Enormous credit has to go to the Matrix for introducing the concept to me of a complete alternate reality created by computers. These films aren't really comparable, but I think for my generation the Matrix was a gateway drug to this kind of heady science film, stylized in a slick way that the MTV generation could find appealing. Now we have this earlier interpretation, where the computer wasn't a prison for humanity's minds but a universe where elements of a data network were personified into characters with distinct relationships to their system. Pretty geeky stuff but approachable if you try just a little bit to understand it.
I can't imagine how mind-blowing this must have been for people from 1982 to see this. 1982... when I was one year old! You have to excuse me for laughing at the special effects, because sometimes it was just too much. "Why don't they fill these graphics in!" I was saying to myself. But in actuality Tron likely pushed movies to the absolute edge of what they could accomplish visually for it's time. I might assume that a movie focusing on innovative graphics would be all flash but no substance, but I actual found very little movie cliches that could take me out of the story for the duration of the film. I think it's effective, in particular, when you have to focus on the alternative lingo of a new world. Finding out what a "program" means to these characters, as well as a "user", and an "MCP" gives you an additional puzzle to acclimate to this universe.
I think the power of a completely realized cinematic world is that you actually feel like you were cheated by the movie's running time in that you couldn't explore this world for days. Tron isn't some overhyped baby-boomer geek fetish. It's the real deal... a stunning and exciting visual kaleidoscope with a solid story and concept.
Grade: A-
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