WarGames (1983)

I have heard friends, family and critics reference this movie for decades. I always wondered why, if it is so great, I had never seen it. Well, tonight I took the time to 1) investigate it and 2) watch it. Seems it was a mystery to me because it was released the month I graduated from med school! I was busy preparing for both graduation and the onset of the dreaded internship. Over the subsequent years though, the title "War Games" came up again and again in media reviews and commentary as well as among my friends. I needed to see it and finally I have. It was well worth the wait. Only minimally dated by technology, the concepts are still entirely relevant. Acting, direction and plot are top shelf. The score is nothing special. Fascinating to see stars Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy so young and fresh, free of the Hollywood expectations of stardom. I wish I had watched it sooner.

There was a time, believe it or not, when I thought that the basic premise of WARGAMES was too far beyond the pale: no way, thought I, would the corporate government of THIS company (the "united" $tate$ of ameriKa) allow itself to be made so Vulnerable that a KID could tap into its innermost Darkest Secrets. Well, in DJ Trump's ameriKa, it's not only POSSIBLE, but it may very well have already HAPPENED. The Divider-In-Chief (DIC, for short) has asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to announce that his alleged ties to Russian cronies was just not so, that his hands were clean; that he hadn't engaged in treasonous activities prior to the recent so-called election; that he isn't (as Bill Maher put it) "Agent Orange" and Putin isn't the REAL president. (ONE thing's for certain: the Electoral College, which, we're told, was meant to PREVENT a Madman from becoming president, instead undermined the will of The People and gave us ol' DJ... whose Madness is open to debate. And, lest we Forget: the democraps HELPED put him in orifice. We've already had a ban on Muslims entering this company, mass deportations of wanna-be immigrants, a $75M aircraft lost in a military mission, and the murder of a dozen or so children in DJ's first authorized drone strike. There's Blood on a LOT of hands these days... The recent disruptions at republican Town Hall Meetings are clear signs of Things To Come. They can PROFITize all they want, it's well past Time for a Reality Check. Check out Keith Olbermann's THE RESISTANCE or Amy Goodman's DEMOCRACY NOW! for the latest Real World news.)

Great Cold War drama.A high school kid, David (played by Matthew Broderick), accidentally hacks the powerful computer that runs global thermonuclear war simulations for the US military, and which controls the US's nuclear weapons arsenal. It starts as a game but ends up deadly serious...Intriguing, exciting movie with a few funny moments along the way. Though not anywhere near as biting as Dr Strangelove in its demonstration of how Cold War paranoia and the nuclear arms race can go awry, it is a fairly chilling indicator of what could happen.Solid work from Matthew Broderick in the lead role, in only his second movie. Ally Sheedy is wonderful as Jennifer. Supporting cast are fine too.

Young computer hacker David (Matthew Broderick) accesses a top secret supercomputer which controls US nuclear missiles. He sets out to play a game only to discover that it actually set in motion thermal nuclear war. He and new girlfriend Jennifer (Ally Sheedy) must stop the march to nuclear warfare.This is the granddaddy of computer hacking movies. For such an early computer movie, it's relatively reasonable. However the escape from NORAD detention seems way too easy. That and other simplifications could be overlooked. This remains the best of early computer hacking movies.Broderick and Sheedy have an easy chemistry. They work well together as a teen couple. They were tops of the teen brat pack. Then they put a couple of veteran actors Dabney Coleman and Barry Corbin to anchor the other side. With the good acting and the realistic hacking, it is not only groundbreaking but a really fun watch.