Let's go down to my office. We'll be more comfortable there.
Go ahead.
You used to work with Stephen Falken?
I started as his assistant. How d'you know?
I read an article you wrote with him on poker and nuclear war.
Bluffing. Yeah, that shook a few people up.
- He must have been pretty amazing. - He's a brilliant man. A little flaky.
He never understood the practical uses of his... of his work.
This machine over here runs his game program.
Joshua.
Come here a minute, David.
See that sign up here? Up here?
- Yeah. - 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? - No. What does that mean?
World War III.
Wow.
You broke into our system just to play a game, right?
That's right. That's exactly right.
After the news, you must have realized how serious it was.
- Why'd you do it again? - I didn't do it again.
- I even threw the number away. - They found it in the trash.
Joshua called me.
Hey!
Look at that! That's some setup.
- What did you say? - This is some setup.
No, no. Before that.
Joshua called me.
David, machines don't call people.
Yours did.
Who are you going to Paris with?
Paris? Oh!
No... You don't understand.
You had reservations for two to Paris.
- Who are you working with? - Nobody!
Why don't I believe you?
I don't think I should say anything else until I talk to a lawyer.
I think we'd better forget about the lawyer crap
until I get a few answers out of you myself.
Are you gonna answer the phone?
Hello.
Yeah.
What?
All right. I'll be right down.
You stay here. Don't move.
What's going on?
There's been a serious penetration into our WOPR execution order file.
- What the hell's he sayin'? - In English.
I'll give it to you. Somebody got into Mr. McKittrick's system
and stole the codes that'll launch our missiles.
There's no cause for alarm. The system won't accept a launch code
unless we're at DEFCON 1. I can change those codes in an hour.
Well, who did this?
I think the kid's working with somebody on the outside.
I don't know what they're up to, but I don't want our bombers on the ground.
Take us to DEFCON 3 and get SAC on the line.
- Where are you? - Sir.
Get me an update on those subs. I wanna know what those bastards are up to.
Joshua.
Greetings, Professor Falken.
Hello.
Are you still playing the game?
Of course. I should reach DEFCON 1
and launch my missiles in 28 hours.
Would you like to see some projected kill ratios?
69% of the housing destroyed.
72 million people dead?
Is this a game
or is it real?
What's the difference?
Oh, wow.
You are a hard man to reach.
Could not find you in Seattle
and no terminal is in operation at your classified address.
What classified address?
DOD pension files indicate current mailing as:
Dr. Robert Hume.
AKA Stephen W Falken.
5 Tall Cedar Road, Goose Island, Oregon 97...
Can I just talk to Mr. McKittrick? I think I know what's going on.
I'm escorting you to Denver where you'll be placed under arrest,
- pending indictment for espionage. - Espionage?!
Let me talk to him! He's right over there.
- Get that bastard out of the war room! - No! It's Joshua!
He's still playing the game! He's gonna start a war!
Hold him where you had him before. We'll leave in a few minutes.
Call Falken. He'll tell you. Please, call him. Please, call him. Call him!
What the hell's he doing in here anyway?
Some of the men told me that you're quite a tennis player.
Patient's eyes are dilated, consistent with use of marijuana and possibly PCP.
Depending on what information you want, there's a button to press.
Let's say I wanted to find out how to hit a backhand.
I don't think I have the right program.
Excuse me. What do you want?
Bathroom. It's a long ride to Denver.
Excuse me.
Please! Let me talk to Mr. McKittrick.
You can't talk to anybody. The FBI'll be here any minute.
- Do you have to take a leak or not? - No.
- I'm working here. - Oh, I'm sorry.
Stop it!
- You have pretty eyes. - That's original.
I'll get the elevator.
- Sign in here? - Yeah, get us all.
I heard they voted you Miss Fine in 1979. Is that true?
Will you stop it?!
- Am I bothering you? - Yes.
- Do you want me to leave? - Yes.
I want this door open right now.
