Everyone, in honor of the Tron becoming a trilogy as of this Friday, we review the one that started this franchise over 40 years ago, including the sequel that would come out almost 30 years after this very first film. Presenting to you all my review of the very first film, from 1982, the one, and only Tron.
Plot: When ENCOM programmer Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) discovers that he, and a bunch of employees unable to have access to future, he discovers that the senior vice president Ed Dillinger (David Warner) have been illegally misappropriating businesses, he, and his girlfriend, Dr. Lora Barnes (Cindy Morgan), go to video game developer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges). They discover that Kevin is trying to tap into ENCOM’s business to try to find proof of this. Now, when the three of them successfully get themselves into the video game, known as TRON, can they, through creative means, find proof of Ed’s illegal activity once and for all?
Well, I will say that this was a very interesting premise. I mean to have the storyline set up in a really cool, and creative way, that was awesome. Having parallels between the real world, and the video game arcade world was also well set up too. The world building of Tron was also real cool too, from the set up of the suits, the motorcycle-like objects that characters of the Tron game would ride on, and more, was all really cool too. The characters were also very good too, heroes, and villains alike. One villain in particular had a really cool design. Oh, and did I forget to mention the score in this film? That was really good too, especially for its time. Wendy Carlos composed that in this case. She did well of making a great 80s vibe in the score. That was great co spidering this film came out in the 1980s. Additionally, the acting was great too. It was great to especially see Jeff Bridges in his younger years playing a younger character. And just think, he would voice another character in the animated fantasy film, The Last Unicorn (which, apparently, was released four months after this film). Finally, as far as positives go, this film does well with teaching valuable lessons, most notably when it comes to not being afraid to stand up for good, and helping to bring things done in darkness to light.
Still, the one downside would be that the visuals are dated, and likely made this film a little ahead of its time. Yes, same can be said about films like the original Star Wars trilogy, and movies like those. Even so, something about the visuals of Tron seemed to make it feel like a direct to video kind of film at least in some ways. Maybe I need to rewatch this film a few more times to see if I might be wrong about that? You got me!
And that’s my review for the original Tron film. Despite the visuals feeling dated, this film is very enjoyable for its creative premise, fun characters, heroes, and villains alike, and more. I would say that especially if you’ve already seen 2010’s Tron:Legacy, as well as plan to see the upcoming Tron: Ares, then definitely go back, and see this original 1982 film, and see what you think!
Final Rating: 9/10
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 