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TRON 20th Anniversary Edition DVD Reviewed
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.)
I saw TRON at the theater when it cam out. I was 9 or 10 at the time. We got a Sincalir ZX-81 with 16k RAM about the same time. That movie got me into computers like nobody's business. Imagining the CPU and RAM and electrons flowing through them. WOW! It is a little bit dated now, but when you are 9 years old you absorb the images and ideas like a sponge.
I realise this is slightly off-topic, but is anybody else disgusted with Disney's habit of putting out letterboxed versions, rather than Widescreen"Enhanced for 16x9 Television" editions?
I wanted to buy Hercules the other day - only letterboxed editions available. I have a 16x9 HD-Ready television, and it's either watch a terribly distorted picture, or watch it in 30% of the viewable area of the display.
Thankfully, their "Collectors Editions" (when available) have the enhanced versions, but some are simply not available.
Technology marches on, Disney! I won't buy them
I'm convinced it was done earlier as a proof-of-concept or something, but they thought it was so cool they had to work it in.
Can someone who has the new edition comment on that -- were the grid bugs supposed to be important and then cut down, or are they just a funny aside tossed in?
-- q
I bought the 20th anniversary edition the day it cam out, and watched it that night with my 17 year-old son and a buddy of mine. I've got a 36" screen (non-projection) TV, and normally like to watch with some lights on in the room, but I made an exception for this viewing, and it was well worth it. The TRON universe, for those out of the loop, is *black*, with the only light being provided by the inhabitants. It was visually stunning in a dark theater 20 years ago, and it was equally so in my dark living room.
As for the CGI, I was a regular attendee at SIGGRAPH in the early '80s, and I think I recall seeing some previews of the movie's special effects. Of course, as is pointed out in the "making of ..." feature, this was before it was called "CGI". I was doing a far amount of computer modeling back then (which is why I was at all those SIGGRAPH's), so several other parts of the "making of ..." feature resonated with me. At one point they talk about running a program to calculate a trajectory, getting a printout, and then reading it over the phone to someone on the other side of the country who was entering the numbers into a computer at their end. Speaking as someone who once or twice did something similar, that doesn't just make you appreciate the Internet, it makes you appreciate modems!
BTW, there is one complaint that I have with the "making of ..." feature. There aren't any chapters! The show is divided into three sections, but there's no way to skip directly to any of them.
The review doesn't mention it, but the 2nd DVD also has a couple of deleted scenes. While just about everyone interviewed says that, in retrospect, they wish the scenes had stayed in, I have to say that I agree with the decision that was made at the time. The "love scene" doesn't add anything to the plot, and in fact undercuts the later scene where Flynn kisses Yori.
Finally, there's one other surprise on the DVD. These days, most DVD's start with a "Coming Attractions" bit that you have to skip over. This one starts with something that looks and sounds at first glance like the standard Disney previews, except that it says "Coming soon from the scret lab". What follows strongly hints that TRON 2.0 is in productions. I can hardly wait!
Nothing for 6-digit uids?
I liked this movie when it first came out because of the (then) high-tech graphics. The problem was, being only 12 at the time, and having just bought my first computer (a 16K TRS-80 color computer), I couldn't yet understand some of the concepts being presented in the movie. (What the hell was an I/O port?) Imagine what other, non-geek type people must have felt about the movie.
Now, after having used computers for 20 years, earning a living through computers, and after being exposed to the current 3D games and movie SFX, I realize just how dated the graphics seem now but which probably cost a lot to render back then.
The pacing of the movie is a little slow and will bore people especially if they don't have an affinity for computers. I like computers but I just couldn't wait to see the next scene. They could have sped it up a bit instead of dwelling on one particular area in order to present, fully, the computer world.
I like the girl in the movie though and I can now understand the concepts fully. I love this movie very much because it brings me back to those days of yesteryear when computing was so much simpler. and there still was so much to discover and to explore. This ranks up there with War Games (with Matthew Broderick).
There was an old BASIC command that I used to type just to get the feeling that I was bringing TRON to life. The command was TRON (TRacer ON). TROFF did the opposite which was to turn the TRacer OFF. This basically just listed the number of the program line that was being executed at that moment.
I'll recommend to my rich brother to buy the DVD so I can watch it too.
Actually, I had a random thought about this whole copy protection thing the other day.
Why is it we assume fair use for music (the ability to mix tracks, the right to get the information in a non-encrypted format) but not for video. I'd really like to be able to take my favorite scenes to The Matrix, The Fugitive, Tron, et. al, and mix em up for a treadmill DVD.
I mean, if we have the right to do this with audio, why not video? I think we need to push for enshrining (ie., yes, legislation) guaranteeing certain "fair use" rights regardless of the type of product.
This gets confusing and interesting when thinking about books and libraries, software and source code...
:-)
(2,3-Benzopyrrole)
Sneakers was a little bit of a stretch, but pretty accurate, if you suspend disbelief long enough to assume a device could be created that would do the instant decryption thing. I think Sneakers embraces more of the hacker spirit, in that they were creative, smart, and did a lot of homework before hacking their way into something.
As far as most technologically correct, I'd have to say Antitrust is the most accurate. The first movie I know of to use valid IP addresses in it, and even smart enough to put them in 10.X.X.X, which is much like the well known 555 exchange for phones, for all intents and purposes. As far as whether his half-brained plans would have gotten them as far as they did, that is a different issue.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
I like GLTron better. Closer to the movie in visuals. GPL'd.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
are in both Tron and Babylon 5 anyways?
Bruce Boxleitner and Peter Jurasick make two.
Flynn=Jesus Christ
According to the New Testament, Jesus was God... then he became Human so that through his sacrifice, all mankind would be saved.
According to Tron, Flynn was a User... then he became a Program, and by his sacrifice, all the user-created Programs were "saved".
Was this parallel on deliberate, or simply coincidental?
Damnit, the one thing that bothers me about DVDs including deleted scenes is that you are seeing them completely out of context.
DVDs need the option of viewing the deleted scenes as part of the movie. I've seen it done (once, I think) and it was a lot of fun.
Take your favorite movie DVD and picture the option of viewing the extra scenes as part of the movie so it's seamless.
Maybe I just ask for too much...
"All the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal, or fattening."
- Alexandar Woolcot
Actually, one of the cooler things about Sneakers, is that (right now) there is no way to prove that such a device can't be built, assuming it's purpose is to be used against private/public key encryption, or anything that doesn't use a OTP.
Or am I wrong? I haven't seen the movie in a long time, and admit I may be missing a point somewhere.
-Tommy
"I got a half gallon of Jack, and 2 dozen Ant Traps. I'm about to get wild." -me