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WarGames Quotes

WarGames is a TV program that was first aired in 1970 . WarGames ended in 1970.

It features Leonard Goldberg, Rich Hashimoto, and Harold K. Schneider; Bruce McNall as producer, Arthur B. Rubinstein in charge of musical score, and William A. Fraker as head of cinematography.

WarGames is recorded in English and originally aired in United States. Each episode of WarGames is 114 minutes long. WarGames is distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The cast includes: James Ackerman as Joshua, John Wood as Stephen Falken, Matthew Broderick as David Lightman, Ally Sheedy as Jennifer, Dabney Coleman as McKittrick, Juanin Clay as Pat Healy, Alan Blumenfeld as Mr. Liggett, Eddie Deezen as Malvin, Maury Chaykin as Jim Sting, William Bogert as Mr. Lightman, William Bogert as Mrs. Lightman, Stephen Lee as Sgt. Schneider, and Dabney Coleman as John McKittrick.

WarGames Quotes

Matthew Broderick as David Lightman

  • (Matthew Broderick) "What he did was great. He designed his computer so that it could learn from its own mistakes. So, they'd be better the next time they played. The system actually learned how to learn. It could teach itself."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Come on. Learn, goddammit."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Is this a game -- or is it real?"
  • (James Ackerman) "What's the difference?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Oh wow."
  • (James Ackerman) "You are a hard man to reach. Could not find you in Seattle and no terminal is in operation at your classified address."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "What classified address?"
  • (James Ackerman) "D.O.D. pension files indicate current mailing as: Dr. Robert Hume, a.k.a. Stephen W. Falken, 5 Tall Cedar Road, Goose Island, Oregon 97 --"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Joshua called me."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "David, computers don't call people."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Yours did."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "People sometimes make mistakes."
  • (James Ackerman) "Yes, they do."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "I think I saw one --"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "What kind of an asshole lives on an island and he doesn't even have a boat?"
  • (Ally Sheedy) "Maybe we can swim for it. How far do you think it is?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "No. It's uh, two, three miles at least. Maybe more."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "Well, what do you say? Let's go for it."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "No."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "Come on."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "No."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "I can't swim."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "You can't swim?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "No, I can't, okay? Wonder Woman, I can't swim."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "Well, what kind of an asshole grows up in Seattle and doesn't even know how to swim?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "I never got around to it, okay? I always thought there was gonna be plenty of time."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "Sorry."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "I wish I didn't know about any of this. I wish I was like everybody else in the world, and tomorrow it would just be over. There wouldn't be any time to be sorry -- about anything."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Oh, Jesus. I really wanted to learn how to swim. I swear to God I did."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Hello, are you still playing the game?"
  • (James Ackerman) "Of course. I should reach Defcon 1 and release my missiles in 28 hours. Would you like to see some projected kill ratios?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "69% of the housing destroyed. 72 million people dead."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Is this a game or is it real?"
  • (James Ackerman) "What's the difference?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "What is the primary goal?"
  • (James Ackerman) "You should know, Professor. You programmed me."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Oh, come on."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "What is the primary goal?"
  • (James Ackerman) "To win the game."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Hey, I don't believe that any system is totally secure."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "This is unreal. You don't care about death 'cause you're already dead. I know a lot about you. I know you weren't always like this. What was the last thing you cared about?"

