WarGames

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WarGames
WarGames theatrical poster
Directed by	John Badham Martin Brest[1]
Produced by	Harold Schneider
Written by	Lawrence Lasker Walter F. Parkes
Starring	Matthew Broderick Ally Sheedy John Wood
Music by	Arthur B. Rubinstein
Cinematography	William A. Fraker
Editing by	Tom Rolf
Distributed by	MGM/UA Entertainment Co.
Release date(s)	June 3, 1983 (USA)
Running time	114 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12,000,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue	$74,000,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

This article is about the 1983 US movie. For other uses see War Games.

WarGames is a 1983 science fiction film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes, and directed by John Badham. The film starred Matthew Broderick in his second major film role, as David Lightman, Ally Sheedy as Jennifer Mack, Dabney Coleman as John McKittrick, Barry Corbin as General Jack Beringer, James Tolkan as FBI Agent Nigan, Juanin Clay as Pat Healy and John Wood as Stephen W. Falken. A novelization of the screenplay was written by David Bischoff.

The movie was a hit, costing US$12 million but grossing over $74 million after five months in the United States. The NORAD set was the most expensive single movie set ever built up to that time, and cost $1 million.

Currently, a sequel titled WarGames 2: The Dead Code,^[2] is in pre-production. It will be directed by Stuart Gillard, and star Matt Lanter as a hacker named Will Farmer facing off with a government supercomputer called Ripley.^[3]

Taglines:

• Is it a game, or is it real?
• How about a nice game of chess?
• …Where the only winning move is NOT TO PLAY.
• Shall we play a game?

[edit] Plot

The film is set late in the Cold War period, opening on a U.S. Air Force base where its missile launch crew receives orders to launch nuclear missiles at the Soviet Union; when the base's Commander fails to launch their missiles, this is revealed to be part of a larger psychological experiment by the military, testing whether U.S. missile crews would do the same in the event of a real nuclear attack. It is mentioned that twenty-two percent of crews tested failed to launch their missiles, prompting NORAD to install an automated computer system, the "War Operation Plan Response" or WOPR, to oversee launching of U.S. nuclear missiles.

The film's protagonist, David Lightman, is introduced as a hacker in high school, whose gaming addiction has resulted in low grades, which he covers up by illicitly accessing the school's computer database and manually adjusting his reported grades, as well as the low grades of a girl he has a secret crush on, Jennifer. While performing a computerized telephone search in an attempt to locate and play the games of the fictional "Protovision" in Sunnyvale, California (incidentally the real life location of the then-ubiquitous Atari), David discovers a connection to the WOPR, although without a password, he is unable to gain access to anything more than a list the simple board and card games.

After consulting with a friend at a computer shop and being advised of backdoors, David researches the system's programmer, Stephen W. Falken, learning that the scientist designed computer systems for the military. After learning about Falken, David is able to successfully log in to the WOPR system using the name of Falken's son, "Joshua", as a password. David instructs the system to "play" a game called "Global Thermonuclear War", chooses to play the side of the Soviet Union, and aims virtual missiles at American cities, unaware that the WOPR's simulations of the attack have prompted a DEFCON 3 alert at NORAD HQ.

Dialogue between David and WOPR

Response at NORAD to Soviet missile launches

When David learns about a brief alert at NORAD HQ through local news, he assumes he will be held responsible and begins disposing of the study materials he collected about Falken; the WOPR (now addressing itself as "Joshua") phones back, informing David that the "game" is still in progress and it is still trying to "win". David is then arrested, taken to NORAD, introduced to John McKittrick (previously an assistant to Stephen Falken), and questioned, as the military believes he may have been recruited by a Soviet saboteur. When David is later discovered using McKittrick's terminal to have a conversation with "Joshua" and learning of Dr. Falken's real location at Goose Island, Oregon, he is accused of espionage and confined to the base's medical infirmary -- although David is able to concoct a means of escape and blends in with a tourist group leaving the facility.

Later, David phones Jennifer and they rendezvous near Goose Island to locate Stephen Falken. Though initially unwelcomed, they talk with Falken about "Joshua". Falken reveals that the WOPR "never learned the most important lesson of all -- futility" (citing the game of Tic-tac-toe as an example), and that a nuclear war between the U.S. and Soviet Union may be inevitable. Falken eventually decides to help stop the "game", and travels back to NORAD HQ with David and Jennifer even as NORAD officers, reacting to the WOPR's simulations of Soviet activity, are locking down the base in preparations for a nuclear attack and counterstrike. Falken tries to convince the NORAD general that the Soviet activity, including nuclear missile launches, is only a simulation by the WOPR; the general calls other Air Force bases for verification as he "cannot confirm" their reports of inbound Soviet missiles. The WOPR displays nuclear impacts by Soviet missiles, but the Air Force bases report that no missiles have impacted, revealing the reports to be indeed a WOPR simulation.

