The King of Kong

Plot synopsis:
In 1980s Ottumwa, Iowa, Walter Day founds Twin Galaxies, an organization formed to keep track of high scores achieved on arcade games. The organization rises to national prominence after it and several high-scoring players are featured in a Life Magazine spread. One of those players is Billy Mitchell, who, having achieved the highest ever recorded scores on Donkey Kong and Centipede in the 1980s, remains a video game legend in 2005. Mitchell, a restaurateur by trade, maintains a strong relationship with both Day and Twin Galaxies, which has now become a global organization. Mitchell is portrayed as unabashedly cocky and fond of self-promotion, proclaiming himself the "Sauce King" of Florida for his successful line of homemade hot sauces. Next to his family, Mitchell considers his arcade scores to be his greatest life achievements.
On the other side of the country, in Redmond, Washington, Boeing engineer Steve Wiebe has recently been laid off. His friends and his wife, Nicole, describe him as an unfortunate figure who always comes up short due to his obsessive compulsive disorder, despite being proficient at music, sports, art, and mathematics. He was a star baseball pitcher but was injured and unable to pitch in the state championship; he is a gifted drummer but will only play music at home. Preparing to get back into the workforce, Wiebe begins going to night school to get a master's degree and obtains a Donkey Kong machine to play in his garage to relax in between studying. After reading about Mitchell's world record of 874,300 on the internet, Wiebe focuses on mastering Donkey Kong. Using his knowledge of mathematics to identify certain patterns and timing intervals in the game, Wiebe successfully achieves a score of 1,006,600 points. Wiebe submits a tape to Twin Galaxies, which propels him to becoming a local celebrity and news topic as the new world record holder for a few weeks.
Mitchell sends his self-styled protege, retired banker turned pro-gamer Brian Kuh, to investigate Wiebe's machine. Kuh learns that the machine's circuit board was provided by Roy Shildt, a self-proclaimed fitness guru and pickup artist who claims to hold the high score for Missile Command. Unbeknownst to Wiebe, Shildt and Mitchell have been nemeses for years ever since Mitchell caused Shildt's high score to be brought under scrutiny, preventing him from receiving official recognition from Twin Galaxies. Since then, Shildt has been looking for a way to exact clandestine revenge on Mitchell. Based on Wiebe's association with Shildt, the staff of Twin Galaxies suspects that Wiebe's board might have been tampered with and that he may have achieved his score dishonestly.
In order to prove his gaming skills, Wiebe travels to Funspot Arcade in Laconia, New Hampshire, to perform a high score live for Twin Galaxies founder Walter Day and other high-ranking members of Twin Galaxies, hoping to confront Mitchell and play head-to-head. Although Mitchell does not attend, he sends Kuh to observe Wiebe's play. Just prior to the kill screen, Kuh gathers a large crowd to witness Wiebe's achievement. Wiebe reaches the kill screen and also achieves a new world record. Contrary to his own assertion that scores achieved in public carry more validity than videotaped scores, Mitchell immediately sends a low-quality VHS to Funspot, depicting himself achieving a higher score of 1,047,200 points. Despite Wiebe's protests that his own first score was disqualified for being submitted via unsupervised videotape, Twin Galaxies accepts Mitchell's score over Wiebe's and proclaims that Mitchell's new score makes Mitchell the record holder once again.
Nine months later, Wiebe learns that Guinness World Records wants to publish several of Twin Galaxies' records — including Mitchell's latest score. Wiebe and his family travel to Hollywood, Florida, near Mitchell's home, to challenge him in a public competition, but Mitchell refuses to accept the challenge, and Wiebe fails to surpass a million points. Nevertheless, Day, on behalf of Twin Galaxies, finally acknowledges Wiebe's integrity and credibility and apologizes for how Wiebe was treated. Day presents Wiebe with a special award and welcomes him to continue submitting scores to Twin Galaxies.
In a coda to the film, Wiebe achieves the world record of 1,049,100 in his garage.

Tags: psychedelic

Review:
Not since Rocky- and maybe even better in its exuberance and humility- has one seen a tale of the underdog and the king played out in odds that should seem somewhat silly.But what's so amazing is how first-time director Seth Gordon plunges the viewer into this world, and it's immediately recognizable to anyone over 18 and under, well, 55 to 100- anyone who's ever gone to play one of the "old-school" arcade games like Donkey Kong or Pacman/Mrs. Pacman or even Pong.
