History can be very quirky business sometimes. As time goes by, nostalgia can create thoughts and memories that were never there in the first place.

Such is the case with Tron. Over the last 22 years, the film's influence has spread far and wide, inspiring everything from raves to album covers. Most would think, 'An influential movie like that must have made a ton of money back in the day.' Even the suits over at Disney aren't immune to this reimagining of history. In the excellent documentary included on Tron's DVD, Disney VP Dick Cook repeats twice that the film did 'very well' at the box office.

Not true, actually. Depending on whom you believe, Tron made anywhere from $27 to $33 million at the U.S. box office back in 1982 (about $60 million today). Not bad, but certainly not the success that Disney sorely needed at the time. So how does a film transcend a mediocre gross and turn into a cult favorite, familiar name and spawn a (video game) sequel 21 years later? Read on...

Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is your typical computer hacker, but one with a purpose. It seems that Flynn used to work at video-game developer Encom, until coworker Ed Dillinger (David Warner) swiped his code for three of the company’s biggest hits. So Flynn’s been trying to get at the code that proves he, not Dillinger, created said games. Problem is, the company’s software, the Master Control System is consistently booting Flynn out of the system.

So he decides to get some help from former coworkers Alan (Bruce Boxleitner) and Lora (Cindy Morgan) to break into Encom one night. While they run interference, Flynn ends up face-to-monitor with the MCP, which promptly digitizes Flynn and tosses him into the electronic world. He finds Alan and Lora’s programs – Tron and Yori – and the three of them try to take down the MCP, while trying to get Flynn back home as well.

While most remember Tron just for the distinctly familiar look, the surprise here is that the movie is still a lot of fun. Jeff Bridges is the source of a lot of it, as he has an absolute blast as Flynn. The rest of the actors fit into their defined roles decently - Bruce Boxleitner’s the honorable warrior, Cindy Morgan’s the love interest, Barnard Hughes is the wise old man (he also is the source of plenty of humor). David Warner hams it up greatly at the villain, as usual. Scenes in the electronic world still have a lot of energy and verve when viewed today, especially the lightcycle race. This covers up for the weak, overly familiar story and quirky music score. Overall, it’s a fun way to kill 90 minutes.

Once again, Disney delivers an excellent 2-disc package, replacing an earlier DVD that was widely regarded as substandard with a wonderful set. Being one of the last films shot in 70mm, seeing Tron in its original aspect ratio is absolutely necessary. After seeing it on dirty, grainy full-frame VHS for years, watching it in 2.20:1 anamorphic widescreen is like comparing night versus day. The night I picked this up, I didn't watch the film, I just forwarded to the lightcycle race. (I don't think I can accurately describe the grin on my face.) Colors in the electronic world are bright and contrast nicely with the drab real world scenes. Being a 70mm release, the film was released with a six-channel audio mix, and that has been remastered very nicely. While I don't yet have a 5.1 surround system, this will probably be one of the first DVDs I watch when I do get one.

Disney has released a full-fledged special edition release before - most of the extras are from the 1995 laserdisc release. While that had mostly vintage video extras and an interesting audio commentary, what was missing was a cohesive documentary. Fast forward seven years, and the folks at Kurtti/Pellerin have done just that. At 90 minutes, 'The Story of Tron' covers the project's beginnings as an independent production at Lisberger Studios to being a hoped-for Disney blockbuster.

Practically every important crew and cast member gets an interview (David Warner was unavailable, as he was shooting Planet of the Apes at the time, but he's the only one missing), and hardly anything related to the CG or animation process goes unsaid. Thankfully, the technicians are never dull, and it's fascinating to see just how much of the film was animated. (I remember getting into an argument with one of my college roommates over the filming process. I'd believed it was mostly CG work. Turns out it was a never-to-be-repeated form of backlight animation.) Those troubles are noted, and so is the challenge of using rare 70mm cameras. Cinematographer Bruce Logan mentions that when they opened the crates containing the cameras for the first time, sand spilled out! It seems that some of the cameras were used on Lawrence of Arabia. And as a treat, the last five minutes show some of CG supervisor Richard Taylor's pre-production artwork for a proposed (presumably shelved at this point) Tron 2.0 sequel. There is a very brief teaser on disc one for the PC game, however...

The rest of the extras are ported over from the laserdisc. There's an audio commentary featuring director Steven Lisberger, producer Donald Kushner, effects supervisor Harrison Ellenshaw and Taylor. While the documentary covers most of the information told here, it's still an engaging listen, although your attention will probably wander if you watch the documentary first. Everything else is on disc two. The most intriguing extra is the inclusion of deleted scenes, complete with an intro by Lisberger and Boxleitner. Nothing really of note was cut – a ‘love scene’ between Tron and Yori, and a modified credit roll. Still, nice to have. Also, Wendy Carlos’ quirky score gets its due. The original music for the end credits and lightcycle sequence is included. While the laserdisc had an isolated score track, the DVD doesn’t. Disney released the score on CD to tie in with the release, however.

The other extras include a slew of production galleries (posters, costumes, storyboards), and snippets from two 1982 television shows detailing the film’s complicated production. Six trailers are included, ranging from the October 1981 ShoWest convention reel and a work-in-progress trailer to three very bland theatrical trailers.

Disney gets plenty of flak for their treatment of non-successful films (witness the treatment of their late-70s films on DVD), but when they’re up for it, there are few studios putting out as many quality sets as the folks at the Disney Studios. Tron stands alongside other sets like Finding Nemo and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as examples of quality Disney DVD work. Recommended.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV