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= WarGames =
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Introduction
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'WarGames' is a 1983 American techno-thriller film directed by John
Badham, written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes, and starring
Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood and Ally Sheedy.
Broderick plays David Lightman, a young computer hacker who
unwittingly accesses a United States military supercomputer programmed
to simulate, predict and execute nuclear war against the Soviet Union,
triggering a false alarm that threatens to start World War III. Martin
Brest was originally the film's director, but was fired early into
production.
The film premiered at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival, and was released
by MGM/UA Entertainment on June 3, 1983. It was a widespread critical
and commercial success, grossing $125 million worldwide against a $12
million budget. At the 56th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for
three Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay. It also won a BAFTA
Award for Best Sound.
'WarGames' is credited with popularizing concepts of computer hacking,
information technology, and cybersecurity in wider American society.
It spawned several video games, a 2008 direct-to-video sequel film,
and a 2018 interactive series.
Plot
======================================================================
During a surprise nuclear attack drill, many USAF Strategic Missile
Wing controllers prove unwilling to turn the keys required to launch a
missile strike. Such refusals convince Dr. John McKittrick and other
NORAD systems engineers that missile launch control centers must be
automated, without human intervention. Control is given to a NORAD
supercomputer known as WOPR (War Operation Plan Response, pronounced
"whopper"), or Joshua, programmed to continuously run war simulations
and learn over time.
David Lightman, a bright but unmotivated Seattle high school student
and hacker, uses his IMSAI 8080 computer and modem to access the
school district's computer system and change the grades for himself
and his friend and classmate, Jennifer Mack. Later, while wardialing
numbers in Sunnyvale, to find a computer game company, he connects
with a system that does not identify itself. When asking for games, he
finds a list that includes chess, checkers, backgammon, and poker,
along with titles such as "Theaterwide Biotoxic and Chemical Warfare"
and "Global Thermonuclear War", but cannot proceed further. Two hacker
friends explain the concept of a backdoor password and suggest
tracking down the Falken referenced in "Falken's Maze", the first game
listed. David discovers that Stephen Falken was an early AI researcher
and guesses correctly that the name of Falken's deceased son (Joshua)
is the password.
Unaware that the Sunnyvale phone number connects to WOPR at the
non-public U.S. military installation at Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado,
David initiates a game of Global Thermonuclear War, playing as the
USSR while targeting American cities. The computer starts a simulation
that briefly convinces NORAD military personnel that actual Soviet
nuclear missiles are inbound. While they defuse the situation, WOPR
nonetheless continues the simulation to trigger the scenario and win
the game, as it does not understand the difference between reality and
simulation. It continuously feeds false data, such as Soviet bomber
incursions and submarine deployments to NORAD, prompting them to raise
the DEFCON level toward retaliation that will start WWIII.
David learns the true nature of his actions from a news broadcast, and
the FBI arrests him and takes him to NORAD. He realizes that WOPR is
behind the NORAD alerts, but he fails to convince McKittrick that he
is not working for the Soviets and is detained to await arraignment on
espionage charges. David escapes NORAD by joining a tourist group and,
with Jennifer's help, travels to an island off the coast of Oregon
where Falken lives under an assumed name. David and Jennifer find that
Falken has become despondent, believing that nuclear war is inevitable
and as futile as a game of tic-tac-toe between two experienced
players. The teenagers convince Falken to return to NORAD and stop
WOPR.
WOPR stages a massive Soviet first strike with hundreds of missiles,
submarines, and bombers. Believing the attack to be genuine, NORAD
prepares to retaliate. Falken, David, and Jennifer convince military
officials to delay the second strike and ride out the supposed attack
until actual weapons impacts are confirmed. When the targeted American
bases (Elmendorf, Grand Forks, and Loring) report back unharmed, NORAD
prepares to cancel the retaliatory second strike. However, WOPR tries
to launch the missiles on its own using a brute-force attack to obtain
the launch codes. Without humans in the control centers as a safeguard
using the two-man rule, the computer will trigger a mass launch. All
attempts to log in and order WOPR to cancel the countdown fail.
Disconnecting the computer is discussed and dismissed, as a
fail-deadly mechanism will launch all weapons if the computer is
disabled.
Falken and David direct the computer to play tic-tac-toe against
itself. This results in a long string of draws, forcing the computer
to learn about futility and no-win scenarios. WOPR obtains the launch
codes, then cycles through all the nuclear war scenarios it has
devised, finding that they all result in draws as well. Having
discovered the concept of mutual assured destruction ("WINNER: NONE"),
the computer tells Falken it has concluded that nuclear war is "a
strange game" in which "the only winning move is not to play." WOPR
relinquishes control of NORAD and the missiles and inquires, "How
about a nice game of chess?"
