Feb 17th: “Wargames” (1983)
Celebrating 28 days of underrated 80s cinematic treasures.
War Games was the first home video that I was ever given. Back in the day, it was strange to own a piece of cinema in your own home — at least for this kid. But it is nowadays something that we take for granted. Cinema is a powerful thing and it is important, now more than ever to recognise its value. Everybody should own a copy of War Games. Preferably on VHS.
“NAIVETY”
The 80s were definitely a decade where one generation ruled the movie houses. Some veteran actors were already making the move to directing, or leaning more towards made-for-TV movies that had gained momentum since television arrived in every household. With acting schools becoming the thing all across the country, the youth of the 80s had more opportunities to legitimise a career in acting. Naturally, it helped if you lived in LA or New York, and had really supportive parents who were either industry professionals themselves, or at the very least supportive of the cause.
That was the big thing about Hollywood in the 70s-80: it was a time to cultivate a new generation of star born players. It helped if you came from an actors dynasty, to which many made their own way and worked harder than ever to create their own place within the industry.
Wargames had at its core, career breakout performances from Ally Sheedy and Matthew Broderick, who both started their film careers in 1983.
Matthew Broderick may have had parental influences over his career path, but even with talent, he still had to work for the doors to open, first on stage, and then soon after, with film.
Ally Sheedy (who wrote and published a story “She was Nice to Mice, at the age of 12) were obvious, naturally gifted creative talents. Katharine Hepburn was her idol growing up, which is why she chose a career path to acting, rather than her original aspiration to dance in the ballet.
The suburban world set in 1983 was a place without walls. The home PC system was a rare commodity, and with that came a very rare form of computer hacker which in Wargames comes in the mild form of teenage delinquent. Matthew Broderick was most likely chosen to the role of David because of his relatability to a generation of teenagers who were no different to any regular teenager that we came to recognise from the movies. He was fresh off the factory floor. Broderick new face teeming with personality and potential. To think that he could be capable of changing exam results through his home modem was a novelty. To imagine that he could accidentally break into the central computer within National Security was the thing of science fiction.
Martin Breast who took the film on a much darker route originally directed the film. As executives saw where the production was heading, Breast was fired, and with John Badham onboard as his replacement, the tone shifted from being serious and covert, to excitable and adventurous.
It had to be clear that David (played by Broderick) had made an unintentional mistake by breaking into the wrong place in order to play games. He’d woken up a computer system that was in control of scenario testing for all worst-case scenarios for anything pertaining to war. it would have been a different story if David came in with the foreknowledge that gave him with both motive and intent. Things could have gone very differently if David came without a conscience. Thankfully, he had the sense of responsibility, accountability (absent from his character in the beginning) to fix what he had ultimately started.
Today’s hackers are a cult in which we instil great fear. They force us to part with our money in order to keep their hands off our personal data, or to seize control and damage the computer infrastructure. They are the ones with the power. Like with any crime, it’s the tax-payers who have to put their earnings into security networks, firewalls, virus software, as much as we would spend on security systems within our home, locks for gates, cars and even hand held devices. What started as fun speculation with films like Wargames became a very serious business indeed.
Young David in Wargames is a soft version of what hackers eventually became in the 90s and through to the 21st century. He is an accident that likely spurred the imagination of not only computer enthusiasts, but also those who would decide to make online life as difficult as it can be. As David shows off to his then platonic friend, Jennifer, (played by Ally Sheedy), we learn that it’s easy to break into anything, just as long as you have a phone, and a computer with a modem.
This was a fun movie, with a likeable computer personality instilled within Joshua. The idea of artificial intelligence becoming something we would have to negotiate has always been a fun staple within science fiction. Although different from that of Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Joshua here is more like a child with his finger over the button that would start World War 3.
Sound like anybody we know?
The best thing about this movie is that it’s wonderfully dated. It’s is so of it’s time that when you watch it, you can almost get lost in it. It’s not a place of mobile phones or social media. It’s nothing like the high speed information highway that we brave each and every single day. So do yourself a favour, like I said before: buy this, but only get it in VHS form. Borrow a VCR if you don’t have one. Turn off your phone and go put on a retro 80s t-shirt from your closet.
It’s time for a nice game a chess.
Written by: Stephen Radford
Website: stephenradford.com
Instagram: stephen_p_radford
Twitter: StephenPRadford
