Tron
Rating: 4.5/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
The world of computers and computer companies has always been complex, and perhaps corrupt. People screw over others to get ahead in the world, hoping they can develop such complex machines and systems that the world will rely on one day. This is the setup for Tron, the revolutionary 1982 film from Steven Lisberger. This now iconic movie simply stepped-up the game for films using special effects, being one of the first pictures to use the now-popular CGI. Not only are the visuals great and the story is fast-paced, but the movie here sparked a revolutionizing idea of Tron and the Grid that has left fans wanting more and more.
The movie is centered around Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a talented computer engineer that was cast out by the company ENCOM when now-executive Ed Dillinger (David Warner) took credit for the work Flynn did. Therefore, along with the help of his friends Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) and Lora Baines (Cindy Morgan), he is able to hack into ENCOM to try and prove that Dillinger has stolen his work. However, he is accidentally transported into the digital world of Tron, where he find he must team up with Tron and Yori to take on Dillinger's computerized likeness, Sark, and the Master Control Program who is holding the programs hostage.
Perhaps the most important and iconic thing here is the visuals and the special effects the filmmakers were able to craft. This movie uses CGI very heavily, putting Flynn into the digitalized world for about half of the runtime, forcing him to try and stop Sark and the Master Control Program. From the way the Grid is set up to the costumes to the lighting and special effects, this movie does a wonderful job of crafting this digitalized world that moviegoers could only dream of when this movie came out. Sure, it may not hold up that well over time (consider how the Discs for the programs just look like over-glorified frisbees), but for this being one of the first fully-CGI films, it is an incredible feat they accomplished for the art form of cinema.
The story here easily keeps the audience entertained, and we bounce around different action-packed events. From the inclusion of dangerous games to the iconic light-cycle racing. This movie practically put a human into an arcade video game, practically living out the dreams of video games fans. It's awesome being able to see this story play out of what if someone got transported into a video game, and they set up the internal conflict so well. The antagonists of Sark and Dillinger show the threats that exist in both the real world and highly-advanced A.I., how it can affect us as humans. Even though this story does work on such a great level in setting up the antagonist and problem of the story, I feel like the movie does lull at times, trying to find what to fill in between action sequences and the climax.
Bridges, Warner, Boxleitner, and Morgan all do such a great job from beginning to end. Besides Bridges, the other actors here have to take on dual roles, which I think is so fun to watch these characters in both the real world and the video game world. They embody these roles and this story so seamlessly, and I honestly didn't know Warner played both Dillinger and Sark until recently. He is able to beautifully disguise himself into these roles that makes you appreciate his performances so much more when you learn what he can really do.
Tron was simply ahead of its time, proving that all things could be possible in a film. We see here perhaps one of the first times live-action characters are placed into a heavily digital-dominant world, one that proves that the opportunities to tell unique and engaging stories are unlimited. Lisberger's film not only revolutionizes the way filmmakers were able to tell their own unique stories, but it provided us with the Grid and these dazzling characters that would be capitalized on in a later installment. It makes me wonder if Lisberger knew the scope of how he was changing the cinematic landscape when crafting this picture.
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