DIY VIRAL
The author Robert Scucci
| Published
Matthew Broderick is probably best known for his portrayal of Ferris Bueller, and rightfully so. While 1986 Ferris Bueller Holiday is a coming-of-age story about a failed high school computer hacker who uses technology to have fun and have the best day of his life while avoiding the Dean of Students. Broderick portrays a similar character archetype in 1983. War games (streaming on Max), a techno thriller that still holds true today.
Ferris Before Ferris
war games, now streaming on Max, introduces Broderick's David Lightman after building on his tech background. During the opening of the film, it became clear that missile wing controllers working for the US Air Force consistently hesitate to launch missile strikes in both simulated and real-life doomsday scenarios. Wary of the men's hesitation, John McTrick (Dabney Coleman) of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) decides it's best to automate the entire process.
Control of NORAD is handed over to a supercomputer known as the War Operation Plan Response (WOPR), a cold-blooded machine that will not hesitate to launch a missile strike immediately. After all, we are in the middle of a massive arms race between the US and Russia at the end of the Cold War, so this is serious business.
Hooky Woopsie and the threat of World War III
You may be wondering where the Ferris Bueller connection is, but it occurred to me shortly after streaming War games switched on Maxand I promise I won't make anything up.
David Lightman, like Ferris in the 1986 film, likes to mess with computers and access his school's database to change grades, as well as those of his romantic interest, Jennifer Mack (Allie Sheedy). Innocently enough, David becomes inspired to step up his hacking game after learning about the video game company Protovision, as he wants to see if he can access any unreleased games currently in development. Things get complicated when David unknowingly hacks into WOPR and encourages it to play what he believes is a game called 'Global Thermonuclear War'.
Fortunately, David activates WOPR, and agents working for NORAD learn of the breach, suspecting David of domestic terrorism. If what's on WOPR's screen is accurate, perhaps David incited the machine to start World War III, and NORAD brings him in for questioning. While War games Maxis begins as a teen comedy-drama, and the stakes are raised exponentially as David tries to clear his name and save the world from nuclear annihilation.
Equal Parts Thrills And Comedy
War games mostly plays it straight as a techno-thriller, but it's not without a sense of humor either. Matthew Broderick walks the line between a lovable fool who's in over his head and a young tech expert who uses his skills to protect his country from imminent nuclear war. As David MacGyver walks through the military industrial complex, he does so with a smirk, as if to let the audience know that he is so serious War games one might think based on Max's description, it's still a very entertaining work of speculative fiction at the time.
As of this writing, you can steam War games to Max before you find your VHS copy Ferris Bueller's Holiday to make a double feature out of it. Whatever you do, just don't pirate or you might discover some launch codes that are better left hidden from the public.
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DIY VIRAL
