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WARGAMES (HDNET)

This is a thrilling, brilliant film about David Lightman (Mathew Broderick) a trouble making, computer genius. He tries to hack into upcoming computer games and stumbles upon a military simulator called Globe Thermonuclear War. David, thinking it's a game, tries to figure out the password so he can play. He succeeds and starts to control the simulation by firing missiles at Las Vegas . The military think the Russians are firing, but it's just a simulation. Will David start World War III or will he save us all?

What I love about this film is the acting. The actors are very entertaining and well developed. That brings me to the wonderful script writing. The dialogue is fantastic with dramatic and suspenseful scenes. The writers knew how to keep us entertained and involved with the story.

My favorite character is David Lightman (Mathew Broderick). This character is a teenaged MacGyver of the 80s. This kid is so intelligent he can hack a military system combination lock with a recorder and a piece of wire, make a telephone call with a piece of metal and what next, make a plane out of trash bags and bamboo? I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of Mathew Broderick's acting, but he does an amazing job with this character.

My favorite scene is when David finds out that he may have actually launched missiles from the simulator he thought was a game. At first it's dramatic. He starts freaking out thinking he's going to jail, but then he makes me laugh. When the simulator computer starts calling him, he unplugs the phone from the wall and sits, with the phone hugged tightly to his chest. The look on David's face is just priceless.

The moral of the story is "Sometimes the best way to win is to not play at all." This is an incredible moral because it's not about the protagonist; it's a moral for the computer. The computer has a mind of its own like in "2001 A Space Odyssey." It thinks that someone always has to win but like tic-tac-toe, ties are inevitable.

I recommend this to 12-year-olds and up because there is some language that's not appropriate for younger audiences, but it does have that kid element to it. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

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A teenage computer whiz taps into the government's NORAD missile-defense system to play a game and nearly triggers WWIII.