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When Disney’s TRON first hit theaters in 1982, it wasn’t exactly a box-office hit. Still, it stunned audiences with its ground-breaking graphics—and, by the time I first saw it, years later, it was already a sci-fi cult classic. Now, nearly three decades later, it’s more like a quirky ‘80s movie time capsule, offering glimpses of the technology, the music, and even the lifestyle of the ‘80s.
TRON stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn. Not long ago, Flynn was the most promising young programmer at ENCOM—but then Ed Dillinger (David Warner) stole his ground-breaking video game ideas and fired him. Now, the youthful arcade owner spends his free time hacking into ENCOM’s computer system, looking for the proof that he invented games like Space Paranoids—not Dillinger.
With the help of his good friends, Alan (Bruce Boxleitner) and Lora (Cindy Morgan), Flynn breaks into ENCOM, planning to run a security program that Alan’s designed. Before he can get anywhere, though, ENCOM’s all-powerful Master Control Program uses a laser to digitize him and bring him into the computer’s game grid, where he’s forced to compete in deadly digital gladiator-style games.
Flynn’s only hope of escaping alive is to team up with Alan’s program, Tron (also played by Boxleitner), to try to bring down the Master Control Program for good.
With its cool, colorful computer graphics featuring live characters inhabiting a CGI world, TRON was once totally cutting-edge. Within a matter of years, it was just a little bit hokey. Now, it’s just plain cute.
Though some aspects of the film are still pretty cool (I do still love those light cycles), the simplistic animation, the silly hats, and those iconic light-up costumes look totally 1982—and the mesmerizingly cheesy graphics look like something that my 12-year-old nephew could easily create in his spare time. Still, it’s fun to see how far technology has come in just a few decades—and, for those of us who fondly recall the ‘80s, it’s an entertaining journey back in time.
In the beginning of the film, it’s best just to sit back and enjoy the old-school cheesiness of it all—because it takes a while for the action to pick up. At first, in fact, it’s all a bit confusing—with a bunch of short scenes that seem to be trying (albeit unsuccessfully) to introduce the characters and their world. Just give it time, though—because once you figure out what’s going on, the story is actually somewhat interesting (in a computer-geeky kind of way).
It definitely isn’t a brilliant work of cinema, but TRON is nevertheless a fascinating piece of cinematic history. Today, it feels a little old-fashioned and cheesy, but it also has that nostalgic charm that makes it worth watching (again). Just be warned, though, that after you watch it, you’ll be dying to challenge your kids to a rousing game of Pong.
Blu-ray Review:
Included as a part of the massive five-disc, two-movie Blu-ray release of TRON: Legacy, the original TRON has been restored and enhanced for an all-new Blu-ray edition that will once again remind you just how far filmmaking technology has come in the last 29 years.
This new Blu-ray release is loaded with hours of extras—both old and new—from commentaries and storyboards to a feature-length making-of documentary. There are design features and deleted scenes and a whole lot more. In fact, it’s enough to make any TRON fan totally geek out. Just take it from writer/director Steven Lisberger’s grown son, Carl, who gets to join his dad on a visit to the archives in PhotoTronology (and then proceeds to totally geek out). Of course, you can see many of the images for yourself in the film’s galleries—and, fortunately, unlike poor Carl, you can do so in the comfort of your own home, without a team of camera guys to capture your geekiness and release it for public consumption.
