Tron: Legacy 412
In preparation for this weekend's release of Legacy, I re-watched the original Tron. Yes, I own the DVD. I thought I would watch it ironically and sarcastically, but it turns out I just can't. I really like the original. As for the sequel, I'm not going to write a full review, but I'll say that the visuals were pretty amazing. The CG Jeff Bridges was pretty darn close, but just not quite there. And the light cycles were awesome. What are your thoughts?
Saw it Sunday (Score:5, Interesting)
Great, but... (Score:4, Interesting)
End of Line.
I loved the original, but.. (Score:3, Interesting)
For me, the sequel was a total bore. I mean, don't get me wrong, the CG was very good, and the soundtrack was amazing.. but I mean, the first one was mostly about exploring this new world and concepts and CG that had never been seen before. But the reality now is, CG is second nature; it's used everywhere. And the world? Well I already knew about it from #1. There was nothing new. They gave what the people who loved the original wanted to see, but new new ships or anything.
More importantly, you can't just spend 90% of a movie on dramatic entrances and poor dialogue and expect it to hold up. If you don't believe me, re-watch legacy and count just how many dramatic entrances took place. The fact is, they had all the ingredients for making a truly amazing movie, and they completely failed to deliver. I wish it wasn't so.
Tron 1.0 (Score:4, Interesting)
I've re-watched the original Tron on occasion over the years, and just recently last week in preparation for the new movie (which I haven't seen yet, because every theatre in my city has it in headache-vision only, but that's another rant).
Maybe it's just me, but I find it holding up less and less as time goes on. The first part of the movie is cut very poorly and frequently jumps around for no real reason. Once Flynn is in the Tron world, the movie ever-so-slowly gets rather tiresome and boring. Now, part of this is me just being used to modern movies that have a much quicker pace overall, but it's more than that. There really just isn't all that much story here. And all of it is hurriedly explained in the first 15 minutes or so, so the rest of the movie is just a Lord of the Rings style quest without much actually happening.
Now, visually - I'm one of the few that still think the effects hold up. They just have a unique look to them that really exists in no other movie of its time or any time. It always surprises me upon re-watching to realize just how many computer graphics were used. Knowing how much effort when into them, I always think there must only be a few shots, but it never ceases to amaze me just how often you see them. Plus, the costume effect is just something we'll never see replicated again.
If it's on in the background on mute, Tron is a pretty cool movie still. But actually trying to watch it? I'm just as likely to fall asleep somewhere around the 45 minute mark as not.
Not sure how much this will be considered Flamebait on Slashdot :)
Real Unix! (Score:5, Interesting)
One of the displays showed a very Solairs looking version of top and login. I doubt this circa 1983 teminal had Solaris on it however.
I also thought it was cool that the son looked to see what the father was up to by starting a bash shell and running something like
Saw it opening night (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Saw it Sunday (Score:4, Interesting)
Olivia was channeling Real genius Michelle Meyrink and Galaxy Quest Missi Pyle with a couple eye shots and black wig of Meg Ryan in "something wild".
Basically the short black hair, non-threatening pliable child adult, vaguely mischievous thing is very sexy and not nearly as threatening and 'real' as the bisexual "13" of House.
Real women like real men are actually very difficult to deal with. Most people would want a faithful companion that matched them over an interesting companion who might show them up, leave them, or screw around on them.
My thoughts on Tron Legacy .... (Score:5, Interesting)
I went to see it on Saturday night. I opted for the 3D version, and purchased tickets in advance, via "Fandango". Despite all the warnings I heard about the Friday opening being "packed full" -- it turns out I shouldn't have wasted the extra few bucks on service fees getting my tickets online, in advance. The theater for the 10:05PM show only had about 15-20 people in it!
Here's the stuff I found most notable:
1. As everyone else is saying, the visuals were top-notch. I really liked the "updated look" to the light cycles, and especially the ribbon trails they left behind them. The effect of people getting de-rezzed was amazingly good too. Even the re-imagination of the traditional Walt Disney castle logo at the beginning of the movie was very cool. The 3D was subtle, which I actually liked. If you were expecting to see Flynn chucking a disc so it looked like it was headed right out of the movie screen and into the theater? Nope... sorry. No gimmicks like that. Just a little added depth to the digital world. I think you won't lose any enjoyment if you skip the 3D version, but as long as you're paying today's ticket prices to see it on a big screen anyway? It's worth going with the 3D version, if it doesn't cost extra, or the extra fee is less than the price of a small soda!
