10 Classic ’80s Sci-fi Moments: ‘WarGames’

#7 – “WarGames” (1983) – Tic Tac Toe with Joshua – With PC sales starting to light up during the early 1980s, the nation’s fascination with computers began brightening as well.   Although “Return of the Jedi” (1983) was the big box office winner that year, “WarGames” became the surprise hit!

A high school hacker, David (Matthew Broderick), believes that he hit the jackpot, when he easily finds his way into the U.S. Military.  The problem?  David accidentally ignites a supercomputer “named” Joshua who begins a countdown towards global thermal nuclear war.  In the film’s climax, he asks Joshua to play Tic Tac Toe, a game that no one can win (if you are playing correctly) in the hope that “he” will learn the same outcome with nuclear holocaust.

Oh, if only David stuck to Space Invaders on his Atari 2600.

Image credits: MGM; Clip credits: Movieclips

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