Ah, the eighties - it was a different time back then. Video games had taken off like nobodies business and The Computer was this strange, mysterious device that nobody understood except for a tiny group of select wizards performing their bizarre alchemy deep in dark secluded basements. Take the trailer for Tron, which featured a camera slowly panning over a mainframe with spooky dark shadows while deep-voiced narrator spoke ominously about the wonders and dangers of technology. Of course twenty years on now, Tron is less a parable of integration of human and computers, ubiquitous access to information and corporate greed and more a nostalgic nod to the days when Defender, Asteroids and the Atari 2600 ruled the roost.

Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is a young hot-shot computer programmer, the lead developer behind the smash arcade game "Space Paranoids". Or at least he was until he was fired from his post at ENCOM by corporate big wig Ed Dillinger (David Warner). To make matters worse, Dillinger stole Space Paranoids (and several other games) out from under Flynn and has developed them into wildly successful and popular games.

Ah - how quaint. Today no developers have rights to their games, and that any developed IP remains the property of the game studio after termination. Sorry Flynn, you just got screwed by the system two decades early.

Anyway, Flynn enlists the help of two friends still with ENCOM, Alan (Captain Sheridan himself, Bruce Boxleitner) and Lora (Cindy Morgan), to help him break into ENCOM and uncover evidence of Dillinger's treachery. However, half way through the break-in, the tyrannical Master Control discovers what Flynn is doing. To keep him from uncovering the truth, the MPC uses a high tech digitizing laser to zap Flynn and transport him into cyberspace

From then on, the digitized Flynn takes up the Spartacus roll, forced by the MCP to play against other programs (including - strangely enough - Peter Jurasik in a brief roll, thereby teaming up Londo and Sheridan 10 years before Babylon 5) and fight for his freedom before meeting Tron (who looks like real life Alan). The pair break out of the arena and set out for the I/O tower to contact the outside world. Of course the MPC and the evil warlord Sark wont just idly sit by and make things easy for the two programs. . . .

Tron is a hard movie to quantify, because its got so much going for it and yet has so much working against it at the same time. The visual effects were cutting edge technology for the time. The action is awesome, with really memorable - excuse the choice of words here - bits, like the iconic light cycles and deadly discs arena. On the other hand, the computer terminology is used in some really nonsensical ways and sticks out to our computer-speak savvy ears twenty years on. And then of course the plot is nothing original, your typical band of underdog heroes attempting to overthrow an all-powerful evil warlord.

And yes, the special effects are dated, but you have to remember that we're talking about the early, early days of computer animation. And most of the effects still hold up well to this day, with some well designed, memorable visuals - thanks mainly to renowned French comic book artist Jean Giraud (aka Moebius), who served as the main set and costume designer for the movie.

Surprisingly, Tron contains considerably less computer-generated imagery than you might imagine. Only fifteen minutes or so of actual animation was created - mainly the light cycles, the tanks and the solar sailor. The remainder of the funky neon look was created through traditional animation techniques where the live action was filmed in black-and-white on a black set and then colorized and rotoscoped in later by hand. It was really difficult and expensive, but the end result is totally worth it.

Another thing that still works is the score. Wendy Carlos (the composer for A Clockwork Orange and The Shining) and her memorable Moog synthesizer-laden soundtrack fits the techno feel of the movie perfectly. Interestingly enough it's the soundtrack that reinforces the religious overtones of the script. Towards the beginning of the movie, Sark then informs the new batch of gladiators that they can either renounce their belief in the Users and join the MCP, or they can fight to the death in the arenas - which is about as far as the allegories of religious persecution goes. But when Tron enters the I/O tower, Carlos' uses choirs and angelic to give the film a spiritual, almost magical underscore. It's very daring for what is in essence a Disney kids movie.

While the characters are a bit flat (the script could have used more time in Meatspace setting up the story) and the dialogue is clunky, at least the acting saves the day. Jeff Bridges really sells the surreal computer world, managing to connect us to Flynn emotionally. Bruce Boxleitner is rough compared to later in his career and his time on Babylon 5, but he's got that rugged quality to flesh out (so to speak) the titular hero. And while David Warner gets to do his best Darth Vader, not getting to do much more than stomping around the control room and growling, he chews up the scenery with the best of them. It's not a meaty roll, but it does have a lot of ham.

Despite all this hard work and vision that went into the movie, Tron was ultimately a flop. Audiences didn’t get it and stayed away from the film droves while the critics of the day ripped it apart. So bad was the reaction that the Disney stock dropped two dollars upon release. However, Steven Lisberger’s film has evolved over the years, growing from a forgotten release in 1982 to a film with sizable cult following. It seems that Tron was just too ahead of it's time. . . .

THE DVD -
Lisberger's decision to shoot Tron in 65mm may have been an extra unnecessary expense back in the eighties, but it works to the film's benefit 20 years on - this thing looks amazing. The anamorphic transfer makes the movie look like it was shot yesterday, with sharp, crisp visuals. The vivid neon colors are strong and solid and look gorgeous on all levels. Disney has remixed the sound in 5.1, but it still sounds like a two decade mono track - it does the job, but it's not an immersive surround sound.

THE EXTRAS -
For a flop, we get an impressive assortment of extras and bonus features. Some of these were recycled from the early 90's laserdisc release (the commentary track mentions the format a couple of times), but since the odds are that you didn't have the LD, I'm willing to forgive.

We start off on disc one with a commentary with Lisberger, producers Donald Kushner and Harrison Ellenshaw, and special effects guru, Richard Taylor. It's a little bit technical heavy, getting into the nuts and bolts of shooting, how Dillinger's touch screen desk was done (it was all smoke and mirrors, quite literarily) and so on. It's a good track, but not quite as informit9ive as one might have hoped. Fortunately there's the documentary.

The centerpiece of disc two is the comprehensive 90-minute documentary that manages to cover just about every aspect of the flick. There's interviews with the nearly the entire cast and crew (save for David Warner) and ever step of preproduction, the struggles of shooting and Tron's eventual release is covered.

Right there, Disney could have slapped on some trailers, included the documentary and commentary and called it a pretty good Special Edition. But instead Disney went far above and beyond the call of duty for a "flop", really serving it up for the fans. We get more interviews, early concept art, the original reel that Lisberger used to pitch the film to Disney, a clip from a 1982 PBS special Computers Are People Too, two deleted music tracks that was suppose to go with the Lightcycles and over the end credits, a storyboard-to-film comparison of the lightcycles, extensive photo galleries, four theatrical trailers, a work-in-progress demo reel with unfinished special effects, posters advertising art and merchandising galleries and six deleted scenes.

Whew.

THE BOTTOM LINE -
Is Tron a good movie or a bad one? Actually, it's both. But regardless if it's good, bad or otherwise, Tron was - and still is - one hell of a cool flick!


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12