We have hit the official ending for the Summer of 1982 festival but MC Zack did give everybody some hope, the people who own Blade Runner may finally capitulate on allowing Alamo to show the beloved Philip K Dick adaptation. Fingers crossed!
I also “reviewed” TRON five years ago when the movie turned 25. That was watched on our TV via a DVD over a couple viewings, I probably fell asleep at least once and had to pick up where I left off. Besides, the point was to see all these well-loved films on the big screen. Any model of television can’t reproduce everything the creators intended for the theater audience. Let me throw in another confession. The Alamo screening was my third time seeing TRON in such a venue. The first was 1982 for my 14th birthday, a little celebration with friends. The second was at the Alamo’s original 4th and Colorado location. It was a midnight showing about 10 years ago and I nodded off halfway through. I’m no longer the night owl I used to be in the my teens and early twenties.
Despite my early bedtime issues, TRON is a significant movie for a few reasons:
- It was the first mainstream film to heavily utilize computer-generated graphics. This paved the way for The Last Starfighter, the Dire Straits video “Money for Nothing,” Reboot and Babylon 5.
- Although the technology is relatively crude, TRON showed the potential for computers being used in animation. A young Disney animator named John Lasseter took note. (This is based upon his interview in the Pixar documentary.)
- The characters, equipment and concepts have fueled scores of jokes seen in numerous other animated shows: The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Robot Chicken and Futurama are only the tip of the iceberg.
- TRON‘s soundtrack/score was composed/performed by Wendy Carlos. A rather unusual choice for Disney since the company often worries about the opinions of conservative audiences.
Alamo mostly stuck with the same stuff they showed a couple years ago when TRON: Legacy was in theaters: old Scooter Computer & Mr. Chips, some news piece about programmers, Alan Alda shilling for Atari, a Centipede commercial and a couple for Activision. The ad starring the Tubes to promote Megamania remains timeless! Did anyone really buy Megaforce to play on their consoles? The Simpsons Treehouse bit, a horrible fan film and the legendary Pointer Sisters performance at Disney Land.
MC Zack and his buddy hit the stage dressed as Mario & Luigi. They gave the news I mentioned earlier. Then they talked about the movie’s history, the actors and its impact. The bad news entailed a warning regarding the print’s condition…a previous theater damaged it (mostly around the reels’ heads and tails). There was an upside, we would be one of several audiences getting to watch TRON for the last time in the 35 mm format. Disney will only distribute it digitally afterwards.
The mood-setting trailers were excellent: The Last Starfighter and The Wizard. The former was the next movie to showcase computer graphics as an option for special effects; I recall the argument about how this would eventually be cheaper than traditional models. The latter capitalized on Fred Savage’s popularity and was a 90-minute Nintendo infomercial.
How is TRON 30 years later? It succeeds better on a large screen than a smaller one. The technological terms are dated and prone to ridicule by today’s savvier audiences (micro units are associated with dinosaurs in light of giga/tera units) yet more accurate than later fare such as The Net or Wargames. Jeff Bridges, David Warner, Barnard Hughes, Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan’s acting kept it grounded. I feel Disney wanted their 1982 Summer cornerstone to be taken seriously through the casting choices. Jeff Bridges’ CLU was oddly stiff but I think this was intentional. The light-cycle sequence continues to be my favorite feature in a theater; it’s not the same on TV.
Ratings:
1982 (14-year old me): A-. My tastes in Sci-Fi then were pretty unsophisticated then and I was already sold weeks earlier through the videogame at my local Aladdin’s Castle. The TV special starring half the cast from Mr. Merlin (Barnard Hughes starred in this too) certainly helped make the case. I did walk out slightly disappointed over how the connection between the game and film was rather tenuous. More light-cycle battles could’ve knocked off the minus on the grade. I remember Dad deconstructing it, nitpicking because he was a systems analyst.
2012: B+. TRON‘s potential is much more visible today. Thirty years ago, the computer graphics felt like a gimmick. Today they’re the norm. The acting preserved the film from additional mocking too. Every time I watch Star Wars, some scenes make me wince due to the delivery from the “unknown” actors. With TRON, Bridges, Hughes and Warner give solid performances in the “real world” that could be shown in any genre; inside the system, they manage better than most. The lower grade I designated is over how threadbare the story is.
TRON‘s life lessons as per other 1982 features:
- Computers are just machines, humans still matter and can defeat them due to our unpredictable, instinctive nature
- People’s creations tend to have elements of their creator’s “DNA” present. The easiest example I know is music, especially with a songwriter. You can often tell who wrote a piece even when another person performs it. The movie took an avatar route, people just didn’t use that word then
- A disgruntled ex-employee is the biggest threat to a private (or semi-public) system’s security