WarGames (1983)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1983
	Director: John Badham (Saturday Night Fever, Short Circuit)
	Actors: Matthew Broderick (Godzilla), Ally Sheedy (Short Circuit), John Wood
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 13.11.2017, VOD, 40" TV screen
Synopsis: Computer nerd David (Broderick) manages to remotely access the military computer controlling the US nuclear arsenal and engages in what he thinks is a harmless game.
Review: Watching the second season of the TV show Stranger Things made me wish to re-discover some of those classic 80's teen adventure movies, a genre that includes E.T., The Goonies, Short Circuit and this WarGames that inspired the nerd kid that I was when I saw it some years after its release. It had all the right ingredients for that and I guess I am not the only one from my generation who fondly remembers it: many at that time could identify with that teenager with few friends, surfing on the wave of fast-developing computers, and able to jump-start a public phone with a piece of aluminum can. Remember that the 80's were also the decade of MacGyver. An older or younger audience, without this capacity to let nostalgia take over, will probably see more defects and loopholes in the movie, starting by quite an incredible plot. But looking carefully at the movie you will notice that the director didn't take his topic too seriously either (for example the reactions of the General are pure comedy) so that the audience could take it at different levels, and this choice may very well be what makes the movie still watchable nowadays. What I could appreciate now beyond nostalgia is the main couple of characters: two teenagers brought to live in a very natural manner by Broderick and Sheedy both at the beginning of their career. I found both to be far from clichés of the time, whenever they are alone or together (the girl hits on the boy for example). So the movie has aged a little and cannot be taken too seriously (depending on who you are in the audience) but it was for me nice to watch.
Rating: 6 /10