WarGames

Play trailer

WarGames

PG

Released Jun 3, 1983

1h 53m

Mystery & Thriller

Action

Drama

Sci-Fi

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

47 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

Buy 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

Alan Jones

Starburst

WarGames is, in my book, a perfect motion picture.

Aug 1, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Julian L

8.2/10. This philosophical thriller is an excellent pick for tweens and adults.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/29/25

Full Review

Charlie G

They make a huge error near the end of the movie when they declare: "Nobody plays Tic Tac Toe because you cannot win." This is untrue. If you avoid starting in the center square but instead start at one of the corners, you can indeed win.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/25

Full Review

dave f

WarGames is a very forward looking 80's film. It captures the "IT" personality way before IT was a thing. It even has a nod towards autism in one of the characters. But the main feature for nerdist is the way social engineering is used to hack into a computer. Way ahead of its time!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/24/25

Full Review

alan g

A very good movie about almost causing and then preventing Armegeddon. Well acted by young Matthew Brodderick and Ally Sheedy. Danny Coleman and excellent supporting cast make it very realistic and exciting.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/16/25

Full Review

Gerald H

It‘s a nice movie, all in all. But the stereotype of „not listening to the kid“ is annoying as always. And the girl is way too old for the role she‘s badly playing.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/17/24

Full Review

Lianessa J

Who knew in 1983 that Matthew Broderick would be fighting AI in a war game? If this happened today, the entire world would be destroyed by a nuclear arsenal.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/16/24

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: MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp.
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