John Doe Billy Mitchell cheated! He is not a true Donkey Kong player! That's why I hate this movie. I give The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters a 1/10.

firetoys Billy Tempest was one of the Main financial investers for Twin Galaxies. If you really want to waste your time on something. Watch this.. Not much of a story, other than the fact he was a cheater. And he manipulated a good arcade into ruining their reputation as a place to hold arcade world records..

Rebecca Bradeen I have to admit that I don't understand what makes these people so driven to conquer this game and go down in the history books for being so great at it. It was casual curiosity that made me watch this. But I was surprised by how interested I became. Billy Mitchell is the reigning Donkey Kong champion, and classic video game legend, and Steve Wiebe has been chasing the record. You may not understand the obsession but you find yourself enthralled in the drama and rooting for these guys (well, one of them anyway). As the documentary goes along there develops a good guy and a bad guy. There is the drama of the taint of cheating and the possibility of conspiracies and the emotions of a lifetime of striving and falling just short so many times. There is a cast of quirky supporting characters on one side or the other, some conflicted and some just interested observers but all woven into the surprisingly complex and intense world of competitive gaming.

ironhorse_iv This is the Rocky of old school video games tournaments! A great watch! Directed by Seth Gordon, the movie was originally supposed to be a documentary about competitive gaming in general. 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. Seeing how tense it was becoming. They decided to re-focus the film entirely on this rivalry. This largely accounts for the amount of coverage the film gives to minor players, such as the elderly Q-Bert champion, and other champions in several parts of the film that has nothing to do with the same plot. Those scenes serves as filler space. Without spoiling too much. 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. Good at many things, but never number one in anything, the movie follows this underdog of a person, as he takes on, the reigning champion of the time, Billy Mitchell. The movie portray them in different light, as Steve Wiebe is portray as new comer normal family man, who just happen to come across, this sub-culture looking for a challenge. We're learning through him. Billy Mitchell took a more villainous role due to his arrogant and egotistical nature. I have to say, meeting Billy Mitchell in person. He isn't as annoying as he is in the film and really friendly. Still, he's a bit cocky. I believe Brian Kuh was portray in a negative light as well, and makes him look like Mitchell's lackey, than Mitchell's friend. Every shot of him was taken out of context. The film also makes Walter Day & Twin Galaxies look bad, as the film makes them look a bit biased. I do find the movie, a fascinating reel character study. Most of those depicted in the documentary are not film accurately. It should never be taken as real. For example, Wiebe and Mitchell were, and still are, on friendlier terms than is suggested in the film. Also, no mention of Tim Sczerby's scoring from 2000 that broke Billy Mitchell's record. Instead, the movie plays it off that Wiebe is after Mitchell's score. Also no mention of plastic surgeon Hank Chien who broke the record during the filming of the documentary and after. As of this writing, he's the current champion. I do like how they do show the history of Walter Day and the Twin Galaxies high score on arcade games board, because it shows why these people take the scoring seriously. The reason why the documentary works is because all the people on the film, while are die-hard arcade fans, they not made out to be losers. You see that some of them are very successful in other part of their life. Even if video games isn't your cup of tea, you see that these people are just as driven as the rest of society. They just want to be champion of Donkey Kong. You feel for Steve Wiebe after all the sh*t, he had to deal with before entering the Funspot Arcade in Laconia, New Hampshire for the showdown. You feel for him when things don't go his way after it. You admire his mentality. The movie could had been made to play off of how awkward these people might be, but the film was made with respect and heart. I like how the documentary doesn't need narrating to tell the story, but rather allow the art of editing, to do it. Indeed, the fictionalized account is more entertaining. It does bug me a bit, that it's less a documentary, and more script-based reality show, here. I know a scripted film adaptation is in the works since this film was really popular, but I would rather see a sequel to this documentary, then a fake movie. I really hope Director Seth Gordon doesn't make a fake remake in the future. Instead, I would rather have the sequel tells how the story of the King of Kong changed both men's lives, as well show their continuing rivalry. I have to say, this is a must-watch on DVD as it has lots of special features. The first commentary has the director and producer talking about the movie and telling what inspired them to make the movie, how certain scenes were shot and so on. The second commentary has nobody that work on the production, so it's pretty awful and pointless. For a 79 minutes movie, it was entertaining as hell. If you like this movie, watch 2007's Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade. Overall: The film is full of gripping twisting of reality, but you can't help loving the film for it. A great watch.