January 13, 2011: TRON
In anticipation of technical Oscar nominations for the sequel, I decided to watch the original TRON film. Released in 1982, TRON tapped into the pulse of the day, when computer programming and video games were becoming more high-profile, and with Star Wars having legitimized geeky sci-fi action films and precipitated a slew of ripoffs. It’s too bad that TRON, perhaps indicating even back then the burgeoning “me too” nature of Disney’s live-action movies, isn’t very good.
Jeff Bridges plays Kevin Flynn, a computer programming whiz who was on the path to great success but was ousted from the technology company where he worked, so now he runs an arcade and hacks into his former company’s systems for fun. When his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, both still employed by the company, come to Flynn to ask for his help to get around a new security crackdown, Flynn, who originally wrote significant software for the company but had the credit stolen by his rival, goes along with them in order to try and find evidence of the wrongdoing. He ends up being sucked into the computer world, where he is forced by the computer to play in some large-scale video games. The “programs” are trying to get him, but as a “user”, he has the capability of unpredictable behaviour which will be the key to his survival.
I don’t recall ever seeing TRON before, so I came to it pretty much clean except for a vague familiarity with the video game tie-ins from back in the 1980s, such as Tron Deadly Discs. Even if I had seen it, I might not have noticed the Star Wars ripoff characters and effects, and I certainly wouldn’t have noticed the parallels to the conflict at Apple Computer between Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The Steve Jobs character, intent on the future and the potential for the computer systems and not afraid to step on some people’s heads along the way, is mostly revered in the company but another old-timer, the technical genius who originally made everything possible, remains the only one who will stand up to him. Social commentary on the emerging place of computers in the world is clearly evident, with the programs inside the computer system thinking that users should be unquestioningly followed, as computer programs of course always do. This blind faith is portrayed as being because the programs think the users have a plan, when as we all know, that’s not the case and really the users (humans) just make things up as they go along.
There’s plenty to like about TRON, but it’s mostly the showy parts. Colours are striking and the three-dimensional perspective effects during the video games – particularly the motorcycle races – look great. These scenes are more than mere action sequences, since they are put forward as a metaphor for how computer programs might interact. The disembodied faces of the actors integrated into this world look kind of cheesy, but it’s reasonably well done considering the technology of the time. There’s even something of a Ralph Bakshi (animated cinema legend from the 1970s) look to some scenes, boldly drawn in exaggerated shapes. However, the silly dialogue, flat and uninspired plot, and inconsistent explanations for how certain things work takes TRON from the height of its potential down to a depth of dreariness. A keenly perceptive question, about whether computers should merely serve business interests or instead be designed to be usable for what people actually want to do, should have been emphasized more in the film, as that remains one of the core struggles in computer and interface design even today. Unfortunately, TRON is instead a video game sci-fi fantasy movie for kids.
Doesn’t have the punch it should.
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