Tron: Legacy Movie Blurb by Shale December 17, 2010 You know I had to go see this unique film today. I saw the original Tron in theater in 1982 and it was one of the first movies to use Computer Graphic Illustration. CGI was new then, sorta like the video games played on large arcade consoles with flat graphics. Now, 28 years later we have video game graphics with depth and a sequel to Tron, the longest time span for a sequel to be made. As reported on Rottentomatoes, only 48% of reviewers liked it, while 83% of audiences did. Probably because the audiences were primarily full of those geeks who liked the original Tron and gave it cult status. Oh, I was in the audience. The reviewer consensus was: "Tron: Legacy boasts dazzling visuals but its human characters and story get lost amidst its state-of-the-art production design." So, those who are going to like this movie know who you are and my blurb will be for the uninitiated. In the original movie, Tron is a protection program designed by Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) for ENCOM, the computer conglomerate where his friend Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) once worked. Another programmer stole Flynn's video game programs and got promoted to CEO. Flynn tries to hack the ENCOM mainframe and find proof of the theft and while using a computer in a department that was working on breaking matter into molecules and transporting them, he gets transported into the cyberworld by the Master Control Program and is forced to play deadly gladiator games against other programs on the grid. He eventually defeats MCP escapes and proves the current CEO stole his property and is made the new CEO of ENCOM. This movie opens in 1989, where Kevin Flynn is talking to his 7-year-old son Sam and has to go to work. He disappears that night and his fatherless son feels betrayed. In 2009, Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) grew up to be a wild, reckless computer genius who hacks ENCOM just like his dad once did to cause the greedy board of directors' grief. Alan Bradley who is still with the company and has been Sam's surrogate father for 20 years tells him that he got a page from his dad's phone which has been disconnected for that long. Sam goes to the old arcade and there finds a secret room where his dad worked. Like Daddy - Like Son He starts checking out the computer in front of the laser machine we saw in the first movie and gets sent into cyberworld, where he is put in the games with other programs. When he is discovered to be a "user" he is sent to Clu, a program designed by Kevin (and looks like Kevin) to make the new world "perfect." Clu went overboard with that and there is conflict between his program and the real Kevin. However, when Sam meets Clu, he sees the father that left him in 1989 but soon learns that Clu is a problem. Kevin Flynn 2.0? No, I'm not ur daddy He escapes with the help of the program Quorra (Olivia Wilde). Could Sam fall for a cute program like Quorra? She takes him to his father who has aged normally in cyberworld. Kevin Flynn 1.0 Since most of the critics fault this movie for lack of a story, I don't need to tell any more of it. You know Sam will be trying to get him and his dad back into real world and Clu and his minions will try to prevent it. In that process you will see all the special effects scenes of the 28 year old movie - only upgraded to 21st Century levels with more depth, whistles and bells. This is one sequel that is better than the original movie, if only for the main theme, which was the CGI. The fact that they made such a real looking 1989 version of Jeff Bridges was one of the most telling of the new technology. I enjoyed the movie because ... well, guess I am a bit of a nerd and like these kind of special effects art forms. The story worked us thru the CGI cyberworld, that's all it was there for.
I just recently watched the first one and thought it was terrible. I know that sacrilegious to some, however I totally understand why it had a following back then, but it doesn't hold up well. That being said though, it did peak my interest enough to want to see this new one.
I have the original on a 2-disc 20th anniversary set. It is quaint by today's standards and wasn't well received by critics or general audiences at the time but those who liked it were faithful enuf that Disney ventured on the new one. (Which took the top money this opening weekend) Ironically, for being the first movie to extensively use CGI, most of the scenes with characters in them were done by old handmade, frame-by-frame artwork. It was so tedious that they sent it out to Asia to get more ppl working on it. I guess the computer graphics was just the light cycles and other machinery. The actors wore all the costuming in black & white - the colors added later.
I saw this movie last night, having never seen the first one. It was much better than I'd anticipated it to be, the theme was predictable, but it was entertaining nonetheless. Also, I didn't realize that Clu was CGI until about halfway through the movie, so that shows you how good the special effects were.
Effects were awesome But story, what little there was didnt make any sense Still one of the better movies of the year (not that thats saying much), but with a decent story could have been a really frickin awesome movie And there seem to be a lot of stuff ripped off from George Lucas and the Matrix
does it have a love story in it ? I hope not. I was thinking about seeing this, but I don't think I can stomach 'romance' in movies anymore.
2 years ago I got really stoned and watched the orignal TRON for the first time. I thought it was one of the best movies I had ever seen. I was surprised to see that the Dude was in it too.
I think the original was the first movie I ever saw at the cinema, so it was awesome in that way. 82, that would have been between Empire and Return of the Jedi, this was a time when playing pong on Atari was considered cool. This movie and the Star wars movies did feel 10 years ahead of their time and far superior to all the other dodgy little sci fi flicks at the time. Was also around the same time Thriller and ET came out, both of which were massive, so it was a cool time to be a kid. Then that Discs of Tron video game came out, which also was really cool and way ahead of everything else PS: That made me remember:I threw a huge hissy fit at my mom cos I wanted red overalls like Drew Barrymore had in ET, but she didnt buy them. The irony being I thought the movie itself was pretty gay, or too much of a kiddies movie for my 10 year old grown up self
Yeah there's no overt romance, they imply romance at the very very end, but even then there's no kissing or overt signs of affection.
I was pretty underwhelmed. The dance club scene was okay, but much else was repetitive and the narrative did not stimulate me. I really hoped to like the movie, and my son was stoked to see it, but we both were sort of, "Well?" Sorry to be a buzzkill. What did get my attention was the dearth of patrons. We saw it on a rainy Sunday afternoon a week and a half ago; the theater was 1/4 full. This was in Redwood City, CA. How are they making their numbers?
it was visually pretty damn awesome. some very creative uses of camera, computer graphics, etc. but i was shocked at how terrible the script writing was. the dialogue was EXTREMELY TERRIBLE. especially the second half of the movie, its like they just completely gave up. it was either cool action scenes, or agonizing slow scenes that fall flat on its face. i love that derezzed song. daft punk did very well with the soundtrack
I remember seeing the original Tron when I was a kid, and I loved it--so I'm curious to see what this movie is like--the clips I've seen on TV look cool! Of course, I'm going to wait a while til it comes to a more affordable theater before I go see it, though!
