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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.)
If you don't like the DVD, you can recreate your own deadly 'Discs of Tron' game in real life!
air and light and time and space
So whether Tron brings back fond memories, or only serves to show you what movies before your birth,
Back before you were born, computer movies were about real computer components with real terms; obviously, they had contracted computer technicians/scientists to ensure they were truely discussing computers so that the computer intelligent would not be offended... Unlike movies like "Hackers" or "The Net" where they didn't even ask a computer person anything, they just made stuff up...
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
This is TRON, for gawd's sake. It's a slam-dunk 10 on the geekiness scale.
Nothing for 6-digit uids?
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
For those of you who have never seen the film, I mention some plot details revealed in the third of the film.
Why are they only releasing a third of the film on DVD? :)
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
Yeah, and the review neglects to mention the overpowering hints on the DVD regarding "Tron 2.0".
The sequel is coming.
Hibbert: No.
Lisa: No.
Marge: No.
Wiggum: No.
Bart: No.
Patty: No.
Wiggum: No.
Ned: No.
Selma: No.
Frink: No.
Lovejoy: No.
Wiggum: Yes. I mean... um, I mean, no. No, heh.
I just saw Tron for the first time and... *sob* WHAT HAVE I DONE? All those programs I've deleted over the years... Oh, the humanity...
If you'd like a review with some actual depth, check out DVDFile's, which goes into much greater detail as to the picture & sound quality as well as what the extras are all about. This thread at Home Theater Forum also has more useful feedback about the disc.
IMHO, it's a pretty nice disc. The picture quality is good, the sound is sweet and the extras really show you in great detail how it was all done.
Program: It looks like you're trying to go to MSN.
Me: How do I get out of here?
Program: It looks like you're trying to buy some data. Would you like to use your Passport account?
Me: Do you ever shut up?
Program: It looks like you're trying to access help on help. Please have your Windows activation code ready.
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.
...and who wouldn't want to go inside his computer and interact with programs as people?
Uh, me for one. Time to get outside more, dude.
Everybody Wang-Chung tonight!
Bah. A pox on your house.
:Peter
I was really excited about this edition and bought it shortly after its release. Unfortunately, there is a flaw in the disc which makes it unplayable on a PS2. In the eighth scene, during a conversation in the holding cell, there as a graphic error that causes a PS2 to totally flip out. Fortunately for everyone with a real DVD player, this is a small enough glitch to go unnoticed on all but the PS2. I did try returning the disc, but the replacement had the exact same flaw and when I took it back again, they guy at the store said there had been complaints at other stores.
The movie is great, if you can get it to play, and the special features are nice. My favorite part of the disc is the menus. I will try purchasing this edition again when either Sony updates their DVD drivers to address issues like this or Disney re-issues the disc with a new master (to remove the flaw).
End of Line
Keep an eye out for the new tron movie.
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0208650
I don't see how this can't be a total flop, given historical sequals/remakes of classics, but we can hope.
"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door." - Emily Dickinson
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.
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
Everybody must buy this DVD, even if it won't play in your region. Michael Eisner and Jack Valenti need all the money they can get to combat evil movie pirates.
Just trying to burn off karma.
I'll avoid the natural comments about Disney and the MPAA and SSSCA and all that crap and address the review.
This is kind of a minor nitpick for a rant, but someone has to bring it up.
One of the common elements in DVD reviews that I read is whether or not the video is anamorphic. For some viewers -- especially those with TVs that can take advantage of the enhanced resolution -- that is an issue. Whenever a widescreen DVD is reviewed it should be noted whether or not the video is anamorphic, I've refused to purchase discs because of that issue.
BTW, the video, from what I've read, is anamorphic -- though Disney in the past was notorious about only releasing "letterbox" movies in 4:3, not 16:9.
STOP MISUSING APOSTROPHES, YOU MORONS!!!
The really neat thing about the Jai Alai scene is that Flynn's competitor Pete Jurasick the same guy who would go on to play Londo Mollari in Babylon 5. It really hard to recognize him without Londo's trademark hair.
OBVIOUSLY, to avoid having little 2 year old "lit-up" Tron re-enactors.
Turn off the lights and the kids glow as they fly across the room
ZZhhCK. "Mommy!"
---"What did I say that sounded like 'Tell me about your day?'"---
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?
(2,3-Benzopyrrole)
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?