“Shall we play a game?” With this enduring line begins 1983’s WarGames, one of the most exciting and prescient sci-fi thrillers to come out of the ’80s, tautly directed by John Badham (Saturday Night Fever, Blue Thunder), and featuring star-making performances from Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) and Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club).
Broderick plays David Lightman, a bright high-schooler who spends most of his free time on his home computer. All he wants to do is play the latest video games (and, on occasion, alter his grades). But when he dials into a program called Global Thermonuclear War, he soon realises he’s unwittingly hacked into the WOPR, the Department of Defense’s brand-new supercomputer, setting a sequence of events in motion that could ignite World War III. Lightman and his friend Jennifer (Sheedy) find themselves in a desperate race against the clock to find the WOPR’s designer, the reclusive computer genius Dr Stephen Falken (John Wood, Ladyhawke), to prevent nuclear Armageddon.
Featuring strong supporting performances by Dabney Coleman (9 to 5) and Barry Corbin (No Country for Old Men), WarGames was nominated for three Academy Awards, including one for screenwriters Lawrence Lasker and Walter Parkes, whose premise, described by Roger Ebert as “a masterstroke”, remains disturbingly relevant in the 21st century. After you finish the film, how about a nice game of chess?
4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Original lossless stereo and DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary with filmmaker and film historian Daniel Kremer
Archival audio commentary with director John Badham and writers Lawrence Lasker and Walter Parkes
Playing the Game, a brand new interview with John Badham
Hello, I Must Be Coding, a brand new interview with actor Eddie Deezen
Mutually Assured Percussion, a brand new tribute to composer Arthur B. Rubinstein featuring musician Anthony Marinelli and film music historian Daniel Schweiger
Doomsday on Screen: The Visual Effects of WarGames, a brand new featurette by film journalist Joe Fordham
Command and (Out of) Control: WarGames and Cold War Cinema, a brand new featurette on the context and legacy of WarGames by critic Bryan Reesman
Loading WarGames, an archival documentary about the film’s production and cultural impact featuring interviews with cast and crew
Inside NORAD: Cold War Fortress, Attack of the Hackers and Tic Tac Toe: A True Story archival featurettes
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery
Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by critics Priscilla Page and Keith Phipps, and original production notes
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Yvan Quinet