Someone asked what makes the original Tron so good the other day and, even as a fan of Tron, I could not come up with an answer.
I just think it's neat.
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Someone asked what makes the original Tron so good the other day and, even as a fan of Tron, I could not come up with an answer.
I just think it's neat.
It was a product of its time. Had the story and certainly the same effects been released decades later it wouldn't have gone anywhere. That's where Legacy was able to succeed, they didn't just run with a sequel of the same stuff, they took what Tron started and added things relevant to a modern audience. I have yet to see Ares so I can't say if it brings anything new besides flashier graphics (maybe too flashy?)
In it's time, the special effects were mind blowing. We little boys were like, "OMG! Light cycles!"
I feel like even today, the CGI is super impressive for 1982 (?).
given that the metaphorical inside of a computer is usually imagined to look... well, computer-y, i think 1980's CG is spot on.
i remember mom telling me as a kid (~2004) "now don't judge the CG too harshly, it's very old" and i was like "are you kidding? this looks AWESOME!"
AFAIK quite a bunch of it isn't even CGI. Lots of creative lighting tricks and just very well done classic animation.
The original Tron was pretty groundbreaking as a movie released in 1982, at least from the visual perspective.
It spawned a bunch of derivative works - the animated show Reboot, the Matrix franchise, games like the CCG "Netrunner", books like Neuromancer and Ready Player One.
Nevermind all the technical hurdles they had to accomplish in order to generate these effects. No way you get to Toy Story or the Marvel franchises without the entry-level effort of Information International, Inc. or Mathematical Applications Group.
Surface level, sure. It was your standard "Computers Ate My Dad" silly Disney story. But it mainlined a certain flavor of SciFi/Fantasy and popularized animation techniques that have matured substantially since then.
First tron is boring as balls with good visuals.
Legacy was entertaining while still boring as balls but that soundtrack may well be the best soundtrack ever made. Plus it has the most banging pinball machine release ever.
I won't watch anything with Jared Leto in it. Ever.
I used to think the only thing I ever liked him in was Party of Five. Then I realized he wasn't even in that.
I loved Tron Legacy. Maybe it was the right movie for me at the time but I couldn't believe it did so poorly. Amazing visuals/art direction, amazing soundtrack, and decently solid story.
It felt like I was watching a chapter out of a much longer book, but without the rest of the book for reference. Yes, cool visuals and descent acting and some fun action sequences. But it began and ended in such a way that I couldn't really understand what was going on and never landed at a satisfying end point.
Disney has a habit of doing this with a lot of properties. SW: The Force Awakens had this vibe as well, as though there was a bunch of companion material I was supposed to have worked through before getting to the actual movie. The last couple of Indiana Jones movies, too.
They don't know how to just make a movie. Its always got to be some snippet from an enormous vision of an end-to-end experience. It's not for me because I didn't re-watch the original before playing the game and solving the secret riddle that ships me a copy of the comic book that kinda sorta explains wtf is going on.
as though there was a bunch of companion material I was supposed to have worked through before getting to the actual movie.
Those movies are all sequels. There is companion material - the movies they're sequels to
There's a huge time gap between the original Tron and Legacy. The sentient computer protagonist and her tribe are just kinda revealed and then dropped. Maybe they had additional content planned for release and it died on the drawing board. But so much of the story revolves around the fighting, the in-movie world building remains comparatively threadbare.
Compare that to The Matrix or Jurassic Park, both of which do a better job of building out the world even within the context of conflict between the main characters and the various world hazards.
I think the problem was that Tron wasn't exactly a super beloved, super popular franchise but it was like they expected it to be and marketed the movie like it was. I also realized I remember basically nothing about the plot and all my fond memories of the movie are the visuals and soundtrack. I almost think it would have been better if the movie had nothing to do with "Tron" and was just its own thing inspired by Tron, but then it would have never gotten the funding that it got.
It doesn't matter if it bombs, it's just really cool, striking visuals, and that's good enough for Disney. They just need an anchor property to use as inspiration for all the other things they sell - rides, toys, books, games, TV series, clothes, dishes, sheets, etc. Beyond that, it is one more attraction in the parks around the world, attracting tourists to stay in their hotels, and eat in their restaurants.
It doesn’t matter if it bombs, it’s just really cool, striking visuals, and that’s good enough for Disney.
...
