Back when this came out (Look no further than the first shot of Jeff Bridges to know how far back in the wayback machine you have to go.) this was pretty damn cool. The first time I saw this was back in the days of my C-64 trying to keep my damn SR-1571 floppy drive from overheating.

As a kid, I remember having fond memories of this movie, and when I to college, a lot of the computer using folks I hung out with seemed to share same memories about the same bits of the film. (That one scene where RAM, Tron, and Jeff Bridges all drink from the "water".)

Unlike E.T., this film is one I looked forward to seeing again after 20 years. When you think about the underpowered machines these computer artist pioneers had to work with 20 years ago, it's downright amazing what they came up with.

The story goes a bit like this. Jeff Bridges is a hotshot computer programmer named Flynn. He's bored one day, and puts together 5 video games on his computer, only to have them stolen by his evil boss Ed Dillinger. (David Warner) Dillinger claims credit of the games, becomes Senior VP, and creates an artifically thinking program called the Master Control Program, or MCP.

Flynn, who has since started running a wildly successful arcade, tries to hack into the MCP so he can claim rightful ownership, and while having it solve a few unsolvable prolems to eat up its clock cycles, it takes control of the latest invention of the team, a way to digitize matter into the computer, and digitizes Flynn right into the machine.

Flynn meets two other programs while he's imprisoned, "RAM", an actuarial program, and "Tron", a program Bruce Boxleitner's character, Alan has written to watch over the MCP, and ensure that the network never becomes "too" secure. (This, I assume, eventually leads to the selection of Bruce being cast as John Sheridan in the Babylon 5 series.)

The three of them break out of the Game Grid, and decide to take out the MCP, which, since this is a Disney movie, they do.

It's funny to hear all the 80s computer jargon being tossed about by the characters, and unlike E.T. nothing appears to be changed from the original released version, everything's just been remastered to ensure for maximum clarity.

As a bit of video game homage, if you watch the radar screen behind Sark right after Flynn busts out of the game grid, you'll see Pac-Man.

Also, an early Michael Dudikoff appearance as "Conscript #2", the beginning of an blossoming career that would end up hitting its peak with the American Ninja series.

The DVD hints at a possible sequel, "Tron Killer App" which may or may not do so well, Tron, however, certainly stands the test of time. Despite being grounbreaking with its use of computer effects, which led to a category in Academy Awards being created, the "hip & with-it" members of the Academy shot down a Tron nomination for "Best Visual Effects" insisting that it was "cheating" by using a computer. Once again, proof that the people who run the Academy are so behind the taste and times, that they are the biggest joke in the industry.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups