Plot
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.

Release Year: 1983

Rating: 7.0/10 (35,974 voted)

Director: John Badham

Stars: Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, John Wood

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 ?

Writers: Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes

Cast:
Matthew Broderick - David
Dabney Coleman - McKittrick
John Wood - Falken
Ally Sheedy - Jennifer
Barry Corbin - General Beringer
Juanin Clay - Pat Healy
Kent Williams - Cabot
Dennis Lipscomb - Watson
Joe Dorsey - Conley
Irving Metzman - Richter
Michael Ensign - Beringer's Aide
William Bogert - Mr. Lightman
Susan Davis - Mrs. Lightman
James Tolkan - Nigan
David Clover - Stockman

Taglines: The only winning move is not to play.

Official Website: MGM |

Release Date: 3 June 1983

Filming Locations: 333 S Arden Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $6,227,804 (USA) (5 June 1983) (843 Screens)

Gross: $79,568,000 (USA)

Runtime: 114 min

Trivia:
The Tic-Tac-Toe scene was used as part of a montage for the "Hard to Explain" music video by The Strokes.

Goofs:
Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Despite the DVD commentary and popular belief, Defense Conditions (DEFCONs) actually do go from 5 to 1 as the situation worsens. DEFCON 1 represents imminent or ongoing attack on the US by a foreign power, while DEFCON 5 represents normal peacetime operations.

Quotes:
McKittrick: Excuse me, sir. We can't send these men back to the President of the United States with a lot of head-shrinker horseshit!

Ahead of it's time

Rating: 10/10

Wargames was a movie that was way ahead of its time. No one was making films about hacking into computer systems. The only computers used in movies were on space ships. No home computer has ever really been brought to the big screen. Wargames broke from the normal studio sci fi norm of either Earth being visited by aliens (E.T) or battles of Good and Evil in space (Star Wars, Star Trek). With the raise in hacker crime rate now, and seeing how Dependant we've become on computers, Wargames was a movie with it the eye on the future. Imaginative story, great cast (who, despite other reviews, do not phone it in) Wargames is a true gem, as it was recently listed by AFI as one of the top 100 sci fi movies of all time. Broderick was perfect as a slacker teen, and Ally Sheedy turns in one of her best performance, making the most of an under developed character. Dabney Coleman showed why he was one of the busiest actors in the 1980's (though he always better cast as a villain), and Barry Corbin could play almost anything convincingly. while the special effects may be dated by todays standard, Wargames helped shape the way people think and speak. Backdoors, hacking, were not common terms like they are today. Without a doubt, much in agreement with AFI, Wargames remains one of the most important films ever made.

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