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WarGames (1983)

 -  Sci-Fi | Thriller  -  3 June 1983 (USA)
7.0
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Ratings: 7.0/10 from 48,063 users  
Reviews: 136 user | 69 critic

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.

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Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 11 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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Kent Williams ...
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Joe Dorsey ...
Irving Metzman ...
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William Bogert ...
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David Clover ...
Stockman
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Storyline

A young computer whizz 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 ? Written by Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Wouldn't YOU rather play chess? See more »

Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

Certificate:

PG | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Official Sites:

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

3 June 1983 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Juegos de guerra  »

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$79,568,000 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(70 mm prints)| (35 mm prints)

Color:

(Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The WOPR, as seen in the movie, was made of wood and painted with a metal-finish paint. As the crew filmed the displays of the WOPR, Special Effects Supervisor Michael L. Fink sat inside and entered information into an Apple II computer that drove the countdown display. See more »

Goofs

During the final sequence when Joshua/WOPR is trying the figure out the launch code, the sequence is shown in real time. When the statement is made "1 minute to impact", it is approximately 1 minute and 40 seconds later when impact finally occurs. See more »

Quotes

Richter: [looking at a report] There's just been a very serious penetration into our WOPR Execution Order file.
Lyle Watson: What the hell's he saying?
Arthur Cabot: Let's have it in English.
General Beringer: I'll give it to you in English - somebody broke into Mr. McKittrick's well-known system and stole the codes that'll launch our missiles. That right, Mr. McKittrick?
John McKittrick: There's no cause for alarm. The system won't accept the launch code unless we're at DEFCON 1. I can have those codes changed in less than an hour.
Lyle Watson: Well, who did this?
John McKittrick: I think the ...
[...]
See more »


Soundtracks

"War Games"
Performed by Crosby Stills & Nash (as Crosby, Stills & Nash)
See more »

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User Reviews

 
The Only Winning Move Is not to Play
29 January 2012 | by (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) – See all my reviews

In Seattle, the teenager David (Matthew Broderick) is a lazy but bright student that prefers to hack and change his grades in the high-school computer than study. One day, David's best friend Jennifer (Ally Sheedy) is with him and he decides to hack the toy company Protovision seeking new games and he accidentally connects the War Operation Plan Response system in a computer located at the North American Aerospace (NORAD) at Birmingham using the password Joshua that was the name of the son of its creator, the deceased scientist Stephen Falken (John Wood).

David challenges the computer to play a Global Thermonuclear War game between USA and the Soviet Union. Sooner he realizes that the computer is playing for real and the United States of America is changing its condition to DEFCON 1 in a game with no winners.

"Wargames" is one of my favorite films of the 80's and despite the Cold War, it is nostalgic to watch again a period with little violence in the world and how life was easier, flying in a plane is just as one good example that we can see in this film. Hollywood still was able to make good movies based on great original stories. Matthew Broderick was an amazing promising actor with "Ladyhawke" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and the hacker David is ahead of time. Ally Sheedy shows her charm, lovely smile and a great chemistry with Broderick.

"Wargame" has a witty and funny story with a magnificent message in times of Cold War that is highlighted in the very end: "The Only Winning Move (in a nuclear war) Is not to Play". Fortunately most of the Powers that Be of the world has finally understood this message with the end of the Cold War. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Jogos de Guerra" ("War Games")


13 of 13 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

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