King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Movie Title-- King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Release Year-- 2007

Running Time-- 1 Hour 23 Minutes

Film Type-- Documentary

Film Director-- Seth Gordon

Cast-- Billy Mitchell, Steve Wiebe, Steve Saunders, Walter Day, Robert Mruczek, Brian Kuh, Roy Shildt

This documentary showcases the competitive side of arcade style video games and the rivalries that are created when a new competitor steps up to challenge the record holder of “Donkey Kong”.

I have to say thanks to my brother Nick for not only recommending this documentary to me but for watching it with me as well. He had mentioned before that this film would be something that he would like to see and once I told him I was writing out a film review on a documentary once a week, he asked if I would like to watch it with him. He, however, knew the some of the story behind this film that I did not.

I will not lie, when he told me about this film, I wasn't impressed. I kinda thought that it was going to be about a bunch of nerds, standing around playing arcade games (and although some of it WAS nerds standing around playing video games) it certainly wasn't all about that. The viewer is first introduced to this competitive world of arcade games and then quickly thrust into the “world” of Billy Mitchell. He set the world record in “Donkey Kong” in 1982 with a score of 874,300. Billy held 5 world records in arcade games including “Pac-Man” and of course, “Donkey Kong”.

Then we are introduced to Steve Wiebe, a man from Washington state that took an interest in “Donkey Kong”, even so far as to get an arcade game and set it up in his garage. Steve is said by many people in the film (including his wife and parents) to be very talented with his hands, however he seems to fail at everything he tries, that is until he starts playing “Donkey Kong”. So I don't spoil the film, I won't say much more than that but from this point a rivalry springs up between Steve and Billy.

Watching the film, I tended to start to favor Steve over Billy. In my own opinion, Billy Mitchell is an arrogant asshole that likes having things his way only, so whenever it seems like someone is threatening his “championship title”, he does what he can to prove that he is better than everyone else. The only thing that Billy proves is that he is an ass. Steve is my hero. He is an average guy that is doing his best at something he loves and although some of Billy's actions discourage him, he keeps doing what it is he loves, playing “Donkey Kong” to show that he has the skills to be a record holder.

The last half hour he is shown in Florida, playing for a chance to be put in the “Guinness Book of World Records” as the highest score in “Donkey Kong”. One of my favorite parts of this film is when he is talking to his daughter about the Guinness Book and she says that she doesn't understand the importance of the book and then goes on to say “Some people ruin their loves just to be in there”. Hats off to you Jillian Wiebe (although you probably shouldn't have said that to your dad the day before the competition started).

All in all, this is a pretty good film for any vintage arcade gamers. If you don't think that Steve is awesome (not only at “Donkey Kong” but all around a good guy) then we didn't watch the same film. I hope you enjoy this film and don't forget the popcorn!