Wargames: The Dead Code Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
Computer hacker Will Farmer (Lanter) engages a goverment super-computer named Ripley in an online terrorist-attack simulation game. Little does Farmer know that Ripley has been designed to appeal to potential terrorists, and certain glitches have turned made him become paranoid.
| Matt Lanter | Will Farmer |
| Chuck Shamata | Carter |
| Nicolas Wright | Dennis Nichols |
| Jean-Robert Bourdage | Hot dog vendor |
| Colm Feore | Kenneth Hassert |
| Trevor Hayes | Agent Aaron Scott |
| Ricky Mabe | Newman |
| John Maclaren | Norman Paget |
| Matthew Raudsepp | Doug |
| Gary Reineke |
4.40 out of 10 (993 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Definitely a B movie, but I've seen worse
posted on 15 Aug 2009I think this could've been a decent movie, and some of its parts are OK... but in whole it's a B movie. Same about the plot, parts are OK but it has several holes and oddities that doesn't quite add up. Acting is mostly OK, I've seen worse of this too. :)The beginning sets the level, with cars driving in the desert, making "cool" but totally unnecessary jumps through some small dunes (In slow motion! Cool!), like the drivers had never seen sand before... It gets slightly better from there, but not much.If you're gonna rent this, get another one too and use this one as a warm-up. Keep expectations low and it might work for you.
23 years later and still a giant sucking sound...
posted on 28 Jul 2009If you thought that the original from 83 was bad then try out this modern day masterpiece. How could it be worse more you ask? Well...at least in the first one you had Ally Sheedy jogging in a sports bra. Other than updated graphics, modern day themes (such as terrorists), modern weapons and a sexy new voice for Ripley unfortunately this is the same sad tired story. Anyone that saw the first one could see exactly where the next scene / line in the story was going. And for anyone that didn't see the first one...well consider yourself lucky that you only watched it once. Maybe in another 23 years Hollywood will try again.
Quite possibly the most transparent movie I've ever seen.
posted on 26 Jul 2009I can't say that Wargames: The Dead Code is the worst movie I've ever seen, as it had one or two decent moments, but I can easily say it's the most transparent movie I've ever seen. Not once did a plot device present itself without me guessing it 10+ minutes in advance. There was no subtlety to anything the movie did, no intelligence evident at all behind the scenes. Every spoken or typed line's intent was so glaringly obvious it was impossible to "get into" the movie.I found myself laughing at the horribly thought out plot line, and the bumbled attempts to reclaim the audience, far more often than I found myself enjoying the movie.
dumb,
posted on 06 Jul 2009Just plain good old stupid. I mean really stupid, not the good stupid like Killer Tomatoes, or Ed Wood movies, this is probably the most stupid movie I ever have seen. To give this movie an golden Turkey is an insult to turkeys. To call this movie dumb is offensive even to dumb people.If this is the future of American cinema and art we are better off to really start world war 3 and 4 at the same time and let the cockroaches run the show after. Now I have to get drunk to wash this insult to my single braincell off....This is a really good movie if you are suicidal.
not as bad as battlefield earth
posted on 06 Jul 2009but only just (hence the 2nd star). it's so bad it prompted me to write my first IMDb "review".there's really not much i can say that hasn't been said already.never mind the factual mistakes, these guys didn't even bother making sure they weren't contradicting their own script. assuming there was a script, of course.and a "computer" movie in 2008 should have good special effects, right? well, no. the special effects are worse than those in a disco music clip form the 70s.to mis-quote wopr, "a strange film, one which is best not seen".p.s. love the studio hacks in this thread! go team!
Horrible!!!
posted on 08 Jun 2009Thank God I watched this at a friend's place and did not pay for it. The plot is horribly transparent and the whole movie felt like an episode of a TV show. If you have any knowledge of computers or electronics, watch out. You will feel feel like the movie is an insult to your intelligence. Also, actress turned Much Music VJ Amanda Walsh displays the worst acting I have ever seen, excluding porn. She's lucky that Matt Lanter is actually decent. He's the one that carries the movie. I hate that I wasted nearly two hours of my life watching this movie! It's a shame that they got to call it a sequel, because I was a fan of the original, which was actually pretty good.
Someone Liked it.??? No way
posted on 06 Jun 2009This is one of the worse movies that I have ever seen in my entire life. I wish I could travel back in time and do the following:1) Find out where the "movie" "War Games- The Dead Code" was filmed 2) Watch the original WAR GAMES with my current computer knowledge AND the eyes of a 1983 preteen. 3) Break into the pentagon computer in the 80's with the knowledge and perspective learned and remembered. 4) Reprogram the WHOPPER to NUKE the location of THE DEAD CODE minutes prior to its first day of filming 5) Come back to the present, have a beer and get Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones to "flash" my memory blank of the whole event, especially my original viewing of "The Dead Code" 6) Have another beer and watch WARS GAMES 7) Be happy until the next bad remake of a GOOD 80's movie.8) Did I forget the have Jar Jar killed. I am not sure if I would have to travel into the future for that. Maybe I need access to a wormhole.
