Bring in the logic probe!
In honour of the release of the Tron Ares Soundtrack, I decided to rewatch the the Tron films that actually feature the character Tron...
Tron (1982)
Interesting more as a historical curiosity than as a film. It's meandering, the digital effects are great (not just for the time, some of them still look really cool, the Solar Sailer and Sark's ship for example), but the rest of the computer world is grey and ugly. I get that this is by design, the MCP has drained the colour from this place, and the effect of it all lighting up again at the end of the film is very cool, I just wish we had more of that.
The sense of place is also lacking, with the wilderness and the city area feeling very samey, the city itself lacking a lot of detail that could have really jazzed up the world.
The story has this weird 80s live-action Disney vibe, that I don't really get on with. The story seems to move between these out of place comedy bits, and more serious moments in a jarring way. I remember Black Hole also had a similar issue, but it has been a while since I saw that.
Overall, I moderately enjoyed Tron, it's boring, kinda silly, but mostly still works.
“I mean, sending me down here to play games! Who does he calculate he is?”
★★☆☆☆
Tron: Legacy (2010)
A really great case study in how Style can supersede Substance. Not to say there isn't anything to this film other than spectacle. But that spectacle is so good that it doesn't matter how good the rest of the film is.
An experience that I can only describe as “bombastic,” the film is captivating for most of its run time.
Jeff Bridges is great, the rest of the cast is fine. The de-aged Clu is appropriately uncanny, while the de-aged Kevin Flynn is inappropriate and unsettling.