I have heard friends, family and critics reference this movie for decades. I always wondered why, if it is so great, I had never seen it. Well, tonight I took the time to 1) investigate it and 2) watch it. Seems it was a mystery to me because it was released the month I graduated from med school! I was busy preparing for both graduation and the onset of the dreaded internship. Over the subsequent years though, the title "War Games" came up again and again in media reviews and commentary as well as among my friends. I needed to see it and finally I have. It was well worth the wait. Only minimally dated by technology, the concepts are still entirely relevant. Acting, direction and plot are top shelf. The score is nothing special. Fascinating to see stars Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy so young and fresh, free of the Hollywood expectations of stardom. I wish I had watched it sooner.

Ally Sheedy and Matthew Broderick, a couple of kids, become involved in something that is far beyond them. Broderick, who knows computers (in1983), inadvertently gets into a game (or so he thinks) of Thermonuclear War. It turns out that he has actually hacked into a military program that is feeding the U.S. information about that very subject. It's not a game as he thought it was but he also realizes what is happening. Now the problem is that he needs to convince someone what is going on, and they, then, have to put a stop to it. Think what little effect the computer world had in those days and realize how dangerous they have become. Good chemistry by two future stars.

Having never watched WARGAMES, I feared that it would be one of those bloated, overrated, downright silly '80s movies, hardly deserving of its classic status. Well, it isn't. In fact, it turns out to be a great film, one that remains endlessly enjoyable despite the leaps and bounds that computer technology has made since this movie came out.Matthew Broderick stars as the likable lead, a teenage computer genius who accidentally hacks into a NORAD computer and all but brings about nuclear war. Yes, this is a film in that '80s 'nuke' cycle, and it's one that brings the palm-sweating seriousness of the situation to life, while at the same time providing plenty of entertainment value along the way. Watching the narrative unfold is a delight, and it's one of those rare beasts that manages to keep the momentum going right up until the closing credits. Great fun indeed.

Young computer hacker David (Matthew Broderick) accesses a top secret supercomputer which controls US nuclear missiles. He sets out to play a game only to discover that it actually set in motion thermal nuclear war. He and new girlfriend Jennifer (Ally Sheedy) must stop the march to nuclear warfare.This is the granddaddy of computer hacking movies. For such an early computer movie, it's relatively reasonable. However the escape from NORAD detention seems way too easy. That and other simplifications could be overlooked. This remains the best of early computer hacking movies.Broderick and Sheedy have an easy chemistry. They work well together as a teen couple. They were tops of the teen brat pack. Then they put a couple of veteran actors Dabney Coleman and Barry Corbin to anchor the other side. With the good acting and the realistic hacking, it is not only groundbreaking but a really fun watch.