The Controller (2008) User Reviews

Pretty bad acting

[gypsyhippie71 · 2/10 · 7 December 2014]

I am watching this now and all I can say is lol! It sorta looks like a group of friends got together in a small town and decided to make a "film". The main character's acting is just terrible. Most of the supporting casts' acting is "OK", at best, but still better than the main character. Fragmaster is pretty funny tho.

The film quality is professional looking but the acting IS NOT.

Kind of makes me want to grab some of my friends and make a "film"! I think younger kids (younger than 15 or 16) would enjoy this movie.

Overall, good movie for kids and pre-teens. I guess OK to watch if there is nothing else on t.v. (like I'm doing now). I will never watch again tho if there is nothing else on t.v. I will just turn it off lol.

Stunningly Awful

[jabrbi · 2/10 · 20 July 2014]

If this film had been made in 1978 then it MIGHT be considered prescient. The fact that it was actually made in 2008 shows that the writers, director and producers couldn't even look back at recent history and construct a contemporary film.

Plot: A billionaire owner of a games software company finds that his wife has been kidnapped and he has to hire a team of game players to fight their way through a customised version of his best-selling game to rescue his wife. To make things worse, the billionaire is locked in a room whilst playing the game.

As a premise there are some intriguing possibilities but the writers clearly have no idea how online gaming works so the whole plot line collapses into absurdities. For example, only certain servers in the world could possibly host the game being played and they could be identified in seconds. (I'd say more but then I'd have to give out spoilers.) And the final plot twist is truly, truly awful. Unbelievably awful. However, the twist does explain why so much that has gone before doesn't make sense.

This is clearly a budget production, with shaky camera work, bad actors, and unbelievably bad dialogue. In the 21st Century how do you struggle to find a competent actor to play a CEO character? The guy first appears in a meeting, jet-lagged from a flight from Japan, and then goes through the rest of the film in a similar state. It's like the actor's on tranquillisers and nobody called the doctor to sort him out. Most of the other actors aren't much better, but they at least appear awake most of the time. The one exception is Tank Jones - yes, that's his name. He's by far the best actor on screen.

The in-game graphics are very poor, but that might have been state of the art when the film was made. Also, not much happens within the game given that players are playing for 8 hours. And how about the billionaire who's stuck in a room with no food and no toilet? In trying to find a way to sum up this movie, the word that came to mind is SNOOZEFEST. If you manage to stay awake until the end you'll wonder just when you turned into such a masochist. Go have some root canal work done, it's quicker and less painful than watching this film.

SuperBad Acting & Horrible Animation

[mprush12 · 1/10 · 29 March 2010]

I watched this movie last night and right away noticed that the animation and acting sucked. I watched about 40 minutes of it hoping the film would get better it didn't. I wanted so much to turn it off however I had already committed myself to 40 minutes of the movie so I watched the rest. This movie was funny only because they tried to make this so real and suspenseful. The actors tried so hard but it was just so obvious there was no real talent here and it made the film horrible. OK, enough about the acting lets talk about the graphics/special effects. Lets just say the graphics of the movie were equivalent to a 1996 Sega game. It's jaw dropping how a movie from 2008 can be so behind the times. I wonder what kind of budget they had and if the movie even made enough to cover it. OK so overall this was a poor movie, but since I suffered through it I want you too also. I have been trying to trick my friends into watching this but after seeing the trailer they just laughed and said "hell no"

Wooden Acting and Worse Animation

[chicagorob1 · 28 April 2009]

This movie had the quality of a high school production. Some of the actors were terrible, especially the one playing William Bell. Some of the "Armchair Combatants" were pretty good, though. It's hard to believe this was made in 2008. The "animation" for the battle scenes looked like something from the early 90's. There's shareware that can do a better job, when someone knows how to use it. The "twist" ending was obvious in the first 10 minutes. It extremely stupid and unoriginal (think "The Game" with Michael Douglas). Skip the The Controller and instead get TRON, it's special effects were more realistic even though it was 26 years earlier.

I've learned something new...

[spikeanangel · 1/10 · 10 January 2022]

Honestly, make sure you are logged in to IMBd when looking for reviews, last night I wasn't and saw 6/10 8/10 even 9/10 reviews for this utter rubbish. This morning, I log in and the first reviews show what this film really is.

Please don't waste your time as I did, the acting is terrible, I didn't even find anything in the first 45 minutes humorous, it's just a boring storyline that they have tried to plump out with gaming.

Whilst on the subject, I'm not a gamer, never have been, however, I played "Halo" twenty or so years ago, once or twice and the animation in that game, back then is far better than in this movie....

A Remarkable Film

[tosser-8 · 9/10 · 15 June 2009]

This is a remarkable effort for an indie film. One and half hours of HD live drama spliced with gaming animation and a unique sound track. Being kid friendly with a little risqué comedy (Benny Hill would have been proud). There were some standout performances, notably Fragmaster and the ever irrepressible Knarf37. Masterchief deserves a special mention, his comedy timing and screen interaction with Mrs Masterchief proved to be first class entertainment. I would love to see more of them acting together in a romantic comedy - bravo!! The HD camera work showed artistry,clearly combined with a considerable amount of experience. Great scene angles, lighting and sound. The sound track alone is worth the price of the DVD.

