Michael Madsen in Wargames

[RedJoe10]

I absolutely love the bunker entrance disguised as house concept. There's a bunker near me thats a tourist attraction now like that.

[bshaun21]

Kinda interesting how they are talking about the awesome weed the guy was smoking when they are about to take control of ten nuclear ICBM's

[traingp7]

Two people would not turn their keys.

[DingKong]

"You guys are late again"

"Visibility"

"Womack! Why am I not surprised you piece of shit!"

[Celeon999A]

This scene from an otherwise real good classic movie had two major logical flaws.

1. Nuclear missile silos know no countdowns. 3 second ones at best, to coordiante the turning of the keys. The idea is to fire the missiles as fast as possible as soon as the order arrives. The point is to get them in the air before the silos get nuked themselves.

2. What does he want with that pistol ? Threaten to shoot him if he does not turn the key ? And then ? Grow himself longer arms or what ? :-D

[sr71ablackbird]

@Celeon999A it had a few more flaws than that and you may want to re-think that about the timeframe there, those ICBMs have 2 what are called dry batteries, & when the keys are inserted 2 seconds of each other, switched & held in the on position for 5 seconds, those dry batteries are being charged with electrolyte, it takes 28 seconds for them to charge which sends an electrical impluse to indicator light to the missileers that the missle no longer depends on them for power.

[peterp21]

@Celeon999A Come on man, it's a film. There's got to be a little dramatic license for the purposes of narrative and drama. Plus it's not like 99.7% of Americans know what the proper silo launch procedure is like its second nature. Regarding pulling a gun, the purpose is to threaten the guy into turning the key. Of course he wasn't gonna shoot him (and doesn't, as a later scene shows). It's a desperation tactic.

[sweavo]

@Celeon999A 1 isn't logical but 2 is true and funny. I thought that when I first saw this movie aged 11.

[ChristopherSaindon]

Any nerds (like me and I readily admit that) that like nuclear war sims get a program called DEFCON. It is, forgive the joke, THE BOMB. You can track missile launches (land and sub), bombers, fighters.. it's SO fun.

[TTDocNu]

Hell yeah.. Leo McGarrey and Budd the Sidewinder manning a missile silo. USA.

[RainbowManification]

@lankyice missile crews had no idea when exercises are, and they have no way of discerning whether a launch order is an exercise or the real deal. Also they used live ammo at all times.

[ChristopherSaindon]

@RainbowManification That is ABSOLUTELY right! FINALLY someone else who understands that they fought a Nuclear War ALL the TIME as part of their routine. World Circumstances would have likely given them a significant edge before they arrived at the "farmhouse" (loved the way they did those) in whether a launch was possible on their shift but that's all. And they would have ALL turned them..

[WinchesterRanger]

We should all be grateful that this is fiction, it was and still is a necessary evil, but there would be no winners in a real nuclear exchange.

But if you absolutely have to, Somalia is the place to start.

[Apollorion]

@WinchesterRanger What brings you to the Somalia idea?

@Everyone: It was actually only for this scene that I was trying to find that movie again.

[WinchesterRanger]

@Apollorion Oh I don't know, killing american soldiers who were trying to help them and then dragging the bodies through the streets for kids to ride on, the acts of piracy that have made the entire Arabian peninsula and the Indian Ocean no go zones, and now the self-imposed famine and mass exodus that's overwhelming neighboring states with disease and crime. Stuff like that.

If you have to nuke somewhere, it should be Somalia.

[Myrsky7]

Extraneous missile nerdery:

The missiles shown in the silos are Titans. Minuteman crews were two-man, but Titan crews had four.

[MagicAlDF]

Once I got to ask someone who used to have this job what he thought of this scene. He said the gun bit was silly because one, it doesn't solve the problem, and two, if it's a real war, and the Russians don't score a direct hit on you, then the pod becomes your fallout shelter and you might as well not have a stinking corpse in there with you.

[peterp21]

@MagicAlDF I think the gun bit just adds to the suspense and drama. But I guess in a high-pressure situation, people are liable to do anything out of desperation. Remember, the one guy totally broke with procedure and the other's job was to make sure he turned the key. Only thing he could do was pressure him.