- How about getting on the phone? - Is there a technician?
Hey, Scooter! Wait up.
Come on, hurry it up. I'm late.
OK. I'll be right with you.
- I think it's jammed from inside. - Come on.
David! Come on, David. You're just making it harder on yourself.
OK.
Let's go.
Right this way, folks. I've been informed
that they're cleaning the floors in the computer center.
Don't want anyone to slip and hurt themselves, so we'll end the tour here.
If I can ask you to board the bus as quickly as possible,
you'll have a complimentary beverage waiting for each of you.
Hold it! What are you doing?
Got it. Here it comes.
- You kids think you own this place? - Oh! I was... just looking around.
You're not supposed to leave the group. So get back there!
OK. Excuse me. Thank you very much, sir.
Out of the way.
Thank you. Careful there.
Take care. Watch your step.
- Bye. - Bye now.
Watch your step.
- Check everywhere. He can't be far. - Move it, will you?
- Thanks. - Take care.
Bye.
- What city, please? - Goose Island, Oregon, please.
The number for Dr. Robert Hume, H-U-M-E, on Tall Cedar Road.
Checking under Dr. Robert Hume, H- U-M-E, on Tall Cedar Road,
I find no listing.
What does that mean? He doesn't have a phone?
I'm sorry. I have no listing.
Oh, wait.
Falken. Dr. Stephen Falken, F-A-L-K-E-N, at the same address.
I find no listing for a Dr. Stephen Falken, F-A-L-K-E-N,
on Tall Cedar Road, Goose Island.
Thank you.
Yeah?
Jennifer? It's me. David.
- David? - Yeah.
Listen, I'm in Colorado
and I need a really big favor.
- Can you lend me some money? - What?
I need an airline ticket. I'll pay you back when I can.
I need a ticket from Grand Junction, Colorado to Oregon.
- Why? What's going on? - I'll tell you all about it later.
David, what are you doing in Colorado?
I went by your house. Your parents were just freaked.
There are men around from the FBI asking questions.
I can't talk about it right now.
When you buy the ticket, tell them that I'll pick it up in Grand Junction Airport.
David, what's happening?
I can't talk. I've gotta get off the phone. Please, will you just do this for me?
Punch up number five. Let me see what you have.
22 Typhoon-class submarines departing Petropavlovsk,
turning southbound at Nordkapp, bearing 095 degrees.
Sergeant, I hope you like vodka.
Yes, sir. I just hope they don't make me eat none of them damn fish eggs.
Give me an update...
Sir, the Soviets deny any increase in their submarine deployment.
They wanna know why we're provoking them.
They're full of shit. We know they're down there.
I'm gonna blow their ass out of the water.
Surprise!
- What are you doing here? - You didn't sound too good on the phone.
- You shouldn't have come. I'm in trouble. - Why?
Is this because of what you did with my grade?
You kids better hustle. The ferry leaves any second.
Thanks. Come on. We gotta run.
- Wait, wait, wait, wait! Whoa! - Hold it, hold it!
If he's still alive, why would the obituary say he's dead?
No, he's not dead. He left.
When they know too much, they give 'em new identities.
- Anyway, the computer said so. - Oh, the computer said so.
The computer that's still playing the games? It's the military's computer!
- Why wouldn't they know about it? - They don't know about Joshua.
Falken knows about Joshua. He's the only one who knows what it can do.
That computer is trying to win the game that we asked it to play.
For real!
You don't even believe me!
David... David.
- He's not dead. - I'm sorry.
I believe you.
Oh!
What was that?
I don't know.
Did you see that? There are still people who won't believe they could fly.
The sky was once filled with them.
- I'm looking for Dr. Robert Hume. - Is either of you a paleontologist?
No. We're high-school students.
Oh... Pity.
Well, high-school students,
you're on my land and I didn't invite you.
But
aren't you Stephen Falken?
Now, listen carefully.
Path. Follow path.
