How about a Tron thread?

[RedJed]

It was quite the spectacle in the IMAX last night for the midnight show. There was a shitload of TRON nerds en masse dressed up, etc. They had a contest a half hour before the start where two people faced each other in the new TRON game for a bunch of merch. Never thought I'd see a video game blown up that large on an IMAX screen, but it happened.

As far as the film goes, I really liked it, but I think you almost have to be a fan of the original and a bit of a TRON fanatic for you to enjoy it. Otherwise, be prepared to shut your mind off as there is an endless amount of storytelling snafus and general illogical shit happening all over this thing. Almost so much that in alot of parts, suspending disbelief is a stretch to do.

That said, the meat and potatoes of this thing is the effects and action sequences, and they really delivered on that end. Particularly in the IMAX format, this was an overwhelmingly great experience. The 3D was very well done when it needed to be in these sequences, and it made the film very entertaining in that aspect.

The performances actually werent so bad at all really, but the script was clearly not very well done. So they made the most out of what they had to work with. Olivia Wilde's character seemed like it needed to be explored so much more, but I guess there's always a chance of turning this into a trilogy if it does well enough and that would be the time (hopefully) for that. One plus with the script, though, is that there is a ton of nods to the original, be it in similar lines or situations as the originals, or characters from the original being brought back, mentioned, etc.

I think unless you loathed the original or in general can't just enjoy certain high budget actioneers unless they have a extremely fluent and logical story to it, then its worth checking out.

 

[Nightwing]

It's a neat little inoffensive movie. The beginning stuff with Encom is kind of useless, and the story really isn't dependent on the setting (You could transpose this to just about any other fantastical action genre and it'd be basically the same movie). It's kind of sad because the video game which came out a while ago, Tron 2.0, did a lot more with the concept of being in a computer in the 2000's. Jeff Bridges was very good, and his "double" and the young shots were really, really well done. The 3D was not all too much of a different maker for me, so you could probably see this in 2D and not miss anything, really.

Again, it's just too generic for me to really love it. The best part for me was when

Spoiler

they started fighting in the dance club and the DJs (Played by Daft Punk themselves) start nodding their heads and playing fight music like "Fuck yeah, we were waiting for this shit to happen". I imagine every DJ has a "Spontaneous fight" playlist that they have, just in case one ever happens.

 

[Zorin Industries]

Spoiler

I expect a movie with the word Tron in the title to have Tron actually appear for more than a couple of minutes

 

[daileyxplanet]

I don't really get why the original is called Tron other than it being futuristic sounding. It's like calling Star Wars Han. Tron isn't even the main character.

 

[Zorin Industries]

I don't really get why the original is called Tron other than it being futuristic sounding. It's like calling Star Wars Han. Tron isn't even the main character.

I'd dispute that somewhat. I watched the first one right before heading out last night to watch the sequel,

Spoiler

and Tron gets a lot more screen time than I remember. While Flynn entering the Grid allows the programs to finally turn the tables on the MCP and Sark, Tron already seems to be well on his way to being a Spartacus figure, even if Flynn didn't get zapped into the Grid it seems obvious that Tron's going to break out and lead a revolt sooner rather than later.

I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed Boxleitners performance than Bridges in the original. Bridges plays Flynn a bit too broad and goofy while Boxleitner nails Tron as the squarejawed heroic Idealist.

Spoiler

It just seemed a bit of a gip not to have Tron break his reprogramming properly at the end and fight Clu. I know he manages to smash his fighter into Clu's but in the end it's pointless as he doesn't kill Clu and all he seems to accomplish is to drown himself. It was all set-up for Tron to make a heroic return at the last 10 minutes and give us a great ending but I feel they blew it.

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

My review of the Tron: Legacy soundtrack.

I know it's not a perfect review, but it's also the first album review I've done. I had to write it up quickly and send it in.

 

[Mattdotcom]

Hey, I watched the original Tron tonight. It was really fucking stupid.

 

[Anakin Flair]

Saw the movie and loved it. But did anyone else think that Michael Sheen was channeling Jim Carrey's Riddler during the club scene?

 

[Mattdotcom]

My favorite (and I use the term as loosely as possible) part about the original Tron is that there's only one girl in the whole movie, there may or may not be a love triangle (it isn't just the computer concepts that are clumsily introduced), and she kisses both male leads. You can really tell this movie was written by a D&D club.

 

[Mattdotcom]

No, wait, my real favorite part is when the scientists use the laser from Honey I Shrunk the Kids to shoot an orange into a computer for some reason, celebrate like it's a huge breakthrough, and then immediately close down shop for the night. CHECK ON THE ORANGE, YOU IDIOTS.

