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The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
Director: Seth Gordon
Synopsis
‘The King of Kong’ is a documentary about the intense rivalry between two videogame enthusiasts. Billy Mitchell is the emperor of the arcade who set the world record for ‘Donkey Kong’ way back in 1982. Steve Weibe is a high school teacher and devoted father and husband who has struggled all his life to make ends meet. A likeable character, he intends to turn his life around by defeating Mitchell’s score, and director Seth Gordon’s quirky film follows his remarkable journey.
Movie review
From Time Out New York
As iron sharpens iron, so one man’s video-game prowess sharpens another’s—or at least until someone is too chicken to compete face-to-face. Here endeth the lesson of this moderately entertaining and ultimately kind of pathetic look at the race to be the best Donkey Kong player ever.
For more than two decades, that crown rested on the head of hypercompetitive Billy Mitchell. When, in 1982, other chumps couldn’t eke out a high score past 200,000, Mitchell racked up a dizzying tally of 874,300. That number stood until 2004, when genial science teacher Steve Wiebe scored a personal best of 985,600. Seduced by Mitchell’s aura of invincibility, official scorekeepers questioned the results and insisted on a public do-over. And so the battle began.
The aggressively nerdy subculture of early-’80s quarter-slingers is explored better in Lincoln Ruchti’s yet-to-be-released Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade. This film’s look at their ongoing exploits isn’t as affectionate or illuminating, simply because their present-day core objective is so deeply trivial, and yet their hunger for recognition is so desperate. Presenting these lives as a parable about the merits of good sportsmanship is even more of a stretch; when the game is over, all that’s left is a low-scoring portrait of human vanity.
Author: Stephen Garrett
Time Out New York Issue 620: August 16–22, 2007
User reviews of this film
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- Eyce said...
- Posted on Aug 18 2007 08:55 33% my arse.
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- Ben said...
- Posted on Aug 17 2007 21:58 It's time to quit your job as a film critic. The trivial nature of their goal and the intensity with which they pursue it is exactly what makes this movie so great. You have missed the point of this film completely. I suggest your boss re-check your credentials before allowing you to review anything else.
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- Bob said...
- Posted on Aug 17 2007 19:46 Funny you charactize “their present-day core objective" as "so deeply trivial." What is reviewing movies?? Yet you want (or should if you don't) to be the best at it.
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- mike said...
- Posted on Aug 17 2007 19:08 You my friend are sad little man. Well I guess since every other review columnist gave this film an A+, there had to be some moron out there that had to be different. Just to get some attention, how childish, I feel sorry for you>
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- NIgh said...
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Posted on Aug 17 2007 17:39
Wait a minute, “Stephen”, if that is your real name. Your review sounds like it was written by Billy Mitchell himself.
Describing this utterly engrossing film as “moderately entertaining” would be like calling the Bible fairly popular among religious types. The character arch-types that play out are classic. The quotes throughout are unforgettable. The twist and turns of the seemingly in-coincidental plot is amazingly fascinating.
But you continue to say that “their present-day core objective is so deeply trivial, and yet their hunger for recognition is so desperate”, and you’d be absolutely right. My present-day trivial objective is in-proportionate to my desperate hunger for recognition.... yours too, and probably 90% of the entire world are stuck in these worlds that, in the long run, are pointless and trivial yet we still strive away our hardest to achieve to become masters of these skin-deep realities. That is life. That is humanity. And that is exactly what makes this documentary worth watching, and even more, captivating. - Report as inappropriate
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- Mark said...
- Posted on Aug 17 2007 11:45 Wow, you simply could not be more wrong. This is probably one of the funniest films I have seen in years, certainly more entertaining than 99.9% of documentaries. By focusing on something most people consider deeply trival, KING OF KONG shows you the lengths that people will go to in order to have a 'world record", even if that record is in Pac Man or Donkey Kong. These guys go at it as if they were trying to get a gold medal and their focus is absolutely affecting and kind of hilarious. This is ultimately a very human comedy, pitting a lovable underdog (possibly THE most lovable underdog) against a total dinosaur from 1984 and it has funny in spades.
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