Gate. Open gate, through gate, close gate.
Last ferry 6.30, so run, run, run.
Wait! Wait.
I came because of Joshua.
Radar reports two unknown tracks are penetrating the Alaskan air defense zone.
Confidence is high. Flight profile suggests Soviet backfire bombers.
I want a visual confirmation on that. Scramble two F-16s out of Galena.
Go to DEFCON 2.
Crystal Palace, this is Delta Foxtrot 27. I have negative radar contact.
Repeat, negative Soviet aircraft.
27, this is Brass Hat. They're right in front of you!
You're almost on top of 'em.
Brass Hat, we got nothing on radar
and 40 miles visibility.
There's nothin' out there, General. Just blue skies.
What the hell?!
- You haven't been listening. - Yes, I have.
I loved it when you nuked Las Vegas.
A suitably biblical ending for the place, don't you think?
Are you gonna tell them what Joshua's doing?
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
who dominated the world through age after age.
They ran and 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 again.
With the bees probably.
Nature knows when to give up, David.
I'm not giving up.
If Joshua tricks them into launching an attack, it'll be your fault.
My fault? 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.
What's that?
Futility. That there's a time when you should just give up.
What kind of a lesson is that?
Did you ever play tic-tac-toe?
Yeah. Of course.
- But you don't any more? - No.
Why?
Because it's a boring game. It's always a tie.
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.
So you gave up? Decided to play dead?
For security reasons, they graciously arranged my death.
Did you know that no land animal
with a body weight of over 50Ib survived that age?
Extinction is part of the natural order.
Bullshit!
If we're extinguished, it's not natural. It's just stupid!
Oh, it's all right. 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 the millions who'll wander sightless
through the smoldering aftermath.
We'll be spared the horror of survival.
I'm only 17 years old.
I'm not ready to die yet.
You won't make a simple phone call?
If the real Joshua was still alive, your Joshua,
- you'd do it, wouldn't you? - Look, we might gain a few years.
Perhaps time enough for you to have a son and watch him die.
But humanity planning its own destruction...
That a phone call won't stop.
This is unreal! You don't care about death cos 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?
You've missed the last ferry.
You're welcome to stay. You want to sleep on the floor?
Good night.
Let's get outta here.
Come on. We'll find a boat. There's gotta be a boat.
Mr. President, we've got 48 nuclear subs closing on the United States.
And we've got 100,000 Soviet troops massing in East Germany.
We're monitoring their bombers that are on alert. Yes, sir...
Well, that's a load of shit!
No, sir. Not you.
Yes, sir. We'll be in touch as soon as the information changes.
Intelligence reports rumors of a new Soviet bomber with Stealth capabilities.
It can project a false radar image 600 miles away from the real aircraft.
Christ! Now they got us chasing shadows.
I think I saw one.
What kind of an asshole lives on an island and he doesn't even have a boat?
Maybe we can swim for it. How far do you think it is?
No. It's two or three miles.
At least. Maybe more.
- Well, what do you say? Let's go for it. - No.
- Come on. - No!
I can't swim.
You can't swim?
No. OK, Wonder Woman? I can't swim.
What kind of an asshole grows up in Seattle and doesn't know how to swim?
I never got around to it, OK?
I always thought there was gonna be plenty of time!
I'm sorry.
I wish I didn't know about any of this.
I wish I was like everybody else in the world.
Then tomorrow it would just be over.
There wouldn't be any time to be sorry.
About anything.
Oh, Jesus!
I really wanted to learn how to swim.
I swear to God I did.
Did I tell you that next week
I was gonna be on TV?
You're kidding?
On that aerobics show with some girls from my dad's class.
A movie star.
Yeah!
It's kinda stupid, huh? I mean, nobody would have been watching me anyway.
I would have.
Oh, Jesus!
The bastard turned us in!
It's all right. Get in.
We have a launch detection. We have a Soviet launch detection.
