Tron (1982) movie reviews - Sneak Previews with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel

[@enyawd1977]

One of the most visually stunning films ever made. It's easily one of my top ten favorites of all time.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

It's easy to forget how cutting edge this was when it came out, similar to Toy Story (blew my mind, as did Tron).

[@k1productions87]

It is super unfortunate how dated Toy Story looks. I watched it again recently for the first time in a decade... and I feel bad for having a negative impression too many times. And I know, that is all on me and not the fault of the production, they did amazing for the time, just like with Tron. I just find it really hard to enjoy in later years

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

@@k1productions87 But interestingly, if you watch the first 5 or 6 Pixar movies in the order they were released you can see a steady progression of improvement in almost every area. The first Toy Story, for example, had no depth of field (all objects are in focus no matter how far they are from the camera), little to no raytracing, etc. A Big's Life added depth of field and many other things. By the time you get to The Incredibles there's believable water, hair, fire, etc.

[@k1productions87]

@@JustWasted3HoursHere Oh absolutely, I am not going to begrudge Pixar one bit, and I firmly believe their name will forever be cemented in not only the history of animation, but the history of film cinema in general for generations to come. Its just that, while the beginnings of animation in general were extremely stylized as its sign of the times, computer animation's beginnings were more noticeably primitive. And that is nobody's fault, its just hard to watch. Like... I tried to watch the old show "Reboot" again... that was rough.

[@mikesilva3868]

​@@k1productions87😊😊agreed well said

[@cliffordshafran9250]

This was the first time in ages that Disney was ahead of the curve in a special effects adventure. The images were pretty awesome for that time period and the story matched well with it for a change. To this date, it's still the only good video game-based movie, IMO.

[@patrickshields5251]

I always believed that the rise of the blcobusters influenced Disney to stop making so many slapstick-laden Disney comedies.

[@yveltalpoderoso1303]

It’s timeless cause the outdated graphics Made sense for the story

[@thiscorrosion900]

A bunch of us "kids" saw this the week of release at the old now-defunct Cinema 150 Theater in Woodbury, Long Island. Gigantic Cinerama screen, always had a state of the art sound system there, and as teens we loved it, technically dazzling and any video game kid would love it, anyway. It was worth the extra bucks to see it there. My mom took me and my pals there for a birthday present for me, firstly, and pizza and ice cream later, even. That's what I call an 80s birthday.

[@5roundsrapid263]

It was actually filmed on 70mm film, because of all the effects shots. You probably got to see a 70mm print. Wow.

[@thiscorrosion900]

@@5roundsrapid263 I think so. They showed Star Wars there in 70mm apparently, but I saw it first elsewhere.

[@alphabetaxenonzzzcat]

That must of been mindblowing. I actually got to see it around 1984(I think) - on Betamax rental tape(when rentals were still in their infancy) - and the film just stuck with me ever since. A great sci fi film of the 1980s.

[@thiscorrosion900]

@@5roundsrapid263 Aye, right! I'm almost certain it was 70MM and that theater was optimized for such prints, anyway. I even saw Battlestar Galactica the Movie there and that was not only 70MM but in like Sensurround!

[@thiscorrosion900]

@@alphabetaxenonzzzcat Ha, Betamax. I never owned a Betamax machine. I had friends in later 70s who had one, and they had an early bootleg of Star Wars! That was insane.

[@mrbee4life182]

Tron was and still is the coolest film i have ever seen still holds up now and always remember playing it in the arcade and as Gene said it's neat 👍🏻

[@ForceMaximus84]

Very sad to see what Disney has become in recent years despite wonderful gems like Tron.

[@CR41489]

Really inventive and technically great. I saw it in a theater in the summer of 1982 and thoroughly enjoyed it. It doesn’t have a great story, but it does have a fun lead in Jeff Bridges and it’s visuals at the time we’re dazzling. It’s still fun all these years later.

[@Trilaan]

I'm actually surprised they liked this so much.

[@alramone1]

wish i could take their advice and see this on the big screen... this review surprised as i always thought Tron was disliked by critics

[@hevyonez97]

Critics jumped for joy on this one, although it received decent box office support giving it cult classic status...the arcade game did better business overall, along with soundtrack and toy sales....