John Wood as Stephen Falken

  • (John Wood) "The whole point was to find a way to practice nuclear war without destroying ourselves. To get the computers to learn from mistakes we couldn't afford to make. Except, I never could get Joshua to learn the most important lesson."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "What's that?"
  • (John Wood) "Futility. That there's a time when you should just give up."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "What kind of a lesson is that?"
  • (John Wood) "Did you ever play tic-tac-toe?"
  • (Ally Sheedy) "Yeah, of course."
  • (John Wood) "But you don't anymore."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "No."
  • (John Wood) "Why?"
  • (Ally Sheedy) "Because it's a boring game. It's always a tie."
  • (John Wood) "Exactly. There's no way to win. The game itself is pointless. But back at the war room, they believe you can win a nuclear war. That there can be "acceptable losses.""
  • (John Wood) "I loved it when you nuked Las Vegas. Suitably biblical ending to the place, don't you think?"
  • (John Wood) "Now, children, come on over here. I'm going to tell you a bedtime story. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. Once upon a time, there lived a magnificent race of animals that dominated the world through age after age. They ran, they swam, and they fought and they flew, until suddenly, quite recently, they disappeared. Nature just gave up and started again. We weren't even apes then. We were just these smart little rodents hiding in the rocks. And when we go, nature will start over. With the bees, probably. Nature knows when to give up, David."
  • (John Wood) "Are either of you paleontologists? I'm in desperate need of a paleontologist."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "No, we're high school students."
  • (John Wood) "Pity."
  • (John Wood) "I've planned ahead. We're just three miles from a primary target. A millisecond of brilliant light and we're vaporized. Much more fortunate than millions who wander sightless through the smoldering aftermath. We'll be spared the horror of survival."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "I'm only 17 years old. I'm not ready to die yet."
  • (John Wood) "What you see on these screens up here is a fantasy; a computer enhanced hallucination."
  • (John Wood) "Joshua, what are you doing?"

Stephen Lee as Sgt. Schneider

  • (Stephen Lee) "So what, do you think you kids own this place?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Oh, I was, uh, I was- I was just looking around."
  • (Stephen Lee) "You know you're not supposed to leave the group, don't you?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Yes."
  • (Stephen Lee) "So why don't you get back there."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "OK. Excuse me."
  • (Stephen Lee) "Go on."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Thank you very much, sir."

Eddie Deezen as Malvin

  • (Eddie Deezen) "I can't believe it, Jim. That girl's standing over there listening and you're telling him about our back doors?"
  • (Maury Chaykin) "Mister Potato Head. Mister Potato Head. Back doors are not secrets."
  • (Eddie Deezen) "Yeah, but Jim, you're giving away all our best tricks."
  • (Maury Chaykin) "They're not tricks."

Dabney Coleman as John McKittrick

  • (Dabney Coleman) "Why are we at Defcon 4?"
  • (Juanin Clay) "The Soviets saw our bombers scramble until they went on alert. We told them it was just an exercise, but, we're waiting for them to relax their posture before we do. Wait. Wait -- here."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "Oh, Christ, another tour group, just what we need today. Why don't they go to Disneyland where they belong."
  • (Juanin Clay) "Well, I think they're going to tomorrow."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "There's no way that a high school punk can put a dime into a telephone and break into our system. He's got to be working with somebody else. He's got to be."
  • (Wigan) "He does fit the profile perfectly. He's intelligent, an underachiever, alienated from his parents, has few friends. A classic case for recruitment by the Soviets."
  • (FBI Agent George Wigan) "He does fit the profile perfectly. He's intelligent, but an under-achiever; alienated from his parents; has few friends. Classic case for recruitment by the Soviets."
  • (Lyle Watson) "Now what does this say about the state of our country, hmm?"
  • (Lyle Watson) "I mean have you gotten any insight as to why a, a bright boy like this would jeopardize the lives of millions?"
  • (FBI Agent George Wigan) "No sir. He says he does this sort of thing for fun."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "What?"
  • (Arthur Cabot) "Dammit, John, I want some answers and I want them now."
  • (Lyle Watson) "Gentlemen, I think I'm going to recommend McKittrick's idea to the President and I'll get back to you on this."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "You won't; you won't regret this."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "It might help to beef up security around the W.O.P.R."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "See that sign up here; up here. "Defcon." That indicates our current defense condition. It should read "Defcon 5," which means peace. It's still on 4 because of that little stunt you pulled. Actually, if we hadn't caught it in time, it might have gone to Defcon 1. You know what that means, David?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "No. What does that mean?"
  • (Dabney Coleman) "World War Three."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "It all flows into this room and then into what we call the WOPR computer."
  • (Lyle Watson) "WOPR? What is that?"
  • (Dabney Coleman) "It's a War Operations Planning Response. This is Mr. Richter. Paul, would you like to tell these gentlemen about the WOPR."
  • (Richter) "Well, the WOPR spends all it's time thinking about World War III. Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, it plays an endless series of WarGames using all available information on the state of the world. The WOPR has already fought World War III as a game time and time again. It estimates Soviet responses to our responses to their responses and so on. It estimates damage, counts the dead, and it looks for ways to improve the score."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "Excuse me, sir. We can't send these men back to the President of the United States with a lot of head-shrinker horses***."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "General, the machine has locked us out. It's sending random numbers to the silos."
  • (Juanin Clay) "Codes. To launch the missiles."
  • (General Beringer) "Just unplug the god**** thing. Jesus Christ."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "That won't work, General. It would interpret a shutdown as the destruction of NORAD. The computers in the silos would carry out their last instructions. They'd launch."
  • (General Beringer) "Can't we disarm the missiles?"
  • (Juanin Clay) "Over a thousand of them? There's no time. At this rate it will hit the launch codes in -- 5.3 minutes."
  • (General Beringer) "Mr. McKittrick, after very careful consideration, sir, I've come to the conclusion that your new defense system sucks."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "I don't have to take that, you pig-eyed sack of s***."
  • (General Beringer) "Oh, I was hoping for something a little better than that from you, sir. A man of your education."
  • (Major Lem) "General, it's the president."
  • (Dabney Coleman) "What are you -- what are you going to tell him?"
  • (General Beringer) "I'm ordering our bombers back to fail-safe. We might have to go through this thing after all."