[SCE2AUX]

@lrobertson Wouldn't have mattered anyway. There's another crew in another pod, and all four keys have to be turned within five seconds of each other. They wouldn't know if the other crew got the same message until they felt the missiles launching.

[usafvet100]

@SCE2AUX This movie labors a bit too hard at treating servicemen with contempt, they are portrayed as stoners or dimwits. I was stationed in Grand Forks, ND, at the time of the movie's release, a SAC Base at the time with 150 Minuteman IIs and BUFFs. As luck would have it, I later processed in at Elmendorf before going to Galena, all depicted in this film. They couldn't even get Galena's planes right, Corbin character says F-16s, they were F-15s, as depicted in movie.

[peterp21]

@usafvet100 Labors to make soldiers look like stoners or dimwits? It's a 5 minute scene. Sure, Spencer mentions smoking grass, but so what. Maybe it was a ham handed attempt by the writer to make it clear to us dummies in the theater that he might be less likely to push the button. I get the idea that any portrayal of servicemen less than as shining sun gods would be "contempt".

[usafvet100]

@SCE2AUX Hollyweird's contempt for and ignorance of our Armed Forces never ceases to amaze me. SAC no longer exists, we won the Cold war after Mr. Gorbachov tore down that wall. Peace was our Profession.

[sr71ablackbird]

@usafvet100 earlier Solomonov mentioned six to ten, it stayed about eight Topol-M missiles on average in the last few years. Solomonov suggested that serial production of Bulava has been going for four years. Given that the each submarine requires 16 missiles, Votkinsk would have to produce at least 16 in 2012 & again in 2013, which is already about twice the current production rate. To this we should add seven or so ICBMs (the 2011 plan in to deploy three RS-24 & four silo-based Topol-Ms),

[PtAltmVansanTarr]

All the security doesn't do anything, the major weakness is the network controlling all of that

[TheRadical42]

Wonderful bit! I loved this movie, still do! Great beginning.

-I hear tell they're going to remake it, like they're remaking so many 80s movies. Hm. I wonder how it will be?

[TheAgwoodliffe]

At the end, I'll bet he was thinking: ''I really don't give a fuck whether you turn your key or not, but I'm gonna shoot you anyway.''

[peterp21]

Great, but overlooked scene from a great Cold War era film.Not a fan of war but do love all that nuclear procedure stuff.I gotta LOL at some of the posts here that say how could he shoot the guy? It's clear he's trying to intimidate him into turning the key. And no, he didn't shoot him since both characters appear 10 minutes later clearing their things out of the silo as they install the computers. Also, no shit this isn't to exact USAF standards. Like they'd share classified stuff like this.

[MooonWilloW]

Michael Madsen is my biggest fantasy.

[jrm8899]

m. madsen usually looks constipated in most of the movies ive seen him in.....not so much in this one

[SeeYouNextTuesday0]

Well luckily they can just unplug the goddamn thing. Oh wait...

[kalchikc]

John. Fucking. Spencer. Nuff said.

[babylonkid]

20 million people? Hope it was aimed at Mexico.

[Robin360]

@babylonkid Nah, we can deal with them, Mexico is fine, aim that baby at the Middle East, we'll be ok...

[babylonkid]

@Robin360 Sounds fair. Fire em up.

[JimSting]

McKittrick: These men know what it means to turn the keys and launch the missiles, and some of them are just not up to it. Now it's as simple as that!

[JimSting]

Best line ever:

"SCREW the procedure! I want somebody on the goddamn phone before I kill 20 million people!"

[KG84C]

Pitram enabled

[lrobertson]

Lol. Cuz shooting him is really gonna help help get that key turned...

[ProuteurFou]

Screw the procedure!

[RainbowManification]

Tha'ts not the correct procedure captain.

[Tardisius]

Madsen should have threatened him with a 'Hatori Hanso' sword--much more intimidating than a 38 spl.

