by brenton crozier
WHAT: Midnight showing of Tron
WHERE: San Marco Theatre
WHEN: July 6th and 7th
Let’s go ahead and get the controversy out of the way: the special effects and overall look of Tron do not stand up to anything made in…say the past 20 years. Aesthetically, the virtual computer world that the movie creates is the equivalent of the monsters and aliens in 50s sci-fi features. If you were planning on watching it for the special effects, then shame on you anyways.
As clumsy and laugh-evoking as it looks now, it must be pointed out that Tron was a pioneer for its use of computer-generated effects in 1982. In fact, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences disqualified it from the Best Visual Effects category. The Academy at the time felt that the film’s creators “cheated” by utilizing a computer. The concept of using computers to fashion environments, rather than drawing them by hand, was considered inauthentic.
It would be a shame to discuss Tron and harp on the special effects for an entire review. Additionally, I was only 5 years of age when the movie came out and can’t possibly imagine if a moviegoer in 1982 found the look of the film groundbreaking.
Tron was directed by Steven Lisberger and stars Jeff Bridges. Bridges plays Kevin Flynn in the “real world” and Clu in the virtual one. Flynn was a rising star at the insipidly named ENCOM, where he began to create multi-million dollar video games like Space Paranoids. A fellow programmer, Ed Dillinger, steals Flynn’s work and begins a rise all the way to a Senior Executive position. Flynn is fired from the company, opens up an arcade and does some hacking on the side.
ENCOM is slowly taken over by Dillinger’s supercomputer, Master Control Program. MCP has quite the HAL complex and evolves past its creator’s intentions. It becomes a big brother of the cyber world and has a Roman emperor’s taste for gladiatorial type games. These games don’t feature swords or man-eating beasts, but rather cyber cycles and discs.
Flynn is split into molecules by a laser beam and trapped in the cyber world where Master Control Program runs the show. The other detainees in MCP’s cyber confinement are actually programs. Each program is personified as its creator and referred to as its “user.” Flynn is unique in that he is trapped as a user and not a program. He buddies up with RAM, an accounting program, and TRON, a security program.
Flynn and his buddies set out to liberate the system from MCP’s dictatorial control. They are pursued by MCP’s henchman led by SARK, the alter ego of Ed Dillinger. Action and adventure ensue as they work to destroy MCP and return Flynn to the real world.
Though the dialogue is derisory and the acting made-for-TV-movie worthy, Tron is more intriguing for its concept. The ideas expressed in the movie were a revelation for the video game boom of the early 80s. You could read a lot or very little into the neon-lit spectacle that Disney produced. The simplest take would be that Tron is an exploratory venture into the new and exciting world of computers. The anthropomorphic programs express the possibilities of the virtual world.
Saturated in video game presentation, Disney actually had more monetary success with the Tron video game. The movie did not do so well at the box office, but I can imagine young gamers felt electrified and possibly legitimized to see this world displayed on the big screen. The movie gave birth to many of the most popular video games of the time. Despite being a DOS fest, Tron ventured into unknown territory and mapped out things we recognize and use on a daily basis for the computer, video game, and movies.
Another take on Tron would be the big brother theme with a beware-of-technology plot. Not quite as well crafted or prophetic as Huxley’s Brave New World, Tron foreshadows the Terminator-style fear in us all of artificial intelligence running the show. Master Control Program is the omniscient tyrant controlling access and setting the rules. Although Ed Dillinger created MCP, he eventually becomes its bitch, doing its bidding and fearing the repercussions if he does not.
The third and most evocative idea from Tron would be a religious one. The programs inside the computer refer to the users in extremely spiritual terms. The MCP and SARK even make reference to their silly beliefs. Could Flynn exemplify Christ? He is brought to the computer world and makes it his mission to unfetter the programs so they can follow the wishes of their users, not the oppressive commands of the MCP. Flynn essentially has to offer himself to the MCP to wholly free the programs and the system. A stretch? You be the judge.
I can’t imagine a better place to see this movie than the San Marco Theatre. Make it a retro night if you like! Dress in your best 80s apparel, mousse up your hair, and cue the sweet sounds of the synthesizer. While the look of Tron is not timeless, the concept is innovative and the storyline universal.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
