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Visitors Review

mhlong 2012-05-24 01:26:46

Interesting Film Especially For Its Time

OK, Sherman, set the Wayback for ..... What made this film veryenjoyable for me were the references they used. That first line aboveis Flynn sitting in his room talking to Bradley (and maybe Lora). Takenfrom Mr. Peabody's Improbable History, a segment of Rocky andBullwinkle. Now, forward to Bradley's cube, which was a perfect replicaof cube farms that were quickly populating the countryside. And thereon Bradley's wall was the phrase 'Gort, Klaatu berata nicto'. Takenfrom 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' which were words that MichaelRennie told Patricia Neal to say to the robot.Two little sequences, two references to popular culture, just beforeTrivial Pursuit (I was there at a pivotal moment for that icon)and Ihave do doubt there were more, that had to endear the movie to computernerds and geeks everywhere. Not much, but seeing those, I knew somebody'got it'. And to me, that is very important in movie making andrelating to the audience (something I slammed in my review of the 2009movie 'Land of the Lost'). I went to work for the old Burroughs Corp.right exactly at that time, 1981, and guess what their mainframeoperating system was called? Yep, 'MCP'.The rest was interesting but straight forward storyline, some plotholes, and great graphics that still hold up. And a great sequence oflines 'here goes nothing' ... you mean 'here goes something, here comesnothing'.The light racer program was one of the first I played on a computer(just after Colossal Cave and StarTrek and that irritating Mouse game).I have always thought that Flynn's program name was Klu or short forkludge, because that's what he really was...or did, as his presencekludged the program giving Tron's user the ability to get in.Reading some of the reviews here, makes me realize that you had to seeit in 1981-2 and understand what was going on at that time, and howmuch, or actually how little everyone knew, to really appreciate themovie. They didn't get it entirely right, but they were on the righttrack.And anyway, at that time I happened to enjoy Bruce Boxleitner, JeffBridges, and Barnard Hughes. Cindy Morgan was nice as was David Warnerbeing evil. See him in this and see him in the George C. Scott 'AChristmas Carol' and you'll have a hard time believing it's the sameperson. He was in his 'Titanic' persona for this one.I'm seeing hints that the new movie seems to reference this one,bringing back actors and roles, etc. That gives it a head start for me.The original 'Tron' is worth the watch, if only to see the beginningsof cg.

2012-05-23 12:03:42

Well that was a waste of time...

This is an awful movie. I'm not saying the visuals aren't impressive, because they are, but the movie is awful. The plot is weak, and it took us like 20 minutes in to figure out what the heck was going on. Don't waste your time. Go see something else.

2012-05-23 07:09:58

Blast from the past...sort of

I actually don't have many fond memories of "Tron". I saw the film as a child (on *shudder* VHS), and wasn't impressed with the overall result. But my friends and I constantly played Deadly Discs with Frisbees. Ever been hit in the shin with one of those? I picked this DVD up mainly because it was loaded with bonus features and had a low price. Surprise! The film is really cool. I can honestly say this is the best that "Tron" has ever looked or sounded, and the 88 minute (!) documentary is highly informative and entertaining. I would recommend this DVD to just about anyone. (Well, maybe not kids. My daughter was REALLY bored.)

denis888 2012-05-22 22:05:16

A masterpiece that was before Matrix

I saw this excellent funny movie back in the 1980's still in the SovietUnion times, and I fell in love with this work at once. Yesterday, whenI watched this again, my feelings just reinforced. Maybe, so manypeople do not like the Tron because they took it too seriously. No,just watch it with a grain of humor and irony and you will love it. Iam still amazed that even in 1982 people could draw such intricatevideo effects and then they still look very fresh. But even they arenot the main catch. What I really love is the marvelous play of JeffBridges. He looks so merrily and fresh and he certainly doesn't get allthat so seriously that you immediately believe him. Anyway, the veryidea of somebody stealing your programs and being in fact a hackerseems so up-to-date today. The evil Mr. Dillinger and his alter egoinside the computer is performed with a chilling truth. I do recommendthis masterwork for all those who thought that all computer effectsfirst appeared in Matrix or even later."

2012-05-16 16:15:55

Classic

This review is from: Tron (20th Anniversary Collector's Edition) (DVD) As bad as the acting and the special effects are, the concept of the story is actually interesting. This movie is a classic as it shows what used to be awesome special effects back in 1982, and it shows how far we've come in the past 30 years. Still fun to watch, a classic, and it now makes me want to go see the Tron: The Legacy in December 2010.

kim303 2012-05-16 11:23:12

one of the most mind blowing pieces of science fiction i've seen!

