10 Movies Which Tried To Capture The Essence Of Gaming

5. WarGames

What happens when you play a nuclear war simulation game on the government's top secret military supercomputer? If you're David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) in WarGames, you soon realise that it's far more than a game, and you nearly start World War 3. WarGames is one of those 80s films which hasn't dated at all well - from the computer technology and visual displays to the Cold War nuclear annihilation threat premise on which it is built, it's very much a product of the era. What hasn't dated anywhere near as badly is its deft handling of the thriller elements and serious message in what is ostensibly a thriller for kids - if only more kids movies based on games were quite as smartly satirical as this.