WarGames

WarGames is a 1983 American Cold War science fiction techno-thriller film. The plot follows David Lightman (Matthew Broderick), a young hacker who unwittingly accesses a United States military supercomputer programmed to predict and execute nuclear war against the Soviet Union. After starting a game of Global Thermonuclear War, Lightman leads the supercomputer to activate the nuclear arsenal of the United States in response to his simulated threat, pretending to originate from the Soviet Union. Once the clueless hacker comes to his senses, Lightman, with help from his girlfriend (Ally Sheedy), must find a way to alert the authorities to stop the onset of World War III. This classic film reflects the heightened Cold War tensions and the adoption of new technologies, including personal computing and the Internet, as well as the fears that came with them.