★★★★ Watched 03 Mar 2012
ORIGINAL: We watched Tron for the first time last night because we saw the trailer to Tron Legacy, which looks incredibly awesome. I had never seen the first one but was around when the video game hit the arcades. I had tried to play, but I am a dork at video games. Knowing what I know about the video game, the movie used a lot from the game or vice versa.
The movie does not hold up well with the times, but what Sci-Fi movie does. Although other films previous to TRON’s release featured very limited computer graphics special effects (CGI), TRON is generally credited with being the first motion picture to prominently feature this type of special effect & make it integral to the storyline. And this shows during the movie when you keep in mind the technology and the year of the movie. Another thing I found interesting is that they dialog during the movie mentioned things about theories for the future computer world, that were just theories. But today, these are things in our every day life that we take for granted.
As for the storyline, boy was it hard to follow. This explains why it was considered a flop at the movies. Disney always tries to market to teen boys, but always seem to fail. It wasn’t until half way through the movie did I get it, but still there was something lost. Storyline were not explained, characters underdeveloped, and over all… It was a bit boring other than looking pretty and the motorcycles were friggin kickass.
Now, if I would have seen the movie in the 80′s I might have been a fan… but it was a no go for becoming a favorite movie of mine.
UPDATE: Tron is one of those movies that I don’t think anyone REALLY loves. People love the retroness of it, like me, or they think it’s cool for nostalgia sake, or they hate it. No one, I think, will say this is the most awesomest movie every.
The story makes no real sense, it is hard to follow, and just plain non-sense… but it is visually fun, especially looking back at it now. Tron was light years ahead of it’s time in the CGI and when you look at the technical aspect for Disney and an early 80s film, you can’t help but to be impressed.
We just got the blu-ray version of Tron this week and were in awe over how well they cleaned up this movie and now that this is available to everyone, people will stop selling original VHS and laserdiscs for $100+. I don’t know if I will every truly understand Tron no matter how many times I watch it, but I know that I like the movie for what it is… a work of art.