Development
=============
Development on 'WarGames' began in 1979, when writers Walter F. Parkes
and Lawrence Lasker developed an idea for a script called 'The
Genius', about "a dying scientist and the only person in the world who
understands him -- a rebellious kid who's too smart for his own good".
Lasker was inspired by a television special presented by Peter Ustinov
on several geniuses, including Stephen Hawking. Lasker said, "I found
the predicament Hawking was in fascinating -- that he might one day
figure out the unified field theory and not be able to tell anyone,
because of his progressive ALS. So, there was this idea that he'd need
a successor. And who would that be? Maybe this kid, a juvenile
delinquent whose problem was that nobody realized he was too smart for
his environment." The concept of computers and hacking as part of the
film was not yet present.
'The Genius' began its transformation into 'WarGames' when Parkes and
Lasker met Peter Schwartz from the Stanford Research Institute. "There
was a new subculture of extremely bright kids developing into what
would become known as hackers," said Schwartz. Schwartz made the
connection between youth, computers, gaming, and the military. Parkes
and Lasker also met with computer-security expert Willis Ware of RAND
Corporation, who assured them that even a secure military computer
might have remote access enabling remote work on weekends, encouraging
the screenwriters to continue with the project.
Parkes and Lasker came up with several military-themed plot lines
before the final story. One version of the script had an early version
of the WOPR named "Uncle Ollie", or Omnipresent Laser Interceptor
(OLI), a space-based defensive laser run by an intelligent program,
but this idea was discarded, because it was too speculative. Director
John Badham coined the name "WOPR", feeling that the name of NORAD's
Single Integrated Operational Plan was "boring, and told you nothing".
The name "WOPR" played off the Whopper hamburger, and a general sense
of something going "whop".
David Lightman was modeled on David Scott Lewis, a hacking enthusiast
Parkes and Lasker met. Dr. Stephen Falken was inspired by and named
after Stephen Hawking; John Lennon was interested in playing the role,
but was murdered in New York while the script was in development.
General Beringer was based on USAF General James V. Hartinger, the
then-commander-in-chief of NORAD, whom Parkes and Lasker met while
visiting the base.
Filming
=========
Martin Brest was originally hired as the director for 'WarGames.'
Brest said that he spent one and a half years working full time on the
film, but shortly before the beginning of production, disagreement
arose between him and one of the producers who had developed the
script and he was fired after three weeks of production. According to
Brest the disagreement stemmed from a question about authorial
control. As Brest described it, the producer was more used to
television "where the director is a bricklayer, essentially".
He was then replaced with John Badham. Several of the scenes shot by
Brest remain in the final film. Badham said that Brest had "taken a
somewhat dark approach to the story and the way it was shot. It was
like [Broderick and Sheedy] were doing some Nazi undercover thing, so
it was my job to make it seem like they were having fun, and that it
was exciting." According to Badham, Broderick and Sheedy were "stiff
as boards" when they came onto the sound stage, having both Brest's
dark vision and the idea that they would soon be fired. Badham did 12
to 14 takes of the first shot to loosen the actors up. At one point,
Badham decided to race with the two actors around the sound stage,
with the one who came last having to sing a song to the crew. Badham
lost and sang "The Happy Wanderer", the silliest song he could think
of. He invited what 'Wired' described as "a small army of computer
whizzes on set" to advise on accuracy.
Tom Mankiewicz says he wrote some additional scenes during shooting
that were used. Walon Green was also an uncredited script doctor.
Design
========
The WOPR computer, as seen in the film, was a prop created in Culver
City, California, by members of the International Alliance of
Theatrical Stage Employees Local 44. It was designed by production
designer (credited as a visual consultant) Geoffrey Kirkland on the
basis of some pictures he had of early tabulating machines, and metal
furniture, consoles, and cabinets used particularly in the U.S.
military in the 1940s and 1950s. Art director Angelo P. Graham adapted
them in drawings and concepts. The WOPR was operated by a crewmember
sitting inside the computer, entering commands into an Apple II at the
director's instruction. The prop was broken up for scrap after
production was completed. A replica was built for a 2006 AT&T
commercial.
Release
======================================================================
'WarGames' did well at the box office, grossing $79,567,667, the
fifth-highest of 1983 in the United States and Canada. It grossed $45
million internationally for a worldwide total of $124.6 million.
The film was screened out of competition at the 1983 Cannes Film
Festival.
Contemporaneous
=================
Roger Ebert gave 'WarGames' four out of four stars, calling it "an
amazingly entertaining thriller" and "one of the best films so far
this year", with a "wonderful" ending. Robert Denerstein of the 'Rocky
Mountain News' gave it three stars, writing that "for a long time,
Badham sustains a playful mood, a combination of Hardy Boys
enthusiasm, good-natured humor and high-tech adventure", but he said
that he "found [himself] seriously let down by the fact that the
adults don't seem to ask the obvious questions and thorny spots in the
script are so conveniently resolved that the movie deteriorates in
retrospect." Leonard Maltin gave it a mixed review calling it "'Fail
Safe' for the Pac-Man Generation" and "Entertaining to a point". He
concluded, "Incidentally, it's easy to see why this was so popular
with kids: most of the adults in the film are boobs."
