Let me start by saying I am a nerd. During my Christmas vacation I am playing everquest 2 and magic the gathering online. So I was in the mood for a little fantasy movie, emphasis on little. I did not want the grand epicness of Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. I wanted something that focused on the experience of being a gamer, getting you face blown up by traps and npcs that you should not have tangled with in the first place, and having a weak character who gets killed over and over and over again. Man I miss Kloet. That said I never really played old table top rpgs. Sure I played Shadowbane, Dungeon Siege, the original Everquest and Neverwinter Nights, but straight up table top D 'n' D I never got into. That said the Gamers and the Gamers 2: Rise of the Dorkness could get me into it.

Both of these movies are about guys sitting around a table trying to get through a campaign. The production values in gamers 1 are low but that's part of the charm. It seems like these guys just said hey lets make a movie about what we like. They just seem like regular guys sitting and playing. And we the audience get to watch while the dungeon master gets frustrated when the rogue decides he wants backstab with a ballista. That said the reason why I like the movie is because I'm part of its audience. The acting and bad and the camera is a little quirky but like I said its funny as heck in both good and bad ways.

Gamers 2 has higher production values and an interesting dramatic subplot. The Dungeon Master is a writer with writers block and is trying to use the campaign to create a module. The problem is his friends won't conform to his fantasy world. I say if someone wants to use a light saber and a chain saw let 'em. Another interesting point in this story are personality conflicts. In the first one the characters may have fought but it never seemed like they took anything personally. In the second one it seems like friendships may be a bit stressed. Many of the actors returned but they're better and sequel looks better too. That said the sequel takes a little bit of time, not much mind you, to leave the playing to allow for character development, which isn't bad but I preferred to watch the characters both, the movie characters and player characters interact at the table.

I admittedly wouldn't watch these on the big screen but that's not what they're meant for. They're you got some buddies at your pad waiting for those last few guys before you play or while you get your MMORPG on movies. IThey're laughs riot if your a nerd. Check it out.