Characterization can be a tricky thing for the documentary director to deal with, but in King of Kong it becomes something of a controversy left by the wayside as Billy surpasses Steve's score with a game he played recorded on videotape- while Steve set his score by an official Twin Galaxies referee (Walter Day, to be exact, who's a character in and of himself)- with more than a few skips right were the score should register.
Saying it skims the line of reality and mockumentary comes with the territory- after a while watching Mitchell is like watching someone who's improvising as he goes along, hiding behind his perfectionist guise as a world-class champ and purveyor of fine hot sauces with his fake-buxom wife and lackeys watching every move Steve makes.Aside from it being compelling storytelling as one sees the transformation of Steve from failed baseball pitcher and drummer to a Donkey Kong (and Donkey Kong Junior) champ, making all-time high scores while his kids cry about their poor behinds, it's one of the best kinds of sport-genre features in years.
This time there's no pressure to push it into what's expected: we genuinely care what happens in this battle of the joystick, as Steve sheds genuine tears playing his ass off at all accounts of live events whilst Billy sulks away in his living room hearing the updates on his phone.As far as triumph-of-the-human-spirit stories go, King of Kong is hilarious entertainment, sometimes for all the strangest (Day's would-be musical career) and silliest reasons (what's so special about the Guiness book of records, Steve's daughter asks), but engrossing as documentaries should get- one of the best of the year in fact..
Even though you would think the chief demographic of forty year old virgins and basement-ridden, antisocial, hardcore, old-school gamers would flip the bill, Kong immediately offers so much more on so many different levels of psychological and sociological intrigue that anyone not self-conscious enough to feel embarrassed for investing an emotional stake into a Donkey Kong showdown, (highlighting a bittersweet anti-climax) will find themselves deep inside a world they never thought imaginable.The mock-epic tone, which so many supporting characters delightfully contribute to, feels seized by director Seth Gordon and infused into his charming take on good-vs-evil, letting this potentially inspiring metaphor stretch it's wings into a blossomed, well-rounded quirk-fest far more fun then it's rigorous gaming pedigree would suggest..
But by the end of it, you will see what it means to stand up for what it's right, to stand up against your friend, to find the will to continue after what seems to be endless hurdles, and to stay decent and true when it feels like it doesn't do you anymore good - all play out in front of you in a movie about Donkey Kong.As the credits roll, you will continue to find yourself rooting fervidly for the film's protagonist, Steve Wiebe, and wish that he does find what he is looking for..
I had never heard of Billy Mitchel before the previews of this film came out- in fact I never knew there was a video game champion of the nation- I never knew there were records kept and scores to beat other than the proverbial 9999999.
It's just tooooo hokey.Steve Weibe looked like the only normal human being in this film, but if you read the ending graphics, you have to ask how many "nomral family men"would be traveling all over the U.S. to set a video game record?
As a result it is surprisingly gripping considering it is a film about grown men playing a retro video game and you will be willing Steve on in his attempts and really feeling for him when things go against him.In the aims of fairness though, it must be noted that a lot of this is brought out in the edit and I can totally understand those involved having issues with how they have been presented.
However, beyond individual feelings this didn't matter to me and actually I think Gordon deserves credit for what he managed to produce in the editing room because he has made a film better than many of the comedy sports underdog films out there  yes it is a shame that Mitchell looks like a pr*ck to get this, but the film is gripping and fun enough to prevent you thinking about this while watching.As well as the drama the film is also surprisingly funny.
This stuff runs constantly and well but there are also some great lines scattered around outside of this  the best coming from Steve's daughter who can't understand why anyone would care about the Guinness book of records.The King of Kong seems a limited-interest film that will only appeal to geeks but this is far from the truth.
it's actually a battle between two very different personalities in a very rarefied and unique crowd of people who don't just take video games seriously but even view the masters of these games as heroes and leaders.The messiah of this strange subculture is Billy Mitchell who at 17 years of age achieved fame by setting several world records at various classic arcade games just as the video game craze had peaked.
We realize we're seeing a personality cult straight out of a college textbook.Then enters Steve Wiebe who has built a Donkey Kong game from spare parts in his garage and clearly breaks Mitchell's "unbreakable" record on it.
What can you say about a movie that pits one of the central themes of the 80's with all the characters that you could possibly muster in a mocumentary that is reality!Billy Mitchell should be up for villain of the year.King of Kong is well done in it's ability to take engineering and technical aspects of gaming and presenting it commercially and in a visually descriptive fashion.
