Unofficial Tex Murphy

Okay, so this topic is a little out there especially for the Tex fans. I don't know if anyone has even heard of this but I am gonna talk about it regardless. This past Tuesday I finally got my hands on a copy of "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters." It is an independent documentary (my favourite kinda movie) about 2 guys competing for the world record score in the classic arcade game "Donkey Kong."

I know it sounds a little strange but this is perhaps one of, if not THE best movie I watched in all of 2007. I believe that everyone here on the board will enjoy the movie on some level. The DVD just came out in North America on Tuesday Jan 29th (not sure about the rest of the world) I recommend at the very least rent, if not run out and BUY it. I know I did. I even waited outside for the store to open to get my grubby little hands on it.

The story revolves around 2 men:

Billy Mitchell

and

Steve Wiebe

Back in the 80's Billy Mitchell set a score on Donkey Kong so high that it went unchallenged for 20 years. He is seen as somewhat of a celebrity in the gaming world and has the personality that goes along with it. Bring us to present day and Steve Wiebe is a mild mannered school teacher who has set it in his mind to take on that record. The movie deals with Steve's quest to take down a record that no one had been able to approach in all that time and the controversy that ensues. This is such an absurd premise but very entertaining. I've heard that people think it's a mockumentary but it is in fact real. I highly recommend that you find and at the very least watch the movie. It's a surprisingly emotional film. 2 thumbs up, 5 stars and a perfect 10 from this reviewer. Watch it . . . NOW! Feel free to discuss once you have if you haven't watched it already.




I forgot to add this but here is the trailer for the movie. Check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPLjXjObEms

Did anyone watch this movie? Are they gonna watch it? Did they even hear of it? Am I the only one that thought this was an amazingly heartwarming and exciting movie? I know I am a big gaming nerd but I refuse to believe that this film won't appeal to everyone, at least on a level of rooting for the underdog.

Oh yeah I apologize about all the topic name changes. Gotta get at least SOMEONE to respond to the post. Even if it's a "Hi." In any event I am waving hello first.

Nope i never heared of it or seen it even.

i dont think i can even find a copy of that here in holland ohh well who know.

And up goes my topic killer counter once more.

I have heard of it, and I really want to see it.

If you like Donkey Kong, I've got something in my basement that will make you jealous. Here's a pic:


It is a very rare, two-player table top Donkey Kong. It has dual controls and players sit on opposite sides of the console. The image rotates to face each player in turn. I got it a couple of months ago. My daughter is really good at it. She invites friends over and they have Donkey Kong parties. I've only gotten as far as the fifth level. Not bad for an old guy.

Thanks for the movie alert. I have never seen nor heard of it, but it is now on our high-priority of movies to get. It will be an inspiration for our next Donkey Kong party.

You can order the movie from Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/King-Kong-Fistful ... 416&sr=1-1

According to the movie's web site, it only became available on DVD last month. Look in the new releases section of your video store.

It's been in my Netflix queue. Since it is a SHARED queue, it's currently sitting in the number 2 spot. With a short wait.
Looks intriguing.

Nice table Dr. Paul.

REPRESENT!!!!!! Washington in the house!

My boy from the hood! JK

Man that was a GREAT flick. I was so cheering for Steve.
Billy Mitchell is a freaking poser, and a TRUE freak at that. Anyone who refers to themselves in the 3rd person is a wanker in my book.

And the "prodigy"??? Why don't you just shut up and blow him already??? And get a damn cell phone too.


I admit in the first 15 minutes of the flick I turned to my sweetie and said that bowing out was totally ok, as it looked like it was a "uber dork" fest that made SCA'ers look like wall street boys. Triumph the Insult dog I think would be speechless at some of the characters in this tale.

But DAMN....great filmaking and story-telling.

Pony up and watch it guys....Stu is right, this movie rocks!

YAY! I am glad that someone here on the board enjoyed it other than me! I'm glad you enjoyed it Jen. I just wish others could catch it as well. I thought for sure that Cubase would watch it, being the fellow film maker on the board. I think there's a couple other people that do the independent thing too. I recommend it for you guys too. As a matter of fact I recommend it for anyone that wants to watch anything about the spirit of competition and likes as story that gives you the warm fuzzies.

I have to crack up at Jen's comments in regards to the "prodigy" or as I like to refer to them as "hardcore gamers" in this film. I have many times been surrounded by exclusive nerd swarms and often forget how odd they look to the outside world and how goofy they can come across. It's just a bunch of guys passionate about what they do and it just so happens that they are really really REALLY into classic arcade games and apparently idolize Mitchell. I find it more funny to think of it as sort of a gaming cult with Mitchell and his Christ-like appearance. I mean I love games, and I mean REALLY love games, but C'MON GUYS! They're JUST GAMES.

PS don't let this detract from anyone watching the film, it's bizarre, it makes you root for the underdog, it gets you emotional about something you NEVER thought you'd be emotional about and it is just plain AWESOME! . . . . yeah so again to be redundant EVERYONE WATCH THIS MOVIE! . . . . please? Do it for ol' Stu

We're having a screening this Tuesday night in my 'Game Culture and Audience' class. Should be a blast!