Just plain awful!
posted on 06 Jun 2009I see a lot of movies. Saw the original wargames years ago and loved it. Computers where still "a big mystery" for the most of us and the movie was convincing, in it's own way.This one, however, looks like a low budget Wednesday night special. Total crap, from start to finish.The plot is so weak, you won't believe it until you see the movie (which I would not recommend in the first place). I can not point out one actor that actually did a good job in this movie. But hey, with that script I would've been surprised if ANYONE could do a good job acting. Lots of cliché scenes. CGI looks like it's taken out of the '86 version.Bah, no, I'm getting in a bad mood just writing about this. Do NOT watch this movie.Life's to short to waste it on watching crappy movies.
Shamelessly trading off the Wargames name - the worst movie of 2008
posted on 04 Jun 2009Wargames - As Sponsored by Stargate (The Game) Yes, the guys behind Stargate decided they needed a vehicle to popularise their new shoot 'em up. They play the stargate game 3 or 4 times during the movie....they even manage to play it while they are under arrest in the secure Washington HQ.Basically, they got the work experience girl to note down the best ideas from the original, then cut and pasted from Enemy of the State, Terminator and that X-Files episode with the computer....and hey presto - you've got a terrible dogs dinner of a movie without a single original idea.Nothing about it made much sense....you'll be glad to know that Stephen Falken (not actor John Wood...but a second rate hack) and Joshua comes back....in fact WOPR saves the day by...er...being emailed to RIPLEY - its successor - and then hiding out in the mainframe.The "gripping" conclusion is identical to the original - the best way to win is not to play...while they play out nuclear scenarios and tic tac toe....but the twist here is they teach the super computer to play suicide chess...the one where you try and lose the game.The above not make much sense? And sound really stupid? Well, thown in some technogeek babble and you get the gist of what the movie is like.This is my first IMDb review....I really couldn't believe anyone would make a movie as bad as this one and it has motivated me to register.Euuuggggh. Awful. Avoid. (And that Stargate game looked crap.)
Please, save yourselves by not watching this movie.
posted on 27 May 2009After Highlander 2 (which I am still in denial about), I thought is was impossible to make a sequel that could make me cry because it was so bad. I was wrong. I loved the original Wargames, however, this movie is inaccurate with computer details and details about the original movie. The original Wargames at least had some hacks that worked. Whoever wrote this movie knew NOTHING ABOUT COMPUTERS except how to use a word processor. I doubt he or she even watched the original movie. The acting isn't even convincing. Please save yourselves, under no circumstances watch this movie. I don't care if the channel is stuck on the TV and you can't turn the TV off. THIS MOVIE WILL RUIN YOUR LIFE.
It is just another movie
posted on 17 May 2009I think the movie is less than OK after all. I feel that a lot of the things happen here is very similar to the plot of "Eagle Eyes". The events and how characters react are similar too. This movie is trying to be as successful as the old "Wargames". I think it is either Eagel eyes copying this or the other way around. The plot is not surprising and I could almost guessed all of the things going to happen. It wasn't like I wasted my time though as it still has some interesting values. It is just the way they did it. They could have done it better, really.Anyone agrees? Anyone disagrees? I was little bored by it though.
why do they give money to these people?
posted on 09 May 2009I'll try to use words to describe this on.... I saw the original, which was good in its own way, but back then I should have feared a sequel.And I was 'afraid' when I picked this one up, but now that I've seen it, I have to say, it's even worse then I thought. Why these movies still get money still makes my mind spin. Let's start with the actors;they aren't all that good, but it has to be said, some make heads turn by being just plain awful. But what can an actor do with a script like this one. It's trying to be a copy of the original only this time the places have changed, any form of story is gone and any attempt of actually coming up with something that hasn't been done before, fails miserably. In a futile attempt to get it up-to-date, they try to make it exciting by making use of the whole 'big-brother' theme , but that has been worn out ages ago and offers nothing but a filler for between the beginning and the end. An attempt was made to try to save the movie by making a ton of references to the '83 original, but it just ended up being plain funny and sometimes a bit sad. In conclusion, if you have nothing , and I mean nothing , to do... go watch it, or play Frisbee... with the DVD.... by yourself. It'll offer you the same amount of fun.. I promise
Wargames, how did this happen?
