Tron (1982)

The geek in me went nuts for this film. As someone who grew up without photorealistic video games at the mall arcade or my uncle’s Nintendo, Tron looks very much like my childhood gaming experience come to life. The story may be far-fetched and character motivations suspect, but the computer world seen here is perfectly realized.

Software engineer and video game designer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is out to prove that a rival programmer (David Warner) stole his designs. To prove it, Flynn breaks into his former place of employment to hack the mainframe and find the evidence. The mainframe, called Master Control Panel (MCP for short) fights back by blasting Flynn with an experimental laser. This digitizes Flynn and brings him inside the computer world. As Flynn seeks a way out of his digital prison, he joins a band of computer programs that resist the MCP’s tyrannical thirst for power and control over the entire world’s computer systems.

When it comes to movies, I am all about understanding context. Sometimes I fail in that quest but I always try to understand a film and its impact as of its release date. Needless to say, many of the visual effects in Tron blew me away. Most are obviously dated now, but only a few of them look really bad by today’s standards. A few still look impressive yet today. Younger audiences will probably have a harder time appreciating this film because you have to understand what 80s and early 90s games looked like. Everyone else in the know will appreciate just how the filmmakers conceptualized a 1980s inside-the-computer world.

Are there problems? Sure. Flynn is really only interested in proving that he was ripped off. The only reason he joins the resistance movement is because he has to in order to find a way back to his world. Sure, he comes to appreciate the conflict against the MCP but that’s really only because it has it out for him. There is never an emotional attachment between Flynn and the program characters he meets along the way. There is a similar emotional disconnect between the computer world characters and the audience. The program characters never act human enough for us to be truly concerned about them.

Throughout the film, I found many elements that appear in later films. I was particularly struck by how similar this film was in many ways to The Matrix. Flynn is very much Neo, able to manipulate the computer world because he is special (in Flynn’s case, he is a ‘user’ or non-program). For a film that has largely been relegated to the cult-classic bin, Tron’s influence on later sci-fi is undeniable.

Tron continues to be an innovative and dazzling film. The pace lags at times but those slow points allow sci-fi geeks like me to examine the technical aspects of the film more deeply. It may not appeal to general audiences en mass, but it is a smart, daring film that is perfect for those who don’t mind veering off the beaten track of Hollywood blockbusters, Oscar bait, and formulaic genre flicks. As tempted as I am to nudge this film’s rating higher, I have to shrug off my personal bias and give it a fair score because there are a few bugs in Tron’s system.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

The Omen (1976)

Gregory Peck is a man’s man. He’s taken on many challenges in his acting career, and The Omen pits him against the spawn of Satan. Peck’s wife has a complicated pregnancy which results in a still-birth, but his wife in unconscious and has no clue. To cover it up, her husband switches babies with some monks and takes on Damien as his son.

Everything seems fine until 5-year old Damien starts coaxing people to commit suicide telepathically, being followed around by big mean dogs, and freaking out when exposed to anything remotely religious. The child actor is really a cute kid, but nothing is creepier than a cute kid staring blankly off into space with eerie music playing.

Overall, the film is really good. It’s filled with religious symbolism, which shows that the filmmakers did their homework. Granted, there are plenty of convenient twists and turns that now seem cliché, but they are largely excusable because the film excels at creeping you out.

I wouldn’t recommend this to those who are extremely squeamish, overly prone to nightmares, or the overly prudish religious folk who are offended by Satan’s portrayal as a cute little boy. Those who are into religious study or those who just enjoy a good chill will enjoy The Omen.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5