LeonLouisRicci A Computer or Technology Centered Film is Inherently going to be Dated. There is No Stopping the Exponential Advancement and this Film has that Albatross Hanging and Holding one's Attention in almost every Frame.Ironically, Personal Computers have become Not Only an Inseparable Part of Everyday Life, but Considered Our "Personal" Friends and We Display much Affection and Attention to our Artificial, Inanimate Companions, and it is that Overwhelming Inclusion where this Movie Finds many Curious Admirers.After All, it's like Looking at Infants. so Young, so Cute, so Nostalgic. Add to that, the Global Thermonuclear "Wargames" Scenario and the 1980's Fresh Take on Intelligent Machines Humming Along and Without much Effort, making their way into the Everyday of Human Existence, You have a Movie with an Enormous Appeal.Nostalgia is a Powerful Thing. Computers are Powerful Things. the Computers in This Film are Dinosaurs, Today We Seem Like Smart Rodents Looking Out and Hiding in the Crevices by Comparison. This is a Much Remembered and Loved Movie. It Hit All the Right Keystrokes as it Became One of the Biggest Hits of the Era and Folks Today, Looking Back, Seem to Love it Even More. It Can Also be a Time Travel of Technology and Political Mindset.So Even Those That Were Not Alive or Consciously Aware of the Way Things Were in 1983 Find the Film Fascinating on Many Levels. It Transcends its Place in Time and Has Become a Minor Classic Dealing With Hackers, Computers, and Cold War Paranoia. The Two Lead Teens Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy are Superb and Lead the Viewer Through This Troubling Scenario and Charm just Enough to Take the Edge Off the World On the "Eve of Destruction" Story and Make it Entertaining Enough, and the Film Becomes Fantasy. A Fairy Tale of Sorts, but Like Most Fairy Tales, Scary Enough to be Cautionary.

David Conrad "WarGames" is so much more fun than it has a right to be. Being a 1983 movie that trades heavily in technical jargon and low-res computer readouts, it should feel hopelessly dated; it doesn't. As a movie that makes plucky teens its heroes, it should feel juvenile and frivolous; it doesn't. Since its plot is an explicit reaction to Cold War tensions, it should come across as heavy-handed and moralizing; it doesn't. Good acting, writing, and directing—the basics of movie-making—conspire to avoid these pitfalls, seemingly almost in spite of themselves.Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy were two of the most successful teen stars of the 80s for a reason. They look and talk like the kids next door. In this movie, both of their characters would be artificially, almost eerily normal, the Hollywood version of "average" kids, except that they're both just a little bit "off" in ways that aren't necessarily intended but are nevertheless endearing and refreshing. Broderick, probably by nature rather than decision, underplays everything even in the face of nuclear Armageddon, and this works because it keeps the tone light. Another way to balance the apocalyptic plot that places tens of millions of lives on the line would have been to make the acting comically over-the-top, but this would not have been as relatable and would quickly have become tiresome. As for Sheedy's character, she could easily have been just another movie girlfriend relegated to the sidelines, but the script adds idiosyncrasies and Sheedy brings a playfulness that keeps her sharing the spotlight for most of the film. She rides a motorcycle on which Broderick's character rides behind her, a fact that goes rightly unremarked in the movie but which I think deserves approbation from commenters, and she has a charismatic way of sauntering freely into places she isn't expected.The set design has the visual appeal of a Bond movie, with a huge, flashy command center, an underground bunker, and an antagonist's plush island retreat. The camera has lots of room to play among these sets, but the scenes in Broderick's prosaic classroom, closet-sized school office, and cluttered bedroom look small and cramped. His escape from them into the wider, more dangerous world of high-stakes espionage therefore feels like breaking free, and it is a journey we want to go on instead of nitpicking the nonsense of it all. The script gets away with a lot of loose logic because it moves so fast and keeps introducing new twists. Instead of just explaining himself to the authorities (who are doubly stupid here: they have the stupidity of military brass in an anti-war movie and the stupidity of adults in a teen movie), Broderick goes it alone. When the military is told they're playing a game, they persist in thinking it's real, and when Broderick is told early on that his "game" is "definitely military" software, he promptly "plays" it anyway. But the movie knows what it's doing, even if the characters don't, and makes a point of the lack of distinction between games and reality for the computers that we program to manage both. It sounds like a sci-fi premise, but in a rarity for sci-fi and "hacker" movies, the script gets a lot of the technical language right. Like, for example, the concept of "computer learning," which in the movie and often in real life is explored through games of tic-tac- toe.Though in many ways a relic of the '80s, "WarGames"'s smart decisions keep it entertaining for more than just the nostalgic.

g-bodyl WarGames is your typical 80's action/teen angst flick on one hand, but on the other hand it is a very intelligent film that seems to be ahead of it's time, or rather a type of film that wouldn't be made on a regular basis for another decade. I like how the film doesn't overstuff us with computer terminology, but it also doesn't think it's audience is dumb. It's filled with good special effects, an intelligent story (involving supercomputers), good acting, and is practically your perfect 80's film.John Badham's film is about a young computer whiz named David Lightman who hacks into the government computer system and he begins to play a game with the computer. But little did he know that he just started the process of a World War Three.The acting is rather good, though one could say this film is more about the computers, rather than the human characters. Matthew Broderick was a special actor in the 1980's and was one of the better teen actors. we might remember Ally Sheedy from her role in "The Breakfast Club," but she does good for the most part. We also get some quality supporting turns from Dabney Coleman and John Wood.Overall, WarGames is a movie that is ahead of it's time and it should be every computer hacker's dream movie. This is another film that has computers too smart for it's own good, and I was reminded very much of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both of these films are very smart sci-fi movies. This movie is also realistic and pushes across the thought on what would happen if technology took over the world. I rate this film 9/10.

capone666 WarGames If the future of warfare is to be fought via computers, does that include gay computers?Unfortunately, this cyber-thriller doesn't ask or tell.Scouring phone lines to find new video games, computer whiz David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) comes across a game titled Falken's Maze, which he inevitably hacks.Unbeknownst to him, the digital diversion is actually a NORAD defense operating system that simulates war scenarios.Engaged, the supercomputer enacts a missile attack from the Soviets that puts a NORAD engineer (Dabney Coleman) on the defensive.To impede the processor from instigating a nuclear war, David must locate its creator (John Wood) and convince him to hit control-alt-delete.Dated by today's standards, WarGames is still an entertaining blend of Cold War espionage and early-1980s computer hacking that was years ahead of its time - and created a new sub-genre.Thankfully, the only combat computers accommodate these days are vapid celebrity Twitter wars.Green Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca