Tron (1982 film)
"Tron" is a 1982 science fiction film produced by the Walt Disney Company, featuring Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a programmer whose video game creations have been stolen by a corporate executive named Dillinger. In his quest to expose the theft, Flynn is digitized by the Master Control Program (MCP) and transported into a digital world where computer programs manifest as individual entities. Flynn teams up with Tron, a heroic program and counterpart to his friend Alan, to battle the MCP, which forces programs to compete in lethal games. While the film is recognized for its innovative visual effects and early use of computer-generated imagery (CGI), it received mixed reviews, with some critics noting a lack of depth in its storyline. Despite a moderate box office performance and initial disappointment from Disney, "Tron" developed a loyal cult following, particularly among the video-game generation. The film's influence extended to future filmmaking techniques and inspired the development of animated series and sequels, including "Tron: Legacy," released in 2010. The franchise's enduring appeal is highlighted by various accolades and commemorative releases, indicating its significance in the evolution of science fiction cinema and digital culture.
Tron (1982 film)
Identification Science-fiction film
Director Steven Lisberger
Date Released July 9, 1982
One of the first feature films extensively to utilize computer-generated imagery, Tron also combined an innovate technique called backlight compositing with footage of live actors, creating a visually exciting virtual computer environment for the big screen. It became a cult classic and spawned a sequel film and animated television series.
Key Figures
Steven Lisberger (1951- ), film director
Released in 1982 by the Walt Disney Company, Tron stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a talented programmer whose video game inventions have been stolen by an unscrupulous corporate executive named Dillinger (David Warner). Flynn asks Alan (Bruce Boxleitner) and Lora (Cindy Morgan), who both work at Dillinger's company Encom, for help in proving the theft, but the sinister Master Control Program (MCP) "digitizes" Flynn and transports him into the virtual computer environment over which it rules.
Disoriented, Flynn is shocked to find that computer programs are not just lines of code, but rather individual alter-egos of the users who create them. Tron, for instance, is Alan's counterpart, a heroic program who defies the MCP in its efforts to wipe out programs' belief in the users. The MCP forces programs to play games to the death in a gladiator-like environment (represented as the "reality" behind computer video games) and intends to make Flynn play on the grid until he dies. However, Flynn, Tron, and another program named Ram escape the grid and mount an assault on the MCP with the help of Yori, Lora's alter-ego program. Ultimately, the good guys destroy the MCP, restoring open communication between programs and their users.
Tron represents one of the earliest attempts visually to portray cyberspace as an inhabitable "virtual reality" somehow located inside and between computers. Written by its director, Steven Lisberger, Tron's plot grew out of the visuals that Lisberger hoped to create, rather than the other way around. Several computer and special-effects companies contributed to the film, and part of the shooting took place at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, lending authenticity to many of the film's "real world" sequences.
Although Tron's story line is somewhat simplistic, the idea of individuals battling against a multinational corporation for free and open access to computer information was popular among audiences. A Tron video arcade game, which included four subgames based on sequences in the film, was introduced in the same year and became quite profitable. Later, video-game film tie-ins would become de rigeur for almost any action or science-fiction film.
Impact
While the film's special effects were acclaimed as groundbreaking, many critics felt that Tron embraced visual style over substance. It was a moderate success at the box office but ultimately was viewed as a failure by Disney. Nevertheless, the film quickly gained a cult following among viewers of the video-game generation. In addition, Tron's relatively extensive use of computer-generated imaging (CGI) hinted at the vast potential for computer technology to be used in filmmaking and helped pave the way for future breakthroughs in this area. Notably, director John Lasseter later credited the film with inspiring his groundbreaking and enormously successful movie Toy Story (1995), the first feature film entirely created with computer animation.
As a cult classic, Tron was the subject of enduring interest over the years. In 2002, a twentieth anniversary collector's edition DVD was released that included extensive features about the making of the movie. The film was included on various lists, including the American Film Institute's 2008 nominations of the top ten science fiction films and the Boston Globe's 2010 ranking of the top twenty cult films. Rumors of a sequel also circulated as early as the 1990s, and the release of a related video game in 2003 generated further speculation. In 2008 a teaser trailer of test footage featuring Bridges and directed by Joseph Kosinski was released, and by the next year the development of a sequel was confirmed.
The resulting film, Tron: Legacy, reached theaters in 2010 and starred Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde along with Bridges and Boxleitner reprising their roles. Kosinski directed while Lisberger served as a producer. The plot concerns Flynn's son entering the grid, where Flynn has been missing for years, and confronting a corrupted version of Clu that has taken over the virtual reality and seeks to conquer the real world as well. Much like the original, the sequel earned mixed reviews, with critics praising the visual design, special effects, and sound—including the soundtrack by the electronic music duo Daft Punk—but mostly criticizing the story, characters, and acting. It also had a relatively underwhelming box-office performance, especially given the considerable hype surrounding its release, and a planned additional sequel was put on indefinite hold. Still, Tron: Legacy was nominated for several awards, most notably an Academy Award for best sound editing. An animated series, set in the world of the grid between the two films, premiered in 2012 and ran for nineteen episodes.
Bibliography
Bankston, Douglas. "Wrap Shot." American Cinematographer 84 (June, 2003): 136.
Bonifer, Michael. The Art of Tron. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982.
Diaz, Jesus. "Tron: Celebrate 30 Years of This Classic Cult Movie." Gizmodo, 9 July 2012, gizmodo.com/tron-celebrate-30-years-of-this-classic-cult-movie-5924594. Accessed 17 May. 2019.
Glass, Fred. "Sign of the Times: The Computer as Character in Tron, War Games, and Superman III." Film Quarterly 38 (Winter, 1984/1985): 16-27.
"Tron (1982)." IMDb, 2019, www.imdb.com/title/tt0084827/. Accessed 17 May. 2019.