[@4rcgv]

This movie was incredible, and the father of the Matrix. Still holds up today.

[@micahwright5901]

The graphics really struggle to hold up 40 years later, but it still has a charming aesthetic that keeps it interesting.

[@Shanethefilmmaker]

@@micahwright5901 To be fair, this was one of the first times CGI was ever used and they used it in a medium that people would be able to let sink in, such as a video game world. It was considered a huge technological wonder and opened the doors of films that came after good and bad. One of the reasons why many modern movies get the shaft despite having improved effects is because movies like Tron had the element of surprise. This was something no one has seen before. Once that novelty wears off even Tron is no exception to how dull people feel about CGI.

[@keyman6689]

They realized the importance of this film. They briefly mentioned 1 dimensional characters, which I agree the story is a bit cheesy and even dull at times, but that's not what this movie is about. It's about groundbreaking visual storytelling that is a thrill to watch. Kinda like Avatar. It's a landmark in movie history, showing us things we've never seen before.

[@snakeenjoyingacanofbeans5219]

Avatar broke so much ground omg! I have never seen any movie about evil white imperialists fighting against holy natives. And the talk about preserving nature was so profound my buttplug actually shot out

[@keyman6689]

@@snakeenjoyingacanofbeans5219 Lol! I'm talking visual groundbreaking, tho. Avatar's story was Pocahontas or Dances with Wolves, yeah nothing new or exciting there. The effects were stunning, with the photorealistic world, the creatures and adopting the new digital 3D to live action, which at the time had only been used on animated features. There was a reason a mediocre story became the highest grossing movie in history at that time.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

I agree with one big caveat: Avatar is a lesser movie if you watch it without 3D and on a smaller screen. The 3D aspect was really what pushed it over the edge as it had some of the best 3D effects ever seen on screen. Without them and it's still a good movie, but far from the initial 3D theatrical experience.

[@ThisOldGeek]

Much better than Legacy! More advanced tech does not equal better movie! Love to see this on a nice 4k tv!

[@chriscornelius2518]

I liked legacy.

[@micahwright5901]

Legacy’s soundtrack takes the cake though, no contest.

[@chriscornelius2518]

@@micahwright5901 The music is absolutely beautiful.

[@Shanethefilmmaker]

@@micahwright5901 While I love the movie and I do think the music is kick ass, I'm gonna have to give this one to Wendy Carlos. While Daft Punk is an excellent choice for Legacy, the one thing they lacked that Carlos did better was the contrast. During the real world scenes, she used an Orchestral Background as a way of saying "This is real world music." While the Game Grid scenes had synths as her way of saying "This is game world music." Now what Daft Punk did wasn't all bad, because Legacy takes place in a world where technology is more integrated in the real world which continued off from the famous end credits scene in the first movie showing the real world not so different from the Game Grid and expanded on that by putting digital music within it, but I felt like they missed a big opportunity to crack their knuckles on some orchestral music. They're no stranger to it, since one of their most famous albums Discovery had a mix of digital and orchestral. With One More Time being a contender for the latter.

[@Shanethefilmmaker]

@The Old Geek. Then you miss the point of the Tron Franchise as a whole. As humanity evolves so must our tech and the effects given, you may dislike, are an important aspect of that notion. Before, these programs could have easily gotten killed with just one punch, then in Legacy they ended up being made of sterner stuff. Just like how computers and computer technology has evolved over the years from being overtly sensitive and easy to break to monster machines capable of withstanding the worst we can throw at them hardware and software.

[@Takeshi357]

This just makes me wish I could see Tron on a big screen :(

[@rodroller6634]

I was at the perfect age 14 to love the movie and the video games.

[@kamil.p5134]

MCP's voice is quite a surprise

[@zt1053]

Their balcony set up looked the best on sneak previews. The Siskel and Ebert setup was too lit.

[@supermarioworldE]

Very cool to hear the additional dialogue thats not in the final cut.

[@ezequielgomez7083]

Also came the same day as Bally Midway Arcade

[@tommartin4089]

RIP To David Warner, Gene Siskel, And Roger Ebert

[@tommartin4089]

Ive been hacked. I did not comment on this.