posted on 05 May 2009You have to understand, when Wargames was released in 1983, it created a generation of wannabe computer hackers. The idea that a teenager could do anything of far reaching proportions, let alone deter a world war was novel and thrilling. Real computers were beginning to show up in people's homes, and for the first time, society was becoming interconnected in a way that made the movie's premise excitingly prescient. Granted, a talking computer that balanced it's free time between chess and global thermonuclear war was a bit far fetched, but the brilliant commentary on nuclear proliferation and the cold war made up for it. I've probably even heard of the hackers that this movie was actually based on.Fast forward 25 years, and we have a horrible mutant of a thing that I loathe to call a "sequel", called Wargames: The Dead Code. I'll just dig right in. First of all, the plot hinges on a government operated gambling site where folks who win the games automatically become terror suspects. You're probably very confused right now. The idea is that eventually the terrorist will click on the sub-game within the web site called "The Dead Code" where they pilot a plane over a city, spraying it with bioweapons. At some point in the game, you have to choose between "sarin gas" and "anthrax", and if you choose "sarin", then you're automatically confirmed as a bioterrorism weapons expert and your family is taken into custody and interrogated. In the movie, this actually happens. However, since the payment for the game was made from a bank account that was suspicious, it obviously all makes sense.Second, the avatar of the AI in this straight-to-DVD bomb is an annoying flash animation that keeps repeating the pop-up-ad-esquire sound bite "play with me baby". Because apparently in the future, advanced AI loses interest in intellectual pursuits like chess, and gets into porn.Third, the motivation for these "hackers" is profit and women, as opposed to pure curiosity as in the original movie. For some reason, recent hacker movies feel the need to portray all young adults as average surfer dude kind of people who are just like everyone else. That may work for your average sitcom, but c'mon, you don't learn how to take over government computers by doing your hair, playing sports, and shopping at the mall, folks. The one novel thing I noticed was that at some point in the dialogue there is a reference to a Matt Damon movie, and then later there is the phrase, "Good Hunting, Will". I swear, they named the main character Will just for that phrase so they could send a high five to Mr. Damon. This Will kid isn't bad, but he was certainly wasn't like any obsessive hacker I've ever met. I can't fully state how annoyed I am that this movie shares the same name as the original, because it has absolutely nothing in common with it except… Professor Falken and Joshua (WOPR) make a reappearance in this movie, as a limp old man who apparently is dying of boredom, and a dilapidated old tic-tac-toe machine with a higher pitched voice. After some prodding, Joshua (the AI) has what appears to be sex with the new AI with the porn voice, a bunch of board games flash on the big screens, and the whole "The only way to win, is not to play" revelation is supposed to be the crowning moment. Except that those of us who saw the original, you know, those who would want to see this in the first place have already been there and done that. A recycled ending for a movie made from last month's compost.The new movie was directed by a guy who's done 90210, and written by guys who do B movies. The original was directed by a guy who's been keeping himself busy with "Heroes", so you see the quality difference there. There was talk of a real remake, but I hope they don't destroy this classic all over again. I swear, if I have to, I'll visit every gambling web site until I find the one that's run by a psychotic government computer. The saving grace is that I was able to stream this on Netflix, so at least the only energy I expended watching this disaster was for breathing, clicking, and indigestion.
A video game with no ending
posted on 21 Apr 2009A below average looking video game is turned into some sort of conspiracy to have the next terrorist discovered in the USA backyard. Welcome to the lunacy of cheaply made direct to video movies. Its full of no-name actors and actresses with little valuable plot.Anyway, this strange game goes on and our "hero" bets real money and does good at it. It is sort of like gambling, except the gambling part is gone and it sucks. Instead its an online game with little real value and you get authorities on your tail if you do good.What makes it even stranger is that two strange computer programs battle it out somehow and all is saved in the end. I will leave the viewer to see how it all comes to fruition.Overall, not even worth a $1 rental. Borrow it, please. "D-"
Very lacking on plot
posted on 19 Apr 2009This movie is mostly chase scenes and special effects. It is very weak on plot. Most of the computer talk was just mumbo-jumbo. I watched this because I was a big fan of the original War Games movie which was based mostly on computer fact and real computer terminology. This movie had none of that. Most of the computer scenes were not only impossible and highly unrealistic of real computers and networks, but just lame. It is like it was written by somebody who has no comprehension of real computers.The ripley game was lame and was essentially just an arcade game. No real hacking, so what was the point? Movie was boring. Lame sequel.
awful
posted on 17 Apr 2009I really didn't have high expectations and I must admit that I wasn't disappointed. This movie is so terrible that I felt obligated to register an account here at IMDb just to warn others not to waste their time. The storyline is terrible and you keep asking yourself throughout the movie "can it get any worse?" YES, it can! somehow they manage to make it worst by every minute and you end up thinking "I want my 1 hour 35 minutes back!". Somebody got to pay for this! I dare you to find a movie which is worst that this...I really didn't have high expectations and I must admit that I wasn't disappointed. This movie is so terrible that I felt obligated to register an account here at IMDb just to warn others not to waste their time. The storyline is terrible and you keep asking yourself throughout the movie "can it get any worse?" YES, it can! somehow they manage to make it worst by every minute and you end up thinking "I want my 1 hour 35 minutes back!". Somebody got to pay for this! I dare you to find a movie which is worst that this...
