80's Movie Retro! WARGAMES

I remember this movie with Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, the guy from 9 to 5 and the other guy from Northern Exposure (man, I know my actors, don't I? LOL)

The reason this particular movie sticks in my head, was because the first time I had seen it. And it wasn't at home or at the movie theater, but in Junior High!





Right, I guess you're wondering why we weren't getting an education instead, we're watching T.V. in school. I think it was due to an event the school wanted to put on for the students for fun. To get rid of the stress created by Jr. High challenges. Perhaps, it was to have us students relate to the "coming of age" that the movie also portrays a rebelious student and his "attitude" problem as he makes his way to the administrative office.

I wonder if he deliberately got in trouble for the sole purpose of stealing the school computers password.

Funny, how clerks back then didn't know the actual value of the secure nature of the password, and just wrote the passwords on a list in plain site for everyone to see. Of course, I guess they figured no one would have use for those passwords, or even know what it was actually for. As far as they knew, it could've been someone's grocery list.

I found it awesome to see someone in the movie playing the Coin-OP games I always played. (Galaga in his case)

Now, there's this part in the movie where he decides to have his computer autodial every phone number listing in the area until an actual computer from a gaming company picked up (you could tell, because you could hear some callers answer his computer with "hello?")

Now THAT'S a dedicated gamer!!

But, now that I'm older, I think back and wondered.

1. Did people at home have access to modem technology at that time period?

2. If they DID have that kind of technology, did computer companies actually have phone numbers for THEIR computers that not only answered, but ALLOWED outside calls to come in just so they could respond? I found that hard to buy. I'm wondering how these other computers even have their own dedicated phone number so kids like him are able to even dial them.

3. I laughed when the computer asked him, "Shall We Play A Game?" that he answered with "Global Thermal Nuclear War", back then, people didn't even USE acronyms. Wouldn't it have been EASIER to just say, "I want to play GTNW"??