Review of WarGames (1983) by Sylvester K — 22 Nov 2014

"War Games" 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, "War Games"'s smart decisions keep it entertaining for more than just the nostalgic.