All language subtitles for Cannon.Arm.and.the.Arcade.Quest.2021.720p.WEB-DL.x264

In a normal town on a normal street
in a normal basement...

there's a place called Bip Bip Bar.

It's a place where patterns and
systems and exponential points meet...

in games played on arcade machines
primarily made in the 80s.

Back then, a long time ago, the machines
stood in grills across the country.

With the advent of the PC,
the machines quickly disappeared.

But a small group never lost
their passion for the arcade games...

and now, after years of oblivion,
the door to the arcade world is reopening.

This is Kim Cannon Arm.
His real last name is Købke...

but in the 80s, his friends
started calling him Cannon Arm...

because his abilities were tangible
already at that point.

No one knows how old he is, but he has
four children and a grandchild...

and as a laboratory technician he makes
detailed analyses of aviation oil.

His favorite band is Iron Maiden, and the
game he's best at is this game, Gyruss.

It's one of the most difficult games
to play for a prolonged period.

You're a spaceship
that shoots down opponents...

who come at you in fast patterns.
Stars appear and shoot outwards...

giving the impression that you're
flying through the universe.

To get people to spend
as many coins as possible...

the game is designed to last
3-4 minutes for the average person.

But Kim is not average.
His abilities are more super-human.

His record is 49 hours in one stretch
on one coin.

He will now try one last time
to beat his own record...

and the record for
the longest time at an arcade machine.

He will play
for 100 hours in one stretch.

Kim's been playing arcade games since
1977, and it's not the first time...

he tries to achieve his dream of
reaching the legendary number of hours.

He's attempted it three times before,
but has yet to succeed.

100 HOURS

On average, a person utters
16,000 words in a day.

Kim probably makes it to 255
on a wild day.

But although he doesn't throw around
fancy words and sentences...

he's the core of a community
of friends who love and admire him.

But playing 100 hours in one stretch
without facing 'Game Over'...

requires work and practice.

And he needs his friends
as it's not without risk.

But let's start with me,
the narrator.

I'm on camera now, too.

- You got this?
- Yeah, I do.

My name is Mads, and I know virtually
nothing about arcade games or gamers.

Or rather, I didn't.
Because as it is with encounters...

we're gradually invited
into the world we each occupy.

A world we can explore. And though
I may have forgotten many things...

the point is that
sometimes you just need heroes.

Including those that, on first sight,
appear unlikely.

This is one of Kim's friends.
His name is Dyst.

He wears amulets that give him
strength and courage.

He's published six collections of poems.

And he holds the world record in
Puzzle Bobble and Puzzle Bobble 2.

Svavar is from Iceland and so far...

he's reached no less than
11 kill screens in Donkey Kong.

Carsten hasn't reached
a kill screen yet, but it's his dream.

He's Kim's best friend.

When he's not practicing Donkey Kong,
he studies the collected works of Bach.

- I have issues with eye contact.
- Sorry.

- I'm looking at the rim of the machine.
- Try to gaze over here.

- Is my mustache crooked by the way?
- No. It looks fine.

And then there was Thomas.
He was one of Kim's closest friends.

He committed suicide the same year Kim
last tried to break the world record.

Thomas was there for Kim
and would do anything to help him...

achieve his dream of playing Gyruss
for 100 hours in one stretch.

"Why just imagine a dream?"
he once said to Kim.

It started like so many things start.
A quiet thought while enjoying a banana.

Then the thought spread to Thomas...

and soon the thought, as they
sometimes do, had grown into a dream...

that gradually reached
the other friends.

Right now I can see
from Jesper to Svavar.

The rest of you must get in the front.

Dyst, go sit next to Emil.
To the right of Emil... yes.

Stay within that frame.

And Morten...
Okay, I'll shoot it from over here.

Ready?

The film in a Polaroid camera contains
the chemicals necessary...

to develop the picture.

The dark filter gradually
becomes transparent...

and eventually reveals the image.

A relatively set moment in time
which is fairly reliable to return to.

A bit like memories
that we evoke over and over.

The friends met at Bip Bip Bar,
the setting of the community...

where Kim and the others have gone on
expeditions to high scores and records...

that especially Kim has achieved.

The arcade is moving to a larger,
more profitable location...

and before long,
it will look like this.

But not yet.

Because tonight the arcade will have
a party celebrating Kim's decision...

to yet again venture into the
universe steering his spaceship...

towards his big dream of
the many hours and the ultimate feat.

- Look at him go.
- Beast, can you beat Kim?

- Can you beat my 1943 score?
- Why don't I just beat Mozart ...?

Yeah!
New world record!

Yeah, man!

Bip Bip Bar!

Is it the same in both ears?

- I'm not sure.
- Do you hear anything?

- Yes.
- And do you hear it ringing?

- Not now.
- Let's try again.

Good.
And now with your eyes closed.

Though the mood is high,
it's not entirely safe...

to stay awake for as long
as is demanded of Kim.

It's a good thing it's not
an actual line.

Arcade legend Joel West died in 2018.
In his last marathon record attempt...

a helper had to shut off the machine,
and take him to hospital for six days...

due to dehydration, connective tissue
inflammation and blood poisoning.

So the friends have decided that
Kim gets a full medical check-up...

to avoid unpleasant surprises.

- And you're normally healthy?
- Yes.

- Any conditions?
- I take medication for hypotension.

Okay, for how long
have you been doing that?

- Quite a few years now. 10, I think.
- 10 years?

Sleep deprivation from staying awake...

for four days and nights
has consequences.

Long term you look at
the brain's glymphatic system.

- It cleanses your brain during sleep.
- You've heard about it?

Yes, that doesn't happen.
That's the problem.

It's called the dishwasher of the brain.
Because it cleanses.

The cerebrospinal fluid
must be cleansed of waste products.

So if that is hindered
for a longer period of time...

it will cause health challenges.

Like other explorers, Kim has
decorated his walls with prizes...

representing all the dreams and
achievements he's already achieved.

And with his favorite Disney characters
that show the time.

In addition to prizes and great
personalities' perspective on time...

there are multiple boxes
of arcade games.

This circuit board is the game
Double Dragon which Kim will prepare...

so Carsten can play it later.

In this room alone, there are 64 boxes
each containing eight circuit boards...

which amount to
512 original arcade games.

He has a room with arcade machines
where he recently installed Gyruss...

so that he can practice at home.

Kim's approach is very serious,
and he practices hard...

to achieve his dream
of leaving his mark on the world.

Oops.

Did it break down?

Yes. Well, Gyruss is in her golden years
and requires a bit of extra care.

Gyruss was released in 1983, and as Kim
is prevented from practicing right now...

let's do a time jump.

In America 40 years ago
the world was changing.

Believe it or not,
things are really happening...

on 200 electronic video games
here at Chicago Fest.

What you see here is part of a national
phenomenon that had to happen...

when the TV married the computer.

Arcades spread out across the US like
wildfire causing excitement and horror.

Chicago alderman: "Where there are
video games, there could be trouble."

Scientists and critics feared the impact
of the new gaming machines.

If there's any danger,
it's the breaking up of social contacts.

It's such a loner sort of activity.

But they didn't know what went on behind
the doors between the machines...

in the smell of warm electronics,
washed-out sweatshirts and dreams.

When you walk into an arcade,
any arcade, come with an open mind.

An open mind is easy to expand.

The community was shared by
a small group of ordinary people.

Those who were frowned at
by the classically popular types.

They disappeared into the arcades,
said hi, tossed a coin in the machine...

and immersed themselves in the
concentration the game demands.

In the arcade you could meet around
your interests without being laughed at.

You make a lot more friends around here.
People look up to you.

There's a lot of people who go:
"Here comes Greg again."

- Did it change your life, Greg?
- Oh, yeah.

Denmark also saw the advent
of arcade machines.

Soon, every self-respecting grill
had at least a couple of machines.

Such as Buller's Grill
which used to be here.

It became Kim's regular hangout.

Kim could play for such a long time on
one coin that the owner of the grill...

turned off the machines
when he saw Kim approaching.

Kim could play for hours on one coin
which was bad for business.

Because in step with growing popularity
came the money. A lot of it.

Games like Pong, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man...

Gyruss, Space Invaders, Defender,
Centipede, Robotron...

Berzerk, Nibbler,
Tetris and Puzzle Bobble...

poured out from companies like
Konami, Taito, Atari and Midway.

Inside the cabinet, the circuit board,
with its microprocessor...

and the many complex circuits
function as a human brain...

with all its information centers,
nerve cells, synapses and circuits.

Welcome to Video Game News Update.

I'm Walter Day at the Twin Galaxies
International Scoreboard.

One guy would change the arcade
world forever. This guy: Walter Day.

A transcendental meditator,
musician, failed newspaper trader...

and former oil trader who took a fancy
to arcade games.

Someone should be the repository
of video game-playing information...

and in a matter of literally one day,
we became the official...

...the center of the universe.

Life Magazine portrayed the new stars.
Because they did become stars.

The longing for recognition and
the dream of fame and immortality...

fused with the love of the games.

Fleeing encounters turned into
deep friendships in the arcades.

But like all competitive scenes,
it also turned into a raw world.

On your mark. Get set.
Go!

At 16, Ben is the youngest...

Leo Daniels of North Carolina earned
a world-record score of 169 million.

As soon as the rest of the nation heard
of the achievement...

his record fell three times
in one weekend.

Out of it all grew great gamers.
Living legends to this day.

Including the greatest of them all:

Billy Mitchell

I like when I'm going through Las Vegas
and there are 10 video game players...

and they go: "You're the Pac-Man guy."
I laugh and say "yes".

"Do you sleep with a joystick under your
pillow?" I say: "I would if I slept."

There's a glamour to Billy.
He was the first great, great player.

The fact of the matter is, Billy is the
best classic arcade gamer of our era.

For decades
point records and marathon games...

have been parts of the competition.

To create the best conditions
for Kim to be the first...

to reach the milestone of 100 hours
without facing a 'Game Over'...

his friends have organized
practice rounds.

And now he'll embark on one of
the big ones to check out his form.

He'll practice for 36 hours,
about a third of the 100 hours.

Kim has followed the machine
since it was launched in the early 80s...

and could play it
with his hands behind his back.

Each time he's on the machine,
they both age a bit.

Like two lovers who become
increasingly fragile with age.

So... Kim.
It is now 12 a.m.

- Have a good run, Kim.
- Yeah.

No matter how good you are,
and whatever you're good at...

if you haven't prepared
and practiced...

then even as the best in the world,
you increase the risk of failing.

And we can't afford that.

Especially with a monumental task
such as the 100-hour challenge.

Also, the machine
needs to be completely...

The machine must be in tiptop shape,
and we need a location.

We need professionals
such as a doctor and a dietician.

And we must have our itineraries ready.

He shouldn't have to take a shit
the whole time.

The question is:
How long can he play on automatic pilot?

At what point is he so exhausted
that he just...

- After about 40 hours.
- Yes, that could be.

There's a point after that when
the brain stops to function properly...

and what he sees
isn't what happens in real life.

He explained to me that one of
the reasons why he died in the end...

was that instead of seeing the screen
where he went around and around...

he started seeing the edge as a line.
That's pretty fucked up.

And that made me really worried
when I heard that.

- Afterwards, I was like: Holy shit.
- He must be careful.

So, Kim steers the spaceship in
a circular pattern firing at the center.

Spaceships, satellites, asteroids and
laser cannons appear on the screen...

chasing the gamer on his way
through space past Neptune, Uranus...

Saturn, Jupiter and Mars
towards Earth, before the game loops...

and you start over
after 25 screens.

The Earth screen should be the easiest,
but could become the hardest.

Much like life on Earth.

In spite of enemies and the many stars
racing towards you...

creating a whole that is greater
than the sum of its parts...

it's essential to position yourself
in the right spot at the right time...

to collect the most points.

Oh, man...
I'm being careless.

In the 80s
I made 16 million in 12 hours.

He himself has to recognize that
he needs to train a lot and be...

in tiptop shape and not think: "I'm
the Gyruss king. I can just do this."

I think he's training more. Every time
he's down here he's playing Gyruss.

He's gonna have physical problems.
He's gonna have mental problems.

And what he eats and drinks,
that's all gonna affect it.

You know, a couple of years ago...

when the marathon world record
was 83 hours...

by George Lutz on Q*Bert...

he was going for 100 hours,
and he just couldn't handle it.

And he could have a sleep break.

- I think it was every hour.
- But it's Kim.

Yeah, but I'm talking about
what's humanly possible.

- It's 100 hours playing a game.
- That's the challenge.

But it's also about the dream maybe.

- We dare to dream this dream with him.
- It's kinda like 'Rocky'.

I mean, yes.
In many ways this is like 'Rocky'.

Svavar is the rational type.

He's dedicated the past two years
to Donkey Kong.

Now he's mostly focused on Tetris
of which he's the European Champion...

and in which he's just set a new
world record. It looked like this.

He came to Denmark from Iceland
seven years ago to study.

Two years ago he wrote
a pioneering thesis in physics...

at the Niels Bohr Institute which can
be described simplistically like this:

The whole thesis is about describing
how you can model...

these bent black branes
in higher-dimensional space.

Then, once you've set that up, you do
compactification of dimensions...

to reduce it back to our reality
of four-dimensional space.

So, it is... It doesn't really
reflect reality that much.

Especially for me,
thinking about space and time...

Like, I remember when I was 16
thinking about that a lot and being...

...not mind-blown
by specific information...

just my mind being blown about:

What makes it possible for me
to be able to move my hand around?

Not thinking about my body.
Thinking about the actual existence.

And one of the things Kim uses existence
for is moving his hands...

...fast but precisely and controlled
as he continues practicing.

For Kim to be able to play
for long stretches of time...

he needs to keep tabs on
how many lives he has.

- Argh, I'm being careless.
- The machine doesn't do it.

So you have to do the math yourself,
but I'll let him explain that.

Okay. Sure,
I can explain a bit about Gyruss.

You start out with 3 lives.

For each million points, you get 12
lives, but you can only see five lives.

The old games have a maximum
of 255 lives, so if you have 255...

and gain an extra life,
making it 256, you lose them all.

So it's about what you stack up.
In theory you can keep going forever.

Can we take a break?

In his flat, which is humbly furnished
in spite of more advanced ambitions...

Carsten has spent many years working
on a new method within music theory.

It's not something
I want to share with tons of people.

It's not like it's a super secret,
it's just that...

I use a very untraditional approach
to analyzing music.

I use...

...in order to remain more focused on...

...how it's connected. I have cognitive
abilities that are off the charts.

I just don't quite know
what to do with them other than gaming.

I also have something with patterns.

I'm good at pattern recognition
and critical rationalism...

offering explanations for how things
are connected, then contesting them...

to render my theses probable.
It's a never-ending process.

So you shouldn't embark on a project
that appears too extensive...

says the man who's analyzing Bach.

I have a thing with patterns, and I can
intuitively sense if something is right.

Wanna hear what I could do before
I knew anything about music theory?

Let me show you...
what an autistic person can do.

Written totally
with no theoretical knowledge.

It takes a little while for it
to really take off.

Oh, no. Sorry.
I guess there's no harm done.

Kim, we're off.
We'll stop by later. Let it rip!

- Who's off?
- Carsten and me.

- To the moist bar.
- That wasn't very moist.

- No, that sounds moist.
- It is moist.

- Oh yeah, moist!
- Oooh yeah!

- See you, Kim!
- Yeah. See you.

There will be nothing.

There will be nothing.

No... thing.

I really suck at playing the piano.

Dyst isn't very fond of the theater
he thinks society is.

Mostly because
he can't remember his lines.

But he's a word smith
that has no problem...

remembering the structure
of his own sentences.

But routines and preparations
are vital before a performance.

Phrases and flow must be scrutinized...

so that it all
comes together in synthesis.

The leaves are falling again.

They're whispering
we're withering.

Into every shape and form
in collective decay.

Piss. Crap. Shit. Fuck.

Not a damn thing works!

Yeah...
Yeah... I just need to get to where...

No! No...

Ah, now I know what's wrong.

- No... no!
- What's up, Dyst?

I... I just...

I'm...

I'm...
I'm wearing the wrong shoes.

I always wear the same shoes
when I perform.

I always wear the same shoes,
but this time I forgot. Oh, no...

Why the hell does this shit
happen to me?!

It's no fucking...

Now I don't wanna
fucking bother with it.

If you do like this,
sometimes you can get it out.

Oh, it just got worse.
It's the board, I think it's...

- Okay.
- That's fine.