Time killer

[jahnhenrik · 6/10 · 25 December 2014]

THIS IS GREAT FUN! Not too good actors. Sometimes ( in the beginning) you feel that they are reading directly from the manuscript. They are "stiff" as zombies! And sometimes I was wondering if the director had a day off... The plot is OK. This COULD have been a great one with real players and real directors. Could have been a good SF in fact now that we have "good" tools to make it.... But the mix of "real" and VR? Great for relaxing! Okay -I guess X-Box (Microsoft) payed for the whole shabang, but still! Loved it! :) Maybe a little violent for kids. But as a time killer? Have fun even though it's kind of old. ;)To end this outburst: This is not a great movie. This is not even a "good" movie. This is totally relaxing. Just bare with the first 15 minutes and you will either fall asleep or enjoy. :)

You're Kidding Me, Right?

[lemon_magic · 8 September 2011]

I spent a fair amount of time on Playstation and Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 in the late 90's and on X-Box in early 2003 or so, so I might be considered part of the target audience for this film. It's not as if I don't understand the conventions of computer games and the way they approach story telling.

But let's be honest here - "The Controller" is a horrible misfire. I happened across it one night on a cable channel and was transfixed by the amazingly bad graphics and the awful dialog the actors were forced to mouth.

I can't judge whether the actors were actually any good or not because the dialog they had to work with was impossible for any live human being to deliver. Seriously, if you were a writer and tried to pass this for dialog in a cut scene from "Net/Hack" or "Metal Gear Solid" or any other video or computer game from 2008 (or 1998), the game producers would have had you beaten to a pulp.

Maybe it's my imagination, but I swear I can see the actors dying inside and hating themselves and each other as they try to make these wretched scenes work.

Supposedly this was an independent venture. I tend to believe that, because no real experienced producer would have allowed this thing to be released.

Good Job

[luis-225 · 9/10 · 17 June 2009]

It gets a 9 out of 10, comedy, action, the gorgeous Mrs Master Chief, the insane but comic Mr Master Chief and the typical teenager Knarf37 make this film a must for all young at heart. This is a wonderful, fun and interesting movie. Although the primary cast aren't actors as a first profession, they are very natural together and the film flows very well because of it. Don't listen to the comments left on this page by idiots who don't get the film. They have no idea what it takes to produce an independent feature film containing vast amounts of video game imagery. So the plot wasn't full of 'save the world' ambitions and the good guy was a millionaire, can anyone say Bill Gates, but who cares? It was a gorgeous straightforward film about two people who love each other. After hearing about this movie at the Kids First Festival, I was sad I wouldn't get a chance to see it. Luckily it's being shown on the Stars network I just saw it and it's a wonderful movie.

very nice

[llcasel · 7/10 · 5 December 2020]

The reviewers have different opinions, the acting is b-movie i agree there and i see its advertising for xbox a little but also giving a good impression howto handle the controller. i guessed the plot right, but it did keep me on the edge of my seat, esp since i recognised some real player roots like 23 and 1337 , my lappy got a small screen so i think the real players will find some more symbolics. ive rated it at 7 (think i saw one in the movie too) because its a nice movie and there is more in it then the average viewer sees. game on. llcasel

Great family film

[mfmoviefan00 · 10/10 · 18 June 2009]

I was recently visiting friends in Kona, Hawaii and we ran into The Controller showing at a local film festival. My son and I really enjoyed it. It was very ambitious for an independent film, but it was fun and entertaining throughout. And unlike most indie films, I could enjoy it with my son. He especially liked PappaPooh. This character was trying to play this online video game and take care of his two young children at the same time. Needless to say that caused many funny moments. Also, there was a lot of CG in the movie, and although it was not to "Hollywood standards", it seemed to fit into the framework of the movie and created some good action moments. Overall, we were really impressed. I'm glad someone finally made a movie about a hobby that millions of people enjoy, including myself.

Awesome

[dazarchapman-587-953178 · 9/10 · 26 December 2014]

I watched this film after it being given as a gift, and thought it was great.

Being an online gamer myself I really appreciated the film as I believe it was meant to be seen.

Spoilers ahoy

After getting past the blatant wooden acting from the main protagonist the movie really takes off when it introduces the pro- gamers.

OK the ending with the whole wife twist was so obvious and unnecessary, and the CGI was way below average. But I had a right blast watching it, identifying all the gaming references and relating to the gamers.

All this movie needs is for some big company to take the story and make it more Hollywoodized. Add top of the line CGI and you could be onto a real winner.

Don't listen to all the other reviews here slating the film, just give it a go if the idea takes your fancy.

Very exciting and often funny

[vchimpanzee · 8 January 2015]

The movie doesn't start as a comedy, but once competitors have to be found it turns into a comedy. For example, PappaPooh happens to be home with his kids in Portland, Oregon, which provides many opportunities for laughs. Once the action begins, while there is comedy, it's not as much a part of the movie as it was earlier.

The actors playing the competitors are really good, and they make us care about them. There are plenty of laughs as well as touching moments.

The actress playing Captain Jenkins does a capable job. Her second in command is good for a few laughs.

The one major weakness is Bob Rue as William. He seems like he is auditioning for the role, or perhaps reading with the person auditioning for another role. While he has his moments, he should have been told, "Thank you, we'll let you know."

The video game art is what I will call video game realistic. Not real realistic, but quite detailed.

I have no experience whatsoever with video games of any type, and the closest I have gotten to this type of experience is an episode of "Community". Still, I had a good time.

It's quite entertaining.