This Seems Lost on Some People…
But “Wargames” is really a derivative film in the vein of “Colossus: The Forbin Project” made early in the 1970’s. Which basically had the same plot but at the same time was kinda different. That film didn’t have to do with a kid hacking into a super Dept of Defense computer to play games but much everything else was like “Wargames” except that the movie had 2 supercomputers, one in the US & one in Russia (of course) & they threatened to wipe everyone out when communication between them was stopped by our respective countries.
All these years later I”ve never seen a article or interview where the makers of “Wargames” ever acknowledged that the film was influenced by “Colossus” & I could be wrong but I believe that it was. It’s weird how there isn’t a post in this forum where no one else mentions it. Oh well.