WarGames: 16 Things You Don't Need To Know

This week I'm hacking through some more (mostly) useless trivia - this time about WarGames. My favorite nugget... I'll tell you how they recorded the computer voice for Joshua. So, shall we play a game?

[robertdecker]

I was the Location Manager on "WarGames" and you got a couple facts wrong as well as some omissions. The mouth of the tunnel and the jeep crash were filmed near a small town called Cement, in the Cascades north of Seattle. Yes, the tunnel interior is Griffith Park. The jeep crash was a real accident with the stunt doubles actually getting hurt, but not badly. The chainlink fence they tried to crash through caught under the wheels and flipped the jeep over. The fence should have been rigged by special effects and wasn't. Yes, they chose to keep it in. This was shot while Martin Brest was Director. As with many productions, there was often chaos and poor planning. John Wood was chosen well into pre-production in 1982 after considering many, many actors. The movie was brilliantly cast by Martin Brest, not John Badham. Martin Brest had several extravagant ideas he insisted upon... and there are a number of scenes and shots he made that are in the film...not just the ones you mentioned. Martin "demanded" the interior set of Norad be huge with different levels, catwalks offices, etcetera. The story I heard, was that when Martin and the writers toured Norad, they were going to the real Norad Command center until Martin said something about the storyline that prompted the Military to cancel the tour. Nevertheless, Martin wanted the huge set. Leonard Goldberg, the executive producer was increasingly fed up with demands by Martin and the money being spent on things like the Norad set. Though Martin Brest's filming was going well, I remember that he was falling behind....which is costly and unforgivable to many Producers. As you stated, after two weeks, he was fired and Badham was hired. In my opinion, Goldberg must have wanted to fire Brest earlier but it took some time to line up Badham, who was finishing "Blue Thunder". It is true that the original writers did profound research and came up with ingenious ideas...nevertheless, they were fired at one point and other writers were brought in to change aspects of the script. One of the writers brought in was Walon Green. Eventually, I believe the original writers were brought back. Though Badham's tenure as Director was smoother and he was liked by everyone...it was many of Brest's ideas and concepts that helped make the movie what it is. I do not believe the darker tone of Brest's concepts would have been detrimental to the final film...very hard to say. One of the more difficult choices Brest had to make, was whether the voice of the computer would be heard. Though computers may have had voices, they were not interactive, as I remember it.
There was much consternation as to whether this would be believable..but it was decided to add it to the film. My memory is that it was not in the script and the computer's dialogue would have appeared on the computer screen. Obviously, this was a pivotal decision. Before Brest was fired, Goldberg brought in a known Production Manager, Harold Schneider, who had a reputation for firing people and drastic cost cutting. His term on the crew was unpleasant and was probably supposed to be. Goldberg did not have much confidence the film would be successful...mind you Broderick and Sheedy were essentially unknown. Both were very friendly and likable. One other note, there is a scene where Sheedy gives Broderick a ride on her scooter. The schedule had to be changed due to Sheedy crashing the moped....not seriously, but causing a delay in production. Also, originally, in the script, a private jet was to take Broderick and Sheedy to Falcon and was going to land on a two-lane road in the mountains but was cut. Martin Brest and Lisa Weinstein, found the script, originally called "The Genius" and developed it with the writers.
They deserve some credit for what the final film is. My name is Robert Decker and I can be contacted through the Location Managers Guild International.

[Rowgue]

One of the most underappreciated movies of all time. There are few movies that so perfectly represent the time in which they were made.

[feski]

The NORAD set is worth every penny of it’s budget: amazing then, amazing now.

[CasiodorusRex]

Fun fact: I wrote the actor Irving Metzman who plays Richter in the film to ask for his autograph in hopes of completing my Wargames collection and he mailed me his ID badge that he wore in the movie. As an IT guy I think of this as a sort of relic.

