WarGames

Play trailer

WarGames

PG

Released Jun 3, 1983

1h 53m

Mystery & Thriller

Action

Drama

Sci-Fi

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

46 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

High school student David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) unwittingly hacks into a military supercomputer while searching for new video games. After starting a game of Global Thermonuclear War, Lightman leads the supercomputer to activate the nation's nuclear arsenal in response to his simulated threat as 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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

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.

Read Critics Reviews

David Denby

New York Magazine/Vulture

Like a man drawn to the edge of a cliff by the lure of the abyss below, we're secretly obsessed by the apocalypse. Moralists may claim that WarGames is more exploitation than warning, but it's still an exciting, giddily entertaining movie.

Jan 1, 2020

Full Review

Martin Chilton

Daily Telegraph (UK)

The chase sequences with government agents are tame but the film builds to a tense (and witty) conclusion at the Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker in Colorado Springs.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 31, 2015

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Classic humanist-didactic filmmaking, effectively presented as a thriller.

Jul 30, 2013

Full Review

James Croot

The Post NZ

[WarGames] is a standard ‘80s teens-in-peril and up-against-the-authorities tale, but one which, despite a strange side-trip to an Oregon island, really does a great job of building up the tension towards a thrilling finale.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 7, 2023

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

A clever if occasionally far-fetched adventure-thriller.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 14, 2023

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

WarGames kicks off with an exciting sequence...

Rated: 3/4

May 10, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Shizue Leigh H

An absolute pleasure to watch — all 5,955 times!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/14/25

Full Review

Brent A

50% rating ... Decent film. I didn't like the "teen drama" aspect of the storyline, but overall it had an interesting premise.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

09/07/25

Full Review

Jay C

This is a movie way ahead of its time. Fast forward 42 years, and we’re living in a world where AI systems are now part of nearly everything we do. In that context, WarGames foreshadows how easily things can go wrong if we allow technology to operate unchecked. It highlights the dangers of automation, cyber warfare, and the consequences of relying too heavily on systems we don’t fully understand.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/12/25

Full Review

Nashville I.

Criminally forgotten and overlooked, Matt Broderick and Ally Sheedy lead a nice jaunt with a fun childlike twist on a tech problem. War Games is smart but knows exactly how to keep it simple enough that it doesnt lose the audience. By far one of the most snackable adventure films of the 80s!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/07/25

Full Review

Michael P

I was kind of expecting a more 80s cliche movie with your typical action ending bit really, this movie far more than that and it truly was a good movie. The acting is great, the story is also really good with great themes about war and the games we play. It has a surprising speech about human existence which, I must admit, I'm trying to forget because it's terrifying to me. Yes, there's some pacing issues and the "hacking" side is a little far fetched but overall I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/11/25

Full Review

Audience Member

My favourite movie as a child. This is real cinema. 80s movies at its top.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/27/25

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

John Badham

Director

Matthew Broderick

David Lightman

Dabney Coleman

Dr. John McKittrick

Ally Sheedy

Jennifer Katherine Mack

John Wood

Dr. Stephen Falken

Barry Corbin

Gen. Jack Beringer

WarGames: Official Clip - David & Jennifer Kiss

2:10

WarGames: Official Clip - Joshua Searches for Launch Codes

1:48

WarGames: Official Clip - Tic Tac Toe With Joshua

1:42

WarGames: Official Clip - It's a Bluff

2:11

WarGames: Official Clip - DEFCON 1

2:14

WarGames: Official Clip - Shall We Play a Game?

2:08

WarGames: Official Clip - Asexual Reproduction

2:06

WarGames: Official Clip - The Only Winning Move

2:30

WarGames: Official Clip - He's Gonna Start a War!

2:00

WarGames: Official Clip - A Lesson in Futility

2:15

View more videos

Soylent Green

70%

70%

Soylent Green

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Soylent Green

Looker

32%

42%

Looker

Watchlist

Still of the Night

67%

46%

Still of the Night

Watchlist

Escape From Alcatraz

97%

85%

Escape From Alcatraz

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Escape From Alcatraz

Earthquake

44%

36%

Earthquake

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

High school student David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) unwittingly hacks into a military supercomputer while searching for new video games. After starting a game of Global Thermonuclear War, Lightman leads the supercomputer to activate the nation's nuclear arsenal in response to his simulated threat as 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.

Director: John Badham
Producer: Harold Schneider
Screenwriter: Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp., MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Rating: PG
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 3, 1983, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 29, 2016
Runtime: 1h 53m
Sound Mix: Surround

Most Popular at Home Now