by Walter Parks: IMDB page.
Walter Parkes launched his career, as far as I can tell, by writing War Games. In the article linked above, he says this:
We were just catching a national wave of interest in technology and concern for the threat of nuclear war; our market research and test screenings went through the roof, and the studio really thought they had the nextE.T. And WarGames certainly was a success -- it made about $80 million in domestic box office and bettered that internationally -- but it wasn't the runaway hit people hoped it would be.
Why? I think, despite its high-tech content, WarGames is the most traditional of narratives. It isn't a particularly complicated story, but it is something you have to follow from the beginning to end. The film's entertainment value derives more from the sequential unfolding of the narrative than from the visceral thrills or laughs of each moment, and not surprisingly, it's less interesting the second time you see it.
Oh, Dude. This is so wrong. I saw it when it opened. Immediately went back to see it again. Search it out today on cable. And I have exceptionally good taste.
What happened with War Games was: it was a movie for grown-ups targeted at kids. Maybe not intentionally, but the hero was a kid. A great kid, portrayed by a great actor. Grown-ups didn't bother. I did. And you blew me away - War Games first made me want to be a screenwriter because I wanted to create that amazing moment, the overwhelming light display of total annihilation that had me literally weeping in sadness and fear in the theatre because ... because it was real. It was incredibly violent and it was all done with screens and lights and sounds and faces and ... holy shit that was powerful.
It was lines of light. And maps. It was Apocalypse.
But it was what it was because of that narrative I paid attention to, the one that led to that moment. The one that didn't thwack me upside the head with the message. The one that was so perfectly crafted. Shit. Why did you stop writing?
Sorry. Of course you went on to have your huge career. Look, War Games is just a great movie you have to have a bit of brain and at least enough attention span to tie your own shoes to appreciate. It was important. It still is.
Here's IMDB's list of most popular films of 1983. War Games is 9th. Not at all bad. But people were tired by then. We were tired of assassination and lies and war and - we were tired. We wanted them to kill that fucking shark in 3-D. We wanted to dance so hard we couldn't think or feel. We wanted James Bond to keep the world safe from nukes.
We entered the age of amazing film technology. But I think, it's time for the narrative to come back. I think that last Superman fiasco proved that. It's time to think again. Speak again. Time for technology to serve the story, instead of the other way around.
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