Things at Kim's place also act up,
and as his machine...

besides being filled with memories,
is filled with technical gizmos...

it must be serviced by a professional
so that it can withstand...

the long haul
the record attempt is.

- This has been broken.
- Broken?

Yes, but it was fixed.

Well, it's old.

You can't expect much at 35.
Or 36.

- Was that when you bought it?
- What? No, no.

When did I buy it again?
I bought the first one in '14.

And this one in... '15.
Yes. '15.

Oh, right. Yes.
I was thinking about the machine itself.

I guess it's 36 years old.
Wow, is it really that old ...?

When you plan to achieve something...

you must see yourself in the future
which is an extension of the present...

so they have
yet another strategy meeting...

focusing on the state of affairs
and suggestions for...

how to keep Kim clear-headed in
the many hours he'll be at the machine.

Emil suggests that Kim stands on
a slow-moving treadmill while gaming...

to keep him physically active
and thus fresh.

I know that exercise tends to break down
waste products in the body.

But maybe that just
tires the brain even more.

Carsten was recently assaulted
because of his long hair and mustache.

They didn't think
he should look like that.

So Carsten cut his hair
and shaved his beard to better fit in...

with all the conformists on
the other side of the arcade's windows.

Carsten has never lived on
a houseboat such as this one...

which he'd like to upgrade with a
jacuzzi, a greenhouse and a dancefloor...

or in a spaceship,
which he'd like, too.

He's lived in Copenhagen
for seven years, where he...

as the self-taught, critical,
epistemological rationalist he is...

has focused on analyzing Bach's work
from a contrapuntal perspective.

In kinda the same way, but by drawing on
different references such as Popeye...

I'm Popeye the sailorman.

...and King Kong...

...Shigeru Miyamoto developed
Donkey Kong in 1981 in Japan.

A good game gives you
the satisfactory feeling...

that you have accomplished something.

That you have become a real hero.
That you're very brave...

even though you're actually crying.

He developed Super Mario and Zelda,
Carsten's favorite games as a child.

Today, it's Donkey Kong, which
is considered the earliest game...

with a storyline
that unfolds visually.

As a child, Carsten had
an intuitive comprehension of music.

He could recognize patterns before
they appeared, but not with Bach.

So he decided to analyze
the systems in his music.

Bach loved working with
complex compositions.

In his fugues he demonstrated
that harmony is the interlacing...

of melodies moving in each their
layer, thus creating a broader whole...

which constantly grows
in the final composition.

Carsten's work requires research...

which is full of systematism, timing
and precision...

and if you add pattern recognition,
you have the mental building blocks...

he utilizes
when playing Donkey Kong.

He also holds the world record
in Double Dragon...

the game Kim dug out for him earlier.

Here, he's trying to break the record,
but has problems with the joystick.

Fucking motherfuck...
Fuck you, man!

I can't even see what I'm writing.

Goddammit!

And here, Dyst is attempting to set
a new record in Puzzle Bobble.

I know I can do it.
I've done it a million times.

This only happens when it counts.

And it's not just with games,
but in all aspects of life.

It fails every fucking time.
So why the hell do I keep trying?

I'm a fucking idiot.

Back in Brøndbyøster he writes
his collections of poems...

that often confront the world he uses
Bip Bip Bar as a refuge from.

The poems are composed as music,
rhythmical and systematic.

They often contain Easter Eggs from
the gaming world such as Konami Code.

I am tossed into walking in circles.

Up and up and down and down again.

Then to the left and the right
and the left and the right again.

Certain detours, the beginning
of what remains starts to hurt.

Konami Code has its name
from the company, Konami.

You can use the code
in games to gain advantages.

Kim doesn't utilize it, as there is no
code to the arcade version of Gyruss.

Alan Turing is one of the greatest
pioneers in world history.

He worked with codes,
but we'll return to him later.

Kim's gamer initials are EXA
because it looks cool, as he says.

To set an official record, the circuit
board he plays on must be an original.

And neither that nor the machine
may be tweaked.

But that would also be
unthinkable to Kim.

He's a purist and only interested
in the original games...

that center on ability, focus
and resilience.

Carsten also utilizes resilience to try
to reach a kill screen in Donkey Kong.

That happens if he can reach
the 117th screen of the game.

It runs out of memory
and you die without warning...

because you've come to a point beyond
what the creator thought possible.

So it's the finest feat
a Donkey Kong gamer can achieve.

- Panic solution.
- And Carsten intensely dreams of it.

That could've been a really good game.

In his games, Carsten uses
the same approach as in his music.

A rational and systematic use of...
and cross references.

Much like Miyamoto who created Donkey
Kong always carries a measuring tape...

so that he can guess the sizes
of objects and check if he was right.

Research has shown that Tetris
strengthens the cerebral cortex.

The brain's capacity increases...

and enables gamers
to maintain extreme focus.

At one point, Svavar decided to memorize
the first 1000 decimals of pi.

Just like in Dyst's poems,
systematism permeates Puzzle Bobble.

A game that, to the untrained eye,
may seem silly and random...

but which requires
precision and strategizing.

The systematic structure
of colored clusters in the games...

and the ambiguous words
and points in the poems...

render precise decisions
paramount for the outcome.

When Carsten isn't analyzing music
or gaming, he's pondering...

if he's missing something
but lacks the ability to know it.

The brain center that's strengthened
by playing Tetris is called Gyrus.

That went well.

- That's how I roll.
- Oh, yeah.

Kim usually keeps a tab on his lives in
Gyruss, but in order for him to stay...

focused on the game, the others
must learn how to keep a protocol.

- This is 2015.
- So, what...

Maybe you should explain the list to me,
'cause I'm kinda in the dark right now.

