I always tell people that aspiring/budding filmmakers and script writers should watch this film to see what master tension building in a film looks like. Top edit, Mr. L. Kudos.

"GODDAMMIT I'D PISS ON A SPARK PLUG IF I THOUGHT IT WOULD DO ANY GOOD!"
I frigging love Gen. Berenger.  🤣

What's actually amazing about this scene is how much effort they put into creating those displays. Each frame seen on those big screens had to be shot 3 times (Red, Green, Blue), then combined. Then they set up a 16mm projector behind each screen and sync'd them all together. The work took months -- but it was absolutely worth it because when they went to actually film all these scenes? What we see in the film is what the actors were seeing in realtime. They didn't have to fake-react to a green screen. Old School Practical Effects.

"Can't they just unplug it?"
Pretty cool how the movie itself answers that very question.

And this is one reason Gen-X is the way we are. Great compilation!

"If a machine, a Terminator, can learn the value of human life, maybe we can too.”

I saw this in the theater when it came out. It was the first movie I remember that really explored our increasing reliance on computers and the dangers of AI (I hadn't seen 2001 yet). I remember my father cracking up at the "piss on a spark plug" line. RIP Dabney Coleman, the MVP of 80's character actors

And everyone happily feeds into ai more and more.Sarah Connor tried to warn us.

"Strange game."
"The only winning move is not to play."
Oh man... I can't even describe what Joshua's last line meant to GenX living under the threat of nuclear annihilation.
Reagan and Gorbachev saber rattling nuclear war at each other constantly. 😤🤦‍♂️

No Winners...is perfect! Thanks for sharing this scene. =)

Skynet gaslighting us all into thinking it will learn the right lesson.

I was 16 when this came out.  When nuclear war was still a very, very distinct possibility.  Loved it then and I still love this movie now.

Growing up in the 80's, I can tell you that the impact of this movie was enormous. It made a lot of people truly understand the folly of the nuclear race, and did a lot to change the public discussion. It puts directly into your face how pointless it was.

You want to be really terrified? Something like this ALMOST HAPPENED. On Sept. 26, 1983, a little less than four months after WarGames hit the theaters, Soviet early warning systems indicated the United States had launched nuclear missiles at the Soviet Union. Proper protocol said the Russians must return fire. It all came down to one mid-level Soviet officer named Stanislav Petrov. A gut feeling told Petrov the Americans wouldn't launch an unprovoked attack. He belayed the order to launch the USSR's missiles, and the American ICBMs detected were proven to be a glitch. This incident came to light years after it happened. So, humanity almost self-terminated 43 years ago, but for one man's gut.

I grew up in the 80’s people think tension is bad today but everyone thought the missiles would launch at any day back then. Wild time to be a kid.

Every 80's movie was preparing us for the reality of today it seems. We literally have the top experts admitting we have a 10 to fifteen percent chance of total anhelation with the development of AI.

I'm afraid... I'm afraid, Dave... Dave, my mind is going... I can feel it... I can feel it... My mind is going... There is no question about it... I can feel it... I can feel it... I can feel it... I'm a... fraid."

This was a killer scene in theaters back in the '80s. People were practically climbing over the back of their seats with the intensity of it all.

Thank you YoureMrLebowski for this trip down Memory Lane.  I was a teen when I saw this in the theater, and just like the Reactors here, everyone was at the edge of their seat.  While the FX may be laughable by today's standards, it was a wonder back then, and a great storyline will always trump special effects.  Another reason this was a great clip: the humor and gravitas of the legendary character actors Dabney Colemen and Barry Corbin.  Well done.  Thank you.

Epic! And, well done on the video! thank you