WarGames

Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes started in 1979 with The Genius, about a dying scientist and the delinquent boy who could follow him. Lasker asked Willis Ware at RAND, who had worked on the real NORAD computer and said officers who wanted weekend access from home left a port open. Martin Brest directed first and was let go three weeks in, though some of his footage stayed. John Badham shot the opening setup 12 to 14 times to loosen his cast. Colin Cantwell made the NORAD wall animations, projected from behind on 16 mm, so the actors watched live screens. Reagan saw it at Camp David the night after the June 3 opening. The following week, before 16 members of Congress, he asked General John W. Vessey Jr. whether it could really happen. Vessey came back a week later: the problem was much worse than the president thought. NSDD-145 followed. Three nominations at the 56th Academy Awards, all lost: screenplay written directly for the screen, cinematography, sound. It won Best Sound at the 37th BAFTAs; Badham took Best Director at the Saturn Awards. A good fit if you want the NORAD displays to be light the cast could actually see on set. Not for anyone who needs the adults to ask the obvious questions as the countdown runs.