Each wing (150 missiles divided evenly between 15 launch control facilities) [Edit had it wrong lol] had a supreme LCC that could take over in cases like this. Each silo could also be controlled by the looking glass and TACOMO planes. Pretty pointless to get a gun out over not having personally responsible for vaporizing the Minsk telephone factory or whatever.
@@s.hooper5667 And if they both turned your keys at the same time the question that ponder me, To be or not to be? Would those missiles have launched due to a glitch, even although this was supposed to be a simulated drill to see how the men would respond in the silos?
_"Screw procedure, I want someone on the goddamn phone before I kill 20 million people"_ Probably the most logical and well meaning thought in this whole scene right there.
Something somewhat similar actually happened in 1983. A Soviet officer (Stanislav Petrov) received an alert from a Soviet satellite that there was an incoming U.S. missile strike. He disobeyed protocol by disregarded the alert as a false alert. Had he followed procedure, the Soviet Union would have responded with a strike of its own, kicking off a global conflict.
I cannot go one month without watching WarGames. There is so much nostalgic linkage to people, places and times in my life that it's like some sort of temporal nexus.
@@mattgiguere5638 A distinct memory of August 1985 is stopping at 7-11 and grabbing a Double Gulp of Diet Coke. My wife and I had just hiked-in to the site of where our new house would be. The roads were roughed-in with gravel. It was sweltering. We spoke to the builder who was, by coincidence, on-site too. We asked to have two big boulders positioned in what would be the backyard. He gave us a handwritten receipt of our request. My wife, more demurely, picked out 12 oz. iced tea at 7-11. I remember the '80s and I wish I had appreciated them more at the time. It was a busy time at work. My wife and I started boxing-up things for the move when we got home. I set my Double Gulp cup down on my side of the dresser and it left a ring. I still have that dresser and the faint ring is still visible. My wife passed away in June of 2002 and I have since moved but the memory of the day, the '80s, and a number of other memories remain.
Smart move of him to threaten the other guy with a gun. Once he has shot him, all he needs to to is grow a 4 ft long arm to turn both keys simultanously.
The purpose of the firearm was another MAD pack. It ensures that both men in the silo know that if they dont carry out the order, they will die, incentivizing them to follow through with the order
jursamaj Thinking the bigger picture is good, but when you’re thinking you’re going to die regardless, turning a key, or nuclear winter, you’re screwed. Turn the key, maybe military will come to get you... eventually, don’t turn it your coworker shoots you.
@Jonathan Trapp Loved him in The West Wing ... so sorry he has passed ... and it was kinda creepy it being the same thing as his character almost died of ...
the set really looks super realistic and very much alike what a real missile silo control unit would have looked like back then, up to things like the blast door, room layout, the costumes, the buttons and switches, yes even those triangle shaped launch switches are exactly as they were.
I lived through the last few years of the Cold War. Movies like "Threads," showing an infinitely bleaker picture than cosy "The Day After" fare. For some reason, I always get a kick out of this whole sequence. The veteran superior officer having second thoughts at the last second while the rookie who was scared shitless at the start then going through with the entire procedure like a true Kamikaze.
rated just fine....did good at the box office back in the day, Rotten tomatoes gives it 94 %, most older movie watchers know it and like it. Had influence on early discussions about IT and the dangers thereof.
Underrated? You mean one of the most famous and well liked movies of the entire 1980's? The same movie that (along with Sneakers) is still considered as having some of the most realistic depictions of social engineering (hacking) depicted in media? The same movie that helped make Matthew Broderick a star?
This scene always gives me conflicting emotions. I want someone in control who will launch when ordered because deterrents are important, but I also don't want a bunch of innocent people to die.
I've never seen, or heard, Michael Madsen so young. His voice sounds so different from what I've heard from him in the past 25 years I would have sworn that that was Tom Sizemore and not M.M. They look so much alike, it's practically unbelievable.
Yeah that's one of the only things I didn't like about this film. The voices they used for the missile commander & the fighter pilot were a lil over the top & sounded like radio DJ's.
I REALLY need to buy this on DVD. I have loved this film since it came out...Some special effects, yes, but a character driven plot enhanced by SFX. Kudos to Eddie Deezen!! Long Live Melvin!!! Thanks for posting!
"Dropkick" is a code name for the SAC Command Center at Offutt AFB. The senior controller at SAC identifies himself by that name when passing test or command messages.
A code-name likely, because in this underground world of missile launching, you are not allowed generally to give out real names - they try to keep things top-secret.
Dropkick was also the name of an early Cold War nuclear war plan, and referred to an all out nuclear strike on the entire Communist world. It's from that war plan that the US President's nuclear briefcase that follows him everywhere became known as the "nuclear football".
there's a true story of a Russian officer in the 50's or 60's who was in the same position as these guys. He was informed of an incoming ICBM missile from America. He refused to retaliate and launch his missiles until he got some confirmation which, like in this scene, was not proper protocol. It turns out the Russian equipment used detect incoming missiles was not very good and was fooled by reflections off of clouds. Good thing he questioned orders.
@@travisjohnson6676I think you mixed up two different real incidents where Soviet officers saved the world from nuclear war. One was in 1962, with Vasily Arkhipov, but he was aboard a nuclear-armed submarine off Cuba, not controlling ICBMs. The other was 1983, with Stanislav Petrov at a missile warning station. In the 1962 case, during the American blockade of Cuba, the submarine crew was out of contact with their base and misunderstood what was happening, whereas the 1983 case was a technical failure that produced a false alarm.