BMEWS has confirmed a massive attack.
- Missile warning. No malfunction. - Confidence is high.
- Cobra Dane, is this an exercise? - This is not an exercise.
General, DPS is tracking 300 inbound Soviet ICBMs.
- Tell me this is one of your simulations. - It's not, Jack.
All right. Flush the bombers. Get the subs in launch mode.
We are at DEFCON 1.
DEFCON 1.
Major Lem, get me a report on the WOPR.
Initial attack profile is a full-scale Soviet strike.
WOPR is putting our losses at 85 to 95% of the strategic forces.
What does WOPR recommend, Mr. McKittrick?
Full-scale retaliatory strike.
I need some machine to tell me that?
President's on his way to join Airborne Command.
We have to give launch option.
- Has he spoken to the premier? - The Russians deny everything.
We have a Soviet submarine launch detection.
Let's go into a launch mode. Close up the mountain.
This is Crystal Palace. We're closing up the mountain.
After the gates are closed, nobody gets in or out.
Initiate internal power.
Generators on and functioning.
External power disconnected.
Seal off ventilation shafts.
Shaft locks sealed.
The gate's closed!
Is everybody OK?
- Are you all right? - Yeah. Run for it!
The gate's gonna shut! Come on!
Come on!
Hold the door! Hold the door!
Hold the goddamn door!
Come on! Hurry!
They're clear! They're clear!
All units confirm weapons targeted and ready. Awaiting launch codes.
We are in a launch mode.
Major Lem, lock out changes.
Roger. Lock out enabled.
All right. I'll call you back.
Here!
I don't know what you think you can do here, Stephen.
John! Good to see you! I see the wife still picks your ties.
- What has this kid been telling you? - How far has it gone?
The president's ready for a counterstrike. That's what we're recommending he do.
- It's a bluff, John. Call it off. - No, it's not a bluff. It's real.
Hello, General Beringer? Stephen Falken.
Mr. Falken, you picked a hell of a day for a visit.
General, what you see on these screens up here is a fantasy.
A computer-enhanced hallucination.
Those blips are not real missiles. They're phantoms.
There's nothing to indicate a simulation. Everything's working perfectly.
- Does it make any sense? - Does what make any sense?
That!
Look, I don't have time for a conversation right now.
General, are you prepared to destroy the enemy?
You betcha!
- Do you think they know that? - I believe we've made that clear enough.
Then... don't.
Tell the president to ride out the attack.
Sir, they need a decision.
General, do you really believe that the enemy would attack
without provocation, using so many missiles and subs,
so that we would have no choice but to totally annihilate them?
One minute and 30 seconds to impact.
General, you are listening to a machine.
Do the world a favor and don't act like one.
One minute and 20 seconds to impact.
Yes, Mr. President.
Sir, at this point in time, we cannot positively confirm the inbounds.
We have reason to believe they may not exist.
Yes, sir. That's affirmative.
Yes, sir.
I do, too.
One minute to impact.
Who's first and how soon?
Initial impact in the 43rd Bomb Wing at Loring,
319th at Grand Forks, and Alaskan Air Command, Elmendorf.
50 seconds to impact.
Get me the senior controllers. I wanna talk to 'em myself.
All stations, this is Crystal Palace.
Stand by for a message from Brass Hat. Acknowledge.
Elmendorf Air Force Base Operations. Lieutenant Colonel Bowers.
319th Bomb Wing Operations. Colonel Chase.
Colonel, this is Loring Air Force Base. The senior controller isn't here right now.
That's all right. Who are you?
Sir, this is Airman Dougherty, sir.
This is General Beringer at NORAD.
Our current situation...
Men, we're currently tracking
approximately 2,400 inbound Soviet warheads.
But at the moment we cannot confirm this.
I repeat, we cannot confirm this.
30 seconds to impact.
We're right there with you guys. We've taken all the steps we can.
Stand by to launch missiles at my command.
