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WarGames

1983 1h 54m
Drama Science Fiction Thriller
MOVIEVIBE Rating
7.1/10
2,256 reviews
Your Rating
WarGames

High school student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Department of Defense's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions. Together with his friend and a wizardly computer genius, David must race against time to outwit his opponent and prevent a nuclear Armageddon.

"Is it a game, or is it real?"

Top Billed Cast

Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick
David Lightman
Dabney Coleman
Dabney Coleman
McKittrick
John Wood
John Wood
Stephen Falken
Ally Sheedy
Ally Sheedy
Jennifer
Barry Corbin
Barry Corbin
General Beringer
Juanin Clay
Juanin Clay
Pat Healy
Kent Williams
Kent Williams
Cabot
Dennis Lipscomb
Dennis Lipscomb
Watson

Detailed Critic & Audience Reviews

J John Chard Verified TMDB Critic
2020-04-26

Wanna play Global Thermonuclear War?

It was with much interest to me to revisit this early 80s hacker piece armed with the knowledge of just how the advent of change in the computer world had evolved. With that in mind the film could quite easily be classed as a bit clunky due to the now almost Neanderthal toys, games and computers used in the movie, but casting aside the nostalgia feelings I had with it, it still hits the spot as both a poignant piece of interest, and a damn good thriller as well.

Matthew Broderick is David Lightman, a young computer gamer geek who is something of a whi...

G GenerationofSwine Verified TMDB Critic
2023-01-13

Ally Sheedy, whatever happened to her. When I was a little kid, I mean REALLY little she was one of the few stars I could name...and then she disappeared save for a couple memorable appearances in Psych. It's a shame.

Anyway, my fiance is a Millennial and I've been trying to introduce her and her friends to some classic films. This one was a fail. They sat through it, but really only to mock the technology. Mocking things that are old for being old is kind of one of their favorite things.

So, despite that, the film made ripples in congress and the only other film that I recall doing that...

C CinemaSerf Verified TMDB Critic
2025-06-20

When the young computer whizz-kid “David” (Matthew Broderick) is showing off to his girlfriend “Jennifer” (Ally Sheedy) about how he can improve her grades and book them on a first class trip to Paris, he inadvertently dials a telephone number that wants to play a game. A game of thermonuclear war! Next day, the news is full of stories about the mobilisation of American defence capabilities and his phone rings again. It’s the computer, it wants to play and he’s just a little terrified. Not so afraid as he is about to get, though, when the FBI turn up and next thing he is in a top s...