GEEKY FILM COUNTDOWN|Film Review “War Games”

The second film on my geeky films coutdown is John Badham’s 1983 film War Games.

It’s stars a very young  Matthew Broderick from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , He plays a high school student who accidentally hacks into the missile defence network believing he is hacking into a computer game company and sets off the missile launch sequence.

What I really like about this film is that it really shows how far in computer technology we have come from the 80′s and it is the main reason it is on my list of geeky films. Back when computers were the size of houses and the bigger the machine the more cool and stylish it looked. But way back then there were no films about computer hacking and this film was the first film to use computer terminology such as finding a way into a computers security system by using a “back door”

This film set a bench mark for sci-fi and it played on the fears of the people at the time, normally the threat in science fiction comes from outta space or a huge fictional monster, but back then in the 1980′s people were not afraid that they would be invaded by martians or monsters they were afraid of the nuclear threat and that the Russians were five seconds away from destroying the entire world. This film knew this and not only scared people shittless but also reiterated just how stupid nuclear war is and that there can never be any winners.

Throughout this film you have that intense feeling of is it all going to end or isn’t it? While I was watching this film I could not help but be reminded of Stanley Kubrick’s film Dr Strangelove, this film also follows a situation in which earth is facing total annihilation because of a nuclear bomb and this film also gives you that feeling nearly all the way through and also plays on just how stupid the atom bomb really is.

As always Broderick gives a perfect performance and was the ideal person of the time to play the nerdy but lovable teenager and with just one eyebrow movement orthe slightest smile can make any situation seem hilarious. I think its this mix of comedy and tension makes this film a great film for anyone and tells a story that will be relevant for many more years to come.

I have watched a great many films in the past week for this countdown and although I will pick my favorite one after reviewing them all at the moment this film stands firmly at the top.

MY RATING 8/10

You can see the trailer here

The next film I will be watching is The Pirates of Silicone Valley, expect a review on this site by tomorrow.

As always I would love you to comment or ask questions in the comments section below I will always respond to your questions.