er...I read the book, does that count?

My issue with the original -- even when I saw it in the theater as an eleven year old -- was that yes, it looked cool and had groundbreaking effects, but (other than Jeff Bridges) the acting was wooden, the writing was pure Disney crap, and it was just kinda dumb. I never thought it was that great.

Tron and Blade Runner came out around the same time, if not the same week. I also saw that around the same time. Watch the two of those back to back, and tell me how great a movie Tron is.

[quote=AArdvark post_id=110735 time=1592517388 user_id=20]
I have yet to see either of them so don't include me in the Tron-gobbling
[/quote]

This needs more discussion. You have not seen the original Tron?

Hey Paul, did you even see the movie?

Let's give you as much slack as possible and have the question include both titles.

[quote=pinback post_id=110732 time=1592507534 user_id=5]
I thought Legacy was fine, but I don't suck off the original as much as I suspect the rest of you do.
[/quote]
I think part of the reason was that when the original came out, the visual effects were cutting edge, if not bleeding edge, and, were brand new to viewers. We weren't as sophisticated (or as jaded) as we are now.

Go back just 5 years to to 1977, and the mere 30 second wire-frame technical animation in [i]Star Wars[/i] of the Death Star took days of computing time a PDP-11/70, one of the top of the line minicomputers, to render it. Today you could do the whole thing in real-time on an ordinary desktop (which, of course runs about 1,000 times as fast).

And you could probably do the original Tron effects on a PC today; rendering Tron in 1983 required a high-end computer, which [url=http://www.cgw.com/Press-Center/Web-Exclusives/2011/Original-TRON.aspx]this article reports[/url] was a PDP 11/60, a slightly smaller mini than the 11/70. "Slightly smaller" referred to processor speed; the machine itself was about 5-6' tall, 8' wide and 3' thick. Not icluding disk drives, which were the size of a dishwasher or washing machine, cost $20,000 (for the drive alone) and had a whopping 100 megabytes of space.

[quote="Ice Cream Jonsey" post_id=110717 time=1592488026 user_id=3]
"Thankfully bombed." Such a hater. Such a hater of things. [/quote]

This is the person I've become.

I'm not proud of it nor actually thankful. And you know, my life is ho hum, but the peaks are awful.

Great, I tried to be positive and failed miserably.

I have yet to see either of them so don't include me in the Tron-gobbling

I thought Legacy was fine, but I don't suck off the original as much as I suspect the rest of you do.

[quote=Flack post_id=110355 time=1591971695 user_id=840]
In 1982's TRON, computer whiz Kevin Flynn found himself stuck inside a computer system. There, he was forced to battle computer programs by throwing his identity disc and racing light cycles. While inside, Flynn is pursued by an evil program who does not want interference from "users." Eventually, Flynn discovers he can escape from TRON-land by taking a solar sailor to the I/O tower, where he use his identity disc to return to the real world.I
[/quote]
I gotta say this is the best one paragraph plot summary of Tron that I've ever read. In 4 sentences, Flack has encapsulated the magic and almost entire plot of Tron. Flack, please do more to help Wiki with their bullshit long winded plots.

[quote=Tdarcos post_id=110724 time=1592502957 user_id=829]
Cinema Sins catalogs this movie's faults far better than I can, and I'll start with the big one he missed, "Who is paying the electric bill (and property taxes) on a building closed for 20 years, and why?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNXaBNEjLCY
[/quote]

Thanks Paul. I will watch this on my next break!

The old special effects were so cool though how the cut the film to create the glow effect! I was so excited to go see the original as a kid. Still have vague memories..

When I went to see it at the movie theater beside Hanes Mall (which is now a car service place or closed) I started getting bored about 15-20 minutes into the movie. Then, after the first computer scene for some reason I because terrified, then bored, then started crying. Dad hauled me out of the theater. Had to wait outside until mom was done shopping in the mall. When I realized this, I was like "Can we go back in then?". "No." lol

Cinema Sins catalogs this movie's faults far better than I can, and I'll start with the big one he missed, "Who is paying the electric bill (and property taxes) on a building closed for 20 years, and why?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNXaBNEjLCY

Agreed. They should have made Bridges' CLU face look a little less realistic, and not used the flashback footage.

Most positive reviews say "the effects were great" followed by "the soundtrack was great". Nobody says "the plot was great". I think most people who liked it were people who liked the original Tron and wondered "I wonder what this movie would look like with updated special effects?" so they got their wish.

"Thankfully bombed." Such a hater. Such a hater of things.

It's odd to me that Garrett Hedlund got the lead role and then has been in nothing I've seen since. It seems like he is in one movie every 18 months or so.

[quote]The one special effect that doesn't hold up is "CGI de-aged Jeff Bridges" playing CLU, this movie's Sark. In every scene he's in, CLU steals the show, and not in a good way. Imagine replacing the lead in any serious drama with the conductor from Polar Express. My eyes were incapable of looking at anything on screen except the soulless void which were CLU's eyes, combined with finely rendered lips that move almost like a ventriloquist doll's.[/quote]

The thing is, they could have gotten away with it - who cares how realistic CLU looks, he's a computer dude in a computer - but they put the camera on Flynn himself in a flashback to the 80s. They should have just shot that scene from behind Bridges, or had him in silhouette.

Didn't the soundtrack by Daft Punk receive more attention than this shitty, unneeded sequel that thankfully bombed relative to how much it cost to make?

Between that sentence and this one, I decided to up the bass and listen to some smooth Daft Punk. Man.. I miss those days.

Yeah, I wanted to like this movie but found by about 40 minutes in I had stopped paying attention. I can't recall any of the actual plot now.

In 1982's TRON, computer whiz Kevin Flynn found himself stuck inside a computer system. There, he was forced to battle computer programs by throwing his identity disc and racing light cycles. While inside, Flynn is pursued by an evil program who does not want interference from "users." Eventually, Flynn discovers he can escape from TRON-land by taking a solar sailor to the I/O tower, where he use his identity disc to return to the real world.

In 2010's TRON: Legacy, computer whiz Sam Flynn (Kevin's son) found himself stuck inside a computer system. There, he was forced to battle computer programs by throwing his identity disc and racing light cycles. While inside, Flynn is pursued by an evil program who does not want interference from "users." Eventually, Flynn discovers he can escape from TRON-land by taking a solar sailor to the I/O tower, where he use his identity disc to return to the real world.

I hadn't revisited Tron: Legacy since I saw it in theaters, ten years ago. I walked out of that theater impressed by the film's special effects and loved the soundtrack, but underwhelmed at the plot. Ten years later, the soundtrack is still good, the special effects (except for one) look like any game on the PlayStation 4, and the plot is as forgettable as it was the first time around.

The one special effect that doesn't hold up is "CGI de-aged Jeff Bridges" playing CLU, this movie's Sark. In every scene he's in, CLU steals the show, and not in a good way. Imagine replacing the lead in any serious drama with the conductor from Polar Express. My eyes were incapable of looking at anything on screen except the soulless void which were CLU's eyes, combined with finely rendered lips that move almost like a ventriloquist doll's.

https://youtu.be/l_vRiyG6xdo?t=17

It's difficult to explain what an impact the original Tron had on me. As a nine-year-old kid who was already dabbling in computers, Tron brought the insides of those machines to life. There weren't just capacitors and chips and wires inside -- they were autonomous programs running around! The original film made me want to program, to learn about computers, to play games, to own an arcade... basically to be Kevin Flynn. Tron made me feel hopeful and inspired. Tron: Legacy made me feel old and depressed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9szn1QQfas