OK, this is one of the very, very few movies I've ever granted a 10with.And why? Because of the visual style & unmatched originality alone! Ijust saw this today for the first time, and was completely awestruckfrom the beginning to the end. The style that the computer sequencesare rendered with is pure gold. This movie really shows how limits maybenefit art. I can't imagine a movie like this would work now that thetechnology is in no way limiting what can be done with 3D-software.The airbrush work is sleek in the same minimal way as the wire-frameday-glo vector stuff.The black & white human figures complete the totally ageless look ofthe CG sequences of this film.I think this is one of the most underrated scifi-films of all time, andsincerely believe which will rise in artistic recognition as timepasses and these beginning steps of computer graphics are just a pagein the history books.This is really an image of a very, very short span of time whencomputers were entering our world, but still missed a recognizedposition in people's imagination and everyday life.I didn't know it beforehand and only realized it when the endingcredits hit the screen, but visually this was a co-op between Jean"Moebius" Giraud and Syd Mead. The first on is my all-time favouritescifi-artist, and the other my most favourite visual designer in themovie field... Go figure :)

2012-05-15 13:51:20

Send in the Logic Probe!!

When I saw "Tron" in the theater with a friend, the title of this review made him laugh for two minutes. He was a computer tech for the Department of Defense and got the joke immediately.Tron suffers for that. Many of the jokes were a little too inside for anyone not computer savvy (remember, this was the early '80's). Having said that, the film is fun and worth owning. It was slightly controversial for Disney using the music of Wendy Carlos. You'll have to look elsewhere to see why THAT was an issue.Buy it and enjoy it. ; )

2012-05-14 23:10:39

Awesome

Jeff Bridges best film is also one of my favorites. Saw it as a kid in thetheater and loved the video game. It's like a two hour long Atarigame.**** out of 4 stars

2012-05-12 05:40:06

Pioneered CGI

This review is from: Tron (DVD) Tron was the first movie to use CGI in such a bold way as to make a whole city from computer animated pixels. To create a world of computer animation in the days of 386 processers and less then 2 Megabytes of RAM must have been painstaking. Thankfully, the movie today is still sharp. The creators were smart enough to make sure the movie remained timeless in it's look and execution. The storyline is original (it had to be to get a premises for the entire movie), a computer whiz, played by Jeff Bridges, gets sucked into the computer world as he tries to find evidence that his programs were stolen. What ensues is an adventure that no one has duplicated today, although it would be much easier with today's technology. They should consider a sequel, or a remake because the actions scenes seem a little slim in places, as if they just couldn't squeeze anymore images out of the computer. But suffice to say, Tron is a groundbreaking movie, making way for movies like Last Starfighter and computer animated special effects. Definitly worth the DVD version for the special effects and sound quality.

2012-05-12 04:03:32

Excellent film and finally an excellent DVD to match it!

My original review (for the other DVD release of this movie, and I'm glad so many of you found it helpful) pleaded for Disney to get its act together and release a version more in tune with the LaserDisc which was awesome. Instead they had released a really bad version at a very high price. Finally, with the 20th Anniversary edition, they got their act together and boy did they.I had waited years to watch Tron in widescreen again (not having had the pleasure of watching the famed LaserDisc version). and the previous DVD was a disappointment in so many ways. I mean, Tron is one of the best movies of all time, a true classic in every sense of the word. It is the first film to use Computer Animation and Graphics, EVER. The story is interesting and explores some very interesting concepts both philosofical and otherwise. The acting is not bad if at times some parts may be a bit cheesy but still excellent. The story is less than perfect but incredibly enjoyable and in many ways (certainly not all of them and certainly not the deleted scene) has stood the test of time.This DVD is what all of us have waited for, a historically improtant film in all its glory filled with awesome features we had been waiting so many years to see again or for the first time. I highly recommend buying this 20th Anniversary edition, it is not only a CG classic and true ground breaking (setting) film, but a highly enjoyable one to boot. Did I mention it was finally worth its price?Enjoy.

2012-05-05 22:33:37

Awesome Movie! Terrible Price!!

This review is from: Tron (20th Anniversary Collector's Edition) (DVD) I have to say I am VERY disappointed to see the price of this movie jacked up so high just because of the Legacy movie coming out. I bought this DVD a few years ago here on Amazon as a huge fan since I grew up to this movie. I don't believe I paid more than $20.00 for it then. It was the 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition and everything. I wanted to buy another copy for my Niece for Christmas since she had never seen this movie before, (Being born in 1991) and I thought it was important for her to start with the first movie before she sees the new one. She needs to know the background and see it from the beginning. To pay over $100 for this classic movie is a complete rip off and I feel we are being taken advantage of. There is no difference from the DVD I bought a few years ago for $20.00 here than the one that is now priced at $120.00. Please boycott the purchase of this DVD for $120 and see if you can get it cheaper somewhere else, or wait a while for all of this hype to die down. Good Grief!! Get over yourself Amazon!!! It is an amazing movie, especially for 1982....but really? $120??!!

