Great Film overall

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Beautiful, moving film.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I can't believe it's been nearly a decade since KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS was released. Seth Gordon's now-classic documentary is a superfunny documentary whether you are wild about vintage video games like Donkey Kong or not. Actually it's funnier if you don't care. Watch it. Now.

From the bad hair to the political machinations around something that virtually no one cares about, this is definitely a case of truth being stranger than fiction. A fascinating look into a community that most would think no longer existed. It is like going back in a time machine. This is an anthropological study that puts Margaret Mead to shame.The story is pitted as a classic tale of Good vs. Evil, and it holds up for the most part except Mr. Good is some guy who's ignoring his kids so he can sit in front of an arcade game in his garage for hours on end. And he's the most normal person in the film! (with the exception of his poor wife).Highly entertaining, highly recommended.

The movie started a little slowly for me, perhaps because I've never really played arcade games. It was only about halfway in that I found myself really caring what happened, essentially because the challenger, Steve Wiebe, emerges as a really nice, sincere guy and I found myself wanting him to win.To me, most of the other characters seemed clearly to be rooting for the champion, Billy Mitchell, even willing Wiebe to fail. I thought it was telling, for example, the way Brian Kuh seemed basically to try to distract Wiebe as he was approaching the record. Another scene that comes to mind was when the challenger and another guy show up at Mitchell's restaurant. The others are all there. They hadn't invited Wiebe and from their comments, they had plainly decided to exclude him from their clique.They talked about how mental strength was essential, but no one played mind games on their friend, the champion. They talked about how you had to prove yourself in public rather than just on video at home, but it seemed that requirement only applied to the challenger.Some reviewers have suggested all of this reveals how competitive the whole thing was, but to me, a group of the characters just came across as somewhat petty and mean spirited.Mitchell was the worst of all. Whereas at the beginning, he seemed quite likable, the impression of arrogance and entitlement he increasingly gave off as the documentary went on became quite unattractive.It's impossible to say whether all of this reflects the reality of what went on, or if the narrative emerged primarily out of the way the footage was edited. Whatever the truth, I found myself siding with Wiebe, agreeing with his comments that he wasn't being allowed to compete on a level playing field.The way the film builds the viewer's support for the underdog challenger is effective. There are moments of suspense and drama. Most notably, I found myself engaged in and caring about a documentary on a topic I have little knowledge of and virtually no interest in. In my eyes, that's an achievement.So why not more than seven stars? Just an attempt to avoid hyperbole. I see a lot of ten-star reviews on this page. This is a good documentary, not a great one.

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. The film doesn't, like some other documentaries, look at the situation from afar while subtly mocking the subjects for their weird obsession; it steps into their world and makes the viewer, at least for the duration of the film, care as much as them about who holds the world record in Donkey Kong. That's an impressive feat and it places The King of Kong firmly in the same league as the finest master documentarist Errol Morris has to offer.The story told in The King of Kong is simplistic and manipulative, and what it all boils down to is the flawless underdog and the big, sleazy, corrupt fat-cats. It's a simple and timeless story that's been told many times before and as such it's satisfying to watch, but a lot of it is clearly down to manipulative editing that allows for 'good guys' and 'bad guys' to exist. That's the only real flaw I could find with the film, though; because while this trite and simple story takes place, we get some real insight into the world of competitive gaming and what makes these people tick, and that's enough to make for a truly fascinating document.