Oh! Okay, sure.

You get 12 lives per million points.

I lost three lives in the first million,
and then two and three and...

Oh! It just continues.

Yes. And here.
Total loss in the first five million.

- I've lost 12, so I have 48 stacked up.
- Yes, that's quite logical.

I just carry on, and at some point,
I get to 55.

This says 226 and 318 next to it,
I don't quite get that.

That's not 318. It's 226.
And then a pause.

- And then you get to...
- 18 lives.

Oh, right. That arrow made a 6
look like a 3, so that made no sense.

- The first break is here.
- You could make a graph of this.

Was it a visual disturbance
that made you lose lives?

It's when I get tired.

- You don't want it cut a lot.
- I never go to the hairdresser.

Last time was in the last millennium.
When I cut it myself...

I only cut along the X-axis,
so whatever you do, don't shorten it.

- Are you comfortable?
- Oh, yeah. Sure.

It's fine.

It's funny, 'cause there are
some pretty quirky lengths.

Oh, here we have a long tuft.

It's crazy when you
do your record attempts.

I remember those long hauls.
I would go to bed, get back up...

turn it on,
and you'd still be at it.

I'm cutting your Y-axis.

I can't remember
why I cut your hair that other time.

I remember because
we had our picture taken.

You were just visiting, and I asked if I
could pretend to be cutting your hair...

so that I could do an Instagram post:
"The Legend, Kim Cannon Arm, is here."

- I think it was something like that.
- You did cut my hair.

I was sponging off your fame.
I think that was it.

Okay. That's cool.

While you're busy doing nothing...

your thoughts can run off with you.

Such as into the universe
where he will soon be flying around.

Unfathomable distances stretch out
between the stars.

But there is no empty space,
for down to the smallest fragments...

the universe consists of
quantum fields. There are three.

But back when there was no one
or nothing to dream they were one.

And that is why they interact.

The quantum fields are parents to
all the particles and antiparticles...

that everything consists of.
The particles are the same.

So much so that they're the same
whether they're in your chair...

in your body, in some galaxy
or in the past or the present.

- Do you blow-dry your hair?
- No.

While I was filming this,
and Kim was thinking about space...

I thought about what Dyst had talked
about the previous night: Superheroes.

Captain Obvious.

If I could be a superhero,
I'd be Captain Obvious.

What superhero would you be?

I don't know.

- Indecisive Man.
- Indecisive Man, yeah.

Most eras have their superheroes.

Pioneers like Columbus and Armstrong
left their marks in their eras.

Some are celebrated by millions,
others secretly such as Alan Turing.

With his mathematical brilliance
and sense of patterns and systems...

Alan Turing took on the task
in WW2...

of deciphering the Germans'
Enigma code all on his own.

"Because no one else will,
and I can do it by myself," as he said.

I'm sure Carsten would agree that
that's a good starting point.

Alan Turing was autistic, and in
addition to his mathematical genius...

he also had an affinity for Disney's
'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'.

In 1954 he took his own life
by biting into an apple...

he had laced with cyanide.

All the superhero movies may be due
to a lack of superheroes in real life.

But out in reality, on an ordinary
street in an ordinary town...

there's an ordinary house
with a shed named 'The Shed'.

It's surrounded by plants, singing birds
and the trickling of the brook.

And it's stuffed with arcade games. This
is where the attempt will take place...

starting on Thursday at 9 a.m.
and ending on Monday at 1 p.m.

In The Shed there are also
some of Kim's other friends.

Rasmus, Morten and Emil.

Emil likes to lend a hand
with soldering and wiring.

And in contrast to Carsten's intuitive
but intellectual approach to music...

Emil is more practical,
plus he's quite skilled with a toaster.

But I'll get back to that,
because I need to introduce Trier.

He's the one who went to the moist bar
with Carsten.

See you, Kim!

He's the last vital thread
in the finely woven pattern...

that is the monumental
record-breaking attempt.

The Shed belongs to Trier, and he knows
the friends through Thomas.

Trier is close friends with Kim and will
do anything to help him reach his goal.

Because "Why just imagine a dream?"
as Thomas once said to Kim.

In the middle
of the test run in The Shed...

there's hole through to
their big hero, legend Billy Mitchell.

Bill Mitchell! It's a real pleasure
to get a hold of you.

We are here at an arcade in Denmark.

Hey, Billy!
Can I ask you a question?

You can ask me any question as long as
you're able to handle the answer.

First of all, I've seen some
of your game-play videos.

- And it's obvious...
- No, no, wait, you've seen my what?

- Some of your game play.
- Okay.

I've seen that
on level 21 you stop playing...

when you have an obvious
60,000-point potential going on.

And you choose to stop.
Why?

You could've been the first one to do
1.1 mil in Donkey Kong, but you didn't.

- And you wanna know why?
- Yeah.

- Many of us would like to know why.
- Everybody wants to know why.

Because I'm Billy Mitchell.

Here, in the backwards flood
of memories...

at 'hat o'clock',
they party in honor of Thomas.

Thomas was among the first
to visit Trier's newbuilt Shed...

and he was the one
who brought these friends together.

And while they party in Thomas's spirit,
particles that were once his body...

jump and dance in the quantum fields
of the universe.

A sense of loss is the best thing
a person can leave behind.

Where is it?

Hey, there it is.
Here.

- Oh, clear as day. Pac-Man.
- Oh, right.

Shit, he was only from 1985.
Way too young.

Mental illness sucks.

Pac-Man.

Pretty cool headstone.

I don't know if you guys are up for
drinking a toast? Isn't that what we...

- Let's give him one first.
- Yeah, for sure.

Here you go, buddy.

