Review of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) by Lorenzo V — 06 Sep 2011

"Don't get chumpatized".

Diehard video game fans compete to break World Records on classic arcade games.

REVIEW.

The King Of Kong is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. I might be a bit biased since I'm a long time video gamer but even a non- video gamer would find this one to be utterly interesting.

Steve Wiebe, a then unemployed schoolteacher, decides to try and break arcade ace Billy Mitchell's long-standing score at Donkey Kong. He does so and that begins his rocky road to getting a bunch of gaming nerds to recognize him for his efforts.

It's amazing to see Billy Mitchell (who comes off as the Brad Pitt of video gaming) using his smarmy charm and stroke to control the nerds who kowtow him when it comes to his beloved Donkey Kong record. All Steve Wiebe wants is recognition for his prowess at Donkey Kong; he doesn't really want to join Walter Day and his merry nerds. However, we see Billy Mitchell (who doesn't play a single game in the film) continually belittle Wiebe, talk about how great he is and use BS tactics to keep Wiebe away from his record. The Twin Galaxy nerds want to accept Steve but they are so under Billy the Egotist's thumb that they can't lest they lose their biggest "star". It's sad to see people simply let one guy walk all over them and think they deserve to be respected.

We see a group of people fighting over something so trivial as a video game score record and it's a shock. That something so insignificant is taken so seriously will surprise many people.

This is one documentary worth seeing just to see some real hardcore video gamers trading barbs and talking big. These guys didn't stop after the filming. Billy, Steve and a few others are still trying to be The King Of Kong as we speak.