One of the more fascinating and novel documentaries that I have seen about a surprisingly eccentric topic.In a world of quirky and odd characters, we are introduced to Steve Wiebe, an emotional and heart warming character, who is trying desperately to win the title of a classic video game, King Kong.
The superb documentary, "King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" takes us to a strange and fascinating world in which otherwise reasonable, responsible adults compete to become the high scoring champions of such video arcade classics as Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Asteroids, and, of course, the inimitable Donkey Kong.Seth Gordon's film focus on two key players in the field, Billy Mitchell, who has held the high-scoring record for Donkey Kong since 1982, and Steve Wiebe, who, in 2005 (the time of the movie), was threatening to knock Mitchell off his throne.
For Wiebe emerges as a pretty decent guy overall, a bit obsessed with the game perhaps (as, indeed, any person bucking for the title of world champion would have to be), but a comparatively modest, hardworking family man who is treated rather shabbily by the official record keepers of the sport, Twin Galaxies (though they do tend to redeem themselves somewhat at the end).
In fact, Weebe spends most of his time in the film simply trying to get some of his record scores accepted by Twin Galaxies."King of Kong" would make an impressive double feature with "Air Guitar Nation," yet another study of a fringe world filled with obsessive/compulsive players and cutthroat competition.
Steve Wiebe in particular (one of the forerunners in the battle for the Donkey Kong world record) is something of an everyman, a family man who usurps the stigmatic connotations associated with gamers - he was both an athlete and musician in his younger days, and now enjoys the (more than) occasional pop at Donkey Kong on his home arcade machine, as his wife and child look on.The King of Kong avoids the pitfalls that beset many specialist documentaries, in that they assume that the viewer has knowledge of the particular field.
If you read interviews on discussion boards and articles on the Twin Galaxies website, you are likely to think very differently of Mitchell than this documentary attests, but the dichotomy of a villain and a hero made this film all the more enthralling, and it's not as though Gordon was manipulating a social or political issue, so I'll let him off.Through all of the passive-aggressive attacks on one another, with all of the supposedly modified devices and doctored videos aside, the superbly telegraphed build-up leads to what is quite literally the war to settle the score.
Which must suck for some of the people, especially video game champion Billy Mitchell, whom the film makes look like an utter jerk.
A man who is so slimy and unlikable that he makes you want to vomit , yet is held in high esteem by the video game nerds and Steve Wiebe , a family man who despite being genuine nice guy and the best player of Donkey Kong ever , has obstacles put in his way to stop him getting the world record.This is a great little documentary.
Over something so trivial as a video game, a truly emotional human-interest struggle results, making you really care about the major players (one way or the other) in the end.So, while "King of Kong" will obviously appeal the most to hard-core gamers (especially those who grew up in that era), it can also at least be appreciate by those just looking for a compelling, fun, interesting documentary.
Billy Mitchell is the reigning Donkey Kong champion, and classic video game legend, and Steve Wiebe has been chasing the record.
In one, very important aspect, The King of Kong is a truly great documentary film; it manages to address a subject that would seem silly to most viewers at first - that of competitive (to the point of obsessive) classic-video gaming - and make them care about it.
Directed by Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses, Modern Family) the film follows underdog Steve Wiebe as he attempts to break the world record for highest score on Nintendo's 1981 arcade classic.
However, the peculiar record holder, Billy Mitchell, is ready to undermine his new rival at every turn, manipulating nerds and ducking numerous open challenges to determine who is the best.As with any good documentary, King of Kong explores a weird and wonderful world unlike anything seen before.
The polar combination of Wiebe (pronounced Wee Bee – don't get it wrong), a quiet and clean-cut science teacher with a young family, and Mitchell, the paranoid hot-sauce mogul who looks like a magician, makes for a very entertaining watch, and at only 90 minutes, the film flies by.Aside from the novel plot, assured direction, and excellent editing, the movie is abound with memorable characters that will stick in your head for weeks.
So your already siding with Steve and this only becomes stronger when you get to know Billy and the hostile network he builds up around Steve to try and discredit his high scores.During the movie you can't help but smirk with the seriousness that they take their arcade games but then again you have to respect them for being able to achieve these scores that you and I are never going to even come close to achieving.It was especially well produced and I liked the way in which there seemed to be minimal involvement from the documentary makers.
