I've always wondered what it made. Was that the total amount the opening day? Seems films industries rank how successful a movie is based on total ticket sales on opening day. Of course it seems film companies also compare that amount with the amount the compition made.

Here's a neat thing to do. Got to various sites that sell the TRON DVD and look at the customer reviews. 90-95% of them are always positive.

I guess the thing the Disney execs had in mind was a response similar to Star Wars and Star Trek TMP. That isn't a fair comparison. I don't know why there is so much invested in the false notion that if a film isn't the new #1 it's a failure or a flop. What a crock. I never gave a kahootie about what other viewers think, what critics think, what opening days figures say,... blah blah blah. I'll see what I like and like what I like. And I like Tron!

However, not to scoff at Tron, I don't really buy into the expression that it's ahead of it's time either. It's really not. Granted, there's a much larger number of computer literate viewers now, but that doesn't mean that Tron would make any more sense to them or earn any more appreciation. What makes Tron good is it's artistic expression, not it's technological one. Furthermore, the technological aspects of the story is in all honesty rather faulty, so if anything, I think the LESS computer savvy one is the more likely they are to enjoy Tron, since so many viewers will tend to penalize a film for rubbing against the grain of what is percieved as what's real.

But, as we all know, what makes Tron great is precisely the opposite of computer science because it's really a fantasy story, bending the rules of known technology, partly on purpose, partly by poetic license, partly by just being wrong. Movie-goers at large can be a crude, tasteless, shiftless bunch sometimes that wouldn't know a true visionary if it bit them on their Jujifruits.

So who cares about how the film did?

Try doing what I do. Don't try to justify the film and don't try to build the film up or season it for those who don't like it by their using the film's anti-popular aspects as an excuse. You don't have to convince your buddy's that you think your girlfriend is pretty when they all think she's a dog. We don't need counter-facts to wage popularity wars with those who don't like Tron or to make us feel more fitting in in a world that's nearly forgotten about it. Whether or not Disney is still cashing in on Tron doesn't mean we have any more or less reason to remain or become a fan. I don't even care if Tron had been an explosive hit embraced by millions more fans because by default I don't care what anyone else thinks.

You love it.

I love it.

Forget them.

End of story... and

The JEdiUnit,

Don't take it as "personal", of course, but I don't AGREE with you.

I for first don't care about box office performances as long as I love the movies, I was just pointing something in this thread - call it "dissertation".

I for first i'm a rebel, and really don't care about the half-assed mass-media's opinions. Never did, never will do. We all do it, I guess.

TRON was much more *AHEAD* of its time than you would think, and STILL the movie is magically ahead of our time, so figure it out! What kya was mentioning is just the "visible edge of the iceberg" - there is much more in TRON to argue.

It's not quite a fantasy. I think everything TRON is showing, one day it will be possible or it's *ALREADY* possible now, 'cause the way programs or systems work in TRON is pratically the same they work today.
Besides, I really think programs are twisted forms of life, so i take the movie in a serious approach.
If I have to come clean, I think the "technological side" of the movie is also pertinent, and the FX was/IS totally mind-blowing. In TRON, art and technology mixed-up in an unique, outstanding, unforgettable blend. They aren't able to do it anymore. That's the bittersweet truth.

I understand your point of view on the "fantasy" side of TRON, but remember... there was a time in which the NET was just fantasy.

I'm talking to you... and it's impossible. Because I'm Italian, and you're American, and there are HUNDREDS of kilometres between me and you!

TRON is one of the greatest movies of all the times. And it's reality. Ask it to Kevin Flynn.

I always felt it was ahead of its time. I'm just sharing how I feel. Watching the DVD really puts alot of the things people don't realize into perspective. One thing that I find amazing is when making the movie they wanted to show computers not as a calculating peice of hardware but as a useful tool. Lisnberger said at that time computers really didn't have a face in society, and alot of that society was afraid of computers in some degree. He felt it was the artist job to try and add or establish some form of humanism into the technology. People didn't understand and relate to the movie because society wasn't in that cyber society like todays generation is. It really relates more today then back then if you think about it.

I hear what you're saying Sketch, and I remember those same interviews. They were interesting.

Only, just like the other points, I don't see how "humanizing the interpretation of computers" is "ahead of it's time." Look at 2001 A Space Oydessy. That was made in 1968 and HAL 9000 "humanized" computers 15 years before Tron, and in an intellegent and creative way as well. Practically every espisode of the classic Trek did too. Humanizing technology is nothing new in Tron's day, since even H.G. Wells experimented with those and many other similar concepts 100 years or so ago.

To repeat, don't get me wrong. I praise the B'Jesus out of Tron, but the only thing it accomplished with technology was to make it fashionable with that generation. But what the compliment is is that Tron's new vision of the same thing was beautiful in a brand new way. It's message was it's own. It's targeted audience was brave. Since there was already other techno-stories that had already been done before Tron, it wasn't the technological aspects that were "ahead of it's time", or the technology itself. Technology and humanity has been made film neighbors many times before but how they touch each other is what makes each film/story unique, and Tron's expression of it was utterly fantastic.

So, you don't have to be FIRST to be fantastic. That's good, because Tron was not first.

Interesting conversation, everyone! I don't have anything to add at this time, but I like what you all have to say. What a cool, diverse group of Tron fans we have here!

Compucore, thanks for the reply, but in fact I didn't overlook the difference you point out. The reason I didn't bother mentioning it is because just because Tron shows a P.O.V. from within the computer doesn't make it any more "ahead of it's time" because that P.O.V. is pure fiction no more real now than then, thus has zero to do with whether it was ahead of it's time or not.

Nikster, I agree with the CGI being highly advanced, but 'technically' it still wasn't the first to use CGI. It was the first to use it in that scale and have so much of it. CGI had been at least 'seen' in previous films. The first teeny example that jumps out at me is the technical scematics of the Death Star on Star Wars (the one shown when R2 was being downloaded at the Rebel Base). Cheeky and fleeting, but none-the-less still and a few years before Tron.

But I'm with Trace. This is a fun conversation.



It just seems to me that Tron's place in history was the next natural step in the evolution of sci-fi films. It has it's place and it's accomplishments, but to say it's "ahead of it's time" is implying that it happended when it really wasn't expected to happen and almost when it wasn't supposed to be able to happen. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci was ahead of his time. He developed things that not only didn't exist around him, but also didn't even exist long after him. He envisioned everything from helicopters to you name it, and NOW, we really do have them. THAT is "ahead of one's time". On the ohter hand, Tron was a step in a naturally pre-existing progression. Agreed, a vital and significant and glorious step... but none-the-less, part of a ladder that existed before AND after Tron. I just can't personally see that as being out of step with it's own time... personally.

Edit: ...I hope nobody has the SLIGHTEST impression I'm knocking Tron. I love Tron, along with lots of other sci-fi. I just (personally) don't wish to compliment them to the extent of getting history skewed just for an extra "umpf"... if you know what I mean.

Man, I need to think of some kind of "praise" topic so you's all don't go thinkin' I'm a virus program or somethin'!

I guess that's where we stand then.

I'd just 'recommend' to you that (as mentioned in your subject header) you avoid labeling this and other similar differences as a "misconseption" implying there is a "right and wrong" when it's clearly a matter of "personal interpretation". Release dates, visual effects, story content, even ticket sales can be discussed in an open forum in a measurable way, accomidating some undeniable truths... God and "daily life in a computer" cannot. They seem very clear to you and I'm glad for you. But just be aware that as far as discussions go, they're just opinions. With that, I'm sure you'd agree I and others with differing opinions are not victims of "misconseption", right?

I try not put my "opinion" ahead of anyone's on this or any similar subject and hope you feel the same way too.

But we both greatly agree on Tron being a great film.

"Tron was a major steping stone in the evolution of cgi special effects. "

Yea Sketch, I agree, in whole. I basicly said the same thing a few different ways in a few different posts. If we're still talking about "ahead of it's time", then I suppose the expression is used differently and conveys different meanings to different people, but admittedly I thought it was simpler than that. I 'personally' don't see Tron ahead of it's time, but instead see it as 'right' on time, if that makes sense.

Anyway, I'd better move on to another topic. I don't want to look like I'm beating a dead horse when I'm only trying to describe my opinion properly, to be at least understood and not necessarly accepted as gospel.

Oh, and the Lucas quotes... Very nice. What makes you think I admire Lucas' point of view? OH... my name. HA!

I just used it to make a comparision between Lisnberger and Lucas. Don't get me wrong Lucas was a great visionary, just pointing out how Lucas at the time was not interested in CGI while Linsberger was.