Tron (1982) Revisited
As a child, I never watched Tron, at least not that I can remember. My only real exposure to it was the VHS box that was slowly being sun-bleached in the video store I worked at as a teen. It never occurred to me to watch it because being a child of the 90s, the costumes and premise didn’t jive with the loud, “extreme” trends of the time. Tron was always that surprising movie Disney made that I loved to ignore. In more recent years I had seen very small bits and pieces of the movie on cable and they did not change my mind. The absurdity of the setting and unimaginably outdated graphics didn’t sit well with my lack of patience…then Tron Legacy was announced.
After seeing the first trailer for Legacy, I decided that I could dedicate 90 minutes of my time to see the original, no matter how ugly it may be. If you’ve never seen Tron, I’m not going to spoil anything for you, but I suggest you see it first if you plan on seeing Legacy. Jeff Bridges plays a genius game programmer (Kevin Flynn) that has many of his programs stolen by a co-worker. That co-worker uses them to make millions and takes over the company for which they work. Flynn gets fired and spends his days managing an arcade. This plot already sounds dated. The scene in the arcade is reminiscent of a time when arcades mattered and the idea that one man can create a million dollar game is almost unheard of now. Flynn and his programmer friends sneak into the company’s headquarters in an attempt to expose the fraud that the company is built upon. In the process, Flynn gets laser-sucked into computer-land.
Ok, that’s the point where Tron could lose the average person, especially in 1982. With most Americans having little to no experience using a PC and the script being heavy with tech jargon, I see Tron as possibly being the Matrix of its time, in that ignorant viewers may become extremely confused very quickly. We’ll explorer that further a bit later. Flynn adjusts to his new environment pretty quickly and the adventure kicks into gear there. Flynn’s buddy’s from the real world are in the computer world as well, but they are represented by programs written by the two characters. This aspect of the movie feels a bit like the Wizard of Oz.
The most appealing thing about Tron is the acting. The entire cast is stellar at putting up with the absurdity of the story and design. I’m sure things looked very different to them on set and they must have had faith in the director and producer to make them look cool despite the inability to see the final product. Now a days that’s easy to do, but in 1982 telling an actor to stand in a series of rings and act as if the 3rd ring just disappeared, was probably a tough request.
Jeff Bridges is the obvious stand out here. The entire movie he’s doing his best Han Solo impression, but that’s ok, because he can pull it off. Much of the movie feels like the product of a post-Star Wars Hollywood. Its almost like they were looking for an analog to space travel that could have the same appeal but a vastly different setting, much like what Star Trek did to Westerns in the 60s.
The scenes outside of the computer world have aged much better than the CG scenes, so its best to view Tron as a period piece that happened to be developed and released in the period in which it was set. Released 13 years before Toy Story, Tron is heavily stylized by using several different film and computer techniques. Things as simple as green screen work to hand drawn animation to black and white contrast adjustment to primitive vector CGI graphics, the producers pulled out all the stops making Tron a bizarre and unique experience.
As for the story, its not much to write home about. It mirrors plot frameworks seen before in works like 1984 and the aforementioned Star Wars. Also, as I mentioned, its a lot like the Matrix. I know the Matrix came after Tron, but to give you youngsters a point of reference, Jeff Bridges’ character is Tron’s Neo and the Matrix is the computer world in Tron. Much like Neo, Flynn’s responsibility to the story and characters is very Jesus-like. The Wachowski Bros may not list Tron as influential, but the parallels are there.
So, is Tron good? It depends…if you have a low tolerance 80s graphical tomfoolery or you can’t look past the questionable wardrobe choices made by the production designers, then you may want to steer clear. It definitely plays better from start to finish. By slowly dipping you into the Tron world, you don’t feel as silly watching it as you would picking it up half-way through the lightcycle sequence. Its one of the most interesting movies I’ve ever seen and the combination of unothodox setting and top-notch performances within that setting adds a charm to what could have easily been a campy an unwatchable mess.
If you like what you see in the Tron Legacy trailers and are interested, give the original chance if to only familiarize yourself with the story and Jeff’s Bridges’ awesomeness.
P.S. I noticed during the credits that some of them are actually listed in vertical chinese characters…that’s effin’ crazy!