[stableshadow]

This is a case study in good screenplay writing, too -- listen to John Spencer's dialogue as they settle into the silo--he's talking about smoking pot, sensemilla vs. Thai stick, and he's the one who turns out to have pacifist tendencies. Smart. And the way he slips that 20 million ppl line in there. In just a couple of minutes, this scene absolutely grips the audience with suspense of the highest order.

[sweavo]

@stableshadow yes. I'm here because I'm looking for scene-by-scene comparisons to WarGames: The Dead Code but frankly there's no point, as indeed there wasn't to The Dead Code.

[stableshadow]

Two great actors...

[TheVariantstrain]

How about a little fire, Scarecrow? 

[tarzan694]

power-jet missiles ? ? ? ?

[herbienbrian]

20,000,000 people.....

[hrdknox2000]

I wonder where they filmed this silo scene! It's really authentic looking. I wonder if they REALLY got some USAF cooperation in this film or something.

[prex8390]

@hrdknox2000 its actually not very authentic at all. that was not at all how a minuteman missile launch control facility looked nor was the any of the procedures correct. the commander wanted to get someone on the phone but in real life confirmation was needed by phone or radio to launch the missiles

[hrdknox2000]

@prex8390 How do you know all of this? Were you a missileer (SP?)? I'm not calling you a liar or anything, I was just curious. All my time has been on the Army side of national defense.

[prex8390]

@hrdknox2000 no, i live in the grand forks area in north dakota, they have lost their missile wing for obvious reasons, the missile silos are dug up and removed but a chain link fence still surrounds the area to let the owners of the land where not to plant crops, but LCC where the missilers are generally still standing intact but abandoned. you can google image it and itll show you what they look like, theyre just long wooden ranches with a big fence around it. if u come up to ND, you can tour

[prex8390]

@hrdknox2000 sorry this is a double comment. but yeah as i said before, just google image minuteman launch control facility, there is one to tour in cooperstown north dakota as well as one in south dakota, the one in south dakota is a national park and i think gave a better tour, there is a titan missile silo to see as well in tucson arizona, i have been to all three. but they gave a good explanation to the process it takes to launch the missile and yes it did require confirmation from authority

[TalksWithDirt]

@prex8390 Screw the procedure, I launched at the Titan LCC without orders and someone else got the blame!

[prex8390]

@TalksWithDirt doubt that

[TalksWithDirt]

@prex8390 Yup on a tour at the Titan Missile Museum in 1993, I reached over turned the key (they have it rigged so the commander key can launch alone.) and my friend got the blame for starting the launch sequence. .... I always wanted to do that, and derived great satisfaction for starting WWIII without permission and ... I didn't even get blamed for it.

[proxyfrog]

this movie has one of the best opening scene...

and a great movie overall

[FreeLanceArizona]

i really like this part of the movie for some reason.

[andersource]

It's more of a threat than anything.

Turn your key or you die. I honestly don't think he'd shoot him, that would be pointless.

[hrdknox2000]

@andersource Actually, YES, the Deputy Launch Commander COULD turn the launch of their birds over to another silo if necessary. So, it COULD be done.

[derrickkolba]

i would be point less to shoot him you wont get the key turned either way.

[mksr12]

What was with the living room set up at the beginning?

"They'll never find us here.....in the parlor".

[paul4876]

would you turn the key?

[Mrjessegirard]

Mr. Madsen can easy be identified by one simple attribute ... His duche bag face.. it's seen breafly here at the second camera angle shot from the floor up. Other actors with dueche bag faces include Jake and Gary Buesey, and that guy from pandorum.

[aztaclalz]

I love how he points a gun towards the other guy, threatning to kill him. Good luck turning the other key WHEN YOU KILLED THE ONLY OTHER MAN WHO COULD TURN IT. Geesh -.-

[seanlynott86]

I wonder if something like this ever happened for real??

[cuseter]

one of my favorite lines of all time. i use it daily, regardless of the situation:

friend: if we leave now we can make the 7:45.

me: TURN YOUR KEY!

friend: jeez, again with that?

[stableshadow]

@cuseter LOL. Me too! I love saying that. And I say it to people I just met and they're like: What's that from?

