TRON 20th Anniversary Edition DVD Reviewed

gevmage (Craig Steffen) writes with the review below of the new DVD boxed set of Tron, which he says is a "must-have for any science fiction fan." So whether Tron brings back fond memories, or only serves to show you what movies before your birth, read on for his take on the set. If you're not familiar with Tron at this late stage, beware of a few spoilers within.

Review: TRON 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition, 2 Disc DVD set

January 15, 2002, issued a special edition DVD set of TRON. For those of you who have never seen the film, I mention some plot details revealed in the third of the film.

First, the film itself. It's a fantasy about a computer programmer who gets pulled inside the mainframe at the company where he used to work while trying to hack into the system to retrieve evidence that one of the execs stole programs from him. While inside the computer world (on the other side of the video game screen) he's forced to play the games that he's programmed, while trying to keep the computer world safe for democracy. It's an interesting plot premise, and who wouldn't want to go inside his computer and interact with programs as people?

The film is paced reasonably well, the script carries through but is kind of klunky in some places. The computer world scenes are visually stunning, and the DVD is an excellent transfer. If you have the means, I highly recommend watching it on a progressive-scan player. The original film was released in 6-track magnetic 70mm, and the sound track carries through very well. In addition to the back-lit animation for the "program" characters in the computer world, the film has 20 minutes plus of pure CG generated footage, unheard of at that time.

If you like the film at all, the special edition is definitely worth the extra money. Disney's standard DVDs are single-layer letter-box; this is two double-layer disks. The first disk has the film, on a THX certified "Enhanced for Widescreen TVs" presentation. The commentary track on the film is interesting and informative.

The second disc has all the extra material, and there's a huge amount of it. There's a 1 1/2 hour "making of" feature; also many hundreds of storyboards and photographs from the set for comparison. There are shorts talking about specific aspects of the production, and the usual previews, deleted scenes, publicity material, and lots of interviews with production and cast members.

An excellent presentation of an excellent film; a must-have for any science fiction fan.

Film Ratings:
Plot Originality: 8.5
Pacing: 7
Characterizations: 6.5
Dialog and Plot Coherence: 6
Visual Impression: 8.5
Geekness "Cool!" Factor: 8
Overall: 8

DVD Specific Ratings (Special Edition):
Film Transfer: 8.5
Sound Transfer: 7.5
Commentary Track: 7.5
Making Of Feature: 8
Other Additional Material: 8
Overall: 8

(All ratings are from 0 to 10 inclusive, 10 being better, with the ratings 2 through 8 encompassing 99% of all films.)

Comments

Tron and MS

[Derkec]

Recently I heard an interview with one of the main guys at Disney who has been with Tron. He described it as being similar to the early "Bill Gates story." Bear with me. The MCP is the classic big iron central computer of the time. It was controlling and monolithic, like say.. IBM. It locks up programs and does mean things to users. In comes a rogue force which strikes back at the monolith. By going inside (like MS getting IBM's contract) it finds the weakness of the monolith and destroys it. This brings happiness to the programs and the users. While I don't think they really intended it to be the "Bill Gates story" (how could they at the time) the themes that made MS successful early on resonate soundly. Tron is a entertaining when you watch it with that perspective.

I want this, but I won't buy it.

[Bonker]

Man, I loved TRON so much when I was a kid. Besides seeing the movie and renting the VHS cassette over and over again, I pumped dozens of dollars into TRON and DISCS of TRON game machines.

When I first heard that TRON was going to get a SE DVD I was ecstatic. Then I remembered who produced TRON. I remembered the fight in congress to introduce the SSSCA, which has been largely fueled by that same company.

So, thank you, Disney, for giving me a wonderful experience in my youth. Thanks, but no thanks, for the TRON SE DVD. I won't spend my money to help a company that wants to surgically remove my rights to do what I want to with my computer or any media I buy.

If you have any feeling at all about the SSSCA don't spend your money on the TRON SE DVD.