A computer hacker is abducted into the digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program.
Hacker/arcade owner Kevin Flynn is digitally broken down into a data stream by a villainous software pirate known as 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.Written by
Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}
Publicity materials stated that the reclusive French comic artist, Jean "Moebius" Giraud, came to Los Angeles to work on the project for three months beginning in early 1981, providing costume and character design sketches. With very few guidelines limiting his imagination, conceptual artist Peter Lloyd created postcard-sized sketches of scenes and landscapes to be approved and later rendered into full color production drawings. Computers then translated the two-dimensional art into three-dimensional images, which were scanned by a device that produced conventional film. All live-action sequences with the actors were shot around Los Angeles and at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in Livermore, CA, on black and white film and individually "painted" with color, highlights, and shadows. The process of "backlighting" involved transferring the film image to high-contrast "Kodaliths." The clear portions were then back lit with a colored light and rephotographed. The "electronic world" was filmed on sound stages at Walt Disney Studios, where the actors interacted with minimalistic black sets and props. Tron had a total of 1,100 special effects shots, 800 of which involved actors. The computer-generated environments entirely replaced the use of miniatures and matte paintings; instead, each frame was exposed anywhere from twelve to forty-five times. The high-resolution video screens contained twenty-four million pixels, each with a specific color and brightness. Publicity materials noted that Magi used a Perkin Elmer System 3240 and a Celco CFR 4000 computer projector, while Triple I used a Foonley F-I. Each frame of animation required 5-75 million calculations. See more »
Goofs
In Flynn's Arcade, a couple of kids are "playing" pinball machines that aren't switched on (visible at the top left of the screen in the overhead shots). See more »
Certain versions of the European/American re-release have the explanatory title cards establishing the viewer into the world of the Programs and Users. See more »
Alternate Versions
When the film was released in theaters, there was an alternate prologue which has since been excised. Similar to the prologue on the 20th Anniversary DVD, the alternate prologue states that every time we renew our driver's license, pay our telephone bill, or use a credit card, a bit of each of us is left within the computer. This prologue is not on the home video versions, nor on the 20th Anniversary DVD. See more »
I recently watched this film again, and I must say that it still looks good.
Tron is the story about Kevin Flynn, a young ,hotshot computer programmer who is determined to find the proof the he is the creator of five of the most popular video games from the man who stole them. When Flynn gets too close, the artificial intelligence super-computer ,MCP, digitizes Flynn into the video game world he created, to fight for his life, all for MCP's amusement.
This film may have been for too ahead of it's time in 1982. It told the story about a super-computer gone power hungry (two year prior to Terminator and seventeen years prior to The Matrix) and it was the the springboard for early computer generated images. Although this film mixed CG with hand-drawn animation, I dare anyone to sort out one from the other. The film also sported computer terms such as bit, ram ,end of line ,etc.)
This film also sported some of the most unique and original action sequences, such as the "Lightcycle Maze/chase" and the "Disc Duel" The same goes for the computer world ,that is unlike anything presented on the big screen. Even the score done by Wendy Carlos was unlike any other. The performences by the cast were well done. One in particular was the commanding performance of David Warner as the ruthless Commander of the gameworld Sark.
This film is one of those over-looked gems from the 80's that should be seen in it's pristine DVD release. End of Line
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I recently watched this film again, and I must say that it still looks good.
Tron is the story about Kevin Flynn, a young ,hotshot computer programmer who is determined to find the proof the he is the creator of five of the most popular video games from the man who stole them. When Flynn gets too close, the artificial intelligence super-computer ,MCP, digitizes Flynn into the video game world he created, to fight for his life, all for MCP's amusement.
This film may have been for too ahead of it's time in 1982. It told the story about a super-computer gone power hungry (two year prior to Terminator and seventeen years prior to The Matrix) and it was the the springboard for early computer generated images. Although this film mixed CG with hand-drawn animation, I dare anyone to sort out one from the other. The film also sported computer terms such as bit, ram ,end of line ,etc.)
This film also sported some of the most unique and original action sequences, such as the "Lightcycle Maze/chase" and the "Disc Duel" The same goes for the computer world ,that is unlike anything presented on the big screen. Even the score done by Wendy Carlos was unlike any other. The performences by the cast were well done. One in particular was the commanding performance of David Warner as the ruthless Commander of the gameworld Sark.
This film is one of those over-looked gems from the 80's that should be seen in it's pristine DVD release. End of Line