haggar 2012-05-05 07:43:32

So much ahead of it's time

This movie got 10 points from me, not because all of it's elements areperfect - they aren't - but because it represents an outstanding look intothe future of computing. So accurate a look, actually, that it's almostunbelievable.Even today, many movies that talk about the Internet, are less truthful,believable, than Tron. In comparison, "The Net" is braindead.The other reason it gets a 10 are the CGI (computer graphic imagery)effects, stunning even by today's standards.- Little spoiler ahead!! -I will mention the elements that I disliked: the acting wasn't very good,and the little scene of infidelity was out of place (the one where Flynn andthe female program kiss romantically).But that's about it, I really enjoyed the movie, and was surprised that Ididn't find any Disney-bollocks. Ahead of it's time in both content, ideaand animation, Tron is going to have a large group of followers in the yearsto come.

2012-04-30 12:02:43

"Computers and the programs will start thinking and the people will stop"

There are two types of people: those who like TRON and those who don't. I don't like it. The special effects may have been revolutionary in their time, but that's no reason to watch the movie now, with CG that any seven-grader can conjure up on his PC at home. It should be noted that Tron bears a suspicious amount of similarities to Star Wars (Stormtroopers, Tie Fighters etc) however considering the amazing-in 1982- human interaction within a computer world; the highlight is Wendy Carlos' techno musical score. Steven Lisberger's second film shows the director's lack of talent for sharp pacing and original screenplay. Apart from Jeff Bridges, this is a no-name cast who do really poorly, but it's not their fault, you can still see movies like the Star Wars prequels where actors have nothing to relate to except for an intimidating blue screen. The story isn't exactly enthralling, the visuals are un-inspiring, and while this is a milestone for the progress of SFX in movies, this one doesn't stand up well today. Remember it for its kitsch and clamor, but don't expect anything amazing.

2012-04-29 22:45:29

good, cheap Tron movie

This review is from: Tron (20th Anniversary Collector's Edition) (DVD) My husband really likes this movie and we were waiting for Disney's prices to go down to buy it (yeah, right!), when I decided to look online to see if prices were better. They really were better. Thanks for helping me surprise my husband! He watched the movie the night we received it in the mail. It is in good condition and we received it promtly.

prisoner-7 2012-04-26 07:51:39

Fantastic, a cinematic masterpiece

This movie is one man's creative and adaptive biblical vision of Jesus,andsymbolizes the greatness that Disney so rarely exhibits in it's cinematicproductions: A world of computers is controlled from a mythicalsuper-realmby a being known simply as "the user" which no one has ever seen. Butthisworld has now fallen under the tyrannical control of the "Master ControlProgram", who seeks nothing except complete domination. A whimsicalhacker(Jeff Bridges)is transformed into electrical energy and brought into thispseudo-reality against his will. Trapped within the confines of thistech-world, he finds his video game fantasies turned reality, and his lifein peril. Once the battle has begun, he becomes the realm's greatestcrusader for freedom by realizing that as a "user" he holds powersunimaginable. By his sacrifice the entire world saved.

Electrified_Voltage 2012-04-25 19:51:53

Not very good acting, but still a visually groundbreaking sci-fi piece with a fairly stimulating plot

