Thursday, August 13, 2009

Meanwhile, I couldn't get Printshop to work on my Commodore 64: "WarGames"

Continuing our '80s movie tour, I recently watched yet again the movie that launched Matthew Broderick into stardom and gave my generation our version of HAL 9000. (All together now ... "Shall we play a game?") Dated as some parts of "WarGames" -- now more than 25 years old -- are, it's still a fun movie that moves along nicely. Plus, Ally Sheedy is pretty cute.

You know the deal: Precocious teen hacks into what he thinks is a computer game company but turns out to be NORAD. That sets into motion what looks like a countdown to WWWIII, and gets our hero into some deep doo-doo.

Along with the premise -- firmly anchored in the Cold War -- other aspects are woefully outdated. Like, say, those floppy disks and the modem that requires a phone in the cradle. Then there's our girl Ally riding around on a moped. Whoa.

Still, some parts hold up. That Galaga video game Broderick plays in the beginning? You can still find that in plenty of places. Can you say the same for Q-Bert? Some other reasons why it's inexcusable to not enjoy "WarGames":

Broderick's breakout: Some say "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" made him. Eh ... maybe. I mean, sure, he was Mr. Cool there. But this really was the first movie to show his baby-faced charm and flouting of the rules. Heck, he hacked into the school's computer here, too!

Ally being Ally: Before she got weird in "The Breakfast Club" and preppy in "St. Elmo's Fire," she was just a fresh-faced girl in a leotard and leg warmers. Great smile, too.

The NORAD set: C'mon ... admit that it still looks cool after all these years. You could even argue this ushered in the fascination with flatscreen TVs.

Dabney Coleman vs. Barry Corbin: Two great character actors face off as the tech wiz and the general, leading to this classic exchange near the end:

"McKittrick, after very careful consideration, sir, I've come to the conclusion that your new defense system sucks."

"I don't have to take that, you pig-eyed sack of shit."

"Oh, I was hoping for something a little better than that from you, sir. A man of your education."

Introducing ... Mr. Blonde: Yeah ... Michael Madsen! He's one of the soldiers manning the nuke station at the start. Honestly, I'm not sure I noticed that before this last viewing. Damn ... he looks young. Of course, this was before he starred in about a bazillion movies. Seriously, check out his IMDb page. The guy likes to work. That has to take a toll. (Oh, and the other soldier? Leo from "The West Wing," classic "that guy" John Spencer.)

So yeah ... "WarGames" still does it for me, even if the W.O.P.R. now would be the size of an iPod these days. And I mean a Shuffle.

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