Ally Sheedy as Jennifer

  • (Ally Sheedy) "Connection terminated. How rude."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "David, are you watching the news?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Jennifer, yeah, I'm watching."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "David, is that us on TV? Did we do that?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "It. could be. Oh, Jesus, Jennifer, what am I gonna do? They're going to come get me. I'm really screwed. I am screwed."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "What is it doing?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "It's learning."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "He wasn't very old."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "No, he was pretty old. He was 41."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "Oh yeah? Oh, that's old."

William Bogert as Mr. Lightman

  • (William Bogert) "This corn is raw."
  • (William Bogert) "I know, isn't it wonderful? It's so crisp."
  • (William Bogert) "Of course it's crisp. It's raw."
  • (William Bogert) "No, it's terrific. You can just taste the Vitamin A and E in here. It's great."
  • (William Bogert) "Could we have pills and cook the corn?"
  • (William Bogert) "Have you ever heard of the word "tumulus?""
  • (Ally Sheedy) "Tumulous? No, I haven't. Sorry."
  • (William Bogert) "Neither have I."

James Ackerman as Joshua

  • (James Ackerman) "Shall we play a game?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Oh."
  • (Ally Sheedy) "I think it missed him."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Yeah. Weird isn't it?"
  • (Ally Sheedy) "Yeah."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Love to. How about Global Thermonuclear War?"
  • (James Ackerman) "Wouldn't you prefer a nice game of chess?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Later. Let's play Global Thermonuclear War."
  • (James Ackerman) "Fine."
  • (James Ackerman) "Which side do you want?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "I'll be the Russians."
  • (James Ackerman) "Greetings, Professor Falken."
  • (John Wood) "Hello, Joshua."
  • (James Ackerman) "A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?"

Maury Chaykin as Jim Sting

  • (Maury Chaykin) "Remember you told me to tell you when you were acting rudely and insensitively? Remember that? You're doing it right now."

Juanin Clay as Pat Healy

  • (Juanin Clay) "Hold the door. Hold the door. Hold the god damn door."

Alan Blumenfeld as Mr. Liggett

  • (Alan Blumenfeld) "Now there seems to be a lot of confusion on this next question: asexual reproduction. Could someone tell me please who first suggested the idea of reproduction without sex?"
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Ah-heh."
  • (Alan Blumenfeld) "Miss Mack. What is so amusing?"
  • (Ally Sheedy) "I --"
  • (Alan Blumenfeld) "Alright, Lightman. Maybe you could tell us who first suggested the idea of reproduction without sex."
  • (Matthew Broderick) "Umm -- Your wife?"
  • (Alan Blumenfeld) "Get out, Lightman. Get out."

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