Each MAF(Missile Alert Facility) is connected to 10 missiles. Multiple MAFs are linked to the same missile field. Launching a missile requires the consent of two MAFs. Even if you don't do it, someone will.
Saw this as a kid. When I moved to Seattle to attend University of Washington, I enjoyed walking around several places where they shot the library scene and riding to visit the computer geeks. I enjoyed the nostalgia as I studied, and I eventually named the stairs that go up to Suzzallo Library the "Matthew Broderick Stairs."
They reference an incident similar to this one in one of the episodes IIRC - I believe Will Bailey is off to defend the crew - which I guess was something of an easter egg.
Real ones aren't disguised as houses. Oncoming crew takes guns directly from offgoing crew. Down below is not all clean and sterile. The blast doors have to be pumped open manually (only the small door is shown here).No video to watch the missiles (which wore only brown primer) 1-2 hours to changeover with the old crew, after which they changed into sweats. Guns were to protect the codes, there were four other crews plus airborne that would get the launch off even if some crews choked.
At first it looked like the young dude was gonna be the one to flinch. I loved this movie. I saw it when it first came out. It really is an excellent film.
+Neville James Martin I didn't realise it was Leo McGary (sp?) either till I had already watched the entire West Wing series, and then watched this clip! Leo would have turned the key haha.
After the light-hearted banter at the beginning this icey-cold feeling creeps up your neck when Michael Madsen repeats "turn your key, Sir". Ever heard of "Able Archer"? The world may have been closer to the edge of destruction due to "war games" in the 80s than we may imagine.
There's great documentary about that - combination of Soviet paranoia and how system work and badly timed exercise ... funny thing is, that largest anti-nuke demonstrations took place after crisis that nobody knew about was over: th-cam.com/video/4cnrE6OhvZg/w-d-xo.html
"I want someone to use his fucking brain, and not come out of an uptempo number straight into a goddamn thermonuclear holocaust. It's impossible to make those transitions, man."
If there was a winter storm raging outside you didn't enter my grandpa's house. You stand out there and freeze until it's over and don't let that cold air in!
Awsome! I must say that was a heck of way to chicken out just before you launch your rockets. Incredible and I loved this part. Thanks again. Cheers! :)
This is the best scene in the whole film. It reminds me of the launch scenes in 'First Strike' which were also used in 'The Day After'. Being British I can relate more to the BBC drama 'Threads', I was 16 when that came out and with many documentaries on the effects of a nuclear war I can still remember the genuine fear of it all. Thank goodness I was born 6 years after the Cuban Missile Crisis! For those too young to remember believe me, the terrorist threats of today are nothing by comparison.
I used to think this was the coolest scene until actually met people who did missile duty in the silos. He told me this was the most unrealistic thing ever and the training they had and the procedures they used made something like this impossible
Well, they had to establish a justification for replacing the human missile silo crews with an automated, AI-controlled system. If they couldn't do that, then the whole movie can't work. So I don't begrudge them sacrificing realism for this scene.
+Ken Baker Sadly, the B-2 is already looking at being replaced. Sad for the years of exceptional performance of the aircraft. However, good for for national security, and Boing haha.
That's the rule of the job. If you don't complete the launch you die. If he gets to the point where he has to shoot him it wouldn't have been a successful launch anyway. The point is that they know going in the other one is a) armed with a weapon, and b) on orders to kill his partner if he breaches protocol. Because of these two facts, people are far less likely to breach protocol.
The truth is, there has never been a protocol like that in the history of missilery. At least not in the United States. Src: www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/16jyia/iama_a_former_nuclear_missile_officer_i_spent/
It seems that in the original story for this scene is this: the one who refused to launch the missile, is the same person who forced his teammate to follow his action, instead of the other way around. (Here, he got a gun. Unlikely, because weapons are usually locked in a locker) However, because it betrayed the 'Holywood Logic' message of 'peaceful people don't plan to kill people or force people'. They swapped it, causing a plot hole of 'if you killed him and he's dead, how will the missile be launched?' thing. Basically, the story got edited, causing a plot hole.
You're all fucking wrong. They simply added the 'threatening with a gun' to add drama. Logic has nothing to do with it. Way I see it: the junior officer became overly emotional and was trying to convince his superior to turn the key. If he wouldn't he was going to shoot him anyway. No missiles launched but at least he killed an enemy of the SAC. I mean, USA. Anyway, followin nuclear Armageddon, it would have been mainly the SAC that survived. Not the USA.
I love all the military guys chiming in on this thread without a shred of awareness of the point of this scene. "Don't worry everyone, that's not really how it works...in the real world we'd all be dead, don't worry."
@Főfasírozó They're supporting the ideal not the reality. Modern soldiers do have an easy ride compared to the old shooting wars of the early 20th or late 19th century.
@Főfasírozó the Top 4 richest countries in Africa have consistently been South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, and Egypt, and this has been true for decades, both before and after the deposition of Gaddafi
I must have watch this clips a hundred times and I just now noticed. Michael Madsen holsters the gun on his right side, but draws it with his left hand! xD
Dunno, but I can see how some seasoned left handed person doesn't want the holster to be on left hip to impede normal movements considering the gun is for use in extreme situations only. All he has to do is reach across the body.... get the picture??
