Gry wojenne (1983)

A young man finds a back door into a military central computer in which reality is confused with game-playing, possibly starting World War III.

Director:

John Badham

Writers:

Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes

Stars:

Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, John Wood

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew Broderick	...	David
Dabney Coleman	...	McKittrick
John Wood	...	Falken
Ally Sheedy	...	Jennifer
Barry Corbin	...	General Beringer
Juanin Clay	...	Pat Healy
Kent Williams	...	Cabot
Dennis Lipscomb	...	Watson
Joe Dorsey	...	Conley
Irving Metzman	...	Richter
Michael Ensign	...	Beringer's Aide
William Bogert	...	Mr. Lightman
Susan Davis	...	Mrs. Lightman
James Tolkan	...	Wigan
David Clover	...	Stockman

Storyline

A young computer whiz kid accidentally connects into a top secret super-computer which has complete control over the U.S. nuclear arsenal. It challenges him to a game between America and Russia, and he innocently starts the countdown to World War 3. Can he convince the computer he wanted to play a game and not the real thing ?

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Plot Keywords:

game | computer | norad | teenager | high school | 

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Taglines:

"Global Thermonuclear War." You may think it's one hell of a game. You couldn't be more right.

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 June 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gry wojenne

Filming Locations:

Snohomish High School - 1316 5th Street, Snohomish, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$79,568,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists, Sherwood Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the start of the first NORAD Command Center scene, many large white springs are visible on the floor. These are the set designer's concept of seismic base isolation springs, which are a common means of protecting structures from earthquake damage. In the case of the underground NORAD bunker, the springs would isolate some kind of foundation platform from the cave floor.

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Goofs

The code to launch the missiles is "CPE1704TKS" when displayed on the big screen and on most of the launch consoles, but it is shown as "JPE1704TKS" on one console shown in closeup in the sequence where the WOPR is attempting to determine the launch codes itself.

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Quotes

Stephen Falken: Now, children, come on over here. I'm going to tell you a bedtime story. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. Once upon a time, there lived a magnificent race of animals that dominated the world through age after age. They ran, they swam, and they fought and they flew, until suddenly, quite recently, they disappeared. Nature just gave up and started again. We weren't even apes then. We were just these smart little rodents hiding in the rocks. And when we go, nature will start over. ...

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Connections

Referenced in Tutti gli uomini del deficiente (1999)

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Soundtracks

Video Fever
Performed by Arthur B. Rubinstein, Cynthia Morrow, Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli (as The Beepers)
Lyrics by Cynthia Morrow
Music by Arthur B. Rubinstein
Produced by Anthony Marinelli (uncredited)

User Reviews

Ahead of it's time

Wargames was a movie that was way ahead of its time. No one was making films about hacking into computer systems. The only computers used in movies were on space ships. No home computer has ever really been brought to the big screen. Wargames broke from the normal studio sci fi norm of either Earth being visited by aliens (E.T) or battles of Good and Evil in space (Star Wars, Star Trek). With the raise in hacker crime rate now, and seeing how Dependant we've become on computers, Wargames was a movie with it the eye on the future. Imaginative story, great cast (who, despite other reviews, do not phone it in) Wargames is a true gem, as it was recently listed by AFI as one of the top 100 sci fi movies of all time. Broderick was perfect as a slacker teen, and Ally Sheedy turns in one of her best performance, making the most of an under developed character. Dabney Coleman showed why he was one of the busiest actors in the 1980's (though he always better cast as a villain), and Barry Corbin could play almost anything convincingly. while the special effects may be dated by todays standard, Wargames helped shape the way people think and speak. Backdoors, hacking, were not common terms like they are today. Without a doubt, much in agreement with AFI, Wargames remains one of the most important films ever made.