In the near future, death row inmates engage in gladiatorial gun combat for our entertainment. If they stay alive for thirty blood soaked battles, they gain their freedom. As part of the deal, their minds are altered so they can be partially controlled by remote players. Kable (Gerard Butler) has survived 27 battles and longs to win his freedom and find his wife and child, but he soon realizes there are sinister forces at work to prevent him from ever making it to battle number 30.

The ClearPlay Factor

Gamer is very violent, profane, and sexual. Clearplaying the movie with filters on full will blow crater sized holes in it to remove a host of "f" words, nudity galore, and flying blood and body parts. It goes without saying that even with filters this movie is not appropriate for everyone (or perhaps anyone, for that matter).

Is the Gamer a Lamer?…

This is another movie with a cool underlying concept ruined by packing it full of filth, filming portions in delightful shaky cam, and hoping the over-stylized violence will blind you to the fact that you don’t care about any of the characters. It uses a video game aesthetic, and perhaps appropriately so, but you will likely have more fun playing a video game than watching Gamer. For a more satisfying gladiatorial experience, trade in the guns for swords and go watch Gladiator again.

Brian Fuller—Team ClearPlay. Battles Won: 3

Rated R for frenetic sequences of strong brutal violence throughout, sexual content, nudity and language.; 95 min; Directed By Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor