Tron meh-age

[daddytodd]

Ok, so I was already in my 20's when Tron was released. I thought it had some cool graphix, but sucked as, you know, a narrative. I haven't thought about it in decades. Those were pretty good decades.

Now the belated sequel is coming, and the entirety of Beardom seems to be squeeing in unison. I couldn't possibly be more "meh" about the prospect of a Tron sequel.

Is it an age thing? What am I missing here? Why is Tron Legacy the bear equivalent of a new Twilight movie?

Comments

[bigbear4xl.livejournal.com]

I think it's more a nerd thing. I never got more comments on a Facebook post than when I reported that I had never seen Tron. I'll remedy that this weekend, but having watched a more recent making of doc (from the anniversary DVD release), I'll say that while it was rather revolutionary for its time, it looks extremely dated today. I was 15 when it came out and could not have cared less at the time, but a lot of younger bear types seem to really truly love it. The sequel looks interesting at least from a visual standpoint, so I'll probably see it, and Jeff Bridges is always a good time in a flick, but I don't have the same jones for Tron that I have for, say, the original Star Wars trilogy or Star Trek.

[lostncove.livejournal.com]

I dunno, but I just want to say that the gerund "squeeing" is hard to say.

[daddytodd.livejournal.com]

Yes, but being the cunning linguist that you are, I'm sure you can say "squeeing" if you put your mind to it.

[fuzzyjay.livejournal.com]

I never saw it when it came out. I caught part of it on DVD the other day with some friends and I was under-impressed.

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

First off - I think the comparison to Twilight is off-base. If you want to quantify the squee-age, I'm sure there's a less-offensive reference point.

I disagree about the original's narrative; no, it's not complicated - it's a pretty straightforward story about good vs. evil. Does that make it "suck"? I don't think so. One could argue that Star Wars (which really does suck *grin*) is in a similar category.

I'm excited about it because - unlike the 2009 Star Trek disaster - it looks like they're going to do the update/revisit thing right. Not to mention it looks visually gorgeous. I love the fact they got both Bruce Boxleitner and Jeff Bridges back as Alan Bradley and Kevin Flynn. I love that they're not pretending nearly 30 years hasn't gone by. I love that they're using that timespan to "reboot" (ha!) the Electronic World rather than doing some lame-ass "parallel universe" garbage... *grin*

I love the intensely geeky way they're promoting the film. I wish I'd been one of the people who got a couple of "Flynn's Arcade" tokens in the mail... not to mention the people who got a "Bit"!

I love that the original teaser trailer made me wonder about so many things; what's going on in the Electronic World? Why is Flynn there? Why is there a younger looking version of him doing stuff like that? The recent teaser just broadens my interest in what's going on. I knew Bruce Boxleitner was involved, but the first time I heard his voice in the new trailer a chill ran down my spine.

The only complaint I'd have about it at this point is something they may be keeping as a surprise: I think David Warner (Ed Dillinger/Sark/voice of the MCP) should have an appearance in the film. We'll see.

I don't know if any of this will answer your questions. People have tried to explain to me over and over why they love movies I find incomprehensible or loathesome, and they've rarely changed my point of view - though more often I've gotten an inkling as to why someone else might like a particular film, even though I don't.

[daddytodd.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Star Trek '09 sucked as a narrative, too. So do the Transformers movies. That doesn't change my opinion of the original Tron in any way.

My recollection of Tron was that it was about as effective a narrative as other Disney films from that era, such as Pete's Dragon, The Black Hole and The Rescuers Down Under (to name three that I can recall from my teens & early '20's.) I don't hold Tron in special disregard; I simply don't hold it in much of any regard at all. It was what it was, which wasn't at all memorable to me.

You indicate what you like that you've heard about the sequel, but I still haven't heard why you hold the original film in high regard -- or even if you do -- and why you think it's sequel-worthy.

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

One of the main reasons I am so fond of the original is that it was one of the rare productions that really spoke to me in terms of culture and fantasy. I wasn't obsessive, but I did love certain arcade video games. Despite the danger Flynn encounters - there's also an escapist fantasy there for the computer geek. In that world, I'd have the holy grail of nerditude - SPECIAL POWERS! And not because of being bitten by a radioactive spider or something - just because I'm a User. "God, root, what is difference?"

You can nitpick it to death, but there's something about the entire experience of the film that just grabs certain people.

"Like the man says, there's no problems, only solutions."

[zbear20.livejournal.com]

Maybe it is an age thing, I'm with you on this one.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Because:

1. It's a true, real-time sequel (30+ years have gone by in movie-time).
2. It appears to have way better graphics than the original.
3. It appears to have more of a plot than the original.

However, while I'm very, very pleased at the prospect of the movie, I can't say that I'm squee!ing over it. (There are way better ways to get me to squee; I'm sure you'll find at least a couple of 'em at some point in the future.)

[daddytodd.livejournal.com]

well, 28 years on, it certainly ought to have better graphics. The MCP in the original was nothing short of embarrassing, even back in '82.

But those are all reasons why the sequel might be better than the original, which feels like a tacit admission that the original wasn't particularly good. Or, at least, that it had significant flaws.

[darkrose79.livejournal.com]

hmm maybe the beardom is squeeing to see it because of this
http://www.elcriticodecine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/bridges.jpg

[daddytodd.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of "meh" on Bridges and Boxleitner as well. I guess I'm a bad bear...

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

I couldn't be less interested in it.

[tbrough.livejournal.com]

Count me in as excited. The original used computers and the whole new "Computers Will Take Over The World" paranoia (see also Terminator) in a method that was original and originally presented. The story was not all that original. But then (as Furr already pointed out), neither was Star Wars, a movie I also loved.

I do like the facts previously stated (no hiding the 30 years that have passed, bring Bridges and Boxleitner back, etc). So yeah, I am excited. More so than any of the current TV series rip offs or toy game movies (Rock'em Sock'em Robots? That is the best you've got?).

[bluebear2.livejournal.com]

I remember Tron being on TV many years ago. I got bored and stopped watching it. The new one was shot here in Vancouver and my otter neighbour worked on it. I met a totally hawt bear who was up here from California working on it so there is some bears behind the scenes going on there. I was hoping he could "borrow" me an outfit for hallowe'en but all that stuff got shipped to L.A. after the shoot.

[querrelle.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I think I 'met' that totally hot bear too. heh, not meh.

I loved the original Tron. I was a budding young micro-computer programmer and mathematician and it got my imagination racing in all sorts of ways. I was fascinated by the continually morphing 'bits' and the 'butterfly' ship that travelled along data streams was beautiful. For the most part I was prepared to forgive the simplistic child-friendly narrative and the wholly underwhelming rendering of the MCP in the closing scenes.

[progbear.livejournal.com]

I have still never even seen the original, does that make me a bad person?

[daddytodd.livejournal.com]

Yes it does. Come here and I shall administer your "punishment."

[egbubba.livejournal.com]

I think the answer may have less to do with the movie, and more with the way beardom and geekdom dovetail. And I'm not sure I'm qualified to explain why that is. I just see it an awful lot. Like when I went to the midnight showing of the X-men sequel. Totally sent my bear-dar off the rails. With all those scruffy-bearded, slacker-rific twenty-somethings in attendence, I wasn't sure if I was in the computer lab at the local college or a Lonestar "Welcome New Cubs" orientation meeting.

[redmoonriver.livejournal.com]

For me I'd have to guess that age was probably a huge factor. I think I was at that right age where my daydreams/escapism, youth, lack of standards/demands met the sci-fi/videogame fantasy of the original. As I look back at the movie I remember I agree that the plot/narrative are nothing as deep as what I'm drawn to now.

But I was maybe 8 when I saw it. I wouldn't expect my appreciation for movies to be the same now.

Regardless I fell in love with it and wanted there to be a sequel with *ME* in it. LOL. Though at that age, the difference between being in a movie and being in the movie's world were negligible.

I'm sure if I saw Tron for the first time now I'd be a lot less impressed. But... well, I have that lingering love from youth. So when I saw the hint/early trailer yes I *did* squee my pants.

[wescobear.livejournal.com]

My memory of the original movie is a bunch of people in weird clothes, laughable lighting, non-existant "sets" and bad acting. If I wanted to see a current version of that, I'd just watch Fox News.

[fogbear.livejournal.com]

I didn't see the original. I'm sure I'll see the sequel because putzmeisterbear is going to want to see it.

I do love "squeeing in unison" though. And I guffawed when you compared it to Twilight.

[daddytodd.livejournal.com]

Well, in my defense, I was comparing the REACTION, not comparing the films. I already got spanked over that...