Computer nerds of the world swimming in the seas of consultant cubicles, you have a voice!
Twenty years from its birth, Disney's Tron has been re-released on a special 20th anniversary collector's edition DVD.
Directed and written by Steve Lisberger, Tron is an intricate look into the mainframes of mainstream big business. Underscored with social criticism, Tron predicts a world where computers outsmart their users. When mentioned like that, it seems ripped from Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. But Tron sidesteps imitation with its leaping imagination.
Jeff Bridges plays Flynn, a recently fired software engineer from the fictitious computer conglomerate, Encom. Records of his stolen work are kept on file in Encom's master computer's mainframe and he hacks into it. But the master computer recognizes Flynn's attempt and digitizes him into the hard drive using the technology of his ex-girlfriend and co-worker Lora (Cindy Morgan).
Flynn must compete in the cyber-Olympics of video games that he originally programmed inside the computer to retrieve the stolen records. Inside the mainframe, Flynn runs into Tron, the program written by friend on the outside Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner). Together and separate, Flynn and Tron race light cycles and fight identity disk wars as they combat the system and all the programs sent against them. The split worlds on earth and inside the master computer's mainframe are stark realms but the events in each are parallel.
The plot is rather difficult to follow for first-time viewers, especially those of us who grew up in the DOS days of the computer ice age (I mean the eighties). But just listen through the computer jargon and everything will fit together.
Among the DVD's special features are unseen footage, and audio commentary from Lisberger and "The Making of Tron," an extensive documentary with old and new interviews. Sorry folks who were looking for Tron bloopers and crazy outtakes. But for those who just want to rent it for the movie, the Dolby surround sound and Lucasfilm's THX digital optimizer will hardly hinder your enjoyment.
The protagonists and antagonists are given names and faces but the real characters in Tron are social equality and communism. Keep in mind the Soviet Union was a thriving world power and still a possible nuclear threat in the early eighties.
Programs of the master computer are detailed in a neon red while Tron and Flynn proudly play the underdog clad in blue. Not to spoil the ending, but when the good guys win, the master computer becomes a serene world of digital democracy with reds, whites and blues flying from every data port.
Lisberger does an incredible job entwining the battle against the Communists and the battle against the dot commies. But the detailed story and special effects unfortunately are permissive to a corny death scene and a few cheesy one-liners. But doesn't every movie have a few of those (hint: The Matrix)? But overshadowing any fault in the movie is the nostalgia this movie can churn up for previous viewers.
Anyone who's had a rough day sitting in front of the computer should throw in Tron and sit inside one for 98 minutes. It'll make you wonder about of all the innerworkings of a simple round of Windows solitaire.
