Gamer

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2:24

Gamer

R

2009

1h 35m

Action

Mystery & Thriller

Sci-Fi

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

29%

Tomatometer

80 Reviews

39%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Each week Kable, a death-row inmate, battles his fellow prisoners in a violent online game called "Slayers," his every move controlled by a young gamer's remote device. To the players, Kable and the other inmates are just simulated characters. But, to a resistance group that opposes the game's inventor, Kable is a critical component of their plan to end the inventor's form of high-tech slavery.

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Critics Consensus

With all of the hyperkinetic action and none of the flair of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor's earlier work, Gamer has little replay value.

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Keith Uhlich

Time Out

Nov 17, 2011

3/5

Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor direct with their usual flashy brio.

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Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

Sep 18, 2009

3/5

An injection of adrenaline straight to the eye - which isn't entirely a bad thing.

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Sukhdev Sandhu

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Sep 18, 2009

0/5

Can I get back the ninety minutes of my life that I squandered sitting through this miasmic upchuck of techno sludge? What was the story again?

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Sep 4, 2023

1.5/4

A hostile movie that pretends to contain some semblance of criticism toward escalating video game brutality and social detachment. But its commentary is presented underneath an orgy of Hollywood movie violence and gratuitous boob close-ups.

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Sep 8, 2020

1.0/4.0

A throwaway film.

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Patrick Dahl

Screen Slate

Mar 5, 2019

Gamer doesn't import gaming aesthetics to the movies so much as it considers the gaming medium with every weapon in the cinematic arsenal.

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Jaime B

@RT83643239 Apr 15, 2026

Easy to root for Butler, but each game action sequence had no point. Every video game has a strategy except this one. M.C. Hall bad guy lifted straight from a James Bond movie. Over-the-top idiotic acting. Attempts at social commentary were heavy-handed. The tech details were vague and confusing. No good antagonist. Terry Crews bad guy was stupid. This film needed a script doctor to dig deeper into theme and characters.

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Tina K

@tinaksf Feb 13, 2026

Interesting concept. Too disjointed. Gratuitous violence and nudity.

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Ry N.

@RyGuy Jan 27, 2026

Gamers control the brains of real life death row inmates to play a shooter game. It’s a good story in the hands of terrible directors, this movie is on drugs with annoying characters and cringey over the top nudity.

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Paula L

@PaulaNethan Jan 20, 2026

I went through seven minutes into the movie and the concept made me naseous. It really sucks because I liked the actors in the movie.It was so annoying because actors like the guy from dexter and the guy from Percy Jackson were in it and I LOVE THEM. I wish they picked a better script. RIP DONT WATCH IT DONT RECCOMEND IT!

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Talea J

@Tj280 Jan 17, 2026

I don't mind a movie you can switch off to occasionally, and the trailer looked okay, but couldn't make it through the actual movie without dozing off. This was after a few attempts to watch it. The idea is pretty interesting, however, Gamer unfortunately lacked the depth to support its attempt at being edgy.

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Hadley V.

@HadleyV Jan 4, 2026

Awful. Too much p@rn throughout the movie. I’m not a prude, but I thought with the cast line-up, it’d appeal to different audiences. This movie was meant for a teenage boy with lotion & a sock handy. Story line had so many holes in it. This was such a disappointment. Lost much respect for A-list actors for accepting the contract to have a flick like this on their portfolio. Butler, did you read the script first??

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Mark Neveldine

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Director

Gerard Butler

Kable

Michael C. Hall

Ken Castle

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Synopsis

Each week Kable, a death-row inmate, battles his fellow prisoners in a violent online game called "Slayers," his every move controlled by a young gamer's remote device. To the players, Kable and the other inmates are just simulated characters. But, to a resistance group that opposes the game's inventor, Kable is a critical component of their plan to end the inventor's form of high-tech slavery.

Director: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Producer: Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Skip Williamson, Richard S. Wright
Screenwriter: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Distributor: Lionsgate Films
Production Co: Lionsgate Films, Lakeshore Entertainment
Rating: R (Nudity|Language|Sexual Content|Strong Brutal Violence)
Genre: Action, Mystery & Thriller, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 4, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 1, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $20.5M
Runtime: 1h 35m

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