American fiction writer Robert Bloch, author of 'Psycho', reviewed
'WarGames' for 'Starlog' magazine in 1983. Bloch was generally
complimentary of the film, writing, "Let me say, up front, that
'WarGames' is an outstanding film. Its production values are
impressive. Its script, direction, editing and cinematography are
deft. The performances of Matthew Broderick as David and Ally Sheedy
as Jennifer are outstanding.” However, although Bloch wrote, “I accept
'WarGames' as an entertaining fantasy," he added, "...I cannot accept
the unchallenged notion that there’s anything ‘heroic’ about a young
man who devotes his skills to totally immoral and amoral ends; who
seems to think that lying and cheating are merely part of a ‘game’
which all intelligent human beings must play in order to get a free
ride through life at others’ expense.”
'Computer Gaming World' stated that "'Wargames' is plausible enough to
intrigue and terrifying enough to excite ... [it] makes one think, as
well as feel, all the way", raised several moral questions about
technology and society, and recommended the film to "Computer
hobbyists of all kinds". 'Softline' described the film as being
"completely original"; unlike other computer-related films like 'Tron'
that "could (and do) exist in substantially the same form with some
other plot", 'WarGames' "could not exist if the microcomputer did not
exist ... It takes the micro and telecommunications as a given--part
of the middle-class American landscape." The magazine praised the film
as "Very funny, excruciatingly suspenseful, and endlessly inventive,
this movie is right on the mark; authentic even when highly
improbable." Christopher John in 'Ares Magazine' commented that "The
movie cloaked itself in a standard message, but then set out to take
something we have seen many times before and retell it in a new,
interesting fashion. 'War Games' is highly entertaining, fast-moving,
colorful, and mentally stimulating." Colin Greenland in 'Imagine'
stated that "'Wargames' is a tense, tight film, sharply acted, funny,
sane, and with a plot twist for every chilling sub-routine in WOPR's
scenarios for World War III."
Retrospective
===============
On Rotten Tomatoes, 'WarGames' received an approval rating of 94%
based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The site's
critical consensus reads, "Part delightfully tense techno-thriller,
part refreshingly unpatronizing teen drama, 'WarGames' is one of the
more inventive--and genuinely suspenseful--Cold War movies of the
1980s." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 77 out
of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Accolades
======================================================================
'WarGames' was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Cinematography
(William A. Fraker), Sound (Michael J. Kohut, Carlos Delarios, Aaron
Rochin, Willie D. Burton), and Writing, Screenplay Written Directly
for the Screen (Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes). The company that
provided the large video wall used to display the tactical situations
seen in the NORAD set employed a new design that was super-bright,
enabling the displays to be filmed live. (The set was more visually
impressive than the actual NORAD facilities at the time.) The
animations seen on the NORAD displays, produced by Colin Cantwell,
were created using Hewlett Packard HP 9845C computers driving
monochrome HP 1345A vector displays, which were still-filmed through
successive color-filters. Each frame took approximately one minute to
produce, and 50,000 feet of negatives were produced over seven months.
The animations were projected "live" onto the screens from behind
using 16 mm film, so they were visible to the actors and no
post-production work was needed.
List of awards and nominations
================================
Award Year !Category Nominee Result
rowspan="3" |Academy Award rowspan="3" |1984 |Best Original
Screenplay |Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes |
|Best Cinematography |William A. Fraker |
|Best Sound |Michael J. Kohut, Carlos Delarios, Aaron Rochin, Willie
D. Burton |
|American Cinema Editors Award |1984 |Best Edited Feature Film -
Dramatic |Tom Rolf |
rowspan="3" |British Academy Film Award rowspan="3" |1984 |Best
Production Design |Angelo P. Graham |
|Best Special Visual Effects |Michael L. Fink, Joe Digaetano, Jack
Cooperman, Don Hansard, Colin Cantwell, William A. Fraker |
|Best Sound |Michael J. Kohut, Willie D. Burton, William Manger |
|Hugo Award |1984 |Best Dramatic Presentation |John Badham, Lawrence
Lasker, Walter F. Parkes |
rowspan="6" |Saturn Award rowspan="6" |1984 |Best Science Fiction
Film |'WarGames' |
|Best Director |John Badham |
|Best Writing |Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes |
|Best Actor |Matthew Broderick |
|Best Actress |Ally Sheedy |
|Best Supporting Actor |John Wood |
|Writers Guild of America Award |1984 |Best Original Screenplay
|Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes |
rowspan="2" |Young Artist Award rowspan="2" |1984 |Best Family
Feature Motion Picture |'WarGames' |
|Best Young Motion Picture Actress in a Feature Film |Ally Sheedy |
Influence
===========
'WarGames' was the first mass-consumed, visual medium with the central
theme of remote computing as well as hacking, and it served as both an
amplifier vehicle and framework for America's earliest discussion of
information technology.