This sci-fi film came to the silver screen 28 years ago, which was fouryears before I was born. I never heard of it for a very long time, butlast month, just before I finally watched it for the first time, thetitle sounded familiar. Maybe it was one of the "TRON" video games Ihad heard about, since there have apparently been a number of thosemade since the movie which they are based on. When I first watched thismovie, I found it to be dull for quite a while, but then it improved. Ifelt that it could be better with a second viewing, so with the sequel,"Tron: Legacy", coming into theatres soon, I watched the originalagain, not long after my first viewing. This time, it still wasn'tquite as good as I had hoped, as I still found the significant flaws init which I remembered from before, but I was hoping I was right inbelieving that it would be better that second time, and I think thathappened, even if it wasn't exactly a major improvement.Kevin Flynn is a former employee of a software company called ENCOM,but now runs a video arcade. He developed several video games whileworking for ENCOM, but Ed Dillinger, the senior executive, took thecredit for these games, presenting them as his own ideas! Flynn hasbeen trying to hack into the software company's mainframe to findevidence to prove that Dillinger is a fraud, but all his attempts proveto be unsuccessful. One night, Flynn sneaks into ENCOM's laser lab withthe help Alan Bradley and his girlfriend, Dr. Lora Baines. In here,Flynn tries to break into the system, but the very powerful MasterControl Program does not approve of this, so he digitizes Flynn,sucking him out of the real world and into the digital world, whereprograms have the same faces as their creators from the real world!Here, the former ENCOM employee is held captive and forced to take partin gladiatorial games with captive programs until he is killed! Inorder to have any chance of escaping this and getting back to the realworld, Flynn must work with other programs, including Tron, developedby Bradley, and somehow put an end to the MCP and his oppression of theother programs in the system! Throughout the film, the acting is continuously lacklustre. Therearen't too many cast highlights, if any. For this, 1982's "TRON"definitely loses some points, but it's not enough to completely ruinthe experience. This sci-fi flick is known for its groundbreaking CGIeffects, which certainly look primitive by today's standards, as therehave been so many advancements in technology since this was made, butthey still look good here, with some nice colours. The digital world inthis film basically looks like a video game from around the time thiswas made, with graphics which are fairly simple but still pleasing tothe eye. Plotwise, the movie isn't quite a stunner, as it is a littledull as we watch Flynn, Bradley, and Baines conversing before they goto the ENCOM laser lab, but "TRON" does get better after this,especially after Flynn is forced into the digital world, with theadventure that ensues, which features some good exciting moments, evenif the film as a whole could be more suspenseful. For me, trying tostay into it could be a bit of a struggle, probably largely due to theacting and how hokey the film can look, but overall, I certainly can'tsay the film completely bored me. I can imagine many people todaywatching this movie and thinking that everything about it is terrible,but if you want to see a milestone in CGI and know not to expect thevisuals here to be anywhere near as advanced as computer effects areknown to be these days, this innovative 1982 feature is one you mightwant to check out.

2012-04-24 11:19:29

Worth it for the outdated hairdos on disc 2

Years ago, the only way to see TRON was on video, a terrible pan and scan experience considering the care with which Lisberger & Co. designed and filmed TRON. Now the DVD version has been reissued with a second disc absolutely BURSTING with bonuses. Disc 2 is one of those well-designed DVDs with production art, outtakes, alternate music cues, all accessible via the arrow keys. Best of all are the well-known outtakes, Tron and Yori's "love scene" and "morning after" scene, alternate end titles (with Wendy Carlos' music, not the Journey song), dozens of sketches and production art by Syd Mead and Moebius. Possibly best of all is a new, 88 minute (!) documentary on the film: great interviews, production photos, reminisces from cast and crew, and more embarrassing hairdos and fashions from the late 70s, early 80s, than anyone'd care to admit to.What makes TRON an enduring classic is that it bridged two eras of old-fashioned filmmaking and animation, with a new realm of digital, computer-generated (CG) imagery, still in its infancy. The story line itself bridged two eras of corporate computing resources and "popular computing," as it came to be known. TRON prophesied the revolution in "online" culture and politics, e.g. corporate control versus free access, information security versus open source, and even took a swipe at intellectual property rights. Children of the 21st Century info age need to see this film, if only to realize that "mom and dad" came from an era of 8-bit video games, teletype computer monitors, and ... the "personal computer" was still a revolutionary idea. TRON is a bit of history, but the bonus is that it's still a fun, entertaining movie. I sure hope that Lisberger can come up with a second film.

Mc D 2012-04-23 16:14:44

a classic and revoltuionary file

This movie is a from a visual standpoint...set the first bar for 3-D animation and effects. By now the simple polygons are outdated, but for 1982 it was amazing. The story itself is all about what life is really like inside a computer, as programs act as real people(cool concept..espically at a time when the average person didnt know a damn thing about computers) The outdated visual look is still very slick and enjoyable...this is a classic stop reading my incoherent blurb and watch this movie already

2012-04-22 12:50:21

FUN FOR RETRO REVIEW FOR TODAY'S COMPUTER "NERDS"

This review is from: Tron (20th Anniversary Collector's Edition) (DVD) *****DO NOT USE MY REAL NAME!! USE A NICKNAME OF'KATBYTE'*******My son, who is a computer 'nerd', 'geek', or anything else one wishes to call him except HACKER, which he is not; was born in 1989. He loves this film because he can see how the minds of experts and developers were functioning at that time. The TRON XBox game is also very popular. My son is developmentally-disabled with Asperger's Syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism. He is highly verbal although his speech is pedantic and momotonus, his vocabulary will blow you away. He has the typical autistic social inadequacies and skills. This is where computers come to the rescue. This film helprd him understand the timeline of computer and robot development.

2012-04-21 19:01:37

Tron

"Tron", as you aleready may know, stands for "Trace ON" a computer instruction used by software developers to "Debug" or get rid programming errors.