I'm in the damn industry and I've never watched this gem. My bad. Very bad. This scene gave me chills. I have no idea if Madson pulled the trigger, but I'm gonna find out. Damn. What a scene!!!
War Games was a good movie. And this first scene is how I feel whenever I must do something dramatic. Minus nuclear attacks and such, but it's such a good scene!
Also a great scene when near the end we realize WOPR goes for a retaliatory missile launch by itself using a brute-force attack to obtain the launch codes
just a little ironic that as they enter the elevator he mentions the chant his wife says to her plants to help them grow, is “om mani padme huum”.. which is a buddhist chant for peace, as they enter a nuclear missle facility..
I got to witness this in person inside the launch room, Whiteman AFB (Knobnoster MO). It was just like this. They shut down the practice when they were ready to turn the keys.
Yet that captain, even though he didn't turn his key, still managed to become Chief of Staff to President Bartlett. After the shame of being cashiered from the Air Force, he changed his name to Leo McGarry, became a politician, Chief of Staff to the President, and eventual Democratic nominee for Vice President.
I doubt he was cashiered by the air force, probably reassigned to another (less attractive) job. People who watch this scene figure that these guys are failures, yet the point of the plot is that they're not failures, they're human, and there's no way to change that. That's why they put WOPR relays in every silo.
And I always loved this movie. But the one flaw was this scene. The crews where always told and trained that simulations could occur at anytime. They could enter a launch code in a simulation that would effectively (due to programs on the computers) act up to a set point and then cycle down. They put they thought in their head that it can always be a simulated attack, to give them hope, so they would go through all the steps and turn the key. Of course they are still human, so things do occur. Back in 2012 or 13 I think, one of the missle wings had a large number of people removed from the ability to launch as many men in those areas had begun to question the orders of superiors (in day to day operations), and you can't have that as it might show up if the codes came down.
This is the part that is fused into my brain. Turn your key. TURN YOUR KEY SIR!" And then it breaks into the credit music - this vid actually ended like half a beat too soon. Sigh.
THAT is totally not the case. The PRP program ran on frequent, unannounced "whiz-quizzes". Been there, done them. You flunk, your career, and time in the service, whichever one you were in. was effectively OVER! What followed would be administrative and judicial hell, and if you were an OFFICER, you'd be facing article 32 proceedings, which would be either a Special or General Court Martial.
@@stephenhoward6829 Yep. I was in the Navy in the early eighties when the first piss tests were done. Being on a submarine, and being part of the launch crew for the SLBMs, I pissed in more bottles than I care to remember. We were constantly being tested. And yet there were idiots that still managed to fail their test. Why anyone would do drugs, knowing that they had a good chance of getting caught, is something that I never could understand.
I was an attorney who monitored narcotics offenders in drug treatment programs a few years back, and drug tests were part of the process, There were tons of ways that people used try and get around drug tests - I'm guessing that college and professional athletes pioneered a lot of them. Though we caught a large number, there's no way of knowing how many slipped through.
I feel special. I'm watching this clip from an actual launch control center. As a matter of fact, I'm sitting in the same chair Phelps/Madsen would have been in.
I couldn't watch the West Wing, after Martin Sheen played the president in The Dead Zone and launched a nuclear attack in a vision of the future. I think they should have ended the series with him replaying that scene during a standoff with North Korea. th-cam.com/video/tE-PjGg3ae8/w-d-xo.html "We have a diplomatic solution." "The missiles are flying."
I knew a guy in Air Force ROTC, he said most cadets wanted the Nuclear Weapons (ICBM) Officer slots. I asked, "aren't they worried they are going to kill millions of people?," he said, "they think about that, but having 2 days on and 5 days off (duty) was worth the gamble."
The guard that lets them in is character Art LeFleur. He’s been in a million different things. I know him best as one of the Chicago White Sox players in ‘Field of Dreams ‘.
I assume that crews subjected to a test like this would have been issued guns with non-functional ammo. If the scene had continued and one crewman tried to shoot, there would have been a "click". Followed by a couple more clicks. About that time the compartment door opens, and an officer they have not met before orders them to follow him to a debriefing. As they exit, technicians enter to reset equipment back to functionality.
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right... Here I am, stuck in the silo with you.
Should have cut the commanders ear off and poured petrol on him. Turn your fucking key NOW sir!
you are sick.
"Turn your KEY Sir, or I'll shoot you and then you won't be ABLE to turn your key!"
Each wing (150 missiles divided evenly between 15 launch control facilities) [Edit had it wrong lol] had a supreme LCC that could take over in cases like this. Each silo could also be controlled by the looking glass and TACOMO planes. Pretty pointless to get a gun out over not having personally responsible for vaporizing the Minsk telephone factory or whatever.
True, but it was 150 missiles controlled by 15 control centers.
Even almost 40 years later this scene still scares me.
:-) seeing that the uniform and red scarf were exactly like mine during alert.
It should scare you. It should scare the shit out of every man, woman and child that this scenario is so close to reality.
Perhaps even more, as I am older. I don't know if I could turn that key.....Even if the missiles were coming. Why make more of the world dead.....
@@s.hooper5667
And if they both turned your keys at the same time the question that ponder me, To be or not to be?
Would those missiles have launched due to a glitch, even although this was supposed to be a simulated drill to see how the men would respond in the silos?
That "Scene" you speak of will be a reality soon enough. The END you speak of is closer than you think.