- Looks good.
- Yeah, it looks like a million.

You should have one, too.
I'll just leave it here for you.

Let's all take a sip
and drink to Thomas.

Would anyone like to say something?

I hope he's in a place with
arcade machines and pinball.

Cheers, Thomas.
I hope you're happy wherever you are.

Yeah, cheers.

'Thisted Brewery'.

If you don't mind I prefer to...
I don't feel great around here.

- So, if it's okay...
- Sure.

I just need a couple
of minutes to myself.

Okay.
We'll do this.

Thank you for everything.

- Moisturization.
- Yes, totally.

It's an amazing beer,
so that's very appropriate.

- Yes...
- Yes.

Yes.

It's so sad. I get so moody.
I'm too sensitive for this.

I think this was an excellent idea.
Coming here...

so that I can dedicate
my record attempt to him, too.

Thomas Høgsberg.
Loved and missed.

A sack truck for hauling the cabinet.

Hang on!

Goddammit.

Anyone wanna do that?

The score plus statistics.

- I'll pass.
- You and I aren't great at that.

- Establish...
- Uhm, hang on, trying to keep up here.

- Watch out, it's rolling.
- Didn't you put the brakes on?

Yeah, put the brakes on, Mads.

Kim asks if we remembered
the step-down converter.

- We did.
- And the machine works?

And the machine works?
It does.

- Oh, moist.
- Oh, yeah.

Diet: What is best for him to eat?

I'm having a flashback to the scene
from 'Man vs Snake'...

where his wife makes him Mac 'n Cheese
on his very last stretch.

These are sodium tablets...

and these are ginseng.

- Is that good long-term?
- No.

Caffeine tablets.
Licorice pipe. Crucial.

And sunglasses.

When he's been staring at
the same colors for hours...

they may help his vision.

When I cross a bridge, I get flashbacks
to various monster movies.

I expect to see Godzilla
pop up and devour half the bridge.

Does anyone know enough to assume
the main responsibility for it?

We need an expert.

Has he previously had issues
standing in that position?

Has he had joint pains?

I have an ointment, a gel,
that you apply.

And it says here: "Kim requests that
there be no alcohol or partying.

Focus on the record attempt."
We're all clear on that.

We can have a beer,
we just can't get drunk.

Next item.

February, just before 9 a.m., and the
farther you move away from the familiar...

the closer you get to your dream,
and the more fragile it becomes.

The dream of leaving your mark
on the world.

To cap it all, our friends' hero...

Billy Mitchell, has been caught
cheating with his high scores...

and has been stripped of them all.

He's by no means
their superhero anymore.

It's now up to Kim to prove
that you can achieve...

legendary arcade feats
without cheating.

At exams in school, I was also nervous.
It's annoying as hell.

Why am I so nervous
after three attempts?

Kim trembles with nervousness in the
face of a monumental record attempt...

as Dyst would call it.
He doesn't want to let his friends down.

And then there are all the people
around the world streaming it.

Don't be nervous.
Just focus on doing your best.

Just do your stuff.

And then there's Kim's decision
to dedicate the record to his old buddy.

That doesn't help to curb
his nervousness.

But he must overcome it, because
in the words of Shigeru Miyamoto...

it's about the satisfaction
of seeing something through.

Becoming a real-life hero,
though you may in fact be crying.

Five, four, three, two, one...

Go!

Go, Kim!

Without much ado, Kim embarks
on his 100-hour-long journey...

into the adventure at the very pace
that makes it difficult.

60 minutes per hour.

Starting out sensibly has great
psychological significance.

It's a question of intuition
and of knowing yourself.

Focusing on what the record is
truly about and getting started...

a long continuous mental
and physical power discharge.

Every fucking minute counts.

Okay! There are four colors,
and I just got blue five times.

Fuck. Not good.

- Back on the horse.
- Did he lose a life?

No, no.
He just lost some points.

No, it's fine.
I'm just playing poorly on Earth.

- And that's where I need to be good.
- Looking moist.

Well, this is just the beginning.
It had better be moist.

Damn, that's awesome, Kim!

- He lost a life, Michael.
- It's no big deal.

Each record attempt is an experiment
with an unknown outcome.

Kim must perform at his absolute best,
and then some.

And so must the others. To succeed they
must perform like a well-oiled machine...

because a lot of things can go wrong.

Three scenarios have the potential
of killing the dream.

In theory, he can play so poorly
that he loses all his lives.

But he could also earn too many lives,
resulting in a roll-over.

That happens if he gets
more than 255 lives.

The machine crashes, and it's all over.
For those two reasons it's important...

that the others keep track
of the lives he earns and loses.

To that avail, Trier has transferred
Kim's protocol to the computer.

Physically, visual disturbances can
appear after 15-20 hours of playing.

The worst-case scenario is that he loses
his vision entirely and has to give up.

The most effective weapon to counter
the horror scenarios is sleep.

When Kim sleeps, the machine loses lives.

This way, his team makes sure he doesn't
earn too many lives and hit a roll-over.

Furthermore, closing his eyes will help
combat visual disturbances.

Unfortunately, Gyruss only allows you to
leave the screen for 15 minutes per day.

Last time, you'd burnt up 3, 2, 3, 1, 3
ships in the first five million.

And now you've burnt up 1, 1, 2, 1, 1.

Yes.
170,000 remain, so you're way ahead.

I'd like a run with no losses.
It's a psychological thing.

- Shall I remove that for you?
- No, no, no...

Oh, shit.
It's fine, I've got plenty of time.

The best vodka I've ever had...

Kim, you're almost at 12 million!

I believe it was bought
just after the Wall came down...

