That’s right! It’s been 25 years since we sat in that theater and saw John Badham’s “geek’s wet dream” masterpiece WarGames on the big screen. A quarter of a century. I was 11 years old. And even though I’d had my first computer for about half a year at that point, it was primarily responsible for permanently burning into my brain a boundless, lifelong lust for computer hardware. It solidified me as a geek, and for that I thank it. And as you may be suspecting…I’m not the only one who drank the Kool-Aid…
And the best part? We’ve all got one more chance–one single chance–to be a kid again, sitting there in awe before the silver screen. On July 24th at 7:30pm in theaters all around the country, WarGames will be projected upon the silver screen once more. Tickets are on sale now at the event site. (I’ve got mine!) What a splendid night it will be. It’s kind of like Christmas, really.
The event runs for 2 hours, 20 minutes and includes the geek classic WarGames along with previously unseen interviews and a preview for…get ready…the forthcoming sequel to WarGames, WarGames: The Dead Code. Only today did I learn of this sequel. And it excites me. Though it’s a direct-to-DVD release. And it looks fairly lame. But hey–who are we kidding? We’ll all own it.
I’m pleased to be able to share this info that I happily stumbled upon in the Twitterverse. Don’t miss your chance to relive the dream. And for those geeks who’ve yet to experience this wonderful piece of cinema: thank all the powers in the universe that you can enjoy it for the first time as God intended.
And for a really nice WarGames treat, have a look at this most interesting story [update: via Wayback Machine] of the IMSAI 8080 used as the prop for David Lightman’s home computer setup. It’s a great read.
Thanks for the info!! There is even a theater here that is going to have it.
I saw the trailer for new movie and it just looks plain awful, like really bad awful, so I am not sure that I care about that part but the big screen will be nice.
A group of us are heading out to see WarGames during KansasFest (kansasfest.org).
I didn’t get to see it on the big screen. I had to wait until it came out on HBO some time later. The funny thing is, when WarGames came out in 1983, it DID have a major impact on me (and a lot of other people) because it ruined our fun.
Several of my friends and I had been involved in phreaking and hacking for quite some time. Some of the systems we routinely used were quite easy to access. However, that all changed around the time the movie came out.
Things began to change — security suddenly got tighter and the system operators became much less tolerant of the kids using up the computer time. A few sensationalized news articles came out about the hacker menace. Then a couple of hacker gangs were busted by the FBI. After that, there were books by hackers yakking up their exploits (Bill Landreth’s “Out of the Inner Circle”, 1985).
All that publicity was bad for us. My best friend who went by the alias “The Hand” got busted by the FBI for hacking and phreaking MCI. His Apple //e was confiscated … and he rolled over on me and a few others. However, I was a little smarter about the situation. I was questioned, but I didn’t get arrested or charged. In the end, my friend got off doing public service. We were teenagers at the time.
Still, it made an impression on me and that’s when “Sometimes Jones” and the original “Syntax Terror” retired from cracking, hacking and phreaking.
Wow, a great tale, Sean.
A friend of mine back in 1985 or so had been phreaking Sprint, I think it was, getting free LD to download games on his Apple //c. Worked for several months, then he got a bill from Sprint! But just for the most recent month. $600. That was it, no other comment from them. After his father beat him about the head with a large trout, he ceased the activity, as I recall.
Good times.
I’d love to see that on the big screen again, but the closest theatre to me is 3 hours or so away, so that won’t work. :(
Ah well, I guess I’ll just have to stick my DVD in my player this week. :)