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It will only be remembered fondly if Only Solutions is on the soundtrack, covered by Daft Punk

Kim Hollis: What will be your lasting impression of Tron: Legacy?

Bruce Hall: I'll go ahead and out myself as a fan of the original although as I mentioned to David the other day, I liked Tron more for what it tried to be than for what it actually was. I can say that I felt pretty much the same about the sequel as well. There really are some interesting philosophical concepts at play in the Tron universe but once again they're masked by (brilliant) special effects and the plodding, dated Homeric Saga era storytelling. Add to this the fact that the fundamental dilemma in Tron: Legacy was the same as the first one. A guy is stuck at point A and has to get to point B, sidestepping stationary obstacles, wandering through mazes and vanquishing ever increasing waves of enemies along the way. The end is never really in doubt, the heroes aren't very inspiring but the enemies aren't especially terrifying either. Kind of sounds like a video game, doesn't it?

I happen to enjoy the unstable mashup of pseudo science and dime store metaphysics that is Tron, but I can understand those who don't. And for those who accuse the franchise of being occasionally derivative, I don't entirely disagree. Yet the first time I saw The Matrix I remember thinking "This is cool, but not so cool I can't remember the first time I saw it, when it was called Tron." The creative world is full of give and take. As Kevin Flynn would say, it is Yin and Yang, the circle of creation - a Zen thing, man.





Michael Lynderey: You know those "What if" stories some people like to draw out of important historical events?

Tron: Legacy could be remembered as the answer to the question "What if Avatar was a box office disappointment?"

David Mumpower: To a certain extent, I see this as the theatrical equivalent of Jericho. That television program was canceled and for good reason if we consider only the financial perspective. Passionate fans spoke loudly with their nuts (I mean that literally), which led to a surprising second season. The ratings performance of those gifted-to-the-fans episodes indicates that the initial decision to can the show was the right one. A Tron sequel has been rumored since the mid-1980s. The advent of new computer/videogame hardware inevitably led to excitement over new implementations of the core Tron ideas, most of which are based on state of the art visuals. There were 20 years between Tron games yet it felt like every hardware generation featured rumors of a new Tron game. I credit Disney for taking a shot in the dark here and largely coming out okay in the end. Is there enough interest to turn this into a franchise as happened with the other famous television resuscitation, Star Trek? Probably not. That answer could change depending on how well received Tron Legacy is by casual movie-goers over the next couple of years. A strong showing on home video, Netflix Watch Instantly et al could lead a second surprising sequel. I don't think that will happen for many years yet I still think of this as largely a well intended idea from Disney that worked out okay, not great. It sure is pretty, though.

Kim Hollis: I think it's a little early to decide on this question (even though I posed it). I remember when Tron was released in theaters way back in the day. I never saw the film until a couple of months ago, but I sure was familiar with the video game. I feel like Disney took a film that had a very small, very niche fanbase (and let's face it - Tron is interesting but not what I would call a good movie) and turned it into something that should make close to $200 million in North America while appealing widely overseas as well. I can't fault them for giving it a shot - given the ideas and effects that were presented in the first film, it did seem to be begging for a 21st century follow up. I reserve the right to change my mind if I go watch Tron 2.0 and think it's crap, but I have a feeling it's going to be much the same to me as the first film - sort of crummy, but still a movie I will stop and watch if it's playing on HDNet.

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