[@xXLunatikxXlul]

Lol

[@peanutbutterjeff5364]

Weird voices for the MCP and Sarkh in this. Maybe a workprint? I wonder why nobody has brought this up.

[@KarstensCreationsKC]

Wow. Color Me shocked that these two both enjoyed and recommended this groundbreaking film, I would have thought they would have been bored by it... A very pleasant surprise to see that they were ahead of their time in recognizing The Genius of the creators... Side note, very interesting to see the scenes they featured with completely different audio in many areas, the mCP featuring Dillon's voice, many sound effects missing from the final cut... This must have been an early version of the film...

[@michaelperkowski641]

Enjoyed this film very much a lot fun. Saw this movie late summer 1982 in theatre double feature with Star Trek 2 the Wrath of Khan.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

Wow, that's what I call a double feature!

[@k1productions87]

@@JustWasted3HoursHere One that focuses on pushing computer effects further than ever before, the other emphasizing model work and practical effects.... while at the same time, showcasing Pixar's first ever full CGI animation on the big screen... appropriate. though I must also make a case for the stunning visuals in Star Trek the Motion Picture as well

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

@@k1productions87 STTMP does grow on you eventually, but I do feel that it needed to be edited into a tighter movie. It's not a terrible movie by any stretch of the imagination, though.

[@k1productions87]

@@JustWasted3HoursHere I often prop TMP as one of the best "Trek's" while at the same time admitting that it is not one of the best "movies" as the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Wrath on the other hand was easily one of the best movies, but not really the best "Trek". I feel the one case where a film was both a great Trek and a great Movie at the same time was Voyage Home. Though it had nothing at all to do with visuals (except for maybe all the whale footage they were able to make with remote controlled miniatures that was so convincing that animal rights groups got pissed LOL).

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

@@k1productions87 Interestingly, at a Trek Con years ago fans were asked to rank the Trek movies from best to worst and do you know what movie made it to number 4? Galaxy Quest, which is not even a Star Trek movie at all! But, it does "Trek" so well that it got the vote that it deserves. (Great movie if you haven't seen it. It's a spoof that isn't mean-spirited).

[@zt1053]

Their reviews on sneak previews were so much longer

[@acholl980]

PBS had no commercials.

[@pem1974]

2:08 David Warner's voice is almost unprocessed here. Such a difference!!

[@willyboyw.5771]

@3:40. The Cooper SK2000 hockey helmet make it's debut.

[@thiscorrosion900]

Any movie with Lacey Underall is good.

[@Shorty_Lickens]

You wanna guess what year Blade Runner was released? Go ahead, guess...

[@captainharris8980]

First rate film. It brings the question of who we are, poses values against tyranny and misuse of technology. Classic movie stuff.

[@oobrocks]

I have no idea if I'd vote 👍 or 👎. It's ok only

[@Jamie.Laszlo]

Tron, the movie: Two stars Tron, the arcade game: Five stars

[@shawnevarts511]

For as great as this movie is, I feel like Disney treats the franchise like a red headed stepchild.

[@peterkroger7112]

Wenn I watched this movie as a kud back in the eighties I found it exceptionally boring. But I have really grown fond of it by now.

[@BradiKal61]

I liked Last Starfighter more than Tron.

[@jedijones]

Saw it in the basement of my school on a small film projector when I was about 7 or so. Could not get into it. It was a very stiff and obtuse film for a young person. Today I can certainly see how it had imagination and groundbreaking visuals at the time, but now it's all terribly dated.

[@mikesilva3868]

Good movie 😊

[@snakes6248]

I liked Tron a lot more when I was younger. It's still fine and required viewing for sci-fi fans, but on my most recent watch I thought it was a little boring. I couldn't help but wish Tron was about a team of people who go into the digital world to stop the MCP from taking over the Pentagon and the Kremlin. Flynn does stop the MCP, but he doesn't even know about its plans for world domination, so the film doesn't have as much tension as it could've had.

[@CaminoAir]

Visually it was stunning. Unfortunately the story wasn't quite there and let the film down a bit. Still, it is a one of a kind film. I know there's a sequel, but Tron had to invent itself, while the sequel could build on a lot of technology over the following decades.