, in point of fact they have created a mess that isn’t as clever as they think it is.

In a futuristic world, a technology has been developed allowing the ultimate gaming experience. A brain implant allows gamers to take over control of real people and make them do their bidding in “simulated” environments, as they relax in the comfort of their home. Billionaire game developer Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall; TV’s Dexter) has made his fortune developing games around this mind-controlling technology, which he invented. Now his next game is taking the first person shooter to the next level. It’s called “Slayers” and it uses death row convicts in a war game that has viewers affixed to their TV screens. One such convict is Kable (Butler), whose controller, Simon (Logan Lerman), is the top in the game. He’s successfully negotiated Kable through multiple levels, but Kable realizes his time is nearly up. The only way he can ever get to see his wife and daughter again is if he somehow manages to break loose from the mind control, get out of the game, and expose a deeper conspiracy going on behind the technology on live television. He may just get some help from an underground group known as “Humanz.”

With little character development and what passes as dialogue half the time being no more than offensive stereotypes and racial slurs ( “no one cares about dead Orientals”), Gamer is a dud from beginning to the sad, improbable end and I haven’t even mentioned the dance routine featuring Dexter, err, I mean Ken Castle. Neveldine and Taylor seem happy to simply assault our senses with a chaotic amount of information on the screen, so much so that focusing on any one thing becomes a near impossibility. Whether we’re in the human “sim” game “Society” that’s like Wonderland on acid, or in the midst of a battle in Slayers where the camera hardly stays still for a half-second, and the editing is like someone just chopped up the dailies at random and pieced them back together, it’s enough to induce seizure.

Perhaps this is their plan, to confuse us with movement and motion to make us forget that, underneath all the style, there’s nothing worthwhile going on. And, the fact is that these two filmmakers are rather hypocritically offering up some lip service to anti-violence message and the influence of the video game culture, while making one of the most hyper-sexualized and violent films to come along in a long while.

They also seem to thoroughly revel in playing up the stereotypes of gamers as fat, lonely, pathetic perverts, or all women as uncontrollable sex addicts or merely sex objects to be used at will. Maybe they’ve done this to stir the pot, so to speak, but in this pathetic excuse for a film, it comes across as nothing short of gross, obnoxious, and way off base.

Video Quality

HD: [Rating:4.5/5]

3D Effect: [Rating:4/5]

If Gamer is anything at all on Blu-ray, it is a home theatre showcase, from the 3D and 2D HD video quality to the bombastic audio soundtrack (see below). The 3D conversion from the multitudinous handheld Red One cameras is more effective than one would expect, providing a natural sense of depth, though there is less pop-out than one would get with a true 3D source. The straight, 2D image is strong as well, showing good detail, even in some of the high speed shots, captured on 35mm. This is a highly stylized film, so visual effects abound and, for those a bit sensitive to 3D, this chaotic film may be one to jolt you into a seizure or at least give you an onset of nausea. In the end, however, it looks pretty good.

Audio Quality

[Rating:5/5]

As per above, Gamer comes to Blu-ray with fantastic audio to go along with the reference visuals. An English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz/24-bit) track that is as frenzied, in your face (or is that ears?) and bombastic as one would imagine is provided. The lows are rattling, the highs are natural, and the panning around the room, even into the back channels isn’t timid.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:0.5/5]

You mean I bought this Gamer and all I got was this lousy featurette?

• UltraViolet
• Inside the Game: Controlling Gamer (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 01:19:41)

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:3.5/5]

Two words: skip it.

Additional Screen Captures

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BestBuy.com:

Purchase Gamer on Bu-ray 3D at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com

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[amazon-product]B008Y78BAC[/amazon-product]

[amazon-product]B00BGARGFU[/amazon-product]

BestBuy.com:

Purchase Gamer on Bu-ray 3D at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:1/5]
Video Quality
HD: [Rating:4.5/5]
3D Effect: [Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]

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