Monday, 7 July 2025

Tron in Dolby Vision



Christmas 1982, I unwrapped a Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K and saw Disney's Tron.

The story of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a gifted computer programmer who gets transported onto the Game Grid by the Master Control Program (MCP), captured my 10-year-old imagination.

From then on, I was hooked on computers and their creative possibilities. Over the decades, I've owned a ZX Spectrum, ZX Spectrum+, Commodore 64 and Apple Macintosh computers.

On 3rd July, Disney showcased a special screening of Tron in Dolby Vision as part of the series Bathed in Light: Saturated Colors in Cinema. The cult sci-fi movie, written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird, has been fully restored ahead of the release of Tron: Ares in cinemas later this year.

The Tron franchise is synonymous with innovative visual effects and soundtrack soundscapes, featuring award-winning composers such as Wendy Carlos, Daft Punk, and now Nine Inch Nails (NIИ).

Hopefully, fans (myself included) of the original Tron will be able to watch the dazzlingly restored movie on Disney+.

What are your memories of watching Tron? Let me know in the comments below.

1 comment:

  1. When we talk about groundbreaking cinema, only a handful of titles truly fit the bill—The Matrix, Titanic, Jurassic Park, Toy Story. But before these giants lit up our screens, one visionary film dared to imagine a digital universe unlike anything we'd seen: Tron.

    From the moment Finn's Arcade flickers into view, we're thrust into a retro-futuristic world brimming with mystery. A single beam from a laser transports us from the ordinary into the extraordinary—a luminous realm of circuitry and light that’s part game, part metaphor, and all wonder.

    💡 The light cycle battles? Utter brilliance. Riders twisting through neon mazes, each turn a strategy, each beam a brushstroke of survival. That image has been etched into my brain ever since—I still get chills.

    Programs fighting for existence. Gladiator-style games. The ominous Master Control Program and his loyal enforcer, Sark. It was daring, surreal, and visually explosive.

    I love this movie. And if you haven't seen it—why not? It's a cinematic rite of passage.

    ⚡ The sequel, Tron: Legacy, elevates the visuals to jaw-dropping levels. That light cycle race? Absolute insanity. I watched it wide-eyed, like a kid again.

    And now, the grid expands even further with Tron: Ares, crashing onto screens this year. From what I’ve seen, it's a whole new direction—and I couldn't be more hyped.

    Like Empire Strikes Back, Jaws, The Crow, Terminator 2, Krull, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, The Black Hole, Top Gun, Highlander—Tron is one of those timeless watches I return to every single year. It’s not just a film. It’s a memory loop, a digital pilgrimage.

    Go watch Tron. You might just get derezzed by how dazzling it is.

    ReplyDelete

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