When The 414s hacker group penetrated systems at Los Alamos National
Laboratory later in 1983, news media described the affair as "the
'WarGames' case" and speculated about the potential for the film's
scenario to exist in reality.
President Ronald Reagan, a family friend of Lasker's, watched the film
and discussed the plot with members of Congress, his advisers, and the
Joint Chiefs of Staff. Reagan ordered a full national security
review. Within a week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff returned an answer:
"Yes, the premise was technically possible". Reagan's interest in the
film is credited with leading to the enactment 18 months later of
NSDD-145, the first Presidential directive on computer security.
Bulletin board system (BBS) operators reported an unusual rise in
activity in 1984, which at least one sysop attributed to 'WarGames'
introducing viewers to modems. The scenes showing Lightman's computer
dialing every number in Sunnyvale led to the term "wardialing"
(earlier known as "demon dialing"), a technique of using a modem to
scan a list of telephone numbers in search of unknown computers, and
indirectly to the newer term, "wardriving".
The film also led to the first U.S. federal internet policy: the
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.
Novelization
==============
A novelization of the film was written by David Bischoff.
Sequel
========
In November 2006, pre-production began on a sequel, titled 'WarGames:
The Dead Code'. It was directed by Stuart Gillard, and starred Matt
Lanter as a hacker named Will Farmer facing off with a government
supercomputer called RIPLEY. MGM released the sequel directly to DVD
on July 29, 2008, along with the 25th Anniversary Edition DVD of
'WarGames'. To promote the sequel, the original film returned to
selected theaters as a one-night-only 25th-anniversary event on July
24, 2008.
Video games
=============
A video game, 'WarGames', was released for the ColecoVision in 1983
and ported to the Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64 in 1984. It
plays similarly to the NORAD side of the "Global Thermonuclear War"
game, where the United States has to be defended from a Soviet strike
by placing bases and weapons at strategic points. 'WarGames: Defcon
1', a real-time strategy game only loosely related to the film, was
released for the PlayStation and PC in 1998.
A game inspired by the film, called "Computer War" from Thorn EMI, in
which the player must track and shoot down intercontinental ballistic
missiles, as well as crack a computer code, was released for the Atari
8-bit, TI-99/4A, and VIC-20 in 1984. The same year, Australian
developer Gameworx released 'Thermonuclear Wargames', an illustrated
text adventure in which the player must stop a NORDAD computer called
M.A.S.T.A. from initiating World War III.
The film also inspired the Introversion game 'DEFCON' (2006).
Be-Rad Entertainment released a tile-matching video game, "WarGames:
WOPR", for iOS and Android devices in 2012.
Interactive series
====================
An interactive media reboot of 'WarGames' was announced by MGM in
2015, with Interlude serving as its co-production company. The project
was described as an "audience-driven story experience", with
anticipated launch in 2016. In March 2016, Sam Barlow announced he had
joined Interlude and would be serving as a creative lead in the
series, on the basis of his work from his video game, "Her Story",
which required the player to piece together a mystery based on a
series of video clips. Interlude rebranded itself as Eko in December
2016, and the six-episode series was released in March 2018.
Soundtrack
======================================================================
The film's music was composed and conducted by Arthur B. Rubinstein
and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. A soundtrack album
including songs and dialogue excerpts was released by Polydor Records.
Intrada Records issued an expanded release in 2008 with the complete
score, with expanded horn sections and without the film dialogue. In
2018, Quartet Records issued a 35th anniversary expanded 2-CD edition
containing the score as presented in the film, and the 1983 Polydor
album on disc 2.
Legacy
======================================================================
Critics have cited the film as an influence on Mamoru Hosoda's 2000
short film 'Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!', with critic Geoffrey G.
Thew, writing in 'Anime Impact: The Movies and Shows that Changed the
World of Japanese Animation,' noting that both films share a title and
a plot of "a rogue AI hijacking the Internet to spread chaos and
potentially destroy the world, only to be stopped by some kids on
their computers." Hosoda later stated that 'Our War Game' "kind of
started my idea for [his 2009 film] 'Summer Wars'," noting that
'Summer Wars' "became the feature-length version of that idea" and
allowed him to explore material he was unable to in 'Our War Games 40
minute runtime.
See also
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* 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident, which occurred a few
months after the release
External links
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*
*
*
*
* [http://www.imsai.net/movies/wargames.htm The IMSAI computer used in
the film] ()
License
=========
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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames
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