WarGames (War Games)

WarGames (War Games) (1983)

  • 97% of critics liked it
    (30 reviews)

  • 69% of users liked it
    (48,906 ratings)

Once more, a wise-guy teenager tries to prove he's smarter than any adult-and nearly destroys the whole world in the process-in WarGames. Computer-game aficionado Matthew Broderick inadverently taps into a hush-hush Pentagon computer, then proceeds to inaugurate his favorite game, "Global… More

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PG, 1 hr. 50 min.
Directed By
John Badham
Genres
Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense
In Theaters
Jun 3, 1983 Wide
On DVD
Apr 28, 1998
MGM

Critic Reviews

  • Michael Booth, Denver Post

    As tense and effective now as it was 25 years ago. The worry back then was more about Soviet missiles than about credit card identity theft, but good filmmaking techniques haven't changed.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    As a premise for a thriller, this is a masterstroke.

  • Vincent Canby, New York Times

    Like a video game once played, tends to disappear from one's memory bank as soon as it's finished.

  • Mark Pfeiffer, Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

    As a Cold War message movie and cinematic descendent of Fail-Safe, WarGames examines the inherent danger in favoring technology's cool logic and situational calculations.

  • Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

    In many ways, John Badham's intriguing tale was prophetic.

Read all 12 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Alexander D


    Overrated teen sci-fi flick starring Matthew Broderick is good, but not enough. It is like watching Ferris Bueller play tech-y rather than hooky, and it tries to add some humor, but it usually fails. The last few moments of WARGAMES are the best of the entire film. It is filled… More

  • Brad W


    A really exciting and funny movie. Was it trying to be to be funny, who knows, but it was. The pure stupidity of these characters was funny to me. The plot was actually good, and really interesting. I think a lot of people check it out.

  • AJ V


    Another great technology gone awry themed film. This stars a young Broderick, and he's really cute. This is a great movie, I love it.

  • Tim S


    Haven't seen this in forever, but I liked it when I did.

  • Wahida K


    This Movie reminded me of Brain Storm so I quit watching after about 20 minutes.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Cast

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Trailers & Clips