WarGames
Is it a game, or is it real?
High school student David Lightman has a talent for hacking.But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Department of Defense's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions.Together with his friend and a wizardly computer genius, David must race against time to outwit his opponent and prevent a nuclear Armageddon.
- Director
- John Badham
- Signature
- Drama · Tension · Wonder
- Worldwide
- $125M
Who's in it
Cast
The billed ensemble, with character names. Open any performer for their Nutevio filmography.
The Nutevio profile
Movie DNA
How WarGames actually feels to watch, measured on the twelve traits our editors track across every Nutevio title.
Perfect if you enjoyed
Story overview
What It's About
Spoiler-free. Read the analysis below for the full argument.
High school student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Department of Defense's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions. Together with his friend and a wizardly computer genius, David must race against time to outwit his opponent and prevent a nuclear Armageddon.
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
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The record
Awards
0 wins · 3 nominations
Academy Awards
No wins yet · 3 nominations
- WinnerAcademy Award for Best Cinematography
- WinnerAcademy Award for Best Sound
- WinnerAcademy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay
The numbers
Box Office & Release
WarGames returned 10.4× its budget worldwide.
- Budget
- $12M
- Opening weekend
- —
- Domestic gross
- —
- International gross
- —
- Worldwide gross
- $125M
- Release date
- Jun 3, 1983
- Runtime
- 1h 54m
- MPAA rating
- —
- Language
- English
- Country
- United States of America
Figures from the verified production record. Fields we cannot source are left blank rather than estimated.
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