[edfelstein]

A few points I wanted to make:
1) Ally Sheedy was hella cute. I stayed for the end credits because I wanted to know her name.
2) The computer simulation that almost started WWIII referenced in the video took place in 1979. However, in 1983 -- the year of WarGames' release -- there were actually TWO incidents that brought us close to nuclear annihilation (talk about your China Syndrome/Three Mile Island coincidence!) If you have a few minutes, look up "Able Archer 83" and "1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm."
3) Ally Sheedy was hot.
4) I knew that Martin Brest was the original director, and I knew that a couple scenes he directed made it into the final movie; however, I never knew which scenes those were. Now I know. Thanks, Jeff!
5) I had a major crush on Ally Sheedy.
6) There actually was an original song that made it into the movie. It was called Video Fever, written by the film's composer, Arthur B. Rubinstein, and performed by The Beepers. It appears in the scene in the video arcade when we are introduced to David. But it didn't get much push.
7) Did I happen to mention Ally Sheedy?

[petercraig]

Great video. Great film. This film helped influence me in 1985 to change professions into IT. A few years ago I retired as Senior IT Programme Manager in a major UK company after a fascinating career! Thanks, Wargames !

[spinner]

A piece of trivia you wouldn't know. In the credits, there is one for DataProducts. I worked on the three printers that are in the War Room.

[sweetlildevil]

I'm so glad to see a video ADDING something to the film. So many videos on YouTube are just looking for "flaws" or mistakes.

[moonspots]

This movie was very influential to those of us who studied Computer Science in the early 1980's. It is still a favorite of mine after all these years.

[WoodsToLiveBy]

Almost 40 years later, this is still such a great movie. The technology may have advanced, but the message remains

[tamasmarcuis]

I was put into cadet training for the Soviet Army a year or so after this film was made. I spent three years off and on in Afghanistan up till the Soviet withdrawal. Then there were the hard years of the collapse of the USSR and my country restoring independence with the expulsion of the Soviet (now Russian) Army.
In 1992 I and a few others drove a van to Berlin to find as much computer gear to take back. We explained Lithuania was trying to really get started seriously with computers. The local hacker types did everything legal and not legal to help us. They even called in help from a place in Scotland called the Barras.
They got us everything from PCs to Amigas and every piece of software of any value. Other than to buy some new components and blank disks they took no money. On German man even found us a broken down Soviet truck that we repaired to bring more back.
So hacker and computer nerds helped a poor country when it needed it most.

[davidfirth]

I was a high school senior 1983-1984. This film sent me into computer science, but I switched to engineering. I've watched it only a couple times since. Still love it.

[trevorbrown]

Matthew Brodericks father died before filming had ended. Despite being a young man in his first major movie it shows how professional he was to still finish off his scenes despite the obvious sadness and loss he'd just endured.

[cswalker]

The opening scene where the launch controllers fail to follow the launch order during the unscheduled drill is pretty key to the plot, since it gave them a reason to take the men out of the loop, so to speak.

[princeharming]

A movie with 'heart'. It made the imagination soar. No super heroes.. no weirdos in capes trying to save the planet. Just a simple little story of human interaction. Broaddrick and Sheedy knocked this one out of the park.

[jamesslick]

"I'd piss on a spark plug, If I thought it would do any good..." Has been my "go to" line for 35 years!

[rcarmel]

This movie shaped me. I grew up in the 80's with a vic-20, TRS 80, coco2 and more. I had 300 baud modems with acoustic couplers. I was phreaking and bbs'ing from years 8 to 15. Amazing time. When you could open a computer and understand how it worked. When you didn't need a phd to read a data sheet. When you could memorize all the instructions of a processor. Before software and games became expendable. Miss those days.

[jasonvoorhees]

This is one of the best vids about the "side info" on a movie I've ever seen. Really cool. This was one of my favorite movies back in the day. Must have seen it a hundred times

[SeanGarratt]

for you non Brits - 'Are you sitting comfortably ? then I'll begin .." is a bit of a British staple which is why actor John Wood probably said it. There was a radio program in the 50s called Listen with Mother, where children's stores were read - preceded with this line. It still pops up here and there, usually sarcastically.

[MKnife]

I remember seeing this movie at the local theater in Porvoo/Finland back in late 1983 when I was 15. It had such an impact on me that I nagged for mom and dad to buy me a computer constantly during the next three weeks. They finally gave in and bought me a Commodore 64. This in turn lead to a lifelong hobby with computers, and since 1992 a full time career in IT in which I still am, at the tender age of 51. There aren't many movies that I can say defined my future, but this one most certainly did.