Talk about the movie TRON, made by the little lavished Steven Lisberger (1982), is to address one of the fundamental contributions of innovation in modern cinema. Specifically, the one with which the new audiovisual era of the extensive use of computer generated images. Perhaps the first film in which we saw them was Futureworldthe sequel to Westworld (1973) by Richard T. Heffron (1976), but the indisputable milestone corresponds to the work of the New York filmmaker.
If one sits down to contemplate it today, its graphics may seem a bit old. Above all, to the young people who have awakened to the seventh art during a time of infinite possibilities in which it is difficult to distinguish a real texture from another computer-generated imagery (CGI). But there is no doubt that it makes up for it with its striking aesthetic. ciberpunk and, very especially, thanks to its neon colors and the backlight animation that backlights the suits.
Its coherence in the latter reaches the brilliance of footage devoid of digital modifications. Also, TRON delves into the concept of entering a virtual reality with computer programs turned into characters relevant to your story. An idea that has dazzled us later in the trilogy of Matrix (1999-2003)—let’s forget the disappointing Resurrections (2021), for the glory of Hugo Weaving—and we had a lot of fun in Ralph rompe Internet (2018).
‘TRON’: An important pioneering work, but minor
With all this, it has become a length of worship. It does not deserve anything else if it is known that Steven Lisberger gives us several firsts. Never until he proposed it was there a cocktail of CGI and live action on the big screen, nor a character and backgrounds developed entirely with said technique. And that artistic design depended on people like the great Jean Giraud or Moebius y Syd Meadwho came from Alien, the eighth passenger (1979) y Blade Runner (1982), impress.
However, there are good reasons why it is not considered a movie. There may be moviegoers who are fascinated by his contributions and his style, but the rest is not worth it. The libretto of TRON it is pedestrian, neither seductive nor sparkling. And the scenes are only planned one step further from pure functionality; except for the entrance of Kevin Flynn, the protagonist, in the virtual environment ruled by the ruthless Master Control Program and some other.
On the other hand, the rhythm of the montage does not waste energy precisely. The score by Wendy Carlos, who had previously contributed wonderfully, together with Rachel Elkind, to Stanley Kubrick putting them in a tie for us The glow (1980), is revealed as that of an incomprehensible cheap electronic music, of cheap television broadcast. And the main performances, although we love Jeff Bridges, do not expend much charisma or show great enthusiasm.
A sequel to surpass the milestone
The obvious advantage TRON: Legacy the belated continuation directed by Joseph Kosinski (2010), which is now smashing the box office with Top Gun: Maverick (2022), is what its title mentions, the legacy on which to build a new more exciting adventure. Despite the fact that it repeats previous schemes with several turns of the screw and renounces the archaic three-dimensional aesthetics and revamps it, with a reworking necessarily unfair in favor of a greater spectacle.
A) Yes, run away from the milestone which is the predecessor of the impressive dinosaurs of Jurassic Park (1993), the revolutionary Toy Story (1995) in animation or motion capture of The Lord of the rings (2001-2003). The sublime in the CGI of Avatar surely brought tears to our esteemed Robert Zemeckis, who had premiered the previous month Christmas story (2009) with an invoice light years from the one achieved by James Cameron.
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We assume that the Canadian director will take another giant step with technology in the sequel on the na’vi on the threatened planet Pandora: Avatar: The Water Sense (2022). But, at this point in time the visual wonders that the great teams of artists that work in a cinematographic production offer us, we must not ignore that it was the neglected Steven Lisberger who wanted to wrap the blanket around his head and make it possible from the iconic TRON.