With home computers becoming popular in the 1980s, 'hackers' started to become known in the media, portrayed usually as bored teenagers with enough intelligence to use their home computer to 'hack' into a much larger system. With that in mind, it was only a matter of time before the idea of such a teen hacking into the computers of the US defence system was turned into a film.
'WarGames' was one of those films that captured the time perfectly. Described by one newspaper review as 'the film that had to happen', it starred Matthew Broderick as just such a hacker. Unwittingly, he finds his way into a US military supercomputer designed to predict the outcome of a nuclear war (the threat was ever-present in those days) and, believing it to be just a game, asks it to 'play global thermonuclear war'.
Needless to say, the confusion causes a stir and the teen is almost responsible for starting an actual war, however the day is saved by the computer itself, which had assessed all possible outcomes and concluded that 'the only winning move is not to play', before closing the program down and suggesting a game of chess instead.
The movie was a summer success, grossing almost $80 million and ironically, led to a spin-off computer game being released.
Presented is the trailer for the film:
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