"Skybird, this is Casey Kasem with a Red Dash Alpha message and the top hits of the 50s and 60s"
grcboy29 BREAK - BREAK
"Til next time, keep your missiles on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars."
"AUDIO KIT will conduct a 494L exercise, followed by a GIANT BALL exercise and UHF/HF comm poll beginning at 1317Z...."
Ah, the oldies
That's one hell of a long distance dedication.
_"Screw procedure, I want someone on the goddamn phone before I kill 20 million people"_ Probably the most logical and well meaning thought in this whole scene right there.
Something somewhat similar actually happened in 1983. A Soviet officer (Stanislav Petrov) received an alert from a Soviet satellite that there was an incoming U.S. missile strike. He disobeyed protocol by disregarded the alert as a false alert. Had he followed procedure, the Soviet Union would have responded with a strike of its own, kicking off a global conflict.
“Almighty Bomb, who destroyed all devils, and created angels!!”
Little does everyone NOW know 40k feet up another person can override the other dudes call on the key, and send the ICBM.
@@Backyardmech1 TACAMO!
Turn your key sir.
I cannot go one month without watching WarGames. There is so much nostalgic linkage to people, places and times in my life that it's like some sort of temporal nexus.
Big Gulp cup...no lid or straw I miss the 80s😪
@@mattgiguere5638 A distinct memory of August 1985 is stopping at 7-11 and grabbing a Double Gulp of Diet Coke. My wife and I had just hiked-in to the site of where our new house would be. The roads were roughed-in with gravel. It was sweltering. We spoke to the builder who was, by coincidence, on-site too. We asked to have two big boulders positioned in what would be the backyard. He gave us a handwritten receipt of our request. My wife, more demurely, picked out 12 oz. iced tea at 7-11.
I remember the '80s and I wish I had appreciated them more at the time. It was a busy time at work. My wife and I started boxing-up things for the move when we got home. I set my Double Gulp cup down on my side of the dresser and it left a ring. I still have that dresser and the faint ring is still visible. My wife passed away in June of 2002 and I have since moved but the memory of the day, the '80s, and a number of other memories remain.
@@TralfazConstruction Amen! 🙏🏼 We're the same u and I. and I'm not quoting Falling Down. God bless u.
@@mattgiguere5638 Thank you, Matt! Best wishes to you, always.
@@TralfazConstruction Sorry for you loss sir 😢
Gives me goosebumps every time I watch it.
What movie is this
"turn your key, sir." Awesome, riveting, and quite chilling!
"turn your key or I will shoot you and then your key will definitely not get turned"
@@CFox.7 I was gonna say.....
Madsen has that look. He can act with just his face and eyes. He should've done more westerns if he did any at all. Love this guy.
Hateful 8
He was in Wyatt Earp with Kevin Costner
Man I miss watching John Spencer act. The guy was awesome.
Truly underrated. He will forever be immortalized in my mind as Leo McGarry from The West Wing. An absolute monster of an actor.
@@MKucheran An as FBI Director James Womack in "The Rock".
@@MKucheran west wing is a freaking amazing show... love watching it over and over... if only we had martin for president now...
Smart move of him to threaten the other guy with a gun. Once he has shot him, all he needs to to is grow a 4 ft long arm to turn both keys simultanously.
The purpose of the firearm was another MAD pack. It ensures that both men in the silo know that if they dont carry out the order, they will die, incentivizing them to follow through with the order
@@rufushowell Except not really. It's entirely possible to do something, knowing that you will die for it, while saving millions.
jursamaj Thinking the bigger picture is good, but when you’re thinking you’re going to die regardless, turning a key, or nuclear winter, you’re screwed. Turn the key, maybe military will come to get you... eventually, don’t turn it your coworker shoots you.
@@Backyardmech1 Sounds like that would make the decision simpler: *you're* screwed either way, but why take millions of others with you?
jursamaj because you swore an oath
Always enjoy Michael Madsen in his roles.
Michael Madsen AND John Spencer!!!
Just looked up John Spencer on imdb and I've seen a lot of the things he's been in.
@Jonathan Trapp Loved him in The West Wing ... so sorry he has passed ... and it was kinda creepy it being the same thing as his character almost died of ...
@@Dcart5 He was in "The Rock" as FBI Director James Womack. 1996
the set really looks super realistic and very much alike what a real missile silo control unit would have looked like back then, up to things like the blast door, room layout, the costumes, the buttons and switches, yes even those triangle shaped launch switches are exactly as they were.
Best scene of the whole movie - and it came right at the beginning.
+SrTuco I agree. It was both funny, and serious at the same time. Bevan still annoys me. Who played him?
I lived through the last few years of the Cold War. Movies like "Threads," showing an infinitely bleaker picture than cosy "The Day After" fare. For some reason, I always get a kick out of this whole sequence. The veteran superior officer having second thoughts at the last second while the rookie who was scared shitless at the start then going through with the entire procedure like a true Kamikaze.
SrTuco Best scene ever is Reservoir Dogs' breakfast scene and it's a opening scene too.
Yes.
It beautifully set the stage and the stakes for the rest of the movie.
Wakey-wakey,
Eggs and bakey,
Turn your KEY, sir!!!
One of the most criminally underrated movies coming out of the 1980's.
Oh dear, another moron saying something massively successful and popular is underrated. Have you EVER had an original thought, cretin?