[bobbj77]

@cuseter mee too, it starts the car lol

[Myrsky7]

Shooting the other guy doesn't make sense to me. He can't turn the key if you shoot him!

[kalineback]

who thinks he shot the guy? Id like to think he did.

[DeleteThisMF]

@kalineback He doesn't. We see them later in the movie. When they are taking out the chairs and installing AI.

[Skyisnotalimit]

Thanks for posting!

It allmost worked this way.

They have shortened the procedure

a bit....

[BigOldCar]

Thanks so much for posting this. This is my favorite part of the movie. Everyone remembers the end sequence where Joshua learns futility, but no one ever seems to remember this part. "Sir, that is not the correct procedure. Turn your key, sir. TURN YOUR KEY, SIR!"

[catfacecathead]

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.

[chargen]

this should be gay, in a psychological profile way

rules

[eileenh28]

What? There was a time when Michael Madsen didn't look scary?

[robrobrob73]

in the end, you could lauch with one person...there was a trick called a spoon and a string.....loop it to two ends of a spoon or whatever, pass it through the key first, and afterwards you just turned the key...but quickly, tho

[BringerOfTheTruth]

I just saw that movie yesterday was not really paying attention, suddenly i was like damn whos that seems familliar ? ITS MICHAEL MADSEN AS 24 year OLD !!

[kalineback]

most intense scene ever

[lastardriver]

I grew up 12.3 miles from a Minuteman II ICBM. This was and is one of my favorite movies.

[hrdknox2000]

@lastardriver Wow! That must've been scary! When I was a kid, in the eighties, every time I heard a plane fly over, I looked to see if it was a Russian bomber. At night, I could swear to hear air raid sirens off in the distance...AND I LIVED IN LITTLE OLE ALABAMA!!!

[lastardriver]

@hrdknox2000 You have no idea. I saw this movie Damnation Alley and I had nightmares for a year! LOL. In high school B-52's would fly over our football field and treetop level and the pilots would wave. Talk about weird the only time I 've ever seen a bald eagle was when one was sitting on a hill above the missile silo. :)

[EgoCheck616]

Turn your key, sir.

[cathkin33]

possibly the most dramatic intro to a film .....ever

[umahuma4]

I wouldnt of blamed him, i probably wouldnt of had the stomach to turn it

[bub777]

I think if they decide to do a remake of Wargames, they should have Adam Sessler do John Spencer's role. They look so alike, and oddly enough this is a "game" movie.

[youtub3k]

It takes two crew capsules "voting" to launch the missiles. The AF often drills each separately, without actually effecting a launch. And they can't tell a drill from the real thing. So they aren't suddenly going to think twice about turning the keys. Hollywood always gets this wrong! Even in the film "Twilight's Last Gleaming".

[vanert1]

Makes sense.

[youtub3k]

This film is such a crock! Hiding the silo entry in a civilian house? From who? Russians already know where everything is. The neighbors? They probably saw the huge trucks delivering the missiles. Besides, a deterrent weapons should never be kept secrets. Sgt. Ginsberg is wearing glasses. I tried for a silo job once, but needing glasses disqualified me. And that was as maintenance crew. Maybe they let AF security cops wear them. BTW the guns are for protecting the crew from enemy attack, only!!

[TheRadical42]

I dunno, I think Wargames had a lot going for it. I hear these days you can tour old silo sites (Or at least one of them) and see that the ICBM technology wasn't that great.

-And back in the 1980s, the USAF wouldn't cooperate with the movie so they made things up. I heard someone in the USAF said NORAD should have looked as good and cool as it did in the movie.

-As for deterents, sub bases missiles were a deterent and they were VERY hard to see. Especially tooling about for years at a time.

[vanhalen2005]

RIP John Spencer

[DetroitLove4U]

ICBMs are beautiful!! I used to think the worst test you could fail was your DMV Driving Exam?? I guess with this failure there will be a few less DMVs around anyways. Great Movie - 80's rock!!!

[zenithomega19]

"...holy shit"

holy shit is right.....

[CopyboyVideo]

Isn't that John Spencer? That blonde guy?

[abermude]

Yes, it is.