Seth Gordon's documentary puts that into perspective quite well in addition to capturing some unique and quirky subjects who make for compelling characters."King of Kong" establishes quickly that Billy Mitchell set the Donkey Kong record in 1982 and became the Tiger Woods of arcade gaming.
Around that time, LIFE magazine had put together a spread of the then-world record holders, which helped popularize the past time and lend credence to Twin Galaxies, a small group that was establishing itself as the official record keeper/verifier of game scores.Enter Steve Wiebe, a Washington native who as his family tells us, was so great at so many things but could claim the ultimate in any of his endeavors.
Truth is, the only reason they knew about that was because they intruded on Wiebe's property and examined his Donkey Kong Jr. game out of disbelief that someone not in their "fraternity of arcade guys" (whose poster boy is Billy Mitchell) could have beaten the score.When Wiebe goes out to Funspot, an arcade where Twin Galaxies founder Walter Day holds a live tournament every year for arcade games, he hopes breaking the record live will clear his name, but then we meet the whole cast of characters who worship Billy and start to realize how sad some of this is and how normal and well-meaning Steve is despite his competitive nature.
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is a 2007 American documentary film that follows Steve Wiebe as he tries to take the world high score for the arcade game Donkey Kong from reigning champion Billy Mitchell.
You can see Billy Mitchell's followers trying to trip Steve up and be extremely vindictive when he achieves the live record on the Kong machine.But, by far the most revolting character in the movie is the guy who is in charge of testing whether scores are fraudulent.
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.
The only difference is that one explores "The Golden Age of Gaming" more than a competition.The film follows video game world champion, Billy Mitchell who had world records on games Donkey Kong and Centipede.
Believing himself to be as close to perfection as you can imagine, Billy holds his world records with video games in particularly high esteem—the crown jewel being a score on classic game Donkey Kong of which nobody has even come close to beating out since he set it back in the early eighties.
As Wiebe concedes late into the film, the events slowly become less and less about Donkey Kong or video games, and more about that climb to the top—whether it's a mountain or a body of water, or in this case, platforms, barrels and lifts—and the struggle to get there.However, despite the movie's uncanny ability to strike emotion through its story and get you on the edge of your seat (this might be a little too subjective, but it isn't hard to see others being in the same position), there is a definite lack of integrity to Gordon's feature here that seems dubious.
I could care less about the video game world but for the 80 minutes I watched/watch this film, I care quite a bit about the people in this movie.First off, I do not feel this film vilifies Billy Mitchell, holder of the Donkey Kong high score record for over 20 years.
This is a well made Documentary about a mans attempt to break the world record score of the classic arcade game, Donkey Kong.
So, if you're looking for a documentary or a film that delivers some serious emotion and human drama, look no further.The King of Kong is about the story of Steve Weibe and Billy Mitchell.
The King of Kong follows these two men through their lives and their quest to become/maintain legend as being the best of the best at the classic video game Donkey Kong.Steve Weibe is you're good guy in the film and Billy Mitchell becomes your bad guy.
Still, neither of those documentaries moved me as much as "The King Of Kong" did, a movie about a guy trying to beat the high score world record at "Donkey Kong".
The characters: a long-time record holder for the highest score on Donkey Kong, and an up-and-comer.If you like video gaming, you might like this film.
Since 1982, Billy Mitchell who is a hot-sauce company owner in Hollywood Flordia, he's also a legendary video game wizard who has been making great scores playing "Donkey Kong" over many years even with "Centipede".
A film that will make you ask the question: "Are there really people like this living out there in the world?" "The King of Kong" chronicles the ongoing rivalry between two celebrities of the video gaming world: nice guy Steve Wiebe (pronounced WEE-bee) and jackass Billy Mitchell, world record holder for his Donkey Kong score.
The story follows Steve Wiebe, a family man from Washington trying to beat the arcade juggernaut Billy Mitchell's world record score on Donkey Kong.
But to overcome the challenges and try to claim the title of Donkey Kong master, he must face the opponent Billy Mitchell and his video game minions.This film is one of the most fun times I've had in a theater in long time.
It wasn't until the film was well into production, that the crew discovered the events surrounding Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell in the Donkey Kong high score tournament.
Most of the movie follows the struggles of Steve Wiebe in his attempt to become the leader of the world high score of the popular 1980s arcade game Donkey Kong.
A story about 'born loser' Steve Wiebe attempting to best well known and popular Billy Mitchell by beating his world record holding top Donkey Kong score is strangely compelling and extremely watchable.