Tron (1982) Dir: Steven Lisberger
- Ridley Coote
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
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In 1982, Steven Lisberger directed what would become a classic sci-fi film, and one of the most beloved films of a beloved decade. It had been so long since I'd seen the original that I honestly couldn't remember much about it, other than the basics. In preparation for the third film, it seemed like the perfect time to rewatch the prior two, starting, of course, with the Eighties original. My review of Tron: Ares has already been posted.
The film obviously looks very primitive by today's standards - I think it's easy to forget how far technology has come in the last four decades - but once I got passed the undeniably goofy visuals, I had a lot of fun with it. The costume designs were not great, some things were never good, but they retained a sort of nostalgic quality to them, at least. I think a lot of modern eyes would really struggle to take this film's visuals seriously, myself included, but it was worth sticking with.
Everything about the film, from its visuals, to its soundtrack, and even its story, was very typically Eighties. All hope and adventure and fighting the tyranny of an over-the-top evil dictator. Come to think of it, that last bit might actually still be very topical. I digress, there's a lot of fun to be had with this story, even if it's all very silly by today's standards. It was a simple but fairly effective little adventure into the computer world.
Jeff Bridges, of course, starred in the film, and provided a charismatic, if a little goofy, performance. This definitely isn't his best on-screen appearance, but it certainly seemed like he was enjoying himself, which made me enjoy watching him all the more. He had two decent supporting co-stars in Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan, with the latter of which leaving a pretty memorable impression. David Warner deserves a mention for his double turn as two of the film's antagonistic characters, while Barnard Hughes and Dan Shor also deserve to have their names mentioned for their respective roles.
Overall, whilst this film's visuals have aged extremely noticeably since the early 80's, there are still plenty of good qualities to it, which make it a really fun watch. CGI aside, the light-bike scenes are awesome, as are the various battles between the characters - this felt like a true slice of 80's cinema, for better and worse. As I alluded to above, I think most people who watched this film for the first time would really struggle with the dated visuals, but if they can make it passed that, they'll have a good time.
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