I’ve been using the sentences, Your turn next, Ginsberg and You’re a prince Fethen for the past 38 years.
rated just fine....did good at the box office back in the day, Rotten tomatoes gives it 94 %, most older movie watchers know it and like it. Had influence on early discussions about IT and the dangers thereof.
Not underrated at all.
Underrated? You mean one of the most famous and well liked movies of the entire 1980's? The same movie that (along with Sneakers) is still considered as having some of the most realistic depictions of social engineering (hacking) depicted in media? The same movie that helped make Matthew Broderick a star?
A fantastic start to a cult classic film from the real threat of MAD in the early 80s
One of the most dramatic scenes in a movie ever!
admit it you have always wanted to find that house with the elevator and hidden nuke silo built inside it to go and watch tv there🤣
This is in the top 10 best opening scenes in movie history.
That scen was awesome! I was on the edge of my seat. I did not know he was in this movie. Good acting!
This scene always gives me conflicting emotions. I want someone in control who will launch when ordered because deterrents are important, but I also don't want a bunch of innocent people to die.
With a strategic nuclear missile you always kill countless innocent civilians. women, children. Hundreds of thousands. Complete madness!
I've never seen, or heard, Michael Madsen so young. His voice sounds so different from what I've heard from him in the past 25 years I would have sworn that that was Tom Sizemore and not M.M. They look so much alike, it's practically unbelievable.
Next he would become Bump Bailey, outfielder for the NY Knights in ‘The Natural’.
i can't believe that is michael madsen. it's insane. i thought it was another actor. wow....
Cigarettes change a person's voice considerably over the years
This is Casey Kasem with the Top 40 targets for destruction. Have a wonderful day!
Yeah that's one of the only things I didn't like about this film. The voices they used for the missile commander & the fighter pilot were a lil over the top & sounded like radio DJ's.
Well I sure would like to have some quality voice talent barking orders at me before I kill 20 million people.
Seen this movie countless times and I'm only now realizing that's Casey Kasem.
Devin Tariel Remember, keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for those launch codes.
Zoinks Scoob
I REALLY need to buy this on DVD. I have loved this film since it came out...Some special effects, yes, but a character driven plot enhanced by SFX. Kudos to Eddie Deezen!! Long Live Melvin!!! Thanks for posting!
Where is Eddie Deezen?
The whole thing is up on TH-cam now
@@Sshooter444 Eddie is one of the computer experts Lightman goes to see. The big guy yells at him and calls him Mr. Potatohead... 🤣
An opening to a movie that will grab your attention.
"Dropkick" is a code name for the SAC Command Center at Offutt AFB. The senior controller at SAC identifies himself by that name when passing test or command messages.
A code-name likely, because in this underground world of missile launching, you are not allowed generally to give out real names - they try to keep things top-secret.
Dropkick was also the name of an early Cold War nuclear war plan, and referred to an all out nuclear strike on the entire Communist world. It's from that war plan that the US President's nuclear briefcase that follows him everywhere became known as the "nuclear football".
Also, "Skybird" was a call sign for all ICBMs and "Sky King" was a call sign for all SAC aircraft.
@@bluesrocker91 was that not SIOP?
Skybird! Skybird! Do not answer! This is Sky King. Message follows.
there's a true story of a Russian officer in the 50's or 60's who was in the same position as these guys. He was informed of an incoming ICBM missile from America. He refused to retaliate and launch his missiles until he got some confirmation which, like in this scene, was not proper protocol.
It turns out the Russian equipment used detect incoming missiles was not very good and was fooled by reflections off of clouds.
Good thing he questioned orders.
It was 1983.
@@SMFCNA Really? That recent?
Thanks for the clarification
It happened twice- ignored the first AND the second warnings. Brass balls.
You realize that in this case it was a test and the missiles would not have launched
I guess you never watched the movie
@@travisjohnson6676I think you mixed up two different real incidents where Soviet officers saved the world from nuclear war. One was in 1962, with Vasily Arkhipov, but he was aboard a nuclear-armed submarine off Cuba, not controlling ICBMs. The other was 1983, with Stanislav Petrov at a missile warning station. In the 1962 case, during the American blockade of Cuba, the submarine crew was out of contact with their base and misunderstood what was happening, whereas the 1983 case was a technical failure that produced a false alarm.
Mike Madsen, AND JOHN SPENCER! He ended up playing the Chief of Staff on the West Wing.
Extraneous missile nerdery:
The missiles shown in the silos are Titans. Minuteman crews were two-man, but Titan crews had four.
It looks like the launch control facility of minuteman, but the missile silo of titan. I was confused about that as well.
Not being up to scratch on missile types, I wouldn't have really known the difference.
Finally about time something War Games gets on my,recommended
Each MAF(Missile Alert Facility) is connected to 10 missiles. Multiple MAFs are linked to the same missile field. Launching a missile requires the consent of two MAFs. Even if you don't do it, someone will.
Someone's pulled alert duty before....Except we called the "LCF's" or Launch Control Facilities ..
But yeah. Redundancy is a biotch.
Maybe if he threatened to cut his ear off he'd turn the key.
"Holy shit."
Understatement of the year.
Are you gonna bark all day, sir, or are you gonna turn your key?
RobARug lmaoooooo
Go watch Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.
@@davidprince1138 I did. Now I have to answer to the Coca-Cola company.
