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.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.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
- Writers
- Lawrence Lasker
- Walter F. Parkes
- Walon Green(uncredited)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Lawrence Lasker
- Walter F. Parkes
- Walon Green(uncredited)
- Stars
- Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 4 wins & 14 nominations total
Videos2
- Director
- Writers
- Lawrence Lasker
- Walter F. Parkes
- Walon Green(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
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 ? —Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com>
- Taglines
- The only winning move is not to play.
- Genres
- Certificate
- PG
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaThe 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."
- GoofsWhen WOPR is searching for the launch code, it is shown to be able to lock onto each digit individually. In which case, it would only take 360 tries (one for each letter and digit), to definitely find the entire code.
- Quotes
[after playing out all possible outcomes for Global Thermonuclear War]
Joshua: Greetings, Professor Falken.
Stephen Falken: Hello, Joshua.
Joshua: A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?
- Alternate versions[Report] In the premiere telecast version of the film, in the scene where the female airmen is counting down to Impact, there is more background music that plays than in the theatrical version and home video releases containing English language versions. However, the extra background music plays in foreign versions of the movie. Also, the extra BGM has not played in subsequent TV airings since that first telecast, as far as I am aware.
- ConnectionsEdited into Canadian Bacon (1995)
- SoundtracksVideo 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)
Top review
An Old Favorite For Many
This was an old favorite for many younger baby-boomers, who were teenagers and in their twenties at the dawn of the personal computer age.
This one was a bit more than amusing, though. It opened many eyes to both the potential and the dangers we faced while coming into the computer age. The government had these marvelous machines and the internet by which they communicated for decades before the public was given access from these ancient Commodore 64's, Amigas, and Atari home computers via phone line, back in the late 1970's.
While this work is entertaining, it also bears a valid warning, even today.
Broderick and Ally Sheedy both were 21, playing 17 year olds, competently.
It rates a 7.6/10 from...
the Fiend :.
This one was a bit more than amusing, though. It opened many eyes to both the potential and the dangers we faced while coming into the computer age. The government had these marvelous machines and the internet by which they communicated for decades before the public was given access from these ancient Commodore 64's, Amigas, and Atari home computers via phone line, back in the late 1970's.
While this work is entertaining, it also bears a valid warning, even today.
Broderick and Ally Sheedy both were 21, playing 17 year olds, competently.
It rates a 7.6/10 from...
the Fiend :.
helpful•395
- FiendishDramaturgy
- Apr 18, 2007
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $12,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $79,567,667
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,227,804
- Jun 5, 1983
- Gross worldwide
- $79,567,667
- Runtime
- 1h 54min
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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