Skip to main content

Maybe a Matthew Broderick Throwback Series?

By graphics_girl
Last Friday night while scanning Netflix for a throwback from my list to rewatch, I found a great 80s classic with Matthew Broderick. BEFORE his memorable role as Ferris Bueller, he starred as a computer genius named David in War Games.


War Games takes place in the 80s during the Cold War. After a failed launch exercise (featuring Mr. Blonde, Michael Madsen) the US government is convinced that they should give control of the nuclear program to a computer. That is, until it's hacked by a high school kid. When David (Broderick) successfully accesses this super-computer, he's trying to get into the computer of a software company to play their latest game before it's released. He unknowingly begins a showdown between the US and Russia that could lead to World War III if he doesn't help stop it. 

 I am not going to go into what happens....just in case you haven't seen it or it's been a while for you. (I'd like to know what you guys think....in the future do you want a lot of the details or just a quick overview? I'm torn.)

 I was bit surprised that I still liked this movie after all these years...and my boys really enjoyed it too! I honestly thought they'd be bored by the old tech. If you watch this, do yourself a favor and skip the opening AND closing credits. The music is really painful.

 My favorite things???

  • David playing Galaga at the beginning (I loved that game!) his dial up connection, 5 inch floppy disk and dot matrix printer...brother, remember our computer class at Kent when we were kids?! Oh, back in the day.
  • You need to hack a pay phone? Find a pop tab! Have neither? Hope you have a cellphone!
  • And, Ally Sheedy's leg warmers. Yes, I forgot to mention that Ally Sheedy is also in this movie.


 Memorable lines from the movie? 
My favorites were given to the computer. "Would you like to play a game?" And "Strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?" And finally, "Mr. McKittrick, after very careful consideration sir, I've come to the conclusion that your new defense system sucks."

 Overall, Friday was a pretty fun night.
-Graphics Girl

 Don't forget to let us know in the comments if you'd rather have more detail in these summaries or you want to avoid the spoilers in case it's been a while for you.

Comments

  1. @AGeekCalledBobNovember 21, 2013 at 9:33 AM

    Back then, Hacking involved logic, brute force password breakers and random number dialers. Now it's someone leaving their facebook page logged in. How did I get in this handbasket.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thundercats, HOOOOOOO!

By
I miss Thundercats. That was a quality Saturday morning cartoon. It ran from 1985-1989. Yes, that hit me at ages 1-5, but I enjoyed watching it then and reruns later on. My brother had some pretty sweet Lion-o and Snarf figurines. The occupants of Thundera evacuate before the planet and all but one of the escape ships were destroyed. The Thundercats were all that remained and they set a course for Third Earth where they crash. With the help of his "Sword of Omens", Lion-o gives the Thundercats a chance against Mumm-Ra and the evil mutants. This cartoon was so freaking cool that it has been referenced in all sorts of pop culture avenues. The Band Reliant K has a song called I'm Lion-o , which is such a fun song to jam to. If you were a fan of Homestar Runner and Strong Bad Emails, Thundercats is referenced in Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 5: 8 Bit Is Enough . The series was rebooted in 2011 and was a combination of anime and western ani...
Post a Comment
Read more

It's Throwback Thursday Time!

By
This week for Throwback Thursday, I'm taking you to camp...Space Camp. I grew up watching this movie and I love rewatching it every once in a while just to reminisce.  Since I only ever went to church camp, it's kind of fun to see a bunch of nerdy kids getting to go to camp together. The movie never really got great reviews. In fact, they usually stayed around the area of about 40-50% approval. I think part of that had to do with the Challenger space shuttle catastrophe of 1986. Unfortunately, the tragedy didn't end as well as the movie. The release date was pushed back several months due to that, but even when released, the public didn't respond well to the reminder of the events. All things considered, I think it's still a great geek movie. Lea Thompson, Kelly Preston, Joaquin Phoenix (then known as Leaf) Kate Capshaw, Tom Skerrit, Tate Donovan and Larry B. Scott are the lead characters in this movie. Andie, a NASA astronaut who has never actually been in spac...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wouldn't You Think I'm The Girl, The Girl Who Has Everything

By
I was fortunate enough to grow up during the "Disney Renaissance". During this period we saw films like Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King. BUT my very favorite of all the movies that came out during this time was The Little Mermaid. I received the movie for my sixth birthday and that was one of my favorite presents. Some of my fondest memories include reenacting scenes from the movie with my friends. I still know every word to every song, and on occasion, like to see if I can get my hair to look like this  in the bathtub. ---> Don't judge me. She had fabulous hair. Seriously...what what woman has not wanted that sexy, red hair? LOVE. Today, you can find The Little Mermaid Diamond Edition at your local store. I'm not sure why they chose to release it now instead of next year, which would have marked the 25th anniversary, but you won't catch me complaining. I'm more than happy to have this available on Blu-Ray. I hear that the digital enhanc...
Post a Comment
Read more