He should have brought his hanzo sword
@@jeffteampeterson he sold it already
Saw this as a kid. When I moved to Seattle to attend University of Washington, I enjoyed walking around several places where they shot the library scene and riding to visit the computer geeks. I enjoyed the nostalgia as I studied, and I eventually named the stairs that go up to Suzzallo Library the "Matthew Broderick Stairs."
So that's what Leo McGarry did before he worked for the Bartlett administration.
LOL - Technically, he worked for the L.A. law firm Mackenzie Brackman before the White House. This would have been before his lawyer days. 🙂
They reference an incident similar to this one in one of the episodes IIRC - I believe Will Bailey is off to defend the crew - which I guess was something of an easter egg.
Well, we knew Leo was in the Air Force.
Got his arm broke by Sean Connery
Later on he moved to Seattle to live with his son, a famous radio psychiatrist
A strange game. The only winning move is not to play
+David La Ahh...the hell with it. Let's play and get it over with. The waiting is driving me nuts!
its been going on in Afghanistan for 14 years now, costing US tax payers 700 billion dollars
David La the military industrial complex is happy tho
I find it hard to believe that Joshua didn't
also learn how to cheat.
@@LaBrother
Could have rebuilt each and every bridge and most roads in the US by now, twice.
Real ones aren't disguised as houses. Oncoming crew takes guns directly from offgoing crew. Down below is not all clean and sterile. The blast doors have to be pumped open manually (only the small door is shown here).No video to watch the missiles (which wore only brown primer) 1-2 hours to changeover with the old crew, after which they changed into sweats. Guns were to protect the codes, there were four other crews plus airborne that would get the launch off even if some crews choked.
I see someone else worked in the missile fields
Well thanks 4 that tidy bit...I always wondered about that👍
I can't remember the documentary, its on TH-cam somewhere, where there were quite a few failings with the crews in these places.
Well in the grand history of Movies Depicting Things Incorrectly that is pretty good going.
The whole system fails when you have a lunatic for a President who alone can order a nuclear strike... god help us all!
Damn! I forgot how powerful that scene was.
Nah - day after was more powerful
At first it looked like the young dude was gonna be the one to flinch. I loved this movie. I saw it when it first came out. It really is an excellent film.
I had probably not seen the movie in 20+ years before catching it on TV the other day. I didn't realize it was Michael Madsen in the opening scene.
+Neville James Martin I didn't realise it was Leo McGary (sp?) either till I had already watched the entire West Wing series, and then watched this clip! Leo would have turned the key haha.
John Spencer is the other actor (very underrated)
RIP 1946-2005
Hard to believe he was 35 in this. I thought he was 50.
didnt know he passed, RIP indeed
Great movie- stood the test of time. This is likely one of the best scenes from it.
Name of the movie
Wargames
After the light-hearted banter at the beginning this icey-cold feeling creeps up your neck when Michael Madsen repeats "turn your key, Sir". Ever heard of "Able Archer"? The world may have been closer to the edge of destruction due to "war games" in the 80s than we may imagine.
There's great documentary about that - combination of Soviet paranoia and how system work and badly timed exercise ... funny thing is, that largest anti-nuke demonstrations took place after crisis that nobody knew about was over: th-cam.com/video/4cnrE6OhvZg/w-d-xo.html
“2:37 This is Casey Kasem, and this is your top 40 songs.”
' I can feel it the air tonight ..boom ,booom" ..99 red balloons...
"I want someone to use his fucking brain, and not come out of an uptempo number straight into a goddamn thermonuclear holocaust. It's impossible to make those transitions, man."
Madsen was absolutely amazing in Donnie Brasco!!!
yeah he was
*"Gently" launch nuclear missiles*
This is how you entered my gandpa’s house in the 80’s
Did you have ID cards or Hi-Tech retinal scans like at my pappy's house?
If there was a winter storm raging outside you didn't enter my grandpa's house. You stand out there and freeze until it's over and don't let that cold air in!
Awsome! I must say that was a heck of way to chicken out just before you launch your rockets. Incredible and I loved this part. Thanks again. Cheers! :)
I remember watching this as a child, not really grasping the full ramifications.
or that he was talking about getting high on premium weed.
Very nice video and a great movie as well. Thanks for posting and have a nice day too.
This is the best scene in the whole film.
It reminds me of the launch scenes in 'First Strike' which were also used in 'The Day After'.
Being British I can relate more to the BBC drama 'Threads', I was 16 when that came out and with many documentaries on the effects of a nuclear war I can still remember the genuine fear of it all. Thank goodness I was born 6 years after the Cuban Missile Crisis! For those too young to remember believe me, the terrorist threats of today are nothing by comparison.
God, I wish I could find a good quality copy of "First Strike"....BEST documentary out there of nuclear alert in the 80s....
Is it me, or does that sign to the right of the door say:
"ANYONE URINATING IN THIS AREA WILL BE DISCHARGED" ?
+Dis Pater according to IMDB it does.
Yes. It's one of a few sight gags in the movie.
I didn't see the sign but if it was there, it had to have been Hollywood who added something as stupid.
@@Bbendfender Well given what you hear about the bad state of the toilets in some launch bunkers the sign my be accurate nowadays.
It’s foreshadowing for the end of the movie when the General says, “Hell, I’d piss on a spark plug if I thought it’d help!”
I used to think this was the coolest scene until actually met people who did missile duty in the silos. He told me this was the most unrealistic thing ever and the training they had and the procedures they used made something like this impossible
Well, it is basically realistic except for the not turning keys part.