Monday TV movie
posted on 07 Apr 2009Like many others have commented before me here, I have to say that this movie is bad, but not the worst I've seen. There will be no direct references to movie plots or sequences in this comment, because I hate spoilers.I got a feeling I was watching an episode of a TV show or something, where they had gotten a hold of some extra $$$ to spend on CGI (I've seen worse of those)... All in all, it is quite an insult to the viewer, at least if you have ANY knowledge about computers and/or technology at all. There are just too many of these moments of insults to make me feel comfortable, and I found myself just begging for it all to end - fast - halfway through. In addition, there are countless "easy way out" scenarios, which also is an insult to your intelligence as a thinking human being...This movie absolutely fades in comparison to the old "Wargames", and I think it's a damn shame they even got to call it a sequel.Two stars from me, because of one thing and one thing only: the actors' performances aren't half-bad, considering the regurgitated crap of a script they had to work with. Still, they should never have signed on to this movie. Not really a career-move, but I guess we all have bills to pay.To those of you who gave this movie top score...you have to be on the studio's payroll or something, that's my only explanation.To all who haven't seen this one: by all means, watch it and make up your own mind. But lower your expectations to the floor (and then some).
Why am I only reading bad things about this movie?
posted on 05 Apr 2009OK. First of all, why can't I find a single "good" comment on this movie? Almost everything I read here states "DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE!" or "WORST MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN!". Personally, I liked it. Anyone else who liked the first WarGames and first watched that within 5 years would probably like this one too. Yes, it may be a "B" rate movie, but most people could guess that if they realized it was "Straight -to-DVD". Also, for those who keep complaining about the plot... The only problem I had with it was it was too much like the original. Hey, raypdaley182. Will may have used Massude's computer but he used his own home internet connection which can be traced to his house. Ripley (a "broaken" military computer which has access to every satellite owned by the US government) "detected" a cell phone and "knew" Will was near it. "She" may have simply sent a text message to that phone. You don't have to "answer the phone" for the message to appear, it just pops up on the screen like it did in this movie. (it does this on mine) Also, today many cell phones have some kind of GPS capability built in. So, there's nothing stupid about that idea. And, have you ever heard of "Facial Expresion Recognition"? Assuming that Ripley is in fact a learning computer, you might think "she" would have "learned" a more advanced way of doing this, giving her the ability to "lip-read". (but remember, it's just a movie)
Not very good
posted on 05 Apr 2009I didn't enjoy this film. I thought the acting wasn't very good and the story was boring. A 20year old computer saving the day? I thought that this was just slightly far fetched, even for a film. I couldn't figure out why they couldn't just turn it off, why not take a sledgehammer to it.Its a shame, but after the original film from the 80s you expected so much more than what was actually delivered. This film could have been a 21st century version of the old film, it wasn't. If that is what you want to watch, do not watch this film! Even if the old computer hadn't have turned up to save day, this would still, in my opinion, be a very very cheesy flick..
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The Original is better
posted on 17 Aug 2009Will Farmer (Lanter) plays a computer game that simulates a terrorist attack, and Ripley, the super government computer, designed to profile potential terrorists, tracks him because Will borrowed (by hacking) some money from his next door neighbor's bank account to pay for a class trip to play chess in Philadelphia. The next door neighbor whose computer Will was fixing, has relatives in the mid-east who thru their bank send money to the neighbor's bank , and Ripley sees a terrorist connection. Ripley has the power to call up missile strikes. Oh, oh!This version of War Games has a much faster pace and more aggressiveness than the War Games movie in the early 1980s. Well, the electronic industry has so much more to work with these days. Makes sense. So the movie dazzles us with fantastic CGI on computer screens, and once Joshua, the forerunner to Ripley, is found operational, we are left with watching computer against computer and the humans are cringing, hoping, praying….sort of, oh-oh-ing, OMG-ing, and more cringing hoping things will go their way. In other words we are now experiencing a made-for-TV type movie, and it's Oh Hum Time. Go back to the 1980s and watch the original War Games movie. It's much better. But, we really have to ask ourselves: are we making computers too intelligent where one day, in time, they will rule us? Hmmm………..Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.