WarGames (War Games) (WarGames)

Replacement team's here, sir.

Right. Come on through!

We were gonna start looking for you guys.

God, it's really something out there.

You look a mess, sir.

Yeah? Your turn next, Ginsberg.

OK, bye. See you in 24.

See you tomorrow.

What were you saying?

I used to hear her chant all night long...

Over the plants?

She'd cup her hands over the seeds and chant by the hour.

She grew the most beautiful wandoos you ever saw.

Primo stuff. Resin city.

Stand clear.

Your mother's been very worried. Roads must be a bear.

- What roads? - Visibility.

Visibility, bullshit. You haven't been on time for the last six months.

I wrote you up in the log book.

Yeah, you're a prince.

Good night, gentlemen.

So it was like sinsemillia, right?

Sinsemillia. This grass made Thai stick taste like oregano.

Lay you out flat, man.

- Got a red light, sir. - What on?

Number eight, warhead alarm.

Give it a thump.

Alarm reset.

Skybird, this is Dropkick

with a red-alpha message in two parts.

- Break, break. Red-alpha. - Stand by to copy message.

Standing by.

Romeo, Oscar, November, Charlie...

...Tango, Tango, Lima, Alpha.

Authentication.

Two, two, zero, zero, four...

...zero, Delta, Lima.

I have a valid message.

Stand by to authenticate.

I agree with authentication also, sir.

Enter launch code.

Entering launch code.

Launch order confirmed.

Holy shit!

Target selection complete. Time on target sequence complete.

Yield selection complete.

Begin countdown. T minus 60.

- Let's do it. Insert launch key. - Stand by.

- Launch key inserted. - Roger.

On my mark.

Rotate launch key to "set."

Three, two, one, mark.

T minus 50.

Roger, at "set."

- Sir? - T minus 40.

All right, enable missiles.

Number one, enabled. Two, enabled. Three, enabled. Four...

I wanna get this straight.

...seven, eight...

...nine...

...- ten. Missiles enabled. - - Minus 30.

- Get me wing command post. - It's not the correct procedure.

SAC. Try SAC headquarters on the HF.

- That's not the procedure. - Screw the procedure.

I want somebody on the phone before I kill 20 million people.

T minus 20.

I got nothing here.

It might've been knocked out already.

All right.

On my mark, rotate launch keys to "launch."

Roger, ready to go to launch.

Fourteen, thirteen...

...twelve, eleven...

... seven, six...

...five, four... - Sir, we have a launch order.

...three, two... - Put your hand on the key.

...one. Launch.

- We are at launch, turn your key! - I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Turn your key, sir!

Go ahead, open it up.

Hello, I'm Pat Healy.

I'm Lyle Watson, this is Arthur Cabot.

I'm Dr. McKittrick's assistant.

We've got some passes for you.

We've scheduled a meeting on your arrival.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me,

I'd be happy to fill you in.

They're here.

Good.

Let's go.

Cabot and Watson came alone. No senators, no congressmen.

- I wish they'd brought senators. - What?

To tell them what goes on.

John, please, don't start that right away.

I had them on the phone, they're calm.

Look now, are we positive

that these men had no way of knowing this was only a test?

Lyle, how many times are we gonna go through this?

It doesn't matter.

I've spoken to each of these men. They all thought it was the real deal.

We have to be on a plane in less than an hour.

I have to explain to the president

why 22 percent of his missile commanders failed to launch their missiles.

What am I supposed to tell him, 22 percent isn't so bad?

The president knows that I am fully responsible for the men in my command.

I've ordered a revaluation of our psychological screening procedure.

Wait a minute. Excuse me, general.

We can't ask these men to go back to the president

with a lot of head-shrinker horseshit!

You can't screen out human response.

Those men know what it means to turn the keys

and some are not up to it!

Now, it's as simple as that!

We ought to take the men out of the loop.

- Mr. McKittrick, you're out of line. - Why?

- Wait. Excuse me. - What are you talking about?

I'm sorry. What do you mean, take them out of the loop?

Gentlemen, we've had men in these silos

since before any of you were watching Howdy Doody.

For myself, I sleep well at night,

knowing those boys are down there.

General, we all know they're fine men.

But in a nuclear war, we can't have our missiles lying in those silos

because they refuse to turn the keys when the computers tell them to!

You mean, when the president orders them to.

The president probably follows the computer war plan. That's a fact!

Well, I imagine the joint chiefs will have some input.

You're damned tooting.

Well, the Soviets launch a surprise attack, there's no time.

Twenty-three minutes from warning to impact.

Six minutes, if sub-launched.

Six minutes, that's barely enough time for the president to make a decision.

Once he makes that decision, the computer takes over.

I know that you've got a plane waiting,

but if you give me five minutes, I'll show you something.

These computers give us access to the world.

Troop movements, Soviet missile tests, shifting weather patterns.

It all flows into this room and then into what we call the WOPR computer.

WOPR, what is that?

The War Operation Plan Response.

This is Mr. Richter. Paul, would you tell these gentlemen about the WOPR?

Well, the WOPR spends all its time

thinking about World War III.

Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year,

it plays an endless series of war games

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.

Estimates damage, counts the dead, and looks for ways to improve the score.

But the point is that the key decisions of every conceivable option

in a nuclear crisis have been made by the WOPR.

You're saying that this trillion dollar hardware

is at the mercy of those men with the brass keys.

That's exactly right.

Whose only problem is that they're human.

But in 30 days we could replace them with electronic relays.

Get the men out of the loop.

Gentlemen...

...I wouldn't trust this pile of microchips

any further than I could throw it.

I don't trust the safety of our country

to some silicon diode.

General, nobody is talking about entrusting

the safety of the nation to a machine, for God's sake.

We'll keep control, but we'll keep it here at the top.

Gentlemen... I'll recommend McKittrick's idea to the president.

And I'll get back to you on this.

Thank you.

You won't regret this.

OK, you had fries and a Coke, right?

Damn!

- Hi, David. - Hey, Howie.

- How's it going? - Pretty good.

- You wanna take this over? I gotta go. - Sure.

- All right. - Thanks.

- Bye, David. - Bye!

All right.

Question number two.

Seeds that are germinated in water

before they are planted will...

...what? Roderick.

- Sprout roots? - David!

Nice of you to join us. I have a little present for you up here.

Question number four.

In science,

innovative concepts occasionally arise

from sudden left-field inspiration.

Miss Mack...

...tell us your answer to question four.

Why do nitrogen nodules cling to the roots of plants?

Um... Love?

Jennifer, what do you know about nitrogen nodules that we don't?

Some bit of salacious info to which you alone are privy?

- No. - I see.

No, you didn't know the correct answer, symbiosis,

because you don't pay attention in class.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

There seems to be a lot of confusion on this next question: