_WARGAMES. Directed by John
Badham. Starring Matthew Brod-
Stick, Dabney Coleman, Ally
Sheedy and John Wood. At local
theatres.

Nuclear war — asa game, or in
Teal life — is a contest that pro-
duces no winners.

That theme, which has been
Stressed time and again by peace
activists ever since nuclear arms

an omnipresent reality on
theworld scene, has been brought
to the screen after a long absence
lM a first-rate adventure film,
arGames.

Like its mid-60s predecessor,

ailsafe, this well-acted and

lievable story of a computer
Whiz-kid who nearly sets off
World War III presents com-
Puters as the unwitting element
that bring the world to the brink
Of nuclear catastrophe.

A computer known as the
WOPR — War Operations Plan
Response — is outfitted to take
Over all phases of intercontinental
Mussile launching after 22 percent
Of the human operators refuse to

launch their missiles during a sur-
a they believe is the real

The WOPR belongs to Norad,
the North American Aerospace

fence Command.

Enter David Lightman (Mat-
thew Broderick), a Seattle
teenager with a bent for com-
Puters. With his own terminal, set
Up in his bedroom, Lightman, a
budding computer genius, can

WarGames: ‘no winners’

gain access to several computers
across North America — in-
cluding the one in his high school.

He uses this to change a failing
grade for himself and new-found
friend Jennifer (Ally Sheedy). She
is impressed, and David is en-
couraged in his next quest.

That is to seach out and
penetrate the files of a California-
based computer games company,
with the object of discovering its
latest creations. Instead, David
makes contact with the WOPR.

The WOPR, it turns out, also
has a list of games, programmed
into it by the computer’s creator.
In researching the personal
history of professor Steven
Falken (John Wood), David
Jearns to crack the computer’s
defence code and is soon engaged
in a game with the machine —
global thermonuclear war.

The problem is that the
machine cannot tell the difference
between the game and reality.

Neither can the people who
staff the Norad command centre
in Colorado. They see blips on
their screens indicating major ar-
tillery movements by the Soviet
Union, and even border incur-
sions by Soviet aircraft. They res-
pond in kind, which soon has the
Soviets alarmed, and the stage is
set for an all-out confrontation.

David has less than 48 hours to
— somehow — prevent the
WOPR from completing the
“game”? and ending life on earth.
To do this he must first escape the

clutches of the Norad command
and the FBI, who are convinced
that David is the “‘perfect agent
for the Soviets.”’

In the course of maintaining
the suspense and sense of horror
at the outcome of a global nulcear
war, WarGames also provides its
audiences with several quick facts
on the current state of the arms
race. While these might be
familiar to peace activists, it is im-
portant to see a production with
mass appeal put across to millions
the fact that the warning in the
event of a missile attack is as little
as six minutes.

Equally important, the Cana-
dians and Americans who view
this film can not be immuneto the

in n-war

David (Matthew Broderick) and. Jennifer (Ally Sheedy) make
contact with missile computer in WarGames. ;

a

knowledge that those individuals
who are vaporized in the first
minutes of a holocaust are the
lucky ones. The survivors will be
less fortunate, wandering the
earth for weeks after, sickened
and sightless, before death mer-
cifully overtakes them.

Through WarGames, au-
diences may also realize that
much like a game of tic-tac-toe,
nuclear war is unwinnable.

Fanciful and yet credible, this
film will probably enhance the
growth of the peace movement.
For those already involved,
WarGames is an entertaining
reaffirmation of the struggle for
disarmament.

— Dan Keeton

liberals press PMt

Continued from page 1
Booths, staffed by volunteers
pearing sandwich boards, will also
~ Set up at Lower Mainland shop-
abs Centres, where leaflets on facts
ut the cruise missile will be
We Duted as part of the ‘‘cruise
areness’? campaign.
One Of the facts which will be
repr asized to Lower Mainland
€nts is that the proposed cruise
Can have nothing to do with
nee S commitments as
launch of NATO. The ground-
€d variety of cruise produc-
aren, General Dynamics has
depie Y been tested and is ready for
yment at NATO bases in
stern Europe.
€ air-launched cruise missile
OL) Is the type the U.S. wants
a at the Primrose Lake
Lak he Testing Range near Cold
of wei betta. The ALCM, 3,000
is sla ch are to be built by Boeing,
bomber for deployment on U.S.
Th S stationed in the U.S.
Pen © cruise has been touted by its
apoleeen backers and Canadian
ogee as a “deterrent” to
, ae aggression.”’ But, as EAR
. tell B.C. citizens, the cruise

Man Its great accuracy (it is an un-

. Progra aircraft, capable of flying a

pammed, erratic flight path
the reach of radar detection)

Martina Allevato
Quail is happy
to welcome
her new sister

Susanna
Allevato
: uail
Orn June 14, 1983
11:30 p.m.

is designed for use in a ‘‘limited”
nuclear war.

An official Pentagon document
by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff
states that “‘if deterrence fails,”
strategic nuclear weapons such as
the cruise and Perishing II would -
make it possible ‘‘to escalate the in-
tensity of the conflict in a controll-
ed manner.”

“This is aplan,”’ the EAR leaflet
warns, ‘“‘not for preventing World
War III, but for waging it.”

That latter point recently receiv-
ed unexpected backing by retiring
Canadian NATO military chief
Admiral Robert Falls’ remarks that
NATO forces already “‘have
perhaps more (nuclear weapons)
than we need.”

Falls said June 21 it might
become necessary for the west “‘to
act unilaterally to reduce especially
battlefield nuclear weapons” if
current arms talks fail to produce
an agreement. :

He made the same point peace
activists have been making for
some time: that in assessing the
relative strengths of medium-range
nuclear capabilities in Europe
possessed by the USSR and NATO
forces, western political leaders
forget the power of submarifie-
launched missiles possessed by
U.S. forces. :

The second stage of the cruise
campaign, which will focus on an
estimated ‘‘half a million” people

@ Personal Inju n
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@ Divorce and Family Law

RANKIN & COMPANY

Barristers & Solicitors
4th Floor, 195 Alexander St;
Vancouver, B.C. V6A 1N8

682-2781

Offers a broad range of legal services including:
ry and Insurance Claims

in. the Lower Mainland, will in-
volve a canvass of federal ridings,
during which volunteers will cir-
culate a petition urging - the
respective MPs to oppose the
testing.

Stage three will focus on fun-
draising, beginning with a full-page
advertisement in a major Van-
couver daily and the collection of
signatures supporting a statement
against the testing.

The final stage will be a mass ral-
ly in October, set to coincide with
several others around Canada and
the world.

EAR has also planned a short-
notice demonstration for the
nearest possible Saturday follow-
ing the tabling of the cruise agree-
ment, if Trudeau fails to heed the
growing voices of dissent within his
own party and the advice of some

of his closest associates.

Just two weeks ago, former
cabinet minister and current
Liberal MP Warren Allmand, who
voted with the NDP MPs against
cruise testing in Parliament three
weeks ago, emphasized that the
government can still be convinced
to refuse the U.S. request . He said
that several cabinet ministers are
arguing against the cruise testing.

Taking note of Falls’ statement,
Allmand said: ‘‘Things like that
can influence the government and
help adopt a position that’s not the
same as the one they may be drif-

@ Labour Law
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e Estates and Will

o refuse cruise

ting into.”’

Ontario Liberal MP Paul
McRae, an outspoken opponent of
cruise testing, also noted Monday
that Trudeau was under ‘‘some
quite strong pressure”’ from friends
and advisors — such as former
foreign affairs policy advisor Ivan
Head — to refuse the U.S. request.

McRae based his comments on a
meeting he had with the PM
following a 20-page letter he wrote
to Trudeau May 20, in which the
Thunder Bay-Atikokan MP urged
Trudeau to ‘“‘take a much stronger
lead’’ in working for disarmament.

In other news, the World Coun-
cil of Churches convention in Van-
couver in August will sponsor an
all-night vigil to commemorate
Hiroshima Day, Aug. 6. The
public is invited to the opening
prayer service at 7 p.m., in the huge
worship tent to be set up on the
grounds at the University of B.C.
Museum of Anthropology.

{Classified |

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COMING EVENTS

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JULY 10 — FRC picnic, rain or
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food, entertainment, bingo, short
films, report from the Prague peace
conference. Free adm. 3

JULY 18 — Hear delegates from
the Prague peace confernce. Rob-
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Spons. by B.C. Peace Council.

JULY 24 — Salute to the Moncada.
Celebrate the 30th anniversary of
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served 5:30 p.m, Tickets $4,
children $2. Auspices: Canadian
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255-6443. :

AUG. 14 — Hold this date for the
annual Golden Ears picnic,
ps spot Corners. Spons. by

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JULY 8, 1983—Page 7

as senmaceranoemn