I’d never thought about it before and my immediate reaction was somewhere between wtf and lol, but thinking about it more, I guess I can sort of see the basis for an argument that they are, since at least some of the expected basic themes are there.

But I don’t think that’s enough. Cyberpunk isn’t just centered around computers and technology - it’s an aesthetic, and WarGames and Sneakers don’t have even the tiniest hint of that aesthetic.

To reach back to the roots of the word “cyberpunk,” I think it’s more accurate to say that WarGames and Sneakers are “cyberpop” or maybe even “cyber-easy-listening.”

I consider them to be techno-thrillers.

One of the few useful conversations I ever had with a modern LLM was thinking through the difference between a cyberpunk story and a techno-thriller.

• Techno-thrillers take place in the current day (at time of writing), while cyberpunk stories take place in the near future
• Cyberpunk stories involve an overt dystopia usually involving corporations that control the government, while techno-thrillers involve the morality of our modern world (which may involve conspiracies related to corporations and government, but these tend to be more realistic, e.g. “ripped from the headlines” in techno-thrillers as opposed to more sci-fi as in cyberpunk.)
• Techno-thrillers usually focus on one technology and the danger that it poses to the modern world; usually this danger is neutralized by the end of the story. The technology is something that could be created within the next couple years or so (or may even exist in prototype, at time of writing.) Cyberpunk stories usually involve several different types of technology as they would exist several decades from time of writing, such as AI, VR, robotics, nanotech, space flight, etc.

There were a couple other points. But you can see how the two movies in question check those boxes.

• Modern day at time of writing (not near future),
• government is kind of the bad guy but things are cleared up by the end (not full dystopia),
• focus on the dangers posed by a single near-generation technology (as opposed to several future-generation technologies.)

But this is a great question to debate with your friends!

Cyberpunk tropes are, very simplified, an antihero who commits crime while working towards a morally grey personal goal. The crimes are against an overwhelming power, a corporation or government with seemingly endless resources and no morals. The hero uses subterfuge where needed, grace when possible, and force any other time. A specific aesthetic of neon, chrome, and bold RGB glow hide the vacuous morality of brutal hierarchy, with shareholders and board members above all - our hero is none of that, their chrome hiding a heart of gold. 4/4 on a 404 is the heart beat of the city.

War Games comes close. The hero committed some crime that looks like a plan, which triggers a response from an overwhelming force. The hero didn’t use force but did hack and charm their way into key locations, like meeting Dr Falken. It feels like a cyberpunk movie but the lack of intention by the hero makes it feel like proto-cyberpunk. The flannel and tweed are wildly out of place with the expected fashion but the tech is cassette futurist. No memorable music to speak to.

Sneakers check most of those boxes. A fugitive, on the run for Robin hood style theft and wire fraud, find themself in the middle of a power play between private and public interests. The tech in question is the ultimate hacking McGuffin and the hacker hero is one of the only people who can use it to make things right. A mix of hacking and riz get used throughout and fan service is given to novel hacking like phreaking and tone identification. Each step of the way the heroes demonstrated an intention and execution that made them a tight knit group of elite freelance operatives. The fashion was lacking, like War Games, with a less overall cohesive aesthetic that is boiled down to wind breakers vs sport coats. The music was also not close to genre expectations.

Sneakers is probably best described as a cassette futurist take on the approaching cyberpunk trends. The answering machine/voice service is a subtle clue that shows the change between localized analog to remote digital services. It’s the hand off into cyberpunk - so it doesn’t look like it or have the aesthetic, but it solidly hits the main tropes.

Interesting that you want to address these two together, since Sneakers was literally created by the writers of WarGames while that movie was in pre-production.

WarGames is not cyberpunk, because it is not punk. The Dead Code tries for ‘early cyberpunk’ or ‘proto-cyberpunk’ aesthetics (and the PC RTS game is cyber-dystopian - right down to including an actual virus on the first CD versions!). I get the same feelings from Dead Code as I do from the works that inspired cyberpunk, because it is about high-skill high-tech low-lives being forced into saving the world. In the first WarGames, the mood is too cheery, the personal dangers are too slight, there’s no personal plots. Frankly, Lightman is middle class - that makes him ineligible.

Sneakers though is a tough one to decide. To borrow a term from evolutionary biology, I’d say that Sneakers is ‘stem cyberpunk’. It’s definitely related, and the things that evolved out of it are cyberpunk. But it’s ancestral to the genre, or a close relative of an ancestor without quite reaching the way we interpret the group. Computers as problem and solution, lowlife crew of specialists with criminal backgrounds and complications, even the deep hatred for 1980s Republican policies. There’s meat on that bone to be sure, but it wants to be a techno-thriller.

But there’s another movie I almost always mention in the same breath with Sneakers. I’ll leave you with three words from it: HACK THE PLANET!

Yes with a however…

Gibson-esque cyberpunk no. But Wargames 80s proto cyberpunk yes. Sneakers has that early 90s version.

They were not looking to explore the depths of cyberpunk; but showing the unwashed masses that the computers and the geeks who use them are out there. They both do a great job in showing that those computer things like any tool could have a negative use Trying to explain that to Bob from Iowa you’ve got to go slow and use small words. Not because Bob is stupid rather because Bob has no idea about any of it.

Today you’d assume that people know about the internet and that computers talk to each other.

I’d go with a proto cyberpunk/ mass market intro cyber label

I always want to call media mainly about hackers ‘cypherpunk’

Sure they contain hacking… but they aren’t quite futuristic, even for their time.

I’d say “yes”, but more in the sense of a prequel or precursor to a cyberpunk setting.

Cyberpunk requires, and neither of these movies has,

• cyberspace
• body mods