Among many movies that focus on computers, there are a lot of groans when Hollywood tries to get computer use correct. From the “It’s Unix!” cry in Jurassic Park when a random graphical interface is shown, to hacking an alien spaceship with an Apple laptop in Independence Day, the use of computers in Hollywood movies is usually laughable. But when you ask computer people what movie did the best job of showing computers and hackers, they usually agree on War Games. Made in the early 80s, it was a lot of people’s first introduction to hacker culture and it’s never been as accurately potrayed.

But the movie was also a thriller and played into people’s fear about automation and nuclear war. While the basic plot was somewhat unrealistic (with an amazing AI that hasn’t been equaled since), the basic questions are still around, just in different forms. So, who was playing War Games?

David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) is a slacker and hacker. He’s smart, but doesn’t apply himself. He looks for ways around systems rather than following along. David is also very good with and very interested in computers. When he sees an advertisement for a cool new video game, he decides to hack into their system to play it before it is released. Back in the early 80s, the way you hack into a system was through their telephone modems. Not knowing their phone number, David programs his computer to call every phone number in the area and see if a computer is attached. When it finds one, it notes it and goes back. When David comes across a system that shows a list of games (including Global Thermonuclear War), he’s interested, but needs to figure out the password to enter the system.

David has also started up a tentative relationship with Jennifer (Ally Sheedy) a fellow student. When she goes to check on him after he’s missed a couple days of school trying to crack the password, she inadvertently gives him the clue he needs to figure out the password. They then decide it’s time for Global Thermonuclear War. Unknown to them, what David’s hacked into is a backdoor for a war simulator at NORAD. When the missiles start showing up on NORAD screens and then disappear (when David turns off his computer), the government starts looking for answers. A short news blurb lets David figure out what he accidentally did, but by that time it’s too late and is captured by the government.

Tying into this is a government plan to replace manned missile silos with automated silos that are controlled remotely. The war simulating computer (WOPR) has a minor glitch that convinces it that the game is still going on and is real. The system keeps going and is going to try and launch the nuclear missiles for real. David uses his ingenuity to escape and find the computer’s creator (who had dropped out of society after having the government fake his death), who might be the only person who can stop the war and it’s not clear that he cares.

The movie brings together multiple elements (thriller, hacking, romance, nuclear annihilation) and does a wonderful job doing so. Sheedy doesn’t do a whole lot besides look and act cute and give David a reason to live, but she does a decent job with that. Dabney Coleman is great as the computer scientist trying to fix the mess that was dropped in his lap. And Barry Corbin as the General in charge of NORAD provides a load of laughs with his distrust for computers over people and some real scary moments when he turns serious about the possibility of war. But this movie is a showcase for Broderick. He perfectly captures the unassuming, unseen high school hacker and owns the role. His expressions when Sheedy drops by his house and when he is trying to convince the creator to save the world really make the audience believe him. He does a great job making the hacking pieces look realistic as well. Overall, it’s a great movie that’s a little out of date technically (8 inch floppy disc, coupler modems) and politically (nuclear war with USSR), but other than that could still be relevant today. Highly recommended.