Review of Tron (1982) by Joseph S — 01 Oct 2011

This was one of the first films make extensive use of computer animation and is generally considered a milestone in the use of special effects and rightfully so. Even though the effects are primitive and look bad by today's standards, they have a charm to them that makes them impressive. The film focuses on Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges. Flynn is trying to hack into the mainframe of the company where he used to work, ENCOM, to find evidence that executive Ed Dillinger (David Warner) stole the codes for his video games and passed them for his own, giving Dillinger several promotions and firing Flynn, who is left running an arcade full of games that he originally programmed. During one of his attempts to hack into the system, the villainous Master Control Program (MCP), an AI that controls the mainframe, transports Flynn into the digital world called 'The Grid'.

Jeff Bridges brings his usual charisma to the role with a performance that is calm and cool, even after he is transported to The Grid. One thing that I find interesting is how the 'programs' in The Grid take the appearance of the 'User' that programmed them. Because of this, Flynn meets several people that he knows in the real world in the digital world (similar to 'The Wizard of Oz'). For example, Flynn's ally and the title character, the program called Tron (Bruce Boxleitner) shares his appearance with Flynn's friend, Alan Bradley, and the evil program, Sark, who is second-in-command to the MCP, appears as Dillinger.

In The Grid, Flynn is forced to compete in the arcade games in a gladiatorial like fashion where the losers are killed. The one that I always look forward to is the Light-Cycle sequence. It is so freakin' cool, I could watch it all day.