When Seth Gordon’s documentaryThe King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters was released in the U.S. last year, it was so widely praised that it was a major disappointment when it never opened here. Luckily, Alliance Atlantis has picked up the title for a DVD release, and the film’s turned out to be more than worthy of the praise thrown at it. It’s not only one of the best documentaries of 2007, it’s one of the best movies, period: funny, fascinating and touching.

The subject of the film, broadly speaking, is... Donkey Kong. Yes, the ’80s arcade game. Specifically, the film follows two men as they compete for the title of world champion, and they couldn’t be more different. At the time the doc was made, Billy Mitchell, the reigning champ, had held the title for 20 years. An ultra-competitive, devious alpha male and hot sauce magnate, he exerts a strong influence over the world of retro-gaming and its adherents—to an almost sinister degree.

The challenger, Steve Wiebe, is a Washington State middle school teacher, a sort of talented loser and genuinely sweet, if insecure guy. When it looks like the then-unknown Wiebe might take the crown from Mitchell—the acknowledged hero of the community—everyone freaks out, and the movie takes some amazing turns.

The characters in this film are unbelievable: the scheming Missile Command champ with a grudge against Mitchell, the dedicated judges who watch hours of taped games to determine the record-holders, and of course, the two main competitors themselves. The King of Kong is really a great movie, and it’s highly recommended whether you care about ’80s video games or not.

Glenn Close picked up a Golden Globe recently for her work on the F/X series Damages, now out on DVD, and it was well-earned. She plays a vicious litigator who represents a group of employees who’ve been ripped off by their former employer, played by Ted Danson, and the show is twisty fun. Danson’s terrific too.