I haven't seen the topic fim. But for anyone who did watch and enjoy it you might like a similar documentary I saw last year called High Score featuring a man called Bill Carlton:

http://www.flatpackfestival.org.uk/film.php?id=33
http://www.highscoremovie.com/

It was an interesting film and I had a memorable night. Before the film, people were playing retro games on the small cinema screen which was fun to watch and the ZX Spectrum band who also preceded the film are very cool and unique.
I wish the festival was on this year but it wont be back until next year so as to have more time for planning.

Having been a fan of Donkey Kong for a long time and also having some prior knowledge of the events and people that were depicted in the movie, I was glad to finally get a chance to see King of Kong.

I knew going into it that, for purposes of story-telling, it was going to be a Rocky movie with Billy cast as bad-guy Apollo Creed and Steve as the underdog Rocky Balboa. A biased, misrepresentation of the true facts, perhaps, but good entertainment, none the less.

However, I have to say that I am very saddened whenever I see comments like these (which were posted above.)

Billy Mitchell is a freaking poser, and a TRUE freak at that. Anyone who refers to themselves in the 3rd person is a wanker in my book.

And the "prodigy"??? Why don't you just shut up and blow him already???

Real classy.

This saddens me because the people in the movie are REAL people - not fictional characters. (Cut them, they bleed.) To say such cruel things about real people based on a deliberately biased piece of entertainment is very unfortunate.

Don't get me wrong. Most stories have a good-guy / bad-guy bias. Nothing wrong with that. But when the story involves real people or real events, it's not a bad idea to realize that there may be some bias in the telling.

In the case of King of Kong, there were many such story-driven misrepresentations of true events. That being said, it is still a very cool movie. Just remember. It is entertainment and not necessarily true depiction of real events.

Of what misrepresentations do I speak? Danger!!! Spoilers below:
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Near the beginning, it is implied that Twin Galaxies broke into Steve's garage and took apart his Donkey Kong machine. FALSE. They were invited in by Steve's mother-in-law (who also gave them a quarter to play the game.) Then they waited for Steve to come home and asked him to open the game so that they could inspect the circuitry.
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The movie consistently gives the impression that Steve's high live-score was not recognized although Billy's taped score was and that Steve was always number two. FALSE. The next day, Billy's taped score was taken down and was replaced with Steve's live score. As month's go by in the movie, we are led to believe that Steve's score is still not recognized when, in fact, his score was the official top score. It was not until after nearly nine months later scrutinizing Billy's tape that his 1,050,000 score was accepted. All of this is misrepresented in the movie.
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There are several other things, if you're interested, as to how the film misrepresented events in order to enhance the Rocky aspect of the story, but I don't want to make the post longer than it already is.

Billy is a good guy and a real person. He's married, has kids, has done a lot for the video game industry and IS the greatest video gamer of all time. He doesn't deserve those nasty comments.

Thanks for calling 'em on that Doc, I sort of had a similar reaction when I read that post. I think it was done in jest however.

I don't know why people take documentaries as fact, but I guess they are set up to make you accept what they say verbatim. In truth every documentary is biased in some form or another. Regardless of how impartial the director may or may not be it is still their version of the story and they tell you the story the way they see it. This one just stands out above others in that regard. I personally agree with the film makers decisions. I have seen people who absolutely hate video games enjoy this film so I think they succeeded in what they wanted to tell and brought people into a world they may not have known existed. Deep down the story is good at heart and makes you feel good inside so I agree with the choices they made for the purposes of storytelling.

I have known about Billy Mitchell for a long, long time and known that he is not the way they depicted in the film, well for the most part anyway. He really is a nice guy maybe just a little snooty. I remember when he got his Pacman score and hearing about him years before that. I know the film depicts him in a bad light but I absolutely love it, everyone loves a good villain. Billy just has a personality that made him the perfect candidate for that role so they may have bent the perception to fit that role. He is to a degree full of himself, and rightfully so. He has been put up on a pedestal for so many years of course it would go to your head, and he actually IS good in what he does so why not have the attitude to go with it? I think that's what makes him who he is and more interesting, the world needs people like that. On the DVD Billy's friend Steve Sanders steps up to the plate and defends Billy, there are things that the film makers never made light of, but even they clarify things on there too. The DVD is loaded with bonus content. Anyway I felt that making Billy the villain would also perhaps spark interest in people to also want to take down his score. The classic arcade records are long stagnant so maybe they just wanted to generate interest in something that they loved so much, this being the best way to do it.

SPOILER

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Billy once again holds the world record and is once again "the lead dog." I think that was Billy's direct response to the film. He did it both in public and received the high score in front of a live audience erasing anything that the film depicted. Even still that is part of a much longer saga that will continue to go on long after people forget about this film. The film for what it is, a moment in time, stands up quite well. It is a nice little story that tells of a competition and that people should not read too much more into it than that. It is something for entertainment and nothing more. For the true facts and chronicles of the true events I think it is there for all who seek to know the truth. I think everyone should judge the movie on what it is, a movie and nothing more. That's my 2 cents anyway.

Electron Stu,

Thanks for your post. I agree with you completely. I loved the movie and recommend it to everyone.

I have seen several other discussion groups about the movie and there always seem to a few people who just go over-the-top in their hatred for Billy. That's why I reacted to the comments. It's just a movie!