Now it's a cheap brand
sold everywhere in Denmark.

It's an up-scale version of Stolichnaya.

- 12 million!
- 12%!

- Million.
- No, 12%.

You're so perfect, Kim.

Yes, he's close to being perfect, but
a record attempt is a variable entity.

Everything depends on dedication,
intuition, rhythm and concentration...

every minute and every hour.

One of the major
psychological milestones...

is to beat the Gyruss world record
of 59 hours.

Once achieved, every additional minute
is a power demonstration in itself.

While others keep track
of Kim's time and lives...

Dyst and Carsten help Kim
in the way he prefers...

by playing their own games
close to him.

You should do what you're best at
so Emil has prepared...

a musical treat for Kim
in case he needs it in the small hours.

Will you hold the door? Kim needs to
pee, and we don't want it to slam shut.

20 HOURS

- First wave gone!
- First wave gone!

- Second wave gone!
- Second wave gone!

Jesus, I won't make it.

- Third wave gone.
- Third wave.

Fourth wave.

- Fourth wave!
- Got it!

Michael, how many points
do I have?

21 million.

Listen, did you look at these numbers?
They don't seem to add up to 21 million.

If you have seven million...

If it's seven times 47 seconds...
That makes five and a half hours.

If these are correct
and we take the number you arrived at...

then there's a gap.

In that case I'd say
he is only at 20 million and not 21.

Didn't you add a million at one point?
Why did you do that?

Kim told us he was behind.
I then talked to Michael about it.

And Michael says: "It's been a while
since we noted something."

That seems to fit with Kim feeling
he was behind.

- Are you sure?
- Yes.

In any case the important thing now
is that he doesn't go over 256 lives.

If he does, he's finished.

If our calculations
are a little too high, it's okay.

The problem is
if we think he has 150 lives...

but he in fact has 256,
and then he dies for having too many.

So let's...
Why not go two hours more?

He needs a break now.

We give him the ten minutes
and then he's ready to go again.

But this is the best time to push it.

I just think it's crazy
to only take ten minutes.

If we do that,
Kim has to agree on the 15 minutes...

so that he doesn't get pissed at us
for giving him five minutes more.

And then it would impact his game.

We have to be on the same page
or else we're fucked.

You're the marathon pro.

Talk to Kim and find out.

Kim, do you think 10 minutes is enough...

for you to feel
some kind of sleep-feeling?

In my opinion,
you need to get that sleep-feeling.

Before, you've...

You've not fallen asleep at all, right?

I know that.

I think it will help you get further,
if you feel you are falling asleep.

It could be right. When Michael
was there, 90-100 minutes passed.

I see. But then
an extra million was added again.

I have checked the numbers,
but I don't trust my skills 100 percent.

You should. You're the bomb.
Don't sell yourself short!

Okay.
Kim is going for 180 lives.

1-8-0.

- I have only one screen left.
- One left?

Will you count it?
I'll count on OBS.

- Now.
- Okay.

Good luck, Kim!

Every fucking minute counts.

170, right?

In five lives.
Five lives.

- 175.
- Yes. Go, wake him up.

- Just keep counting.
- Yes.

- 176.
- Yes.

177.

Take it easy, Kim.

Take it easy, man.

- 177. Is that correct, Morten?
- Yes.

Did you get some sleep, Kim?
Did you get some sleep?

Not really.

But getting away from the machine
and thinking about something else helps.

24 HOURS

30 HOURS

Fucking hell.

Why four of those in a row?!

What the hell is going on?!

That is some social worker shit.

This screen is fucked up.

No! Fuck it!
No! Goddammit...

- What are you doing?
- I had to take a leak.

Fucking pixel.

I had to take a leak
if I didn't want my eyes to well up.

Yeah, that wouldn't do!

No, I can't...

This is useless.

It's too low. It's too low.

Fuck. I died.

Fuck. I died.
Dammit, man. I died.

One more time.

Shit. I died...

No! Stop doing that!

- You lost a life.
- That was stupid. Really stupid.

No!

Goddammit!

I was so fucking close.

I have to watch my step here.
Jesus...

Fuck.

- First wave.
- First wave!

Wow, what beautiful plants out here.

- Second wave.
- Second wave.

Wow! It looks completely weird
out here. Jesus.

- Third wave.
- Third wave.

It's as if I'm walking on a mound.

Fourth wave.

This'll be nasty.

So, Kim.

We're going to play
some Iron Maiden for you...

to keep up the spirit.

I love it when he takes down
the formation.

You make it look so easy, Kim.
It's crazy.

Great, Kim.

Like a fucking champion.
That was awesome.

Come on.

48 HOURS

53 HOURS

- Are there any lives left?
- Sure. Easy now.

Take it easy, Kim.

- It is game over.
- What?

It's Day 3, 2:45 p.m.

Kim has been playing
for almost 54 hours.

No matter how much you want to,
you can't put time on pause or rewind.

In Dyst's words, it just goes on.
Now.

Take it easy, Kim.

- It is game over.
- What?

I didn't even get to write EXA...
Is it an error? Shit.

- What the fuck?
- Well...

What the hell?
What happened?

Well, that's...

Yeah...

Michael had created
this amazing spreadsheet.

It was able to make
all kinds of calculations.

It showed us how many extra lives he had
compared to the previous attempt.

It's running smoothly.

That's when I feel the most alive.
With my friends.

One didn't feel alone anymore.

This makes me sound really old,
but there was no discipline.

As we got further into it,
maybe I forgot to let them know...

and maybe I died three times in a row.

And maybe they thought
it was only one time. That was not good.

I started making toasted sandwiches.

That's when you know
you're about to have a good time.

