The Punch Code

This nifty modernism sci-fi computer-geek war program pseudo-propaganda film features an entertaining Matthew Broderick as a computer nerd who stumbled upon a secret military computer that can be directed to engage the global community in a thermonuclear 'war game.'

Our modern world is gauged by networking and access sophistication (i.e., eTrade). In such a world, he/she who has the right computing lingo is the real magician.

Imagine a real life intellectual property war waged over the Internet and pitting Apple Computer employees (dressed in distinctive orange flannels to designate engagement) against Microsoft employees (dressed in distinctive grey flannels to designate engagement). The Apple guys are determined to prove their operating platform offers more user-friendly applications than the Microsoft guys, and the Microsoft guys are determined to prove their Windows operating system provides smoother access to the business world, and hence an application battle (i.e., proprietary concerns, design considerations, cost analyses, etc.) ensues.

That's really what "WarGames" (1983) alludes to: our modern age evocation of 'tech-spiritualism.'

While this movie is not as acclaimed as Steven Spielberg's haunting "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" (2001) or as fan-appreciated as Disney's "Tron" (1982), it certainly does a satisfying job of presenting 'sophistication imagination.'

Isn't there a computer language (in theory) that creates the metaphysical feeling of 'confidence?'

In "WarGames" (1983), Matthew Broderick's character must outwit the super-intelligent military computer in a recursive tic-tac-toe game that could hypothetically set off a series of nuclear detonation commands.



Cheers,