MovieChat Forums > The Gamers: Hands of Fate (2013) Discussion > Festival vs Extended cut, and overall th...

Festival vs Extended cut, and overall thoughts


Just saw the Festival Cut yesterday. Originally saw the extended version online last Fall. The primary difference between the two is the presence of a Lodge/Joanna sub-plot in the extended version.

A few thoughts:

I rather liked the CCG backdrop. I thought it fertile ground to explore, ie, the die-hard gamer who looks down his nose at this contemptuous aspect of the gaming community decides to 'bust' the game in order to impress a girl, only to discover the appeal of the game itself. Well executed and enjoyable. Sadly, the rest of the cast got sidelined in the process. Would have been more fun had Cass convinced the whole crew to join in and allow the interaction to occur. Instead....

...Leo is transformed into an alternate character who was once one of the best players of this CCG. I do genuinely like his role here, but it is at odds with the Leo from Gamers 2. They could have made a little effort to explain the disparity. And...

...Gery is given a rather ridiculous sub-plot about his angst towards a children's TV show mascot. I thought it was fun, though by far the best CheebeeChan gag was the card match between Cass and the little girl, which had nothing to do with Gery at all. And....

...Lodge and Joanna are given a rather hit and miss sub-plot about relationship miscommunication. It has its moments but overall is a bit labored and cumbersome. The festival cut really does flow better without the Lodge/Joanna sub-plot. And...

...Our beloved 'in game' characters are relegated to a drag-on sub-plot about how real life interferes with gaming life. Yes, it's true to form, but if only they had picked a more interesting in game setting than a dinner party. An action scene that gets continually interrupted would have been much better, with greater potential for comic effect.

On the plus side:

Conner Maxx was wonderful. He brings such fantastic energy to any production.

The CCG in game scenes were well done. I thought the cartoonish look of the scenes to fit quite well with the CCG subject matter. And Roy Stanton stole the show with his performance as the Djinn.

Several other secondary performances also really shine, notably Meach, Dundereel and Byron?, (Leo's shop employee).

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