 

[Rendclaw]

Its easy to shoot holes in the original Tron considering it was done in the early 80s, when the majority of movies back then weren't exactly known for wonderful plots and scripts. For every Officer And A Gentleman and Tootsie, you had films like The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas and Annie. All four were top ten grossing films of the year, but much different in terms of quality. And I say that knowing that's a subjective term.

Getting back to the subject at hand, I just saw Legacy last night and I fucking LOVED it. The IMAX experience was worth the extra $5 a ticket. Shit, I was happy just to see some old school arcade games and hear some early 80s music again in context. For a few moments during the Flynn's Arcade scene I was 13 or 14 again, and damned if that didn't feel good.

The story wasn't bad although I think it could have been better (but you know what I have come to expect this, especially with these effects and action and special effects-heavy blockbusters. Great special effects it seems is going to trump excellent acting and scripts every time), the acting wasn't too bad either, and seeing Bruce Boxleitner again is never a bad thing, and even if Jeff Bridges hasn't aged quite as gracefully, he is still a decent actor.

My girlfriend said the second the credits started rolling that there's going to be a sequel, and I have to agree. The whole ENCOM boardroom meeting served a twofold purpose in my view: Set up Sam's character, and show one or two of the players for the sequel. Dillinger's son is going to try and take over ENCOM, and in doing so he is going to revive/reconstruct the MCP. Flynn isn't dead, considering he made the world that he was trapped in for what, 15 years? Tron isn't dead either, because he did not de-rezz. Hell, even CLU might be brought back for the Empire Strikes Back-style sequel, only to have the heroes pull it out in the third movie. Enough buzz and positive press has been generated to warrant a sequel, and the movie's only been out for three weeks.

Slightly cynical viewpoint aside, I think people are looking at the original movie with a slightly jaundiced eye, and it doesn;t deserve that. It was what it was, and it (and its subsequent video games) fired up the imagination of moviegoers, geek, nerds, and fantasists alike 28 years ago. Let it be.

 

[Mattdotcom]

Dated effects aside, it was still a bad movie made by an inexperienced crew that was merely trying to cash in on the Pong trend, and I'm not going to give it a pass just because it's science fiction. And I'll have you know, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas is Grampadotcom's second favorite Burt Reynolds movie.

 

[Jingus]

that was merely trying to cash in on the Pong trend

The director may have been originally inspired by Pong, but by the time it came out in 82 there were plenty of more sophisticated games out there. Flynn's Space Paranoids game is a pretty blatant Battlezone ripoff, for example.

I saw the new flick. Meh. The first movie was all about showing us shit we'd never seen before, but this one had a lot of points where it was openly cribbing material from The Matrix and the Star Wars prequels. And those much-vaunted "next generation" 3D cameras sure as hell didn't provide better graphics; not only was it not as good as Avatar's 3D, but it wasn't even as good as what I saw in the Pirates of the Caribbean 4 trailer right beforehand. However, all that being said, I'm giving serious thought to buying the awesome soundtrack. I never conceived I'd say "man, this music just convinced me that 1980s synthesizers need to make a comeback", but there it is.

 

[griffinmills]

It was quite the spectacle in the IMAX last night for the midnight show. There was a shitload of TRON nerds en masse dressed up, etc. They had a contest a half hour before the start where two people faced each other in the new TRON game for a bunch of merch. Never thought I'd see a video game blown up that large on an IMAX screen, but it happened.

As far as the film goes, I really liked it, but I think you almost have to be a fan of the original and a bit of a TRON fanatic for you to enjoy it. Otherwise, be prepared to shut your mind off as there is an endless amount of storytelling snafus and general illogical shit happening all over this thing. Almost so much that in alot of parts, suspending disbelief is a stretch to do.

That said, the meat and potatoes of this thing is the effects and action sequences, and they really delivered on that end. Particularly in the IMAX format, this was an overwhelmingly great experience. The 3D was very well done when it needed to be in these sequences, and it made the film very entertaining in that aspect.

The performances actually werent so bad at all really, but the script was clearly not very well done. So they made the most out of what they had to work with. Olivia Wilde's character seemed like it needed to be explored so much more, but I guess there's always a chance of turning this into a trilogy if it does well enough and that would be the time (hopefully) for that. One plus with the script, though, is that there is a ton of nods to the original, be it in similar lines or situations as the originals, or characters from the original being brought back, mentioned, etc.

I think unless you loathed the original or in general can't just enjoy certain high budget actioneers unless they have a extremely fluent and logical story to it, then its worth checking out.

Man, it sounds like, instead of fearing a rerelease of bluray/dvd Tron that would turn away potential fans from this new one, they should have released it and hoped they became fans of the franchise in order to enjoy the new one!

