Films To Watch Before You Die #9

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die…

TRON, 1982.

Directed by Steven Lisberger.
Starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, Barnard Hughes and Dan Shor.

Tron is the story of a computer software engineer, Kevin Flynn (Bridges), who accidentally gets transported into a computer-generated world when trying to hack into his previous employers mainframe to prove his work had been stolen. Once inside Flynn is captured by the guards working for the Master Control Program that runs the digital world. Flynn is put into various brutal computer challenges and has to learn and adapt in order to survive.

Flynn soon breaks out of the digital world’s holding cells and teams up with Tron (Boxleitner) in order to escape from the digital world. As the two of them make their away across the digital landscape a series of Master Control Program’s army give chase. Tron and Flynn fight for their lives as they attempt to shut down Master Control Program and save their own skins.

Tron was a ground-breaking film in 1982 and showcased the humble beginnings of what is now CGI – Computer Generated Imagery. Tron was the first film to put animation over the top of live action footage and mix the two together. The graphics used in Tron are primitive compared to contemporary technology but in 1982 it was unheard of to the point that the technology was created in order to make the film. Despite how aged the imagery looks in Tron to put it into perspective the graphics were created on a computer with 2mb of memory and 330mb of storage. Today the most basic mobile phone has more than that!

Tron is a cult classic and the director, Lisberger, used his own money to create the technology in order to realise his vision. He originally intended to finance the film himself from allowing computer companies to invest in the new technology, but they needed much more than they could find. Disney were unsure about investing so much money in a first time director and producer duo, but on the creation of a test reel they financed the film and the rest, they say, is history.

Tron is a film to see before you die because of the groundbreaking technology that is created and how it inspired a whole generation of CGI films. Cinema would be a much weaker place without Tron.