A Soviet-era SS-24 nuclear missile silo in Ukraine. The 1983 film WarGames underscored the importance of leaving humans in the decision-making loop surrounding the use of nuclear weapons. (Wikimedia Commons)

How a Hollywood Movie Shook Up America’s Nuclear Doctrine

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President Ronald Reagan was so concerned by the 1983 film WarGames that he asked the Pentagon to alter US nuclear procedures to prevent the scenario it depicted.

“A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.”

WarGames, starring Matthew Broderick as young computer hacker David Lightman, endures as one of the defining films of 1980s geek culture. The movie is about a well-intentioned but prankish high school student who accidentally hacks into NORAD while searching for a game company. After mistaking WOPR, a cutting-edge military computer, for a game platform, Lightman begins playing “Global Thermonuclear War.” Only it’s not a game—and as Lightman plays the role of the Soviet Union in the game, WOPR believes that a Soviet nuclear attack is inbound, causing chaos hundreds of miles away at NORAD.

Human operators initially trust the machine, and a near-catastrophe follows. Even after they understand that the nuclear threat is fictitious, the machine prepares to launch a retaliatory second strike against........

© The National Interest