Well, they had to establish a justification for replacing the human missile silo crews with an automated, AI-controlled system. If they couldn't do that, then the whole movie can't work. So I don't begrudge them sacrificing realism for this scene.
Man, it's been years since last time I saw Wargames. Gotta watch it again.
Is this the movie with Matthew Broderick
Imagine the two that had just left the place driving down the road and they see all these missiles taking off in the distance-incomprehensible!!!
I think it was only a test to see if they'd actually go through with it. The noodles weren't actually going to launch
This will sound weird but this was my favorite scene in the movie.
Mine too. How are you doing after 14 years?
The title is just going to ignore John Spencer like that?
The title should read “John Spencer in WarGames”
Relevant again in 2022
Nuclear Triad : Missile bases - Submarines - B2 Bombers
+Ken Baker Sadly, the B-2 is already looking at being replaced. Sad for the years of exceptional performance of the aircraft. However, good for for national security, and Boing haha.
B-52s......Up the Ass!!!
I know he doesnt actually shoot him... but whats the gun gonna do to change his mind? How the hell the key gonna get turned if he shoots him?
That's the rule of the job. If you don't complete the launch you die. If he gets to the point where he has to shoot him it wouldn't have been a successful launch anyway. The point is that they know going in the other one is a) armed with a weapon, and b) on orders to kill his partner if he breaches protocol. Because of these two facts, people are far less likely to breach protocol.
Matthew Parker Good point, thanks.
The truth is, there has never been a protocol like that in the history of missilery. At least not in the United States.
Src: www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/16jyia/iama_a_former_nuclear_missile_officer_i_spent/
It seems that in the original story for this scene is this: the one who refused to launch the missile, is the same person who forced his teammate to follow his action, instead of the other way around.
(Here, he got a gun. Unlikely, because weapons are usually locked in a locker)
However, because it betrayed the 'Holywood Logic' message of 'peaceful people don't plan to kill people or force people'. They swapped it, causing a plot hole of 'if you killed him and he's dead, how will the missile be launched?' thing.
Basically, the story got edited, causing a plot hole.
You're all fucking wrong. They simply added the 'threatening with a gun' to add drama. Logic has nothing to do with it. Way I see it: the junior officer became overly emotional and was trying to convince his superior to turn the key. If he wouldn't he was going to shoot him anyway. No missiles launched but at least he killed an enemy of the SAC. I mean, USA. Anyway, followin nuclear Armageddon, it would have been mainly the SAC that survived. Not the USA.
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. Here I am, stuck in this silo with you.
RIP John Spencer.
Leo McGarry almost blew up the whole goddamn world...
I know!!!
With an assist from Mr. Blonde!
After he got shot down in Vietnam the Air Force put him in the silos..
@@ptroinks Too be fair he was abusing Valium in the 90's. Who knows what he was doing in the 80's.
@@KMcNally117 It's pretty hard to abuse Valium
I love all the military guys chiming in on this thread without a shred of awareness of the point of this scene.
"Don't worry everyone, that's not really how it works...in the real world we'd all be dead, don't worry."
@Főfasírozó They're supporting the ideal not the reality. Modern soldiers do have an easy ride compared to the old shooting wars of the early 20th or late 19th century.
@Főfasírozó the Top 4 richest countries in Africa have consistently been South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, and Egypt, and this has been true for decades, both before and after the deposition of Gaddafi
I must have watch this clips a hundred times and I just now noticed.
Michael Madsen holsters the gun on his right side, but draws it with his left hand! xD
Dunno, but I can see how some seasoned left handed person doesn't want the holster to be on left hip to impede normal movements considering the gun is for use in extreme situations only. All he has to do is reach across the body.... get the picture??
I'm in the damn industry and I've never watched this gem. My bad. Very bad. This scene gave me chills. I have no idea if Madson pulled the trigger, but I'm gonna find out. Damn. What a scene!!!
War Games was a good movie.
And this first scene is how I feel whenever I must do something dramatic. Minus nuclear attacks and such, but it's such a good scene!
Also a great scene when near the end we realize WOPR goes for a retaliatory missile launch by itself using a brute-force attack to obtain the launch codes
just a little ironic that as they enter the elevator he mentions the chant his wife says to her plants to help them grow, is “om mani padme huum”.. which is a buddhist chant for peace, as they enter a nuclear missle facility..
I got to witness this in person inside the launch room, Whiteman AFB (Knobnoster MO). It was just like this. They shut down the practice when they were ready to turn the keys.
that clip gave me goosebumps
Yet that captain, even though he didn't turn his key, still managed to become Chief of Staff to President Bartlett. After the shame of being cashiered from the Air Force, he changed his name to Leo McGarry, became a politician, Chief of Staff to the President, and eventual Democratic nominee for Vice President.
I doubt he was cashiered by the air force, probably reassigned to another (less attractive) job. People who watch this scene figure that these guys are failures, yet the point of the plot is that they're not failures, they're human, and there's no way to change that. That's why they put WOPR relays in every silo.
@@winternow2242 and now we have SKYNET in which human decisions have been removed from all strategic defense.
And all while struggling with alcoholism. Hell of a guy.
Also notice the precursor to the famous "Walk and Talk".
@elshpen : Don't forget he also served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Wolmack.
Very underrated movie. I’d piss on a spark plug if it would get more people to like it.
Would the spark plug be energized and in a functioning system or just laying on the floor because it may make a difference.
