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The possible war scenarios Joshua runs in Global Thermonuclear War include: U.S. First Strike, USSR First Strike, NATO/Warsaw Pact, Far East Strategy, U.S. USSR Escalation, Middle East War, USSR China Attack, India Pakistan War, Mediterranean War, Hong Kong Variant, SEATO Decapitating, Cuban Provocation, Atlantic Heavy, Cuban Paramilitary, Nicaraguan Preemptive, Pacific Territorial, Burmese Theaterwide, Turkish Decoy, Angentina Escalation (possible misspelling of "Argentina Escalation"), Iceland Maximum, Arabian Theaterwide, U.S. Subversion, Australian Maneuver, Sudan Surprise, NATO Territorial, Zaire Alliance, Iceland Incident, English Escalation, Middle East Heavy, Mexican Takeover, Chad Alert (repeated twice), Saudi Maneuver, African Territorial, Ethiopian Escalation, Turkish Heavy, NATO Incursion, U.S. Defense, Cambodian Heavy, Pact Medium, Arctic Minimal, Mexican Domestic, Taiwan Theaterwide, Pacific Maneuver, Portugal Revolution, Albanian Decoy, Palistinian Local (possible misspelling of "Palestinian Local"), Moroccan Minimal, Czech Option, French Alliance, Arabian Clandestine, Gabon Rebellion, Northern Maximum, SEATO Takeover, Hawaiian Escalation, Iranian Maneuver, NATO Containment, Swiss Incident, Cuban Minimal, Iceland Escalation, Vietnamese Retaliatio (possible misspelling of "Vietnamese Retaliation"), Syrian Provocation, Libyan Local, Gabon Takeover, Romanian War, Middle East Offensive, Denmark Massive, Chile Confrontation, S. African Subversion, USSR Alert, Nicaraguan Thrust, Greenland Domestic, Iceland Heavy, Kenya Option, Pacific Defense, Uganda Maximum, Thai Subversion, Romanian Strike, Pakistan Sovereignty, Afghan Misdirection, Thai Variation, Northern Territorial, Polish Paramilitary, S. African Offensive, Panama Misdirection, Scandinavian Domestic, Jordan Preemptive, English Trust, Burmese Maneuver, Spain Counter, Arabian Offensive, Chad Interdiction, Taiwan Misdirection, Bangladesh Theaterwid (possible misspelling of "Bangladesh Theaterwide"), Ethiopian Local, Italian Takeover, Vietnamese Incident, English Preemptive, Denmark Alternate, Thai Confrontation, Taiwan Surprise, Brazilian Strike, Venezuela Sudden, Maylasian Alert (possible misspelling of "Malaysian Alert"), Isreal Discretionary (possible misspelling of "Israel Discretionary"), Libyan Action, Palistinian Tactical (possible misspelling of "Palestinian Tactical"), NATO Alternate, Cypress Maneuver (possible misspelling of "Cyprus Maneuver"), Egypt Misdirection, Bangladesh Thrust, Kenya Defense, Bangladesh Containmen (possible misspelling of "Bangladesh Containment"), Vietnamese Strike, Albanian Containment, Gabon Surprise, Iraq Sovereignty, Vietnamese Sudden, Lebanon Interdiction, Taiwan Domestic, Algerian Sovereignty, Arabian Strike, Atlantic Sudden, Mongolian Thrust, Polish Decoy, Alaskan Discretionary, Canadian Thrust, Arabian Light, S. African Domestic, Tunisian Incident, Maylasian Maneuver (possible misspelling of "Malaysian Maneuver"), Jamaica Decoy, Maylasian Minimal (possible misspelling of "Malaysian Minimal"), Russian Sovereignty, Chad Option, Bangladesh War, Burmese Containment, Asian Theaterwide, Bulgarian Clandestine, Greenland Incursion, Egypt Surgical, Czech Heavy, Taiwan Confrontation, Greenland Maximum, Uganda Offensive, and Caspian Defense.
According to John Badham, the jeep trying to crash through the gate at NORAD and turning over was an actual accident. The jeep was supposed to continue through the gate. They added the scene of the characters running from the jeep and down the tunnel, and used the botched jeep stunt.
The studio had the Galaxian (1979) and Galaga (1981) arcade machines delivered to Matthew Broderick's home. He practiced for two months to prepare for the arcade scene.
The NORAD command center built for the movie cost $1 million, making it the most expensive set ever constructed at the time. The producers were not allowed into the actual NORAD command center, so they had to imagine what it was like. In the DVD commentary, director John Badham notes that the actual NORAD command center isn't nearly as elaborate as the one in the movie, calling the set "NORAD's wet dream of itself."
The movie includes the first cinematic reference to a "firewall," a security measure used in computer networking and Internet security.
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.
John Badham: recorded voice on the pocket tape recorder in the infirmary and dubbing John Wood's voice in the helicopter scene.