[angelicupstartt]

ha the guard is Art LaFleur, that dude that plays babe ruth in the sandlot. lawl

[Robin360]

That scen was awesome! I was on the edge of my seat. I did not know he was in this movie. Good acting!

[tk5800]

in the cold war i thought the world was going to get blown away, now thats suspense

[trextrent027]

The USAF did not drug test until 86-87 time frame.

[dawnredskye]

Aw, madsen looks SO cute!!!

He's just a baby there (^_^)

[bulldogger123]

i have done this outside of davis monthan air force base.

[mightymac63]

Romeo, Oscar, November, Charlie, Tango, Tango, Lima, Alpha..authentication code Two, Two, Zero, Zero, Four, Zero, Delta, Lima..

[tacomadavid68]

That is the guy from the west wing!! That's crazy..

[PromosbyRicochet]

Michael hasn't changed much over the years lol... He still looks the same in the videos I have uploaded hehe!

[JasonOfArgo]

The blonde guy was also in THe Negotiator....And doesn't Michael Madsen ever age??lol

[jkrych]

yes, you stop and think, and then you are dead.

[gnuumyn]

"TURN YOUR KEY, SIR!"

[Broadwaymungo]

It's a great scene, but the logic of the situation that they're put in is ridiculous. John Spencer's character is exactly the type of officer the Air Force WANTS in those silos. They don't WANT robots who will blindly follow orders if "the computers tell them to." There's nothing wrong, no clue given that there is a threat, and then, bang, a nuclear launch order? Any sane individual would try and question the orders before blindly turning the launch key.

[HumIntOps]

That was a test. To see if they would do the proper procedure. They want to make sure they have qulafide guys on the job.

[Kinitawowi]

The other thing that they need to bear in mind, of course... this film came out at the height of the Cold War. You can bet your arse that if the Ruskies pushed the button, the Americans would want to as well and "sane individual" be damned. Questioning the orders didn't get the bomb dropped on Hiroshima...

[cheongsam]

I worked in the missle field while in the Air Force and all I have to say is that this scene is total CRAP! There is so many errors, I don't know where to start!

[leoblab314]

Hi cheongsam! Please tell me what happens in real life. What are the errors in this scene? I'm so curious!

[guns4good]

One minor thing is the launch code copy... The real guys have a lot more numbers and letters to copy. But in the interest of making the movie shorter...

[lastardriver]

Then don't. ha ha.

[r32adt3db]

1. IT'S A MOVIE! GET OVER IT!!!

2. You think the military is so forthcoming with information on the scene could be more accurate?

Geez, you'd think by now that people would understand that movies are just that...movies! Get over it!

[PoorSoldierOfChrist]

With humbleness and sincerity I ask you, can we not learn from stories?

[lastardriver]

dude, don't be gay.

[PoorSoldierOfChrist]

Forgive. I do not wish to offend. Jesus Christ guide and forgive us all. Amen.

[lastardriver]

I was kidding! Amen.

[ohzzamma]

What a scene.

"Sin semilla"... The best is how they talk about marijuana just before (what they believe is) WWIII.

[hummtide]

Leo from the west wing!

[trenthouse4life]

This is a great scene. What I really like is the matter of fact way they clock in, like "hey, another day at the office", then almost immediately they get "SKYBIRD, THIS IS DROPKICK..." SHIT!!! Nuclear War!

[clutch0311]

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!

[Zeitgeist74]

Damn! I forgot how powerful that scene was.

[andyman448]

greatest movie in the world!

[moonlitphantasm]

This will sound weird but this was my favorite scene in the movie.

[masterraptor911]

Wow, I always get goose bumps watching that. Thanks to you I can watch that specificly on demand, Thanks. Love this film.

[OOPSIEOOPSIE]

What an amazing scene. Its a great movie.

[neonnudel]

"TURN YOUR KEY, SIR!!!" Always loved that line. And just think, he went on to become Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs. Thanks for uploading this, dgfjgkhk!

[califgirl101]

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! :)

[ChibiGAL]

I'v seen this scene befor good stuff.

[g4tech]

My most fav movie

[prettyshady]

thank you for uppploaddin