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disconnection between theory and fact
What makes it entertaining (and not just an exercise in left-wing propaganda) is that the movie does indeed have a plot. The kid cracks security with "Joshua" (both the login code, and what he starts calling the AI program he's chatting with). He and the girl have fun playing a war game, but are scared of getting caught when they hear on the evening news that the game was taken seriously. Then the FBI arrest the kid and take him, of all places, directly to NORAD headquarters, where he's left alone with an unguarded computer terminal and logs in again! At this point, the kid is still trying to prove his innocence and tell the men what the program is doing. But they refuse to listen, and lock him up again - unguarded - in an infirmary room.
What makes it entertaining (and not just an exercise in left-wing propaganda) is that the movie does indeed have a plot. The kid cracks security with "Joshua" (both the login code, and what he starts calling the AI program he's chatting with). He and the girl have fun playing a war game, but are scared of getting caught when they hear on the evening news that the game was taken seriously. Then the FBI arrest the kid and take him, of all places, directly to NORAD headquarters, where he's left alone with an unguarded computer terminal and logs in again! At this point, the kid is still trying to prove his innocence and tell the men what the program is doing. But they refuse to listen, and lock him up again - unguarded - in an infirmary room.
At the heart of the movie is a blurring between reality and fantasy, along with the highly appealing liberal (and adolescent) fantasy that you know something crucially important that no one else does. In David's case, he's the only one who knows that a rogue AI program is manipulating NORAD into a nuclear war with the USSR. The problem with this sort of fiction, as it is with other liberal fantasies, is the disconnection between theory and fact that comes when we allow ourselves the luxury of indulging our fantasies too much.
The movie ends with a "convincing" rationale, that the only way to deal with the risks of international nuclear war is to "refuse to play", presumably meaning that the US should have adopted a pacifist approach such as [[unilateral disarmament]]. Fortunately, [[Ronald Reagan]] did exactly the opposite and outspent the Soviets to win the [[Cold War]].
The movie ends with a "convincing" rationale, that the only way to deal with the risks of international nuclear war is to "refuse to play", presumably meaning that the US should have adopted a pacifist approach such as [[unilateral disarmament]]. Fortunately, [[Ronald Reagan]] did exactly the opposite and outspent the Soviets to win the [[Cold War]].