Tron (1982, PG)

Tron is a movie that’s big on visuals and special effects, but a somewhat mediocre on plot and even more so on character development.  The entire movie is sort of silly.  Today, it’s pretty campy and dated, but when released to audiences in 1982, it was all state-of-the-art.

            Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is a computer programmer and hacker who hacks on to the computers of ENCOM, a software company, to find the evidence that ENCOM’s executive, Ed Dillinger (David Warner) has stolen his code, and as a result, got a multitude of promotions.  Flynn gets into ENCOM’s building, and starts hacking onto their computers.  However, the MCP (Master Control Program), an artificial intelligence thing, controls ENCOM’s computer system, and uses a nearby laser to digitize Flynn and bring him into the digitalized computer world.  The MCP controls that world with an iron fist, and uses its programs (which share the likeness of their Users) to fight against each other in games.  Flynn teams up with program Tron (Bruce Boxleitner), and join together to fight against the MCP and his program henchman, Sark.

            For what it was worth, Tron was a high-tech computer adventure that keeps its focus on its tech and effects.  That being said, I wasn’t too fond of the characters, including Flynn, as I felt they were all somewhat detached from the viewer.  The plot wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t that good either.  What I mean is it was too predictable from the start.  The film’s sequel, Tron: Legacy will suffer from this same exact thing, 28 years later. 

            In addition, the conclusion of the movie is slightly anti-climatic, or at least, the ending was disappointing and too contrived.

            In exchange for this range of flaws, Tron, for its time, had stunning visuals and made itself known as Disney’s groundbreaking movie.  Though it was released to a disappointing though successful box office run ($33 million dollars), Tron received positive reviews and has since become a cult classic.  I was glad to see, however, that the movie was family friendly.

                                          ** ½/5