Friday 22 October 2021

Rob's Movie Night Roundup - T (Tron)

At the beginning of the year, my wife and I decided that we'd like to watch more movies. There are 52 weeks in a year, 2 of us, and 26 letters in the alphabet. What better way to choose some movies than to go alphabetically? The only rule: Where possible, it should be a movie that one or more of us had never seen before. Oh, and ideally it should be part of one of the copious online streaming services we're already subscribed to, because why bother paying for a rental when we're not short of options?

Incidentally, if anyone from the big online streaming service providers is reading this (your Notfluxes or your Prims, for example), please make it easier to search for/sort movies alphabetically. Thanks.

Also, fair warning: There may well be movies that appear on this list that you'll find hard to believe I haven't seen before. It happens.

Previous letters are here: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S

T U V W X Y Z

TRON
Director: Steven Lisberger
Stars: Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner

Synopsis via IMDB: A computer hacker is abducted into the digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program.

If your first question is "However did it take Rob until 2021 to watch the original Tron?", it's not an unreasonable question. It's a movie with video games being played in it. It's an 80s movie. It's hailed as miles ahead of its time. The video game point again. Nevertheless, here we are in 2021 with me having watched Tron for the first time recently.

If it helps, that was a question I audibly asked myself during the course of the movie. I thought it was cool!

Of course, certain aspects of the special effects look a little dated, but considering the time in which the movie was made the visuals should not be undersold. It's worth saying that the version I watched (in this case on Disney+) looked bloody lovely, so I'm guessing there's been a pretty significant remastering effort which has been really well done!

It's easy, nearly 40 years after a movie releases, to forget the creativity on display here. The very idea of the movie is inspired, and I would genuinely play a video game based on the in-movie game where you basically play Jai alai using the ceiling and platforms disappear when they're hit. Hell, if I could code more effectively I'd make that game.

I digress. I thought this movie was cracking, and at just over 90 minutes it was a really well-structured and tight movie with no wasted effort. Really glad I watched it.


I might go back and look properly, but it feels increasingly like 1982 is among the most incredible years for movies. Tron just adds to the pile that already includes Blade Runner, The Thing and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, just to name a few. An awesome and unique visual style, some synth music and some solid 1980s movie performances make for an enjoyable time all round!

Did you enjoy the roundup? Let me know! If you have thoughts on the movies chosen and their respective writeups above, you know where to find me. Maybe you don't, but there are buttons everywhere to make that happen. Comments, Twitter, you name it. Moreover, if you want to make use of this movie night format, bearing in mind you're a few weeks in and might have to double up to get up to speed, feel free to do the same - I'd love to know what you chose too!

Rob Wade


Rob Wade blogs about stuff he likes. Whether it's video games or geek media for Emotionally14 or writing about speculative theories for future films on Talk Star Wars, the focus has always been on the stuff that brings the most pleasure to his life within media.

Rob is the editor of Emotionally14, and showrunner of the E14 podcasts "The Crazy Train", "The E14 Gamecast" and "Talk Star Wars", as well as the host and guest of a number of pieces on E14's Youtube channel over the years.


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