They discover, however, that the WOPR has locked them out of the missile control systems and, assuming their failure to launch their missiles as a Soviet undermining of command authority, is executing a brute-force attack on the missile launch code to perform a nuclear counterstrike itself. NORAD staff calculate that it would take longer to disconnect the U.S. missiles than it would for the WOPR to determine the missiles' launch code, and that attempting to shut off the WOPR directly would cause the (WOPR-controlled) U.S. missile silos to assume a destruction of NORAD HQ and launch nuclear missiles automatically. Falken and David discover that they are unable to log back in to the WOPR system (even with the 'backdoor' password), but they are able to play a game of tic-tac-toe against the WOPR, and then instruct the WOPR to play tic-tac-toe against itself. The WOPR enters a loop even as it finishes deciphering the missile launch codes, as each game of tic-tac-toe ends in a tie.

With the missile launch codes discovered, the WOPR aborts the game of tic-tac-toe and runs a simulation of a U.S. counterstrike and calculates losses for both U.S. and Soviet sides, soon declaring "Winner: None". It then calculates alternate scenarios leading to nuclear missile strikes, entering another loop as each scenario plays out the same -- all ending in nuclear strikes, destruction of both sides, and no 'winner'. After calculating over one hundred scenarios at an increasingly rapid pace, the WOPR ceases simulations, displaying a message on screen as it labels the simulations as "a strange game" where "the only winning move ... is not to play"; the base crew rejoices as the WOPR suggests "a nice game of chess" to play instead.

[edit] Cast

• Matthew Broderick ... David Lightman
• Dabney Coleman ... John McKittrick
• John Wood ... Professor Stephen Falken
• Ally Sheedy ... Jennifer Katherine Mack
• Barry Corbin ... General Jack Beringer
• Juanin Clay ... Pat Healy
• Kent Williams ... Arthur Cabot
• Dennis Lipscomb ... Lyle Watson
• Joe Dorsey ... Joe Conley
• Irving Metzman ... Paul Richter
• Michael Ensign ... Beringer's aide
• William Bogert ... Mr. Lightman
• Susan Davis ... Mrs. Lightman
• James Tolkan ... Nigan
• David Clover ... Stockman
• Drew Snyder ... Ayers
• John Garber ... Corporal in the infirmary
• Duncan Wilmore ... Major Lem
• Billy Ray Sharkey ... Radar analyst
• John Spencer ... Jerry
• Michael Madsen ... Steve
• Erik Stern ... Commander
• Gary Bisig ... Deputy
• Gary Sexton ... Technician
• Victoria Dillard ... Military Personnel
• Jason Bernard ... Captain Knewt
• Frankie Hill ... Airman Fields
• Jesse Goins ... Sergeant
• Alan Blumenfeld ... Mr. Liggett
• Len Lawson ... Boys' vice-principal
• Maury Chaykin ... Jim Sting
• Eddie Deezen ... Malvin
• Stephen Lee ... Sergeant Schneider
• Lucinda Crosby ... Nurse in infirmary
• Stack Pierce ... Airman
• Art LaFleur ... Guard
• Brad David Berwick ... Flight Pilot Leader
• Martha Shaw ... Vice-principal's secretary
• Howie Allen ... Boy in arcade
• Michael Adams ... Travis
• James Ackerman ... Joshua
• Jim Harriott ... Newscaster
• Tom Lawrence ... Sergeant Sims
• Frances Nealy ... Visitor
• Charles Akins ... Major Ford
• Glenn Standifer ... Major Wenstein
• Edward Jahnke ... NORAD officer
• Paul V. Picerni Jr. ... Technician

[edit] Analysis

WarGames was promoted as a cautionary tale about technology and the dangers of leaving machines in control of unleashing destruction, in an echo of the Doomsday device of Dr. Strangelove^{[citation needed]}. It also prominently featured the common idea^{[citation needed]} of the Cold War period (particularly the 1970s and 1980s) that somewhere there was a "button" that, when pressed, would nuke the whole world away. The film's final sequence graphically demonstrated the concept of mutual assured destruction (MAD). It was also one of the first movies to deal with teenagers and their activities, and features very early modem technology using acoustic couplers. Additionally, WarGames is one of the first films to mention computer firewalls.^[4]