Stay on this channel as long as you can.
We'll be standing by.
20 seconds to impact.
Ten... nine...
eight... seven...
six...
five...
four...
three...
two...
one... Impact.
This is Crystal Palace. Are you still on?
This is Crystal Palace. Are you still on? Anyone there?
That's affirmative, sir.
Yeah! We're here!
- Jesus H Christ! We're still here! - Our boards are showing impact.
No, sir. No impact. We're alive and well.
All right!
All right! Recall the bombers!
Stand down the missiles!
Joshua, what are you doing?
COC, I need Dr. McKittrick right away.
- This is McKittrick. - Sir, we got a problem.
WOPR's not letting me log back on.
- I can't get in to stand down the missiles. - Stand by.
Paul, this is McKittrick.
The WOPR's not letting us back in.
I know. No one can get back on. We're trying everything.
It's like the entire password file has been wiped out.
I tried that! Don't you think I would have tried that?
What are those?
Those are launch codes.
What are they for?
Joshua's trying to find the right codes so he can launch the missiles himself.
What's happening?
The random number generators aren't running.
- Got anything? - I'm still looking.
I got no idea. It could be coming from anywhere.
Sir, you better get on the headset.
Yeah?
General, the machine has locked us out. It's sending random numbers to the silos.
Codes. To launch the missiles.
Just unplug the goddamn thing!
- Jesus Christ! - 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.
- Can't we disarm the missiles? - Over a thousand of them?
There's no time. At this rate it'll hit the launch codes in 5.3 minutes.
Mr. McKittrick? After very careful consideration, sir,
I have come to the conclusion that your new defense system sucks.
I don't have to take that, you pig-eyed sack of shit.
I was hoping for something a little better than that from a man of your education.
General, it's the president.
What do you... What are you gonna tell him?
That I'm ordering our bombers back to fail-safe.
We might have to go through this thing after all.
Yes, sir.
He's got one. When he gets all ten, he'll launch the missiles.
- Well, can't they get in and stop it? - No. They can't.
They've taken out my password.
- Well, what are we gonna do? - I don't know. Do you?
I told you not to start playing games with that thing.
It's games.
- Games! - Try it.
- John, feed it a tapeworm. - Too risky. It might smash the system.
- Did the kid get in the back door? - We took it out.
- Invade the deep logic. - We hit a fire wall.
If it wants to play a game, then play it. Have it list games.
- For Christ's sake! - He's played before.
- He can hardly do worse. - Two numbers.
I'd piss on a spark plug if I thought it'd do any good.
- Let the boy in there, Major. - List games.
Chess.
Three numbers locked in.
Poker.
Security system's not gonna let anything through.
Global thermonuclear war.
Four numbers.
Stephen, for Christ's sake. Do something.
- Come on, kid. Let's go. - No. Try again.
- Put the list back up. - We already tried that.
- Put it up! - Yes, put it up.
- It's not on the list! - What's not on the list?
Go ahead. It's got to be somewhere.
Tic-tac-toe.
You're in. Order it to disarm the missiles.
No! No.
Five numbers. It's got half the code.
One.
- Put X in the center square. - I know.
- Six up. - There's no way you can win.
I know that. It doesn't. It hasn't learned.
- Is there any way to make it play itself? - Yes. Number of players zero.
Seven!
Come on. Learn, goddamn it.
Eight.
It must be caught in a loop. It's taking power from the rest of the system.
Nine numbers.
Ten! It's got the code. It's going to launch.
Colonel Conley, call SAC. Get me a launch status report.
Major Davis, get me the president.
How you doin', Colonel?
Land lines out of the mountain are dead. I'm trying satellites.
- What's it doing? - It's learning.
Greetings, Professor Falken.
Hello, Joshua.
Strange game.
The only winning move is not to play.
How about a nice game of chess?
Colonel Conley, take us to DEFCON 5.
Yes, sir.
Visiontext subtitles: Sally Lewis