You know, 116 films into this silly project and I still had yet to watch a Disney movie! That’s mostly because I’ve seen all the main ones. But in a desire to put my Disney+ subscription to good use, I made sure to squeeze in the ‘biggest’ Disney film I had yet to see…
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Genius software engineer Kevin Flynn is trying to hack into the mainframe system of his former employer ENCOM. When he fails, his girlfriend Lora and fellow programmer Alan Bradley (lol…really?) sneak him into the company to try again from the inside. Once there, ENCOM’s Master Control Program (MCP) zaps Flynn with a laser that digitizes and downloads him into ENCOM’s mainframe. Inside the system, Flynn encounters a world where “programs” (typically in the image of their programmers, or “users”) fight in deadly computer games at the whim of the MCP. Flynn is forced into these games but uses his expertise to escape on a light cycle with TRON, Alan’s security program. The two meet Yori and fight to bring down the evil MCP's control of the mainframe.
“Tron” is undoubtedly an important step on the path to computer graphics in film—but it’s not quite there yet. If Jurassic Park is the moon landing, this film is one of the valuable but forgotten early-Apollo mission, for sure. With wireframe objects and simple gradient surfaces, the 3D art was about as detailed as those snaking-tube screensavers we used to watch. Which all would have been forgivable (I’ve forgiven a lot of bad, old practical effects) if not for the just-OK story. Though ambitious in its world building and action sequences, the story was a confusing mess of computer-culture caricatures, strange religious metaphor, and rule-bending, ex deus machina escapes. I smirked a few times at Jeff Bridges’ banter and the silly production design, and I appreciate the film for its place in film and Disney history—but I don’t expect to revisit this one often.