During the height of the Cold War, another fear seemed to be evolving just as fast. That was the fear of surrendering control of so much of our lives and our defense over to computers. At a time before a PC was an essential part of every home, computers were still something of a novelty at the time outside of major corporations and the government.

The movie Wargames capitalized on both fears. It opens with two missile commanders (one of whom is John Spencer of The West Wing fame) locked in a missile silo receiving orders to launch missiles. It turns out it was a test, although none of the missile commanders knew that. 22% of them refused to turn the keys to execute the launches.

In response to this disturbing chain of events, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs as well as others in charge decide to take the human element out of the equation and turn control of the launch capability over to a computer system.

Matthew Broderick is David. He excels at video games and loves computers, something of a novelty for the era. He's already figured out how to hack into the school computer and change his grades. When he sees an ad for a new computer game, he wants to try to hack into that company. Through trial and error, he hacks into a system in the same area of the country as the one he was looking for. He thinks it's the computer game company, but it's actually an Air Force super-computer that's been playing Wargames from the original scenario.

David hacks the system, not realizing what he's gotten into. He and his girlfriend, Jennifer (portrayed by Ally Sheedy) think they are playing a game as they set thermonuclear weapons to target Las Vegas and Seattle. They disconnect abruptly and David later learns he managed to trigger an alert. Unfortunately, something was already triggered in the computer on the other side, and it's counting down the time until it launches missiles for real.

Wargames is a direct product of its era, and scared the hell out of most of us at the time. Most of us had a sort of abstract idea that there were missiles pointed at us at any given moment, but in an age before there were what seemed like hundreds of television channels which detailed weaponry and fed us sensationalized news on a twenty-four hour basis, we could go happily about our lives most of the time. Wargames triggered feelings and fears most people didn’t want to confront. Add to that the science-fiction element of computers taking over our decisions and you have a suspenseful film for 1983.Unfortunately, it is that dated. I suppose one could think of the film being updated and somehow writing the story where rogue terrorists are the enemy, rather than the USSR. However, we know that terrorists might want to bomb us and we also know that if they could they probably would have already, so it would be difficult to create that fear which we had, knowing the set-up was dead-on. Then there’s the fact that computers taking over our defense and becoming out of control has been done since Wargames and much better, particularly in the Terminator films.

However, that doesn’t stop Wargames from being a particularly good film. It’s a fast paced thriller that doesn’t dumb down itself for the audience nor does it get to into the technical details that it goes above people’s heads. My parents, who have never owned a computer in their lives, recall this movie fondly and when I recently mentioned that I watched it again, they wanted to see it again themselves.

After all the years that have passed, it was funny to watch the clunky computers of the time. This was especially the case when David wanted to communicate with other computers. Watching him have to dial the number first on an actual telephone, then put the handset in a cradle to talk to the computer on the other end is a reminder of just how far we’ve come, especially to a generation that wasn’t even born when this film was released.

Wargames was just Matthew Broderick’s second film, and he does a terrific job. He’s an early geek, cool and confident within the electronic domain, nervous around the human one. At the same time, his life is the dream of a typical teenager’s with parents who are portrayed as clunky dolts while he's cool and intelligent. It seems like they are barely involved in his life or aware of what he’s doing. Think of David as a geeky Ferris Bueller and you pretty much have the character down.

Ally Sheedy is also quite young here and is fine as a tag-along with David. She’s not just eye-candy, but not quite in the same league as David either. Dabney Coleman who was a mainstay of the 1980's movies and television as an abrasive, all-too-confident man is perfect as McKittrick, the man who is all too sure of the power and infallibility of the computers. Opposite him is Barry Corbin as an Air force General arguing to keep the human element in the equation of deciding if we should destroy the planet or not. John Wood as the reclusive programmer is less than stellar. His performance really comes into its own once he’s back in the setting with the computer, rather than off in the wilderness. Unfortunately, he fails to sell the emotional depth behind the events which led to his retreat from society, nor the acrimony with which he still apparently views society.

Director John Badham is to be commended for not taking the film over the top. It’s what likely helps Wargames stand up so well all these years later. The hacking into the computer is innocent by David, rather than being a premise that is so ridiculous that it’s unbelievable. How many films do you watch where the events that take place are a bit too contrived? I didn’t have that feeling while watching Wargames. David’s stumbling into the computer is a stroke of luck and never pretends to be anything more than that. It’s his diligence and ability to deduce a deeper meaning that helps him in his quest. Rather than having a program that will find a password for him, David is able to figure it out on his own. It’s why when David needs to locate the scientist who created the computer and its programs that he can - he has an ability to deduce things based on ordinary observations that the rest of us miss. Badham manages to capture these nuances of David’s character, rather than have to hit us over the head with his level of intelligence. David never drifts over the line into arrogance, which keeps his character both sympathetic and believable. It’s the character of David that is pivotal to the audience’s belief in the film and the topic, and Badham keeps him smart but not too smart.

The DVD is good with a decent transfer. The sound and the effects are good. Unfortunately, the only special feature is commentary with Director John Badham, Screenwriter Lawrence Lasker, and Screenwriter Walter Parkes. It’s not bad, but I thought there should have been more and wonder if any overtures were made to Broderick and Sheedy to comment on their experiences.

Wargames is still a great film for people who remember this era. For people who don’t, it might be hard to understand the Cold War era nuances. The computers and systems might seem like dinosaurs to those who have never had anything except color monitors and high-speed internet. It’s still a terrific film, just dated.

This review is part of CaptainD's Good Movies 2008 write-off.


© 2008 Patti Aliventi