Tron

An acquired taste. For me, someone who has no knowledge of computer programming and the sort, it's a very slow, tedious and boring watch. <em>'Tron'</em>, unfortunately, didn't take my interest whatsoever. Not helped by the poor special effects (they get a pass due to it being an 1982 release; though I'm not convinced it's good either way) and forgettable cast performances, it's not a premise that's easy to get into if you have no prior understanding of coding etc. There is some intrigue in there, but not nearly enough to satisfy my viewing pleasure - it felt like a much longer run time than 96 minutes, that's for sure. All cool if you love this, but I very much didn't. Hopefully the 2010 sequel gives the concept a major boost.

I saw this again yesterday - it's 40 years old! I didn't see it at the time, I was one of those kids who hadn't the slightest interest in "Space Invaders" nor did I ever have an Atari, but I do recall the fuss that was being made about Disney's first foray into the world of the emerging computer games market. Actually, the story is not so terrible. It's pretty derivative, with a quite handsome, young, 501-clad Jeff Bridges ("Flynn") out to avenge himself on the evil "Dillinger" (David Warner) who pinched some of his gaming ideas and subsequently rose through the company. Thing is, though, "Dillinger" has now designed a "Master Control Programme" (Think "Forbin Project" from 1970) and when "Flynn" tries to break into this system, he is reduced to a player in a game of survival where he encounters fellow rebels "Tron", "Ram" and "Lora". Adventures ensue as they must try to destroy this "MCP" before it bores of industrial aspirations, and sets it's sights on the Pentagon and the Kremlin. By any modern day standard, the graphics are linear and static - but there is no doubt that they were groundbreaking and quickly-paced for 1982. The use of light - blue and red for good and evil; the slightly over-exposed imagery to try and create the feeling of an alternative digital environment works well enough and though there isn't the slightest amount of jeopardy as to the ending, it's actually quite an entertaining 90-odd minutes that reminded me that every oak tree starts with an acorn. The attempts to incorporate technical or gaming language into the dialogue are a bit contrived, but there is a fun sequence with a "bit" that can only say yes and no as "Flynn" drives his wonky thing ("Max" from "The Black Hole" (1979), anyone?) through the maze of circuitry. Warner is not very convincing, it has to be said - he was rarely much good, I thought - but once it gets going it's an enjoyable piece of cinema nostalgia that looked quite reasonable on a big screen.