2. The Daft Punk soundtrack fits the theme of the movie, and yes, it's not bad. But in certain spots, I thought it was mixed too loudly and becomes "overbearing", as if it's competing for your attention with what you're actually trying to watch on the screen.
3. I still have kind of mixed feelings on how "60's hippie" they tried to make the Tron world. I mean, Jeff Bridge's character's whole "zen" thing wasn't something I expected at all out of this sequel. Does it work? Yeah, because it helps explain a few questions you might be tempted to ask, like "If he's the creator of this whole universe and has the power to revise code, at will? Why has he been so restrained at doing proactive things to better the situation for the inhabitants?" But you couple all of that with the "Zeus" character who has that crazy David Bowie vibe going on, and arch-enemies who all do things in the vein of "big corporation" or "trying to take over the world" -- and you're looking pretty squarely at the hippie vs. establishment stereotypes.
4. There really wasn't much Tron in this Tron. He practically made a cameo appearance! Since he's many people's favorite character of the original, I thought he deserved a little more screen time.
Overall? I enjoyed/liked this movie, and I think they did a good job of trying to respect the original, instead of stomping all over it, like SO often happens when they sequel a movie that was made so much earlier. In the end though? Given the original's whole premise, I'm not sure how this could have been re-made to have a fully believable story-line or deep plot/message? Much of the "magic" of the original Tron came from the fact that back in the 80's, computers were still a brand new and fascinating thing for a lot of us. As kids, we saw Tron and said "Wow.... that's a pretty cool way to imagine what the inside of a computer would be like if you could really become a part of one!" Now, almost 30 years later? We've all progressed far past the extent of computer games being things as "basic" as a light-cycle or person vs. person battle with throwing discs, and computer have become as much of a commodity item as our washers or dryers. We've all seen plenty of movies covering more expansive concepts like the entire Internet (The Matrix, etc.), too. So in a sense, the magic has evaporated with time -- and the best they could do is try to give back a little with the visuals and some nostolgia.
Re:The writing was idiotic (Spoilers?) (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Saw it Sunday (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, I thought the CGI Jeff Bridges was done brilliantly. See, while he did show up a tiny bit in the early 2D sections as "real" Flynn, the majority of his appearances were as the construct, right? Where better to see an uncanny valley version of Flynn than in his imperfect mirror image? That slight creepiness was perfect for the role.
I also think that, while the plot might have been a little thin, the philosophy was pretty heavy on the ground. It's like Tron is for hackers what Avatar was for environmentalists; a beautiful explanation and exploration of the ideas that motivate and guide us as a group. The Taoism, the Grid versus the wilds, nods to real life contests between "free" and "control" information cultures, it all seemed like the movie was explaining to the audience the experience of hacker culture. You and I see such things as obvious, because we have the shared experience, but this is a film I think we can show to other people and say "look, this basically explains why I wear sarcastic T-shirts."
Re:Great, but... (Score:4, Interesting)
Ditto on the weak 3D presentation. I forgot I was watching a 3D movie at times. But, I haven't really been all that impressed with *any* of the 3D movies I've seen. Just a lame gimmick IMO to get $6/ticket out of me.
But, I loved Tron. Even my girlfriend who "can't remember if I've seen any Star Wars movies" liked it. Seriously, how the fuck do you not know if you've seen Star Wars?
Re:The writing was idiotic (Spoilers?) (Score:4, Interesting)
Here are some quick answers I just pulled out of my ass after watching the movie once.
#1: There were plenty of programs walking around in non-glowing cloths. Cloths that glow seem to be a dress convention, rather than a strict rule. Like jeans and a t-shirt or a suit, white shirt and tie.
#2: You're complaining that some things in the computer world were represented literally instead of metaphorically or as a pixelated analogue. Ah bloo bloo bloo bloo bloo.
#3: If I was lord and master of a virtual world I would kill people like that all the time, or however else I wanted.
#4: The movie strongly implies the villain in question is intelligent and has a degree of free will. The character obviously summoned his strength to exercise his free will in a way contrary to his masters wishes.
#5: People who play both sides usually end up getting killed by one of them.
#6: You're really bad at watching movies.
#7: Does the movie really need to explain the details of how a flesh and blood person can go into a computer? It's hand-waved because explaining it would be stupid. It would also be stupid not to just assume that programs can go out the same way flesh and blood got in.
#8: You're nitpicking in the most pedantic way possible.
#9: You just used "Avatar" and "realistic" in the same sentence.
In conclusion: Tron: Legacy could have used a better script but it did cover its bases and didn't really fall down anywhere. A solid B+. Would watch again, maybe not in 3d the second time though.