"Greetings Program!"
When Tron came out in 1982, it was intended to be a visually stunning parable against the powers of computers and technology. More than twenty years later, the movie plays more like a nostalgic ode to the early 1980s, than a simple good vs. evil morality tale. Tron evokes the heady days when video games like Pac Man, Defender and Centipede ruled the arcades and when everyone owned a Commodore 64 or an Atari 2600 -- the eight track of personal computing.
Writer/director Steven Lisberger creates a flashy, neon-drenched world, a cybernetic version of Social Darwinism where lowly computer programs must participate in gladiatorial battles against the Master Control's ruthless minions. Even though the computer effects look primitive now, back then they were considered ahead of their time. Fortunately, Lisberger has not remastered the special effects with contemporary computer graphics (take note George Lucas). There is a certain clunky charm to the effects that makes Tron all that more...
Don't listen to those other reviews, this is a classic!
I've read so many reviews TRASHING the special effects of Tron and its plot. First of all, it's easy with our modern ILM and digital masterpieces like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, Jurassic Park, etc. to criticize a movie made in 1982 but the bottom line is that the effects, for its time, were amazing!! I remember as a kid watching this movie with my mouth hanging open. I watched it, as a matter of fact, this week, on DVD and it still impresses me.
The key to being thoughtful and critical of movies is to be able to watch them in the context of their time. I could easily watch Star Trek episodes and say, "ha!! Look at that! Since our FX are so much better now days, that series isn't even relevent!!" That's, in a nutshell, what I read one reviewer saying, that the FX of Tron are corney by modern standards to it's irrelevent. Not at all.....
I think the plot, and keep in mind this IS a Disney movie, though simple, is a good one. It deals with a big brother...
Special Edition extras revealed
For the record, ...this 20th Anniversary Tron 2-disc set DOES have plenty of extras, in fact, it sounds like a port of the Masterpiece Edition laser disc set with even more goodies. Here is what is known as of Oct 1, 2001:
* A new 75-minute documentary called, "The Making of Tron"
* Deleted scenes with all- new introductions by writer / director Steven Lisberger and visual effects supervisor Harrison Ellenshaw
* Production photo gallery with new photos from the Disney photo archives
* Audio commentary by director Steven Lisberger, producer Donald Kushner and visual effects supervisors Harrison Ellenshaw and Richard Taylor
* Storyboard to film comparisons
* Extensive still frame galleries
* Pre- production animation tests
* Original Wendy Carlos soundtrack music deleted from the film
* Inspirational designs by design artists Syd Mead, Peter Lloyd and Jean "Moebius" Giraud
* Computer animation design and demo reels
* Original publicity...
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