Now on Amazon: Gerard Butler has made some insane films in his career, but nothing beats the sci-fi fever dream that is Gamer. To this day, there is no uncensored, German version – despite 3 different versions.
The action film Gamer is like the internet itself: completely insane. In the bubblegum-and-latex cracker, Gerard Butler shoots his way through a deadly online gaming world. However, the ultra-brutal action was too much for the German mind at the end of the 2000s and it was released in a shortened FSK-18 version. As of today, you can stream Gamer in this version on Amazon Prime Video with a subscription.
To this day, despite several versions, there is no completely uncensored, German version – and blame it on too-loud neck snaps.
There are 3 German versions of Gamer with Gerard Butler – Amazon Prime Video doesn’t stream the most blatant
The plot of Gamer is as simple as it is harrowing: a billionaire invents a perfidious online game in which convicts sentenced to death are controlled by so-called gamers. The prisoners compete against each other in real life and mercilessly shoot each other over the head. Kable (Gerard Butler) is controlled by the teenager Simon (Logan Lerman) – so successfully that his pardon is within reach.
In the modern gladiator fights, bones break, body parts fly and sweat, blood and screams mix. This is a new level of twisted cruelty even for directing duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank). Because it doesn’t just stay with the arena shooter. Humans are also put into perverse The Sims-versions, where gamers have them maltreat and torment each other.
Amber Valetta and Gerard Butler
Cutting Reviews breaks down the framing snafu from Gamer. Fearing that the film would have to be cut for the cinema at short notice, German distributor Universum Film shortened it by 20.8 seconds right from the start. You can now stream this FSK-18 cinema version on Amazon Prime Video.
Later, an FSK-16 version was released on DVD, missing a full 8 minutes and 33 seconds. The most blatant version is only available on Blu-ray in Germany. It is advertised as “uncut”. However, this is only true for the original English soundtrack. For the German soundtrack, a few neck snaps that cracked too loudly were toned down.
