Editing WarGames (section)

== Reception ==
=== Critical response ===
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''WarGames'' received an approval rating of 94% based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Part delightfully tense techno-thriller, part refreshingly unpatronizing teen drama, ''WarGames'' is one of the more inventive—and genuinely suspenseful—Cold War movies of the 1980s."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wargames/ |title=WarGames (War Games) (1983) |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]] |access-date=August 21, 2023}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a [[weighted arithmetic mean|weighted average]] score of 77 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/wargames |title=WarGames Reviews |website=[[Metacritic]] |publisher=[[CBS Interactive]] |access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] gave ''WarGames'' four out of four stars, calling it "an amazingly entertaining thriller" and "one of the best films so far this year", with a "wonderful" ending.<ref name="ebert">{{cite news |title=WarGames review |first=Roger |last=Ebert |author-link=Roger Ebert |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wargames-1983 |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=June 3, 1983 |access-date=December 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100701054930/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19830603%2FREVIEWS%2F306030301%2F1023 |archive-date=July 1, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Leonard Maltin]] gave it a mixed review calling it "''[[Fail Safe (1964 film)|Fail Safe]]'' for the [[Pac-Man]] Generation" and "Entertaining to a point". He concluded, "Incidentally, it's easy to see why this was so popular with kids: most of the adults in the film are boobs."<ref>{{cite web |first=Leonard |last=Maltin |author-link=Leonard Maltin |title=23. WarGames (1983) |url=http://maltinsworstratings.blogspot.com/2012/11/23-wargames-1983.html |website=Leonard Maltin's Worst Ratings |access-date=January 9, 2016}}</ref>

''[[Computer Gaming World]]'' stated that "''Wargames'' is plausible enough to intrigue and terrifying enough to excite&nbsp;... [it] makes one think, as well as feel, all the way", raised several moral questions about technology and society, and recommended the film to "Computer hobbyists of all kinds".<ref name="wilson19830708">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1983&pub=2&id=11 | title=Movie Micro Review / "WarGames" | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=Jul–Aug 1983 | access-date=July 6, 2014 | author=Wilson, Dr. Johnny L. | page=43}}</ref> ''[[Softalk|Softline]]'' described the film as being "completely original"; unlike other computer-related films like ''[[Tron]]'' that "could (and do) exist in substantially the same form with some other plot", ''WarGames'' "could not exist if the microcomputer did not exist&nbsp;... It takes the micro and telecommunications as a given—part of the middle-class American landscape". The magazine praised the film as "Very funny, excruciatingly suspenseful, and endlessly inventive, this movie is right on the mark; authentic even when highly improbable".<ref name="softline19830708">{{cite news | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1983&pub=6&id=12 | title=Games at War | work=Softline | date=Jul–Aug 1983 | access-date=July 28, 2014 | pages=31–32}}</ref> Christopher John in ''[[Ares (magazine)|Ares Magazine]]'' commented that "The movie cloaked itself in a standard message, but then set out to take something we have seen many times before and retell it in a new, interesting fashion. ''War Games'' is highly entertaining, fast-moving, colorful, and mentally stimulating".<ref name="Ares">{{cite journal | last=John | first=Christopher | title=Film | journal=[[Ares (magazine)|Ares Magazine]] | publisher=[[TSR, Inc.]] | date=Fall 1983| issue=15 | pages=11–12}}</ref> [[Colin Greenland]] in ''[[Imagine (game magazine)|Imagine]]'' stated that "''Wargames'' is a tense, tight film, sharply acted, funny, sane, and with a plot twist for every chilling sub-routine in WOPR's scenarios for World War III".<ref name="Imagine8">{{cite journal | last = Greenland|first = Colin |author-link=Colin Greenland| title =Film Review | type = review | journal = [[Imagine (AD&D magazine)|Imagine]] | issue = 8| pages =19 | publisher = TSR Hobbies (UK), Ltd. |date=November 1983}}</ref>

=== Accolades ===
''WarGames'' was nominated for three [[Academy Awards]]: [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] ([[William A. Fraker]]), [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Sound]] ([[Michael J. Kohut]], [[Carlos Delarios]], [[Aaron Rochin]], [[Willie D. Burton]]), and [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen]] (Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes).<ref name="wired" /><ref name="Oscars1984">{{cite web |title=The 56th Academy Awards (1984) Nominees and Winners |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1984 |access-date=October 9, 2011 |work=oscars.org}}</ref> The company that provided the large [[video wall]] used to display the tactical situations seen in the NORAD set employed a new design that was super-bright enabling the displays to be filmed live. (The set was more visually impressive than the actual NORAD facilities at the time.)<ref name="wired" /> The animations seen on the NORAD displays, produced by [[Colin Cantwell]], were created using Hewlett Packard [[HP 9845C]] computers driving monochrome HP 1345A vector displays, which were still-filmed through successive color-filters. Each frame took approximately one minute to produce, and 50,000 feet of negatives were produced over seven months. The animations were projected "live" onto the screens from behind using [[16 mm film]], so they were visible to the actors and no post-production work was needed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Screen Art: War Games |url=https://www.hp9845.net/9845/software/screenart/wargames/ |work=hp9845.net}}</ref>

