...not that it's just for kids.
Released in 1983, "War Games" is about a computer whiz (Matthew Broderick) who accidentally hacks into a super computer that controls the US nuclear arsenal. Innocently thinking he's playing a game, he chooses to be the Soviet Union and, suddenly, we're on the verge of World War III!
"War Games" combines the malevolent computer theme of "2001: A Space Odyssey" with the mountain military base shenanigans of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" to produce what is essentially a teen adventure a la Scooby Doo, but without the cartoony horror trappings and the dog. Broderick and his sidekick, Ally Sheedy, were both 20 at the time of filming, but look around 15-16.
Although overrated in some quarters (Roger Ebert, for instance, gives it a perfect rating), "War Games" is a fun, entertaining youth adventure with some good suspense here and there. It's like young Indiana Jones in the modern day, but with toned-down action. Broderick is a worthy protagonist with his doe eyes & smarts and Sheedy is a quality female sidekick, beautiful too, in a girl-next-door type of way (the best kind).
The film runs 114 minutes and was mostly shot in Washington (state), but also California and Colorado.
GRADE: B
Released in 1983, "War Games" is about a computer whiz (Matthew Broderick) who accidentally hacks into a super computer that controls the US nuclear arsenal. Innocently thinking he's playing a game, he chooses to be the Soviet Union and, suddenly, we're on the verge of World War III!
"War Games" combines the malevolent computer theme of "2001: A Space Odyssey" with the mountain military base shenanigans of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" to produce what is essentially a teen adventure a la Scooby Doo, but without the cartoony horror trappings and the dog. Broderick and his sidekick, Ally Sheedy, were both 20 at the time of filming, but look around 15-16.
Although overrated in some quarters (Roger Ebert, for instance, gives it a perfect rating), "War Games" is a fun, entertaining youth adventure with some good suspense here and there. It's like young Indiana Jones in the modern day, but with toned-down action. Broderick is a worthy protagonist with his doe eyes & smarts and Sheedy is a quality female sidekick, beautiful too, in a girl-next-door type of way (the best kind).
The film runs 114 minutes and was mostly shot in Washington (state), but also California and Colorado.
GRADE: B