Jul 08 2010
Mex-a-Tron!
I don’t know if I ever saw it the first time round, but I saw Tron this evening. Now I’m fully prepared for the sequel when it appears.
A few friends came over and we got fajitas from Los Cardos across the road — and despite the utilitarian appearance the food was pretty good. The staff were friendly too. I got a “fajita burrito”, which is kinda what I’d call a fajita if I was making it at home, except they loaded it with rice as well as the usual fried onions, peppers, cheese, salsa and spicy chicken. (There are a number of other fillings available besides chicken, including haggis…) The food was more or less what you’d make yourself, simple but plentiful, and they had big, good quality tortillas which seems to be the hardest part when it comes to make-your-own fajita meals.
The film was weird as all hell. I borrowed the special edition with audio commentary and a separate making-of disc — I wonder what explanation they’ll have for some of the stranger scenes. Some didn’t even seem to connect at all to the rest of the story. It certainly wasn’t what I expected. I knew there was action in light-striped arenas that probably represented some gaming system, but I didn’t realise that most of the protagonists would be computer programs. Needless to say, if you know anything about computers you have to plug your ears at some points or risk bursting into entirely inappropriate laughter. The plot is a bit like The Lord of the Rings (take the magical item into the evil overlord’s domain to free everyone from tyranny).
The sequel — coming out in December I think, so aiming for the family Christmas market I suppose — follows the action twenty five years later in the same inner-computer environment. Hopefully they won’t be relying on the crutch of dazzling graphics and spectacle instead of coherent plot. But that’s probably a foolish hope…
Helen’s out tonight because one of her colleagues is leaving the lab, so she didn’t get to see it. Maybe we’ll watch it tomorrow with extras before I give the DVD back.
I have also managed to get through life so far without seeing Tron. My recollection, which I have just checked to make sure I wasn’t saying something dumb, was that it was made by Walt Disney Pictures…. amazing, from your description, that it got made, or does it have any aspects which feel Disneyish?
Worth a look, then?
No, I don’t think you’ll be missing anything earth-shattering if you don’t see it. I guess it would have been graphically mind-blowing at the time but it’s still a bit incoherent and slightly disappointing in the end.
fair enough… a classic in its time, like Citizen Kane (shock horror, indrawing of breath etc)