TRON

[thomasallencummins]

Back in 1982 (the year I graduated High School) I was working at a small theme park (Malibu Grand Prix / Castle Golf & Games) that featured not one but two game rooms. My primary assignment was game room attendant. Even if I didn't have that job I would have spent every extra moment I had around video games anyway. When TRON was released I watched the film in awe that Disney would have gone through all that trouble to create a feature film just for me. My interest in computers was still years away but so much of the film was centered around Vid games that I had an immediate attraction to it. Sure there was the familiar battle of good versus evil, freedom versus oppression, righteousness versus tyranny that was played out within the confines of the digital world, cleverly envisioned within a computer system. The depiction of that world was amazing to me. The special effects were justifiably award winning. But I think at the core of TRON is the character named Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges, that really made the movie fun for me. Flynn was a computer programmer and game developer that is digitized down and forced into the virtual computer world to help the program TRON defeat the evil Master Control Program and his henchman Sark. In 1982 I loved the film and also loved the arcade game that was released about the same time. I own the special edition dvd of TRON that is packed with special features explaining just about everything that went into the film's creation. Though many years have passed and computer technology has advanced far beyond what existed at the time TRON was created, I remain an ardent fan and hope a sequel is in the offing at some point in the future.

www.tron-sector.com/

[Avatar]

A sequel, or a re-make, would be awesome with todays sfx. What a great idea. I was 5 when it came out. ;D I vaguely remember it. I did see it a few years later, but only once. All that really left an impression were the effects. I should find it again.

--A

[prorider514]

yeah its pretty cool, they feature it as a level in Kingdom Hearts II, I think they got the same actors to do the voices too

[ram]

There were two movies that summed up the future-tech "vibe" of the early 80's for me. One of them was Blade Runner. The other was Tron. Both were met with either apathy or outright hostility by the general public and film critics alike the first time around. But now we see how prescient these two films were. In a sense, we today in our globally connected, overcrowded, 24/7, accelerated hi-tech existence are living out what Tron promised and what Blade Runner (perhaps) warned against. In terms of mood and attitude, Tron was for the most part idealistic and optimistic about the future - the opposite of Blade Runner.

Sometimes it just takes time for the work of visionaries to be fully appreciated.

Tron was REALLY something fresh and new. It depicted a world that literally had not been seen before. It offered dizzying camera moves and extreme perspectives that would not have been possible in a "real" setting. The startling hugeness, inventiveness and kaleidoscopic colours of Tron's visuals either delighted and entranced you...or had you shaking your head in confusion as you walked out of the theatre. Jeff Bridges in the DVD interview said that "Tron stands alone." And Tron remains a unique achievement - its style is all its own.

Maybe Tron signalled some kind of generational divide - both at the movies and in society. Tron heralded the rise of the modern "computer geek" - and honestly, they - we - have never looked back. And Jeff Bridges's Flynn was the guy who spoke and fought for us.

Yet in strict movie storytelling terms, Tron was "traditional" in the best sense of the word. It told its story simply and efficiently. I don't think Steven Lisberger has been given enough credit for how well he directed Tron. This was a movie that could've been an incoherent mess, but Lisberger really had the vision to make it all work. Thematically, visually, dramatically, Tron worked marvelously well.

There is depth to Tron, it offers things to contemplate beyond the basic good guys vs. bad guys plot. It makes you think about the nature of the physical world around us and of the human soul, as when Flynn gets zapped and "translated" to the macro world. Can a human soul really be represented by 0's and 1's? Sure, you just need a REALLY powerful computer! Considering how much sheer data the human body itself represents, it's amazing that Flynn didn't simply overload the whole system when the MCP digitized him. Anyway, it's a lot of fun seeing Flynn flex his "user powers" while in the virtual realm - and that's a whole Messiah/Superman thing going on, too...

When Sark makes his big speech to the newly "appropriated" programs about how they should renounce their heretical belief in the Users and instead become warriors for the MCP...well, that's a nice little commentary on religious hypocrisy.

And you can't forget the music of Tron. Wendy Carlos's electronic score for the film was a tour-de-force. By turns whimsical, wistful, reverent and discordant, Carlos's music was as much a vital part of Tron as the visuals in telling the story.

That's enough for now, better recharge my circuits before I completely de-rez...

[Avatar]

Great post. ;D

--A

[ram]

Thanks! Kept talking about Flynn, but didn't mention Tron. Duh. Alan/Tron was really the computer geek/warrior in the movie, Flynn was more the outside rebel. Tron was all square and noble - sorta the Aragorn of the story.

And Dillinger/Sark...was David Warner absolutely AWESOME or what? Tall, cold and menacing, Warner ruled.

Also want to add, I'd be nervous about any sequel to Tron unless Steve Lisberger was in charge. Tron was his baby, he knows that world. Just as important, he knows how to make it work on film. You can't just throw away that kind of experience. The trials and tribulation Lisberger went through to make Tron make him the filmmaker best equipped to handle a sequel.

[thomasallencummins]

ram said:

Thanks! Kept talking about Flynn, but didn't mention Tron. Duh. Alan/Tron was really the computer geek/warrior in the movie, Flynn was more the outside rebel. Tron was all square and noble - sorta the Aragorn of the story.

And Dillinger/Sark...was David Warner absolutely AWESOME or what? Tall, cold and menacing, Warner ruled.

Also want to add, I'd be nervous about any sequel to Tron unless Steve Lisberger was in charge. Tron was his baby, he knows that world. Just as important, he knows how to make it work on film. You can't just throw away that kind of experience. The trials and tribulation Lisberger went through to make Tron make him the filmmaker best equipped to handle a sequel.

Though I didn't identify with Alan/Tron as much as I did Flynn, the character was well played by Bruce Boxleitner.
David Warner is one of my favorite actors and as Dillinger/Sark he was terrific. He stole every scene he appeared in.

A couple of things of note, I loved and have quoted many times the exchange between Dillinger and the MCP "Wait a minute, I wrote you. "
"I've gotten 2415 times smarter since then."
And until recently I didn't notice that the guy asking for some of Alan's popcorn is also the character Ram.
;D

[ram]

atomic said:

...until recently I didn't notice that the guy asking for some of Alan's popcorn is also the character Ram.
;D

Wow. That could explain why my character didn't last long...that User did a sloppy job on my code cuz he was too distracted by popcorn...

[thomasallencummins]

Jun 7, 2007 13:31:41 GMT -5 ram said:

atomic said:

...until recently I didn't notice that the guy asking for some of Alan's popcorn is also the character Ram.
;D

Wow. That could explain why my character didn't last long...that User did a sloppy job on my code cuz he was too distracted by popcorn...

Considering how Microsoft Operating systems seem to function I'm guessing their entire staff of software engineers must munch popcorn constantly.

[ram]

I wonder what Mac OS people munch on. Don't say apples!

[thomasallencummins]

May 13, 2008 0:23:46 GMT -5 ram said:

I wonder what Mac OS people munch on. Don't say apples!

Plantain chips?