They just need an anchor property to use as inspiration for all the other things they sell - rides, toys, books, games, TV series, clothes, dishes, sheets, etc. Beyond that, it is one more attraction in the parks around the world, attracting tourists to stay in their hotels, and eat in their restaurants.

It's true, though. You market the shit out of the movie just to get people to watch Jared "Don't Ask What I've Been Up To On Tinder" Leto dress like an 8-bit gladiator and do some stunts.
Then the movie becomes another advertising vehicle for the game. And the game becomes an advertisement for the Disney Park. And the park is stuffed full of adverts for the next movie.
It's all one giant marketing ouroboros. From the outside, yeah, it looks crazy. But when you're being shit out and eaten over and over again, you're convinced that you're having a great time.
if you're someone who can enjoy art partially made by not-so-great to awful people, give it a watch. NIN fucking killed it with the soundtrack, it looks awesome, the writing is weirdly decent (good writing in a TRON movie? wtf??), and the acting is better than it has any right to be. thoroughly enjoyable imo
my favorite franchise is Firefly so I'm used to stuff I like being made by awful people :(
Firefly made by awful people? I guess you mean whedon? Or are there others?
Adam Baldwin has been pretty far-right/anti-feminism/anti-LGBTQ/anto-“woke” for a long time. He’s MAGA. He was even a GamerGater back in the day.
TBF, Baldwin didn't "make" Firefly. He just starred in it.
Adam was the one who started the term GamerGate to begin with. (Not that that's some amazing leap of creativity. I hate how some unoriginal hack always has to throw "-gate" on any drama to make it sound juicy.)
I have to disagree on the NIN soundtrack. I am a big fan of theirs but this was just a complete let down. There were maybe two notable tracks, and even then they were nothing to share with anyone. Trent Reznor has done way better music for movies in the past.
I hate to say it, but I agree. It felt mostly like a Trent Reznor soundtrack with a few proper NIN songs added on. It wasn't bad, but it didn't live up to my expectations. Oh well, at least it got NIN back together for a tour. I thought I'd never be able to see them live again.
Soundtrack on the ~~Deadmau5~~ Daft Punk Tron was banging as well. NIN did the soundtrack for this one? How did I not know this. Gonna crank the sub to 11.
I know my next pick for family movie night.
I still don't want to encourage Leto to do anything. When he does things it's a 50/50 chance he'll do something reprehensible.
I'll wait until it can be watched through socialized culture distribution.
Jeff Bridges. Love him as the Dude (obviously) but also loved him in Tron. I think he’s actually a pretty underrated actor because of how famous he is in The Big Lebowski.
That doesn't make any sense.
Thanks! I was half asleep when I wrote it!
Loved the first one, second one was ok, i refuse to watch Jared leto
Is there a single devoted fan of the Tron series? I legitimately can't remember a single person actually caring about it. That and Avatar. Did anyone actually care about Avatar?
I wouldn't call myself a fan of the series, but I really liked Tron: Legacy. As a package I just thought it was a great experience and I was eager for more at the time.
If it wasn't for Jared Leto, I'd probably have given Ares a shot. But I have zero interest with him as the main character.
Oh shit, he is the main character? Sorry, live under a rock and didn't even bother before to check what role he has. Guess it is a nope from me too then.
I was a devoted fan of the first Tron film, back when that was all there was.
Now that there's a franchise with multiple films, shows, video games, etc., I'm still a devoted fan of the first Tron film and that's all.
I’m a huge fan of TRON. I have a sealed vhs of the original, all the games, I even got the stupid $100 preorder statue for TRON: Evolution. I can admit the stories aren’t great, but the atmosphere and aesthetic is something I’ll never get enough of.
The first one was absolutely kick ass if you were an eight year old video game/computer nerd when it came out.
I used to work with a guy that swore he thought Avatar was one of the greatest movies ever made, he owned multiple copies on different formats
I judge movies and books by how much I remember the next day. I'm not too bright and easily excited, gotta sleep on it.
Avatar was awesome on the big screen. Totally forgotten the next day. Watched it maybe twice more, pretty sure it's on the server, still don't remember it.
Tron fan here. The movies are about how software should be free
Avatar is great. One of the few mainstream films to directly challenge anthropocentrism and colonialism. The films are some of the highest grossing of all time, so I'm not alone in appreciating them.
First two were good. Haven't seen the latest, but not interested.