The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Brilliant and touching

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This film is a masterpiece. It is likely the first esports documentary before there was esports. It is much more than that however. Steve Wiebe seems to be driven to prove his value in a way that seems akin to compulsion. At his core he is an honest man that cannot help but be himself. His honesty paints a picture of a victim in the film. He wears his humiliation and acknowledges it. Billy Mitchell has the exact same flaws but is not honest to himself or others. His manner of coping with defeat is to mask, hide and ultimately we find out, cheat. This is, at its core a film about how two men, compelled to prove their worth, handle defeat and humiliation. It's highly relatable because we all do one or the other. I relate to Mitchell for example and this film has aided me in identifying this flaw. It not like I changed or anything, cuz I'm so great, but yea, at least now I have a glimpse at the appearance of my masquerade.

I have to admit that I don't understand what makes these people so driven to conquer this game and go down in the history books for being so great at it. It was casual curiosity that made me watch this. But I was surprised by how interested I became. Billy Mitchell is the reigning Donkey Kong champion, and classic video game legend, and Steve Wiebe has been chasing the record. You may not understand the obsession but you find yourself enthralled in the drama and rooting for these guys (well, one of them anyway). As the documentary goes along there develops a good guy and a bad guy. There is the drama of the taint of cheating and the possibility of conspiracies and the emotions of a lifetime of striving and falling just short so many times. There is a cast of quirky supporting characters on one side or the other, some conflicted and some just interested observers but all woven into the surprisingly complex and intense world of competitive gaming.

As a lover of vintage video games, and having grown up through their development, I have a nostalgic passion for the likes of Pac Man, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Scramble and Battlezone.This documentary brings all that flooding back, but adds real drama and intrigue. Like Star Wars, there is an obvious Dark Side and Light Side, but the outcome is never obvious.Being a sceptical sort, I'm not going to commit without rigorous study, but this movie sure shows the perils associated with trusting evidence without scientific scrutiny.Who am I to judge whether the movie presents a balanced interpretation? All I can say is that this movie is gripping, fun, human and educational.Enjoy.

Two men face off for the Donkey Kong world record. That doesn't sound like the subject matter of a thoroughly engrossing documentary, to be sure. But thanks to a clear good-vs-evil narrative, a cast of fascinating players and some terrific editing, "The King of Kong" is undoubtedly the most watchable (not to mention rewatchable) documentary I've ever seen. The world record for arguably the most difficult arcade game in existence belongs to (as of this doc's filming) Billy Mitchell. Mitchell has been a superstar in the world of competitive gaming for many years; and thanks to this film, he's now known to us non-gamers, as well. Armed with his lustrous mullet and neverending stream of motivational bromides, Mitchell moves with alpha-male swagger, an unlikely center of adulation among the rather geeky crowd of competitive gamers. Enter Steve Wiebe, a family man from Washington state who accepts the challenge of besting Mitchell and claiming the ultimate record. Wiebe possesses in himself a near-OCD need to succeed, albeit without all of the bumper-sticker philosophizing. Standing between the two is Walter Day, acting as referee in the battle for supremacy. Day is the figurehead of Twin Galaxies, the foremost record- keeper in arcade gaming. It is essentially the story of the newcomer vs. the grizzled veteran, with Wiebe's record-breaking videotape submission being denied (out of suspicion of cheating) by Twin Galaxies in favor of performing live in a sanctioned arcade. It's here where we see the film's cast of oddities really come to life, from nerdish Mitchell devotees to downright conspiratorial backroom dealings. Everyone here elicits a reaction, whether it's jeering or just pitying some schmoe who devotes his every free minute to playing video games. But it's Wiebe's central underdog story that keeps the film dramatic and interesting. We go through the journey with him, from triumph to heartache, from rationalizing to getting back on that horse for another go. It's a deeply personal story, and it's one that many of us can relate to. What's impressive about "The King of Kong" is that it's a highly-entertaining movie about a niche subject; but the way in which the movie approaches that material makes it accessible to the rest of us who don't play Donkey Kong. That Seth Gordon and Co. are able to make us care about (some of) these people and get fired up is remarkable, indeed. And it's a movie I can't get enough of.9/10