


McKittrick is unconvinced, and when he leaves to discuss the issue, Lightman tries to stop the simulation from a terminal in his office. John McKittrick ( Dabney Coleman), one of the WOPR programmers. Upon seeing the alarms on their screens Lightman quickly concludes that WOPR is behind them. He is soon tracked down and arrested by the FBI and taken to the Cheyenne Mountain military complex. News of the events leaks out to television, and Lightman learns the true nature of his actions when a news broadcast makes light of the situation later that day. WOPR continuously feeds false data such as bomber incursions and submarines sailing from Soviet bases to the humans at NORAD, goading them into raising the DEFCON level and pushing them toward a retaliation that will start World War III. However, unknown to NORAD, WOPR continues to run the simulation in an attempt to trigger the scenario and win the game.
#WARGAMES DEFCON 1 PC PLAY PASSWORD#
The phone line and backdoor password are removed to ensure the event does not reoccur. When they investigate they determine that WOPR is running a simulation, and defuse the situation. Response at NORAD to Soviet missile launches WOPR starts running a simulation of a missile attack on the NORAD displays, leading them to believe that actual Soviet nuclear missiles are inbound. Lightman glibly starts a game of Global Thermonuclear War, playing as the Soviet Union, selecting Las Vegas and his home town of Seattle as first-strike targets. The list of "games" Lightman found were the various scenarios. WOPR was originally programmed, in part by Falken, to run simulations on various warfighting scenarios and attempt to find winning strategies. Unknown to the teen, the Sunnyvale phone number was cross-connected and is actually connecting him to WOPR in the Cheyenne Mountain military complex. He discovers that Falken had a son, Joshua, and finds that this can be used to gain access to the unidentified system. Following this lead, Lightman discovers that Stephen Falken was an early artificial intelligence researcher, and from there tracks down every lead he can find on the man's life. Lightman enlists the aid of an older hacker friend, who explains the concept of a backdoor password and suggests tracking down the "Falken" referenced in Falken's Maze, the first game listed. More intrigued than ever, Lightman continues to try to hack into the system without success.

After trying a few commands he succeeds in finding a list of games, starting with simple games but then progressing to titles like Theaterwide Biotoxic and Chemical Warfare and Global Thermonuclear War. When later reviewing the results, he finds one of the systems has a very "basic" interface, which he finds intriguing. After seeing an advertisement for a set of forthcoming computer games, Lightman has his computer dial every number in Sunnyvale, California, in an attempt to find its system. He also uses his computer to perform automated searches for systems connected to the public phone system, which he then hacks. He then changes his grade, and does the same for his friend and classmate Jennifer Mack ( Ally Sheedy). After receiving a failing grade in school, he uses his IMSAI microcomputer and modem to hack into the district's computer system using an unsecured password. Control is given to a NORAD supercomputer, WOPR, which is programmed to predict possible outcomes of nuclear war.ĭavid Lightman ( Matthew Broderick) is a bright but unmotivated Seattle high school student and computer hacker. The man's refusal to perform his duty convinces systems engineers at NORAD that command of missile silos must be maintained through automation. A sequel, WarGames: The Dead Code, was released direct to DVD on July 29, 2008.ĭuring a secret simulation of a nuclear attack, one of two United States Air Force officers is unwilling to turn a required key to launch a missile strike. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards.
#WARGAMES DEFCON 1 PC PLAY MOVIE#
The movie was a box office success, costing US$12 million but grossing over $74 million after five months in the United States. The simulation causes a national nuclear missile scare and nearly starts World War III. Lightman gets WOPR to run a nuclear war simulation, originally believing it to be a computer game. The film follows David Lightman (Broderick), a young hacker who unwittingly hacks into WOPR, a United States military supercomputer programmed to predict possible outcomes of nuclear war. The film starred Matthew Broderick in his second major film role, and featured Ally Sheedy, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, and Barry Corbin. WarGames is a 1983 drama/ thriller film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F.