The smell filled the room
and people went: "Ah, toast!"

It's the best toast there is.

I don't know if it helped.
Maybe the others felt it did.

But grapes and bananas,
that's good enough for me.

It gave us a boost of energy
in the small hours.

I lost the thread there.

At 2:35 p.m. Kim asks for a break.

But according to the schedule
it's not a good idea.

It was not a good idea...

He was wasting almost as many lives
as he was earning.

- But Kim insists.
- He needs a break.

According to the spreadsheet,
he has 99 lives.

- His game is steady. I go to bed.
- I felt it wasn't going well.

He wants to use 60.
It'll give him 5-7 minutes' rest.

- Does he have enough lives?
- I don't know. I was sleeping.

- I am resting.
- Morten and I are counting.

- We're going to use 60 lives.
- When I've counted 56, I get Kim.

- When I get back...
- It's game over.

And I'm like: What the hell?

60 lives were missing.

That was the biggest anticlimax ever.

To our great disappointment
that's where it ended.

It was my mistake.

Well...

Ah... this is good for the old legs.

- Oh, well.
- It wasn't the result I had hoped for.

- You're no spring chicken anymore.
- What's done is done.

This might have been your last chance
to set a proper record.

What if
the main character says it's okay?

That's not good enough for me.

- I'll keep coming to The Shed.
- I hope so.

So don't you worry about that.

It's awesome.
All the help I got.

Yeah.

When life slaps me in the face,
I always turn the other cheek.

I'm almost 36 years old.

And I have only just
moved out of my parents' house.

Ever since I was declared
mentally ill in 1996...

I've carried my stigma as a spaz
with loathing.

Now I'm like a zombie, burdened
by my lacking ability to function...

as the mature and independent man
I should have been 15-20 years ago.

Autistic.

Asperger's syndrome.

Spaz.

Call me a tourist
in what counts as reality.

Call me anything you like.

There are no words.
No words will quite suffice.

Consideration.

Sympathy.

Safe space.

Resource-building program.

Early retirement.

I would've liked to be so much more...

and do so much more
than just stand here and exist.

But I can't.

I could pull myself together.

Go to the doctor, to the shrink,
pop pills, but I don't.

I hit myself
because I can't do shit.

Because I am running out of time.

Time for change.

Time to cut myself
on my main competences.

To throw the dice
and take my chances.

Time for bottomless immersion
and hopeless romances.

To forget my self-hatred
and shower happily.

Time to smile to a red deer
and wave to a starling.

To bite the bullet
fill up on rotten berries...

and say thank you for the food.
Thank you to the floor and creaky bones.

Thank you to everything
that doesn't work.

Thank you to bottles and pills,
co-players and opponents.

Thank you for the things
I never got to say or do.

Thanks for nothing.

Kim played for 54 hours before it ended
on that ill-fated day in February.

I found it impressive,
but it was a far cry from 100 hours...

and also five hours less
than the world record in Gyruss.

Compared to the universe
these friends are immersed in...

and which Kim so elegantly
flew around in...

the human perception of time
is very short.

Seen from this perspective
one could ask...

whether it is relevant
to play a game for that long.

Maybe it's better to do the opposite:
View it as a possible answer.

To know that you, like other explorers,
accomplished something.

That you tried to leave your mark.

And hope that the sum of your dreams
will create a life people will remember.

Because why only imagine a dream?

As we're nearing the end of the story,
what is next for our friends?

The arcade has outgrown the basement
and now fills two floors...

so as to open its doors
to further legendary feats.

Feats to be immortalized on Polaroid
as future memories.

Apart from extending his world records
in Puzzle Bobble...

to cover all games from 1-4,
Dyst is again competing in poetry slam.

In the previous years
he has come 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

The sun is always setting.
Nothing is real.

Everything continues in a show
that carries on... now.

When he was a child and got into music,
Carsten grew up here.

It happens to be where Kim now lives.

Carsten hopes that his Bach research...

will be his contribution to the world
when he's no longer here.

Kim still leads a quiet life
and doesn't care much about fame.

And a guy like Billy Mitchell
doesn't impress him.

While Kim was trying
to beat the record...

Carsten was working on his kill screen
in Donkey Kong.

When he finally reached it,
it looked like this.

Fucking awesome!
It happened in The Shed!

Kim still plays his beloved Gyruss,
preferably alongside his friends.

Or with both hands behind his back.

A superhero doesn't transcend his
humanity with limitless superpowers.

He just fills it.

Speaking of future memories
on Polaroids:

There are other memories
than the photographic ones.

They are scattered across the universe as
particles that were once something else.

Some now travel as special memories
that like ripples in space and time...

move through the universe on invisible
yet ubiquitous quantum fields.

Tiny moments of memories
weighing the same as a dream.

It's strange yet comforting.

But wait.
Kim has some crazy cognitive skills...

and he is an arcade legend with a
mission that's still worth fighting for.

He never gives up. He adjusts his goals.
Rather than aiming for the unrealistic...

he merely goes after the world record
in Gyruss: 59 intense hours.

And without a lot of fuss
he gives it another go.

Kim! Kim! Kim!

Kim, this is Walter Day
in Brisbane, Australia.

I want to take a moment
to congratulate you, Kim...

on achieving
the highest score in Gyruss.

This kind of accomplishment
doesn't just happen to anybody.

It happens to someone like yourself
who's very focused.

Who's a very serious competitor,
who's a strong competitor...

who believes in themselves
and makes it happen.

So congratulations on being a leader
of the modern gaming community.

I'm honored to be rooting for you
and congratulating you.

I look forward to
the next amazing thing you do...

in the world of classic arcade gaming.