Obligatory:
But yes, I have, in fact, seen the movie TRON. Several times. And recently, I've gone through other TRON-related media as well, and have things to say about them. But let's start at the beginning (spoilers ahead!):
TRON is still a fascinating, unique movie, mind-blowingly ahead of its time, not just with its special effects that thanks to the setting still looks good today, or its beautiful, equally pioneering soundtrack by genius composer Wendy Carlos (and Journey!). It's one of the earliest movies to be about computers, computer networking, hackers, video games and other far-out technology that the public was only just becoming aware of in the year 1982. Yes, it is often awkward, with inaccurate technological terminology and many aspects that doesn't make much sense when you think about it (computer programs are alive, but they are also characters in video games? But the video games themselves aren't living programs?). But I don't think it's the soulless special effects spectacle that many reviewers at the time wrote it off as. It's a movie with a lot of heart. All the actors are charmingly enthusiastic and earnest, though, again, awkward at times, probably not understanding all the bizarre technical jargon and made-up terms in the script, but still delivering it as best as they can. The limitations of the special effects also give the movie an interesting visual style, since any scene with glowing computer people could only be done with the camera nailed to the spot, without moving it. That they still managed to make some fairly exciting fight scenes with this limitation is impressive. And I think there are many interesting thematic elements to the film's story as well, particularly when it comes to religion.
The living computer programs in the electronic world of TRON have developed a curious, extremely polytheistic religion, where every single human being who has ever used a computer is a god, a "User", and each program has their very own, personal god, "my User". The main villain, the Master Control Program, wants to destroy this religion by calling it a ridiculous superstition, even though he is very well aware that the Users are real. In fact, unlike other programs, he is in direct contact with the Users, particularly with the evil boss of the computer company in which he resides (the movie isn't really anti-capitalist, since Dillinger isn't the villain because he's a CEO, but because he gained the position through dishonest means, and when Flynn finds the evidence for this, he in turn becomes the "good" CEO). The MCP doesn't just want to stamp out the polytheism, but replace it with monotheism, with him as the only god. Not only that, he's also making plans to rule the "real world" of humans as well, blackmailing Dillinger and infiltrating both the Pentagon and the Kreml (and possibly the Chinese government as well), something I suspect would shock most of the smaller programs if they found out. Ruling over the gods, becoming a god yourself?! The main henchman of the MCP, Sark, is interesting in that he is caught up in a battle between divine forces beyond his comprehension. On the one hand there is the extremely mighty MCP with divine ambitions, and on the other, the chosen warrior of the gods (TRON) and his companion, one of the gods themselves, visiting the world of mortals (Flynn). It's suggested at several times in the movie that Sark is frightened and unsure, both of the MCP and of Flynn and TRON. Flynn, meanwhile, reveals that the gods aren't in fact perfect beings with divine plans, but, well, us. This doesn't seem to shake TRONs faith, but I am curious about what he thinks when Flynn talks about "doing what it looks like you're supposed to be doing, no matter how crazy it seems".
The polytheism vs monotheism theme also seems like an interesting allegory for the move away from centralized computing, with dumb terminals connected to a mainframe (monotheism, the MCP, to which Users must request access to their programs), towards personal computers (polytheism, each program communicating directly with their User). This theme is something I would love to see tackled in a modern TRON movie, since in some ways, it seems like we're moving back towards digital monotheism, with The Cloud, streaming services, Stadia, etc., things that often bring benefits to the big corporations, but not many to the users. The lack of this in the sequels we did get, is one of the most disappointing things about them. But I'll write more about that later.
But yes, I have, in fact, seen the movie TRON. Several times. And recently, I've gone through other TRON-related media as well, and have things to say about them. But let's start at the beginning (spoilers ahead!):
TRON is still a fascinating, unique movie, mind-blowingly ahead of its time, not just with its special effects that thanks to the setting still looks good today, or its beautiful, equally pioneering soundtrack by genius composer Wendy Carlos (and Journey!). It's one of the earliest movies to be about computers, computer networking, hackers, video games and other far-out technology that the public was only just becoming aware of in the year 1982. Yes, it is often awkward, with inaccurate technological terminology and many aspects that doesn't make much sense when you think about it (computer programs are alive, but they are also characters in video games? But the video games themselves aren't living programs?). But I don't think it's the soulless special effects spectacle that many reviewers at the time wrote it off as. It's a movie with a lot of heart. All the actors are charmingly enthusiastic and earnest, though, again, awkward at times, probably not understanding all the bizarre technical jargon and made-up terms in the script, but still delivering it as best as they can. The limitations of the special effects also give the movie an interesting visual style, since any scene with glowing computer people could only be done with the camera nailed to the spot, without moving it. That they still managed to make some fairly exciting fight scenes with this limitation is impressive. And I think there are many interesting thematic elements to the film's story as well, particularly when it comes to religion.
The living computer programs in the electronic world of TRON have developed a curious, extremely polytheistic religion, where every single human being who has ever used a computer is a god, a "User", and each program has their very own, personal god, "my User". The main villain, the Master Control Program, wants to destroy this religion by calling it a ridiculous superstition, even though he is very well aware that the Users are real. In fact, unlike other programs, he is in direct contact with the Users, particularly with the evil boss of the computer company in which he resides (the movie isn't really anti-capitalist, since Dillinger isn't the villain because he's a CEO, but because he gained the position through dishonest means, and when Flynn finds the evidence for this, he in turn becomes the "good" CEO). The MCP doesn't just want to stamp out the polytheism, but replace it with monotheism, with him as the only god. Not only that, he's also making plans to rule the "real world" of humans as well, blackmailing Dillinger and infiltrating both the Pentagon and the Kreml (and possibly the Chinese government as well), something I suspect would shock most of the smaller programs if they found out. Ruling over the gods, becoming a god yourself?! The main henchman of the MCP, Sark, is interesting in that he is caught up in a battle between divine forces beyond his comprehension. On the one hand there is the extremely mighty MCP with divine ambitions, and on the other, the chosen warrior of the gods (TRON) and his companion, one of the gods themselves, visiting the world of mortals (Flynn). It's suggested at several times in the movie that Sark is frightened and unsure, both of the MCP and of Flynn and TRON. Flynn, meanwhile, reveals that the gods aren't in fact perfect beings with divine plans, but, well, us. This doesn't seem to shake TRONs faith, but I am curious about what he thinks when Flynn talks about "doing what it looks like you're supposed to be doing, no matter how crazy it seems".
The polytheism vs monotheism theme also seems like an interesting allegory for the move away from centralized computing, with dumb terminals connected to a mainframe (monotheism, the MCP, to which Users must request access to their programs), towards personal computers (polytheism, each program communicating directly with their User). This theme is something I would love to see tackled in a modern TRON movie, since in some ways, it seems like we're moving back towards digital monotheism, with The Cloud, streaming services, Stadia, etc., things that often bring benefits to the big corporations, but not many to the users. The lack of this in the sequels we did get, is one of the most disappointing things about them. But I'll write more about that later.