Tron (1982)

You know, there was a time when Disney tried a lot of new things and they often were on the forefront of technology when it came to filming. In a way, they still are, even though they seem to be content in churning out remakes of their classics in a slightly different jacket.

It was not always thus.

Case and point: 'Tron'. On the surface nothing more than a fun adventure romp in the wonderful world of computers and electronics, but there's more here than you might expect. Except storywise. There, it is exactly what you would expect.

With the rise of the home computers and subsequently arcades and home consoles, it only made sense someone do a film about it, so here it is. Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is a brilliant, albeit cocky programmer who got duped by another programmer called Dillinger (David Warner). Dillinger stole Flynn's designs for several videogames and made it out to be his own. Dillinger rose to the top and Flynn was fired. Somewhere in between, Dillinger created the Master Control Program, an AI that quickly becomes so powerful, it's about to hack into the Pentagon and Kremlin, just because it can and it is bored and wants to - wait for it - take over the world. Meanwhile, Flynn, together with his former girlfriend and her new boyfriend, break into Encom (the company) to try and find evidence that Dillinger in fact stole Flynn's designs. But the Master Control Program digitizes Flynn and sucks him into the computer world where he is to compete in gladiatorial games and be destroyed. It is here though that Flynn finds help: Tron, a program that can actually destroy the malignant MCP. But how will Flynn get back and will Tron prevail?

This is a Disney picture: what do you think?

See, the story as such isn't anything special and it is extremely obvious they wanted to jump on the whole computer craze that was very prevalent in the 80s. Maybe nowadays, we have become indifferent (or rather: complacent?) with technological advancements, even though our phones are several hundred times more powerful than the computers used here.

But like I said: you don't watch this film for the story. You watch it for the visuals. See, 'Tron' was the first real attempt to use computer graphics, interwoven with the actors. And it is this look that has given us indelible images burned into our brain. Of course, for today, these effects and visuals look rather primitive, but you cannot deny they still hold a charme that more slick effects do not. It makes 'Tron' stand out and for contrast between the real world and the digital one, this works wonderfully. Also, some of the setpieces are simply cool. There is a reason why the lightcycle race gets referenced so often. You'll understand when you see it. Heck, it is so iconic they tried to replicate it in 'Tron: Legacy', but even though the visuals on that one are better, it doesn't come close to this.

The performances are okay, but nothing special. Jeff Bridges is a little on the goofy side, something which he regularly did before he played The Dude (and then often modelled his performance on that), but the real hero of the story is Tron, played by Bruce Boxleitner. If you don't know this actor: he might be one of the more prolific people on both TV and big screen, even though he doesn't always land the biggest roles. But he has that cool, suave air about him. David Warner in a triple role as Dillinger, the evil program Sark and the voice of the Master Control Program is great to watch as always. He is one of those actors that always seems to enjoy himself, no matter what film he is in (and he has been in a few, let us say, 'questionable' ones).

So is 'Tron' still worth it? Well... If you're a child of the 80s, it's highly likely you'll enjoy this. If you had/have a thing for videogames, you can enjoy it even more. If not, chances are this isn't going to be up your digital alley. You could always see it for historical and nostalgic purposes, though. It is an entertaining film and one that would have stayed in your mind if you had seen it at a young age. But if the aforementioned doesn't do it for you, then you could give this a pass.