...the main thing about the film is seeing the inside of a computer come to life, which the first time around is plenty good enough.
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The first time I saw Disney´s "Tron" in 1982, I was bowled over by its images. It was the first film I´d seen to make extensive use of computer-assisted graphics. I thought they were spectacular. Today, we take computer graphics for granted, so I wondered when the film first came out on DVD a few years ago how I´d react to seeing it again after so long a time. I needn´t have worried. Now, on this new, 20th Anniversary, two-disc DVD edition, the image is better than ever.
Of course, the graphics aren´t the kind of three-dimensional effects we have today; they´re more a series of traditional two-dimensional animations, live action, and rotoscoping enhanced by the computer. But they´re rendered here nearly as impressively as I remember them from the motion-picture theater. I wish I could say the same for the movie´s plot, though. I suppose I was so struck by the visuals in ´82 that I overlooked the flimsiness of the narrative. Be that it may, this newly remastered, THX-certified transfer and the set´s accompanying stock of bonus items more than make up for any lack of plot dynamics.
The story line, what there is of it, is a little like "Fantastic Voyage," the 1966 film about people who get miniaturized and sent on an adventure through the human body. Only this time it´s Jeff Bridges, as Flynn, a computer whiz, who gets digitized and sent off on an adventure inside a computer. If you haven´t seen the film, it´s hard to describe just how digits and bitstreams can be so dramatically colorful, in some scenes so downright awesome, but, trust me, they are. His reason for getting miniaturized is not his own, however. It´s because he´s snooping around the computer of his former colleague, played by David Warner, who earlier stole Flynn´s plans for some computer games and has since made a fortune and a name for himself with his ill-gotten gains.
You see, the premise here is that what makes computers work is that inside them are all these really tiny people, presumably the same little fellows who turn off our refrigerator light when we close the door. It´s a fantasy, so go with it. Anyway, Warner stole Flynn´s ideas, rose to the head of the company, and created a super computer. Then the super computer´s CPU, the Master Control, grew about a zillion times smarter than when it was created, started blackmailing Warner, and miniaturized Flynn! That´s about it.
Flynn is understandably surprised to find himself suddenly inside a computer; he is, after all, supposed to be a "user," not a "program." But the audience is delighted by the special effects he encounters. With the aid of a few other "programs" played by Bruce Boxleitner, Cindy Morgan, and Barnard Hughes, Flynn has to thwart the Master Control and prove his rightful ownership of the games.
Unfortunately for the viewer, though, beyond the wonderful scenery there is little else in the way of tension, suspense, or thrills; and Bridges´ good-natured grin can only sustain a picture for so long. But again let me emphasize that the main thing about the film is seeing the inside of a computer come to life, which the first time around is plenty good enough.
Still and all, I guess I´ve become jaded over the years; I found the movie a little tiresome after a while, and some of the previously "amazing" graphics began looking more than a bit cartoonish. Yet in their defense the graphics are supposed to resemble a computer game, so I suppose with an open mind it all works out.
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[release]1287[/release]