Tron (1982 film)

Tron (1982)
Directed by	Steven Lisberger
Produced by	Donald Kushner
Written by	Steven Lisberger
Starring	Jeff Bridges Bruce Boxleitner David Warner Cindy Morgan Barnard Hughes Dan Shor
Music by	Walter ‘Wendy’ Carlos
Editing by	Jeff Gourson
Distributed by	Buena Vistas Pictures Distribution
Release date(s)	July 9, 1982
Running time	96 min
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$17 million
Gross revenue	$50 million
Followed by	Tron: Uprising (TV series)

"Tron" was a live-action film produced by Disney in 1982. It was one of the first films to use CGI, and it was nominated for two Academy Award for "Best Sound" and "Best Costume Design" however, not for "Best Visual Effects." According to Steven Lisberger, the Academy felt like Disney and co. were cheating by using computers. Despite its underperformance at the box office, the film was a major hit on home video, and was the first movie to be shown on prime time on the Disney Channel on April 18, 1983. It also had a successful arcade game as well.

Plot

Arcade owner Kevin Flynn tries to hack into ENCOM to find the file that proves he invented all these big hits at the arcade, and not his former boss Edward Dillinger. After a failure using a program he invented called Clu, Dillinger is aware that someone is trying to hack into the system, and he increases security to prevent more hacking attempts, but it locks employee Alan Bradley out of his project, a indecent security program called Tron. Meanwhile, the Master Control Program (MCP) has grown in power, and seeks to take over government institutions such as the Pentagon and the Kremlin. Dillinger protests, but the MCP blackmails him by threatening to release the file proving Dillinger a fraud.

Bradley and his girlfriend Dr. Lora Baines go to Flynn's arcade, and they know he's behind the hacking. After a talk, the three go back to ENCOM to look for the file. Flynn goes into the laser room due to that being low on security, and having a working computer as it's not on Dillinger's block list. However, the MCP is aware of this, and to zaps Flynn into the Grid.

At the Grid, Flynn sees that the MCP's second-in-command is Sark, who sees programs get derezzed or in the case of the programs, die in games to see who's the best, just to make the MCP stronger. Flynn meets programs Ram and Tron, and the three win a lightcycle match, and escape Sark's forces. After a chase, Ram and Flynn get separated from Tron, with the former being injured. Flynn takes Ram away, and uses his user power, and builds a ship. However, Ram gets derezzed. Tron gets help from another program named Yori to try to reach contact with Bradley to see how to destroy the MCP. Afterwards, they go on their mission, and reunite with Flynn.

The Flynn and Yori are captured by Sark, with Tron supposedly derezzed. Flynn and Yori are taken to the MCP, to be absorbed by it. Then Tron reveals himself, and defeats Sark in a duel. The MCP gives Sark more power, and he grows to giant size. Flynn uses this opportunity to sacrifice himself, and distracts the MCP long enough, for Tron to see an opening, and throws his disc into it, destroying the MCP for good.

Flynn rematerializes in the real world, with the file he was looking for. At the end, Flynn is now the CEO of Encom.

Cast

Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn/Clu

Bruce Boxleitner as Alan Bradley/Tron

David Warner as Ed Dillinger/Sark/MCP

Cindy Morgan as Dr. Lora Baines/Yori

Barnard Hughes as Dr. Walter Gibbs/Dumont

Dan Shor as Popcorn Co-Worker/Ram

Production

After being rejected by three studios, (Warner Bros., MGM, and Columbia) Lisberger went to Disney hoping for the best, and Disney President Ron Miller gave it the green light. The scenes in the Grid were shot in black and white, and they used backlight for the colors similar to the lightsabers in the original Star Wars movies. Computers proved to play a big role in the making of the film, and according to Lisberger, 16 minutes were made by computers alone.

Themes

The film is against stealing others ideas, as Ed Dillinger steals Kevin Flynn's ideas for video games. It also promotes fighting for freedom, as Tron leads the charge against Sark and the MCP, even when the odds were against them when Sark captured everyone, and almost derezzed Tron. But it also wants against computers becoming a big part of our lives, as when Dillinger upgrades the MCP to take Flynn's ideas, it evolves to the point of taking over other businesses and governments, to the point where Dillinger is worried.

One major thing that needs to be said is that the film’s score was done by Walter ‘Wendy’ Carlos who was a male to female transgender.