WarGames Behind The Scenes

The NORAD command center built for the movie was the most expensive set ever constructed up to that time, built at the cost of one million dollars.

The studio had a 'Galaga' and a 'Galaxian' machine delivered to Matthew Broderick's home, where he practiced for two months to prepare for the arcade scene.

The computer used to break into NORAD was programmed to make the correct words appear on the screen, no matter which keys were pressed.

When Badham took over as director, he changed the photographic process. It's possible to see changes in the frame lines between old and new footage.

The first director (who was fired) was Martin Brest, who went on to massive success shorty after with "Beverly Hills Cop".

Initially, NORAD had granted permission for the producers of WarGames to use their facilities on a limited basis; but after a review of the script, they felt it was an inaccurate portrayal of operations and ultimatly declined.

Barry Corbin's line, "Hell, I'd p*ss on a sparkplug if I thought that would do any good" was not written in the script but was the actors own invention when asked to provide something for the take! He apparently had the cast and crew in stitches with that one.

The W.O.P.R. computer was really made with wood in Culver City, CA. If you thought that the blinking lights were very similar to equalizer lights on a stereo - you were right! An early AudioControl C101 equalizer is used for the blinking lights. I wonder what song was being played through it at the time?

Another interesting note: The little display that showed the timer countdown to WW III was actually programmed by a computer consultant who was sitting inside the W.O.P.R. while filming that portion of the movie. All information was found on the website of IMSAI, the company that actually supplied David Lightman's Computer.

The terminal David uses at NORAD ("is this a game or is it real"?) to talk to Joshua is a Memorex Corporation Model 2051 compatible to IBM's System 38. The dozens of NORAD disk drives seen are also Memorex Corp's.

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