In 1982, I was almost 10 years old when Tron was released on July 9, 1982. From what I remember at that time, I wanted to see the movie because it looked so cool. I knew it also set the bar for computer generated special effects of the time. Plus, the hottest band at the time, Journey, provided some music for the soundtrack.
Game arcades were incredibly popular at that time. The Tron videogame debuted in arcades around the same time as the film hit theaters and remains one of my favorite cabinet-based games to this day. The music from the arcade game, a digitized portion of the film score, is instantly recognizable to me.
The movie holds up well today as far as special effects go, because the CGI created environments that were not based in reality, so we have no real world items to base a comparison on. The plot was interesting, but the story lacked in some ways. It wasn't worthy of winning an award for screenplay, but it was acceptable dialog. Today, some of what was written seems campy, but that in my opinion makes it endearing.
Jeff Bridges (Kevin Flynn / Clu) was a known actor at the time Tron came out, but he had not yet achieved the critical and commercial success of his later films such as Starman, The Big Lebowski, Iron Man, and his Oscar-winning turn in Crazy Heart. The film also features actors Bruce Boxleitner (Alan Bradley / Tron) who had future success as an actor in several TV Movies and series, as well as David Warner (Ed Dillinger / Sark / Master Control Program), who appeared as supporting characters in box office smashes Titanic, and Avatar.
I recently re-watched Tron as I have the 20th anniversary collectors edition on DVD. It was enjoyable to revisit this film and marvel at the technological advances of the day that went into this film. I found it carrying me back to my youth when I was wowed by the light cycles zooming along the grid.
Next week, I will be going to see Tron: Legacy at midnight on December 17th when it is released. I eagerly anticipate being taken back to the feeling of whimsy and marvel I felt as a kid.
What are your memories of seeing Tron in the early 1980's? How has it held up after all these years? Are you planning on going to see Tron: Legacy?