Any other sequels actively shun a rerelease out of fear that the original was too sucky?

 

[RedJed]

It was quite the spectacle in the IMAX last night for the midnight show. There was a shitload of TRON nerds en masse dressed up, etc. They had a contest a half hour before the start where two people faced each other in the new TRON game for a bunch of merch. Never thought I'd see a video game blown up that large on an IMAX screen, but it happened.

As far as the film goes, I really liked it, but I think you almost have to be a fan of the original and a bit of a TRON fanatic for you to enjoy it. Otherwise, be prepared to shut your mind off as there is an endless amount of storytelling snafus and general illogical shit happening all over this thing. Almost so much that in alot of parts, suspending disbelief is a stretch to do.

That said, the meat and potatoes of this thing is the effects and action sequences, and they really delivered on that end. Particularly in the IMAX format, this was an overwhelmingly great experience. The 3D was very well done when it needed to be in these sequences, and it made the film very entertaining in that aspect.

The performances actually werent so bad at all really, but the script was clearly not very well done. So they made the most out of what they had to work with. Olivia Wilde's character seemed like it needed to be explored so much more, but I guess there's always a chance of turning this into a trilogy if it does well enough and that would be the time (hopefully) for that. One plus with the script, though, is that there is a ton of nods to the original, be it in similar lines or situations as the originals, or characters from the original being brought back, mentioned, etc.

I think unless you loathed the original or in general can't just enjoy certain high budget actioneers unless they have a extremely fluent and logical story to it, then its worth checking out.

Man, it sounds like, instead of fearing a rerelease of bluray/dvd Tron that would turn away potential fans from this new one, they should have released it and hoped they became fans of the franchise in order to enjoy the new one!

Any other sequels actively shun a rerelease out of fear that the original was too sucky?

I can't think of any at all really. Typically the standard is to hype a special edition DVD/BR a month or so before the sequel release, attach a free ticket to the packaging, etc. Given how much cult status the original had, it really surprised me they didn't put it back out there, but Disney obviously was trying to be careful on public perception, ie making sure they dont turn people off to see the new one in case they werent impressed by the original. As we've seen even here, the original gets very mixed results from all of us, so I can't say it was a bad idea on their part. Plus its making good money at the BO, so I guess I can't say it was a bad move completely to hold off on the release until sometime this year.

 

[vivisectvi]

Did anyone grab the DVD yesterday? There was a 5 disc bluray version that also comes with the original Tron movie in HD, so I grabbed that. I never got to see the new one in theatres, so this will be my first viewing of it.

 

[Mattdotcom]

I hope they printed my friend's blurb of a review on the box: "It was confusing and didn't make any sense, but I really liked it."

 

[Anakin Flair]

I would have picked up that version, but I didn't have the $50 to spend. I picked up the Tron Legacy 3D version instead so I could have a digital copy.

 

[DrVenkman PhD]

This was on TV last night. Should have been called Flynn Legacy.

It was an ok way to spend 2 hours (which was actually 1 hour last night, falling asleep, then watching the rest this morning - falling asleep was because I worked days and it was late, not the movie itself) and really, like people said 10 months ago, the soundtrack pretty much carries the movie. It sets a mood that makes you want to keep watching, even when you're really not watching all that much.

 

[Rendclaw]

Yeah, I DVR'ed and watched it too. 30 years later it still holds up, and Legacy is a great continuation. I heard that Disney has hired a new writer for the third movie, because the writing crew for Legacy is too busy doing other stuff. Disney is hemming and hawing because they didn't make a huge profit on Legacy Apparently it was so expensive to make, $400 million in box office receipts only garnered a modest profit.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I DVRd this last weekend and finally got around to watching it last night. I did enjoy it, probably about on par with the original.

Spoiler

I didn't like the Tron storyline though. I don't mind the story in theory with him being reprogrammed by Clu into being evil and then eventually gaining redemption, but it doesn't get near enough focus and thus comes off as a complete afterthought. It is like he was inserted into the film after the rest of it was complete. The other characters barely acknowledge him and he doesn't do anything that has any consequences. Even his heroic sacrifice did nothing. Complete waste of the character.

 

[Epic for Springs]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1908189544215888015

Oh lord.

I watched the original a ton as a kid and loved it. Only saw the sequel once when it was realized but not since then. Not very memorable.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Not very memorable.

Yeah, but Olivia Wilde

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I liked the original well enough, not as a big a fan as a lot of people it seems, and I remember liking the sequel okay though I've only seen it once.

Here's the Tron: Ares trailer. The effects look dope though.