Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner
Directed By: Joseph Kosinski
Produced By: Donald Kushner
Tron: Legacy has the 3D Fever. I was surprised to see the post at the beginning of the movie which read, “Some scenes in this movie were meant to be viewed in 2D…” I enjoy 3D movies all the same, however, this is another movie that exhibits 3D Denaturation. I wish I saved the few bucks so I could have not worn the Chinese Disney two cent 3D glasses and viewed the whole thing with my own two eyes. However don’t let my rant on eye nuisances (worn glasses/contacts since I was a child) stray you away from this movie.
When I first heard they were remaking Tron, I was enthralled. Finally, I have an excuse to rent/buy the old one so I can watch the new one! Considering I wasn’t even born when the first one came out, I had the opinion that the visual effects from Tron [1982] would be on par with such films as The Dark Crystal. Surprises ensued:
- Not only were the visual effects not JimHensonvision, but they were actually very impressive for the time.
- Jeff Bridges was in the original?!? The Dude plays the dude who goes into the computer? I didn’t know this, why?
- The bad guy was played by the guard of the bad guy in Titanic? (David Warner who plays Ed Dillinger in Tron and played Spicer Lovejoy [looked up the name, and yes that's his name] in Titanic)
- I’ve seen Master Controls face somewhere before. Oh yeah! South Park!
The fact is that the original deserved either a reboot or sequel. Not for the sake of the Plot, but for the sake of what we have accomplished in Computer Animation since 1982. Twenty Eight Years is one huge margin for a sequel to be released, and most of the time it wouldn’t pass as an acceptable margin. The only reason that it does pass is because the majority of the movie takes place on “The Grid”. The Grid was appealing to a sense of the unknown back in 1982, and it still appeals to the unknown in 2010.
Before the movie even came out, I heard from so many different people through the Grape Vine, that it was either a Reboot or a sequel. I didn’t really care either way, because I saw that they were using not only Jeff Bridges to act in the film again, but also using Bruce Boxleitner to play Tron/Alan again. After the viewing of the original Tron and research on IMDB, I felt that I was worthy to see the new one. I went into the theater expecting to enjoy the visual effects the most, and that’s how I felt when I left. The computer reconstruction of Jeff Bridges as a 30 something year old was very impressive. I’ve seen a few movies where they try to accomplish facial reconstruction, and it’s one of the hardest things to convince audiences to believe.
I hate spoiling anything about a movie someone hasn’t seen, so I won’t go into details about the plot. What I can say about the plot is that it’s not quite as good as the original, but it works out well with the utilization of Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner.
The Soundtrack was another staple of the film. Daft Punk was commissioned to write a score for the film, and they actually did not stick to electronic music like we’re all used to. I would’ve enjoyed more electronic beats for “The Grid”, however their utilization of a full scale orchestra as well as songs like Derezzed and the Ending Credits made the whole thing come together. The scene that opens with “The Son of Flynn – Daft Punk” was probably the first scene where you realize that Daft Punk is scoring this film, and it really opens up the movie.
When I heard that the only thing Tron Legacy got nominated for in the Academy Awards was best sound editing, I was a little shocked. Sound Editing, maybe, however it makes more sense that it would be nominated for Visual Effects. I don’t really think that Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010) had more impressive Visual Effects than Tron, but I guess that’s for the Academy to decide.
A message for Fans
I realize that it most be shocking to you that I’ve never seen the original Tron, however, I believe the first time I saw it was when I was somewhere around three years old, so I never really got to think about the movie. What we must remember is that this film takes what was then a breakthrough in Visual Effects and tries to accomplish it again. I heard that they spent somewhere around $50k just for one of those suits.
A message for non-Fans
Don’t let the Science Fiction/Fantasy Genre of this movie steer you away from seeing it. It can be enjoyed by all sorts of different audiences.
Potential Topics to discuss:
Generation differences in two movies
Visual Effects scenes that you remember
Characters
Vehicles
Plot (with Spoilers)
Soundtrack
What this movie represents to you
Other
Other
First off - I quite like the title of your movie blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed with your format, what with pictures and all, and that you actually did research. I think you spent more time on your post than I ver do on mine. Kudos for that!
I haven't actually seen either Tron or Legacy, so I can't really discuss anything to do with then movie. Perhaps in the future, when I have in fact seen both movies.