==== List of awards and nominations ====
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2023}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Award
! Year
!Category
! Nominee
! Result
|-
| rowspan="3" |[[Academy Awards|Academy Award]]
| rowspan="3" |[[56th Academy Awards|1984]]
|[[Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay)|Best Original Screenplay]]
|[[Lawrence Lasker]], [[Walter F. Parkes]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
|[[William A. Fraker]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]]
|[[Michael J. Kohut]], [[Carlos Delarios]], [[Aaron Rochin]], [[Willie D. Burton]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[American Cinema Editors|American Cinema Editors Award]]
|1984
|[[American Cinema Editors Award for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic|Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic]]
|[[Tom Rolf]]
|{{won}}
|-
| rowspan="3" |[[British Academy Film Awards|British Academy Film Award]]
| rowspan="3" |[[37th British Academy Film Awards|1984]]
|[[BAFTA Award for Best Production Design|Best Production Design]]
|[[Angelo P. Graham]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects|Best Special Visual Effects]]
|[[Michael L. Fink]], Joe Digaetano, Jack Cooperman, Don Hansard, [[Colin Cantwell]], [[William A. Fraker]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[BAFTA Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]]
|Michael J. Kohut, Willie D. Burton, [[William Manger]]
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Hugo Award]]
|1984
|[[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation|Best Dramatic Presentation]]
|John Badham, Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes
|{{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="6" |[[Saturn Awards|Saturn Award]]
| rowspan="6" |[[11th Saturn Awards|1984]]
|[[Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film|Best Science Fiction Film]]
|''WarGames''
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Saturn Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
|[[John Badham]]
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Saturn Award for Best Writing|Best Writing]]
|Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Saturn Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|[[Matthew Broderick]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Saturn Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
|[[Ally Sheedy]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
|[[John Wood (English actor)|John Wood]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Writers Guild of America Awards|Writers Guild of America Award]]
|[[36th Writers Guild of America Awards|1984]]
|[[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]]
|Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes
|{{won}}
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Young Artist Award]]
| rowspan="2" |[[6th Youth in Film Awards|1984]]
|Best Family Feature Motion Picture
|''WarGames''
|{{nom}}
|-
|Best Young Motion Picture Actress in a Feature Film
|Ally Sheedy
|{{nom}}
|}

=== Influence ===
''WarGames'' was the first mass-consumed, visual media with the central theme of remote computing as well as hacking, and it served as both an amplifier vehicle and framework for America's earliest discussion of [[information technology]].{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} <ref name="chin19830905">{{Cite magazine |last=Chin |first=Kathy |date=September 5, 1983 |title=Los Alamos computer system break-in |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sC8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false |access-date=April 30, 2025 |magazine=InfoWorld |pages=1,4 |volume=5 |issue=36}}</ref> News media described [[The 414s]]' penetration of systems at [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] as "the 'WarGames' case",<ref name="chin19830905">{{Cite magazine |last=Chin |first=Kathy |date=September 5, 1983 |title=Los Alamos computer system break-in |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sC8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false |access-date=April 30, 2025 |magazine=InfoWorld |pages=1,4 |volume=5 |issue=36}}</ref> and focused on the potential for film's scenario" to exist in reality. This contributed to the creation of the first U.S. federal internet policy, the [[Computer Fraud and Abuse Act]] of 1986.<ref name=":0" />

[[Bulletin board system]] (BBS) operators reported an unusual rise in activity in 1984, which at least one [[sysop]] attributed to ''WarGames'' introducing viewers to modems.<ref name="yakal198411">{{cite news |author=Yakal, Kathy |date=November 1984 |title=Bulletin Board Fever |page=16 |work=Compute!'s Gazette |url=https://archive.org/stream/1984-11-computegazette/Compute_Gazette_Issue_17_1984_Nov#page/n17/mode/2up |access-date=July 6, 2014}}</ref> The scenes showing Lightman's computer dialing every number in Sunnyvale led to the term "[[War dialing]]" (earlier known as "[[demon dialing]]"), a technique of using a modem to scan a list of telephone numbers in search of unknown computers, and indirectly to the newer term "[[wardriving]]".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ryan |first=Patrick S. |date=Summer 2004 |title=War, Peace, or Stalemate: Wargames, Wardialing, Wardriving, and the Emerging Market for Hacker Ethics |journal=[[Virginia Journal of Law & Technology]] |volume=9 |ssrn=585867 |number=7}}</ref>

President [[Ronald Reagan]], a family friend of Lasker's, watched the film and discussed the plot with members of Congress,<ref name="wired" /> his advisers, and the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]]. Reagan's interest in the film is credited with leading to the enactment 18 months later of [[National security directive|NSDD-145]], the first [[Presidential directive]] on computer security.{{r|kaplan20160221}}