[edit] Awards

WarGames was nominated for three Oscars:

• Cinematography: William A. Fraker
• Sound: Michael J. Kohut, Carlos de Larios, Aaron Rochin, Willie D. Burton
• Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen): Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes

[edit] Trivia

• The character of Professor Stephen W. Falken was inspired by Stephen Hawking^{[citation needed]}, and Hawking was initially approached by the filmmakers who offered him the role^{[citation needed]}. However, Hawking didn't want his disability to be capitalized on and passed.^{[citation needed]}
• The filmmakers originally wrote the character of Professor Falken with the idea of using it as a potential vehicle for John Lennon.
• John Spencer, who had played on The Patty Duke Show, received his first major film role in WarGames.
• The voice of Joshua was performed by actor John Wood (who also played Falken). Director John Badham had Wood deliver the words in reverse order, which resulted in a staccato but even-toned delivery. Wood's voice was then post-processed to obtain the artificial quality.^{[citation needed]}
• The rock band Crosby, Stills & Nash had recorded a title song written by Stephen Stills used in initial early trailers for the film, and released concurrently as a single but their participation in the project was cancelled at the last moment.^{[citation needed]}
• The exteriors were all filmed in western Washington state. The NORAD HQ set was built in the Cascades, and the Oregon airport was really Boeing Field. Goose Island is really Anderson Island in Washington (in the southern part of the Puget Sound).^{[citation needed]}
• Although she had appeared in many television movies, WarGames was also Ally Sheedy's first feature film.
• When General Jack Beringer says to scramble 2 F-16s to intercept the "Soviet bombers" over Alaska they are actually F-15s.

[edit] WarGames in popular culture

• On the NewsRadio episode "Freaky Friday," Matthew (Andy Dick) accidentally hits a button on the keyboard and the computer asks, "Would you like to play a game?" In response, he types in, "Global Thermonuclear War"
• The film is widely credited with bringing the DEFCON system into pop culture.^{[citation needed]}
• Introversion Software's game, Uplink, features the "Protovision Game Server" (the server the games were on in the film). This contains the list of games from the film, except for "Global Thermonuclear War", which is hidden.
• WarGames was also the inspiration behind Introversion Software's DEFCON computer real-time strategy game.
• MAD Magazine spoofed the film in a parody called "Warped Games". The parody, like many of Mort Drucker's comics, has a plot line somewhat similar to the real film, but a goofier ending. "Mavin Lightfinger" is in search of "Professor Falcon", the creator of "Josher". "Professor Falcon" says that "Josher" respects anyone of superior intelligence, but cannot remember the other fact. When "Mavin" proves his superiority to "Josher" (by beating him at tic-tac-toe), "Professor Falcon" nervously remembers the other aspect to "Josher", that he is a sore loser. A mushroom cloud is created, with "Mavin" and the base commander atop it. The base commander consoles "Mavin" by saying "Look on the bright side. The chances of a high school student with half a brain beating a supercomputer at tic-tac-toe are probably a billion to one!", to which "Mavin" replies "I guess every mushroom cloud has a silver lining!"
• John Dorian, Zack Braff's character on Scrubs, takes a voice box from a smoker after telling him what he would sound like if he kept smoking, and Dorian puts the voice box to his throat and says, "Would you like to play a game?", a very famous line from War Games.

[edit] Games

These are the games available on the WOPR:

• Falken's Maze
• Black Jack
• Gin Rummy
• Hearts
• Bridge
• Checkers
• Chess
• Poker
• Tic-Tac-Toe (even though it doesn't appear in the list)
• Fighter Combat
• Guerrilla Engagement
• Desert Warfare
• Air-to-Ground Actions
• Theaterwide Tactical Warfare
• Theaterwide Biotoxic and Chemical Warfare
• Global Thermonuclear War

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• war dialing, a brute-force attack named after the film
• Defcon (computer game), a computer game by Introversion Software inspired by the film

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

WarGames

• MGM's official WarGames site
• WarGames at the Internet Movie Database
• The Spoilers Alternate DVD Commentary of WarGames with Andy Ihnatko
• Introversion Software's DEFCON Homepage