TRON (1982)

A hacker is literally abducted into the world of a computer and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program.

Director:

Steven Lisberger

Writers:

Steven Lisberger (screenplay), Steven Lisberger (story),

Stars:

Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Bridges	...	Kevin Flynn / Clu
Bruce Boxleitner	...	Alan Bradley / Tron
David Warner	...	Ed Dillinger / Sark / Master Control Program
Cindy Morgan	...	Lora / Yori
Barnard Hughes	...	Dr. Walter Gibbs / Dumont
Dan Shor	...	Ram / Popcorn Co-Worker
Peter Jurasik	...	Crom
Tony Stephano	...	Peter / Sark's Lieutenant
Craig Chudy	...	Warrior #1
Vince Deadrick Jr.	...	Warrior #2 (as Vince Deadrick)
Sam Schatz	...	Expert Disc Warrior
Jackson Bostwick	...	Head Guard
David S. Cass Sr.	...	Factory Guard (as Dave Cass)
Gerald Berns	...	Guard #1
Bob Neill	...	Guard #2

Storyline

Hacker/arcade owner Kevin Flynn is digitally broken down into a data stream by a villainous software pirate known as the Master Control and reconstituted into the internal, 3-D graphical world of computers. It is there, in the ultimate blazingly colorful, geometrically intense landscapes of cyberspace, that Flynn joins forces with Tron to outmaneuver the Master Control program that holds them captive in the equivalent of a gigantic, infinitely challenging computer game.

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Plot Keywords:

computer | security | arcade | computer programmer | cyberspace | 

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Taglines:

A world inside the computer where man has never been. Never before now.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 July 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

TRON: The Original Classic

Filming Locations:

1150 S Olive St, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$33,000,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions, Lisberger/Kushner

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original plan was to have the circuit lines of the "good" programs glow yellow, and the "bad" programs would have blue circuit lines. At one point this was changed to where good programs are blue, and evil ones are red. Some of the original coloring remains, mostly in tank programs (Clu has yellow lines on his uniform, and all of Sark's tank commanders are pale green).But Flynn takes on this greenish tint after he crashes the reconizer and gets knocked out, shortly after he gets up he returns to the normal blue. This is also seen some shots in the original theatrical trailer, Master Control appears blue in one shot and in many shots of the main characters they appear yellow.

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Goofs

When the escapees first spot the water, Tron runs to it, then Flynn, then Ram. But when Flynn reaches it, Ram is already there.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Boy in Video Game Arcade: All right, give me room. Here we go.

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits, save for the production companies (and the opening prologue in the English language foriegn version.) For the title, a pair of lightning bolts flare, forming a brilliant point of light, where various parts coalesce to form a human figure. The point of light flares, revealing the title TRON, which an electric point of light shimmering in the "O". The title TRON rushes toward the camera, rotating around the "O", and as the title gets closer, a landscape of three dimensional circuitry appears within the letters themselves. As the camera dives in, it levels off, and the circuitry turns into the lights of a cityscape, dissolving into the establishing shot of the arcade.

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Connections

Referenced in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: The Bad News Ghouls/House of No Tomorrow (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Only Solutions"
Written and Performed by Journey

User Reviews

Someone had to try it

"Tron" is not for everyone.

This first sentence should make you think that "Tron" is a cult movie. Well, maybe it is. My parents abhor it. My sister detests it. But my friends, who were born in the early 70s (very early, actually) and me see it as an amazing piece of work.

Is it stunning? Yes, even though more than half of the film is colorized b&w. Is it computer animated? Yes, although I am betting your home PC might be able to render the images you will see there without any problem. Maybe not in real time, but almost. Is it special? You bet. Even though CGI had been tried before, Tron took it to the next logical step: creating whole CGI rendered scenes (e.g. tanks, cycles, Recognizers).

The film is confusing at times, and 18 years later you can safely say the script wasn't actually the best. On the light of the Internet, though, it all makes a lot more sense, and it plainly demonstrates that the writers really loved computers. In fact, they were so ahead of their times that I am betting too many people who saw it the first time didn't understand it. That was its failure: only computer geeks could get the whole picture (no pun intended).

Still, I guess Toy Story I and II are the direct development of Tron. And that cannot be bad in any way.