The Production GuideScript To Screen: War Games
by Martin Willey
The Production Guide
Koenig fires his gun in the alien control room, causing an escalating series of explosions. Koenig finds Helena, but outside the alien buildings continue to explode. The use of the stock footage of the nuclear explosion was specified in the script, which also suggested other stock footage from Thunderbirds and UFO, and even war footage.
They hear a high-pitched whine as of a flying bomb
approaching. The whine builds to a climax and then
cuts. They cling to each other in fear.
176 EXT. PLANET SURFACE. SFX. 176
A huge nuclear blast whites out the surface.
MONTAGE
INTERCUT
1. VERY CLOSE SHOT. KOENIG and HELENA cling to
each other in terror.
2. SFX SHOTS of the planet surface. Explosions
burst out all over the surface.
3. Stock wartime documentary footage of bombs falling,
aeroplanes being shot down, shells landing. Very
short cuts, some in black and white.
4. Stock science fiction footage (Thunderbirds, UFO)
of futuristic craft crashing, bursting into
flame.
5. The great mushrooming clouds of nuclear explosions.
MIX TO:
EXT. PLANET SURFACE. SFX.
Everything is smoke and devastation. The silence
is total.
177 EXT. SPACE. SFX. 177
The Exodus Eagles still heading towards the Planet.
In the scripts, Act Four ends with Koenig calling the Eagles: "Turn about, Paul. If you're going to die, you might as well die on Alpha.". After the commercial break, we come back to Main Mission, replaying the prologue. As this may have confused viewers, and perhaps TV stations who thought they had swapped reels, the episode Act Four ends after the nuclear explosions. We then resume in the rubble of the alien control centre, where Koenig calls the Eagles. During the shot in the Eagle, there is a ripple dissolve and we return to Main Mission at the start of the episode. The ripple dissolve is the classic film editor's cue that we are going to a flash-back.
The first part of the epilogue plays out pretty much as scripted.
62
184 CONTD.
HELENA
(on TV Screen)
False alarm. You can stand
everyone down.
185 INT. MAIN MISSION. 185
BERGMAN turns in confusion to HELENA and KOENIG
BERGMAN
I don't begin to understand,
John, but does this mean
we can go down to the planet?
KOENIG looks at him, is about to reply when a voice
is heard behind him.
MALE ALIEN (V.O.)
No.
Everyone looks back at the Big Screen.
ON BIG SCREEN
The ALIENS in their undamaged Planet Control Centre.
MALE ALIEN (Cont'd.)
We trust you will stay away.
Because you are so primitive
and unstable, so governed by
emotions like fear, that you
would destroy our perfect
world.
FEMALE ALIEN
The spaceships that appeared to
attack you were created in your
own mind by your own fears.
Our only defence was to make
your fears appeal real.
MALE ALIEN
Alpha is not destroyed. Nor is
our planet. In a moment of time
we have shown you the possible
consequences of decision we
trust you will not take.
The picture on the Screen dies. KOENIG turns to BERGMAN.
CONTINUED:
Landau makes a couple of small line changes here. Helena's line "You can stand everyone down." is crossed and replaced with "Relax everybody" (spoken as "Everybody relax"). The alien's line that "Alpha is not destroyed." is also crossed out, as there is no need to state this.
The final page is significantly changed. Here is the rather abrupt original. Koenig's motivation returns immediately to the survival of the base, asking about the next solar system.
63
185 CONTD.
KOENIG
How far away did you estimate the
next solar system?
HELENA is staring up at the blank screen.
HELENA
It is a beautiful planet.
CUT TO:
END TITLES:
FADE OUT:
THE END
********
This is the final page, amended on 24th October. Koenig expresses that he had "almost forgotten" the experience. Helena remembers "a world without fear". The beautiful planet remark is made more melancholic.
63
185 CONTD.
KOENIG
We can't do it. I'd almost forgotten...
BERGMAN
Forgotten what?
KOENIG
(struggling with memory)
I'm not sure I can remember...
HELENA
I remember. It was something
very beautiful. A world without fear.
CUT TO:
END TITLES:
FADE OUT:
THE END
"WAR GAMES"'
24th October, 1974
Koenig's line "We can't do it." will be dropped. Helena's final line will be shuffled a bit when she speaks it in the episode: "I remember. A world without fear. It was very strange. Beautiful. We've lost it"
Landau added some lines on a blank page, obviously playing with the ending. None of these lines were used, but they suggest Landau wanted to show Koenig feeling more guilt and expressing self-criticism.
That planet could have been the one.
We were aggressive - foolishly aggressive.
Were we? We did nothing-
Right! Nothing....
That planet could have been the answer-
That planet could have held the answer to our problems-
No John. We didn't ask the right questions.
These lines shift the blame from external aggression to the moral failures of the Alphans. As the aliens stated, the humans approached the situation with the "seeds of [their] own destruction" (fear and aggression). There is a sense of lost opportunity and regret, succinctly expressed in Helena's final line in the episode: "We've lost it"
Copyright Martin Willey.