Thanks to my girlfriend's organizational skills we went to see the original, 30 year old Tron on Saturday. This was a special showing at the October iteration of the Sci-Fi London Film Festival (a marvellous event - you really should go).
We arrived bang on time, made our way to Screen 5, and were nearly knocked out as the doors swung outwards:
"Are you here for Tron?"
"Yes"
"Head next door for the screening of the preview, sit where you like, then head back here for the film."
Obediently, we wandered into Screen 4, being handed 3D glasses on the way in, where an impressive CGI animation was under way. It became pretty clear that this was an extended advert for something, but we were never sure quite what it was. After about 10 minutes it became clear it was for Starcraft 2 - one of the major sponsors of the event. Fair enough, just a little confusing to sit through.
Then the guy that shoo-ed us from Screen 5 wandered in with a microphone : he was the Festival Director Louis Savy I think). A very affable chap, he explained why we had to shuffle between the 2 screen : the cinema was unable to project a cutting edge 3D short and 35mm print from the same booth. Louis (if that was his name - a very half arsed search on google suggests it is) told us we were lucky to be seeing the original Tron so close to the release of Tron Legacy, and to expect the odd scratch in the print as it was 30 years old. Finally he threw a few T-shirts into the crowd and left us to it.
Following an atmospheric short called 'Breathe' from Liam Garvo (it looked nice but, as ever with a short, there's not enough time to really engage with it) we were shown the 3D trailer for Tron Legacy and then 10 minutes of the film itself. The scenes were mainly concerned with Flynn Jnr's arrival in 'cyberspace', being captured, kitted out in his games armour and taken into an arena for his first game.
Like the trailers, this preview is incredibly slick. The effects look fantastic, I'm not sure that 3D is needed but hey- it was never going to avoid it. The 'waxy' looing young Flynn Snr doesn't look out of place, and I imagine a shed load of processing power went into generating him. Things I hadn't seen before? The kitting out scene sees Flynn being dressed by 4 highly objectified women in 'Seven of Nine' figure hugging catsuits. I guess the film is being pitched at teenage boys then? I've avoided reading too much about the film, so I had no idea that Michael Sheen was in it - there was a tiny clip of him giving Daft Punk orders to get the arena crowd more excited, and I have to admit that the score was getting the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. There's certain aspects of the film seems to have been influenced by the Matrix trilogy: the costumes are the kind of thing anyone who buys Cyberdog thinks they're going to look like (you're not). Cycberspace is certainly darker and more goth than it was in the early 80s - which is fine by me.
The trailer ended (polite applause) and we headed over to Screen 5, swapping our 3D galsses for goodie bags on the way, for the main event.
I have a bit of a fond spot for Tron. As a child I had been given the choice of seeing E.T. or Tron as my Christmas break film. I picked Tron : I've no idea why and I've never regretted it. It took me years to get around to watching E.T. and it never filled me with wonder the way it did for many children. When I told my girlfriend that I was excited about seeing Tron Legacy (after seening the trailer at the local cinema) she took the initative and booked tickets for this screening - mainly so she'd have some idea of what was going on when I dragged her to see Tron Legacy later in the year.
So, what did I get out of seeing Tron for the first time in (over 20) years? The main thing is that it's now impossible to take Jeff Bridges seriously - he's The Dude. Almost every line he said was met with a chuckle from the audience. The special effects are, on the whole, very dated (what do you expect) but a few hold up well. The outfits are probably the worst offenders - paper thin helmets, white drapes and the odd blue or red glowing line.
It was odd to see how lively a video arcade was protraid . I remember them being quite a draw for my pocket money at that age, but I don't remember
It was odd to see that a few lines of dialogue had been taken verbatim from the old film into the new (the breifing of the newly arrived Flynn Jnr) and I'd never noticed the Pac Man easter egg before. Nor had I twigged that the guy from the trailer giving Flynn Jnr the nudge towards his adventure was actually Alan/Tron until I found myself what had happened to that actor. The appropriately small appearce of the bit 'character' left me wondering why it left such an impression on me as a child. Finally, the 30 year old print was charming - I did enjoy seeing a film with scratches and 'pops' on it. I guess in the same way as I enjoy the clicks in any favourite vinyl record.
Pac Man 'easter egg'
I did wonder if seeing Tron at such an early age propelled me into my current job, but I doubt it. If I was working on computer games that might have some validity, but hacking away at websites isn't really the same at all is it?
So that you can have a flavour of my own Saturday night : here's the trailer for the original Tron with the one for Tron Legacy.
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