You can't deny ownership of your farts in that work environment.
Actually, correct procedure would be to get someone else on the line. Specifically, other LCCs. They'd literally run a conference call.
You would know, you Commie Spy!
Best scene ever filmed for start of nuclear war!
And I always loved this movie. But the one flaw was this scene. The crews where always told and trained that simulations could occur at anytime. They could enter a launch code in a simulation that would effectively (due to programs on the computers) act up to a set point and then cycle down. They put they thought in their head that it can always be a simulated attack, to give them hope, so they would go through all the steps and turn the key. Of course they are still human, so things do occur. Back in 2012 or 13 I think, one of the missle wings had a large number of people removed from the ability to launch as many men in those areas had begun to question the orders of superiors (in day to day operations), and you can't have that as it might show up if the codes came down.
"Turn your key, sir." My car thinks that every day
By Dawn's Early Light. "It's God's work you're destroying now" --- courageous USN admiral callsign Harpoon
That’s another great movie along these lines.
That's a fucking stupid line because God is obviously perfectly fine with nuclear weapons.
Still an epic scene, that shows we should *always* question automated systems (e.g. computers)
John Spencer and a baby-faced Michael Madsen... We were blessed.
From the most boring job in the world to the most terrifying - in seconds. Great scene in a film I’ve seen a few times. Thanks for sharing.
This is the part that is fused into my brain. Turn your key. TURN YOUR KEY SIR!" And then it breaks into the credit music - this vid actually ended like half a beat too soon. Sigh.
Love how that officer was talking up some primo weed. Guess they didn't piss test missle command officers back then.
THAT is totally not the case. The PRP program ran on frequent, unannounced "whiz-quizzes". Been there, done them. You flunk, your career, and time in the service, whichever one you were in. was effectively OVER! What followed would be administrative and judicial hell, and if you were an OFFICER, you'd be facing article 32 proceedings, which would be either a Special or General Court Martial.
@@stephenhoward6829 Yep. I was in the Navy in the early eighties when the first piss tests were done. Being on a submarine, and being part of the launch crew for the SLBMs, I pissed in more bottles than I care to remember. We were constantly being tested. And yet there were idiots that still managed to fail their test. Why anyone would do drugs, knowing that they had a good chance of getting caught, is something that I never could understand.
I was an attorney who monitored narcotics offenders in drug treatment programs a few years back, and drug tests were part of the process, There were tons of ways that people used try and get around drug tests - I'm guessing that college and professional athletes pioneered a lot of them. Though we caught a large number, there's no way of knowing how many slipped through.
@@winternow2242 fuck all lawyers, beat their asses to a pulp! Thats what i do!
Moral of the story.... never put a hippie in charge of a missile squadron...😮💥💀☢️
I feel special. I'm watching this clip from an actual launch control center.
As a matter of fact, I'm sitting in the same chair Phelps/Madsen would have been in.
He's talking about him and his wife growing weed!! I never knew that and I have seen this movie a billion times!
Ah ya...ur silly☺️
I never would have known without you pointing it out... not up on my 1970's drug terminology
Well I used to be a big pothead....now that it's legal in Oregon...my COPD makes it hard to toke up...ironery huh? Good fick!
THIS is what LEO did before being Labor Secretary, then Chief of Staff, then Vice President
I couldn't watch the West Wing, after Martin Sheen played the president in The Dead Zone and launched a nuclear attack in a vision of the future. I think they should have ended the series with him replaying that scene during a standoff with North Korea.
th-cam.com/video/tE-PjGg3ae8/w-d-xo.html
"We have a diplomatic solution."
"The missiles are flying."
One of my all time fave movies....
I knew a guy in Air Force ROTC, he said most cadets wanted the Nuclear Weapons (ICBM) Officer slots. I asked, "aren't they worried they are going to kill millions of people?," he said, "they think about that, but having 2 days on and 5 days off (duty) was worth the gamble."
See who said te youth off to day aren't smart!!
If you shoot you can be certain that key will never be turned. 😂😂😂😂😂
the gun is a motivator then executioner
Just realised, the other guy is from The Rock. The one who Sean Connery throws over a balcony
yes he was FBI Director Womack his real name is John Spencer
Also The Chief of Staff from President Bartlet's White House in The West Wing
Womack? Why am I not surprised, you piece of SHIT.
Was also the police chief al Travis in the negotiator
Michael Madsen AND John Spencer! Jesse's dad from Free Willy and the guy from The West Wing.
Mind blown.
The guard that lets them in is character Art LeFleur. He’s been in a million different things. I know him best as one of the Chicago White Sox players in ‘Field of Dreams ‘.
Classic scene.
He was running the pharmacy in the Frank Darabont's The Blob remake.
Also Babe in The Sandlot.
Nothing on one,
Two is binding, nice click out of there
Oops, wrong channel...
Hello and welcome again it's the LockPickingLawyer
Imagine the guy shoots the other according to protocol ... and then learns it was only a test!
I assume that crews subjected to a test like this would have been issued guns with non-functional ammo. If the scene had continued and one crewman tried to shoot, there would have been a "click". Followed by a couple more clicks. About that time the compartment door opens, and an officer they have not met before orders them to follow him to a debriefing. As they exit, technicians enter to reset equipment back to functionality.
LOL, they show up in a blinding snowstorm, then sunlight pours in when the silo door opens 4 minutes later!
RIP John Spencer