Terminal Entry
Encyclopedia
Terminal Entry is a 1986 science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 written by Mark Sobel, and directed by John Kincade.

Plot

The film room briefly where Lady Electric shares with Bob her measurements. After being chased down another corridor and into an elevator where they both fall to their deaths Bob snaps out of his daydream at the last second. When he comes to, he finds his friends have lost the game in the same fashion. Later, when selecting another game to play on the "Outlaw BBS
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...

", they chose one called "Terminal Entry", however, this one is password protected. Thinking that the game was set up by members at MIT, Tom decides that he will crack the password and play it during a vacation planned up in the mountains for the weekend.

Colonel Styles and Captain Jackson inform General Stewart of the terrorist situation and request more men to help protect the border over a video conference. But the general is not convinced, so he decides to fly out and take command personally. The terrorist network commander watches a news cast on the television where General Stewart being interviewed by Dominique, the reporter who is also the love interest of Captain Jackson, and decides to place a hit on the general. But the plan was circumvented by Captain Jackson while escorting the general to his hotel.

Back at the dorm room, thinking they have been beaten again, the Caltech students just about give up on their game "Dr. Fly", when Gwen, a friend of Chris who was invited to the weekend retreat, beats the game with a single command. Meanwhile, the terrorist commander is reminded by his leader over another video conference the stakes of their operation and is given an initiation time frame for their coordinated attack. The Army unit makes progress in finding the communication network for the terrorist by locating the bulletin board system after searching through known listings. When they find the terrorist network they pose as Hassan, the terrorist they killed earlier, but Dan Jackson was distraught about being given the order to have his girlfriend Dominique assassinated.

During the weekend getaway, the teenage "hackers
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...

" fail to gain access to "Terminal Entry" through brute force password cracking, however when Bob drops one of his Twinkies on the keyboard, he enters the numbers "5.9.125.35 1/5.25.35" which was the same numbers as the measurements Lady Electric from the beginning of the movie had said to him. Upon gaining access, the group find a complex computer program which they think is a game.

The Army anti-terrorism unit tracks down the position of the terrorist command post, and initiate an assault on the location which is a warehouse in the middle of the desert. Before the commander escapes, he assigns the six students to take over command. When the students start playing the game, the commands they issue in play erupt in real life bombings, assassinations, and acts of terrorism. Some of which include a Russian peace delegate, an oil refinery in Los Angeles, airplanes flying in from Lisbon, and themselves.

Bob, not knowing the full impact of their influence, put the six of them on the hit list. Operator 23 was already dispatched before they could countermand the assignment. Coincidentally their car wouldn't start, so Bob leads the group back into the house to arm themselves. When night fell, a large group of terrorists descended upon the house. However, the anti-terrorist unit was one step ahead of the terrorists, and rescued the kids from their impending doom, then proceeded to eradicate the terrorist threat. During the fighting, Bob coaxed by his imagination, the voice in his head of Lady Electric, told him to go back inside to put his initials into the computer as the winner. At the end, even with the terrorists defeated, and the kids safe, Captain Jackson and Colonel Styles know the war is not over.

See also

  • Door Games
    BBS door
    A door is a computer program, on a bulletin board system, that runs outside of the main bulletin board program. Sometimes called external programs, doors are the most common way to add games, utilities, and other extensions to BBSes. From the 1990s on, most BBS software had the capability to...

  • The Manhattan Project
    Manhattan Project (film)
    The Manhattan Project is an American film, released in 1986. Named after the World War II-era program, the plot revolves around a gifted high school student who decides to construct a nuclear bomb for a national science fair. The film's underlying theme involves the Cold War of the 1980s when...

    , and WarGames
    WarGames
    WarGames is a 1983 American Cold War suspense/science-fiction film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film stars Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy....

    , two other movies from the 1980's which covered similar topics dealing with the dangers of technology.
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