Two of the actors in this film would go on to star in the TV
series Babylon 5. Bruce Boxleitner (here as both Tron and Alan
Bradley) takes on the role of Captain John Sheridan and Peter Jurasik
(as Crom) appears as Ambassador Londo Molari on B5.
Bruce Boxleitner had also previously worked with actress
Cindy Morgan (Lora and Yori) on the 1982 TV series Bring
'Em Back Alive.
There are many instances in the film in which director
Lisberger shows the real and electronic worlds looking
similar in design, such as lighted cityscapes, roadways, and
vehicles.
The phrase "end of line" used at the end of discussions by
the MCP is also occasionally used by the Cylons in the
reimagined Battlestar
Galactica series of the 2000s.
The very first shot of Tron seems to depict a
digital humanoid being compiled from its constituent digital
parts. We don't see a face though, so perhaps we are just
seeing the build of a humanoid armor, not yet inhabited by a
digital personality? In fact, the armor appears to be that
of Tron himself (notice the T-shaped pattern of lights on
the chest).
As the shot moves into the TRON logo, it seems to be passing
through digitized representations of levels of a computer
matrix. The glowing light patterns seem to depict circuits
and chips on a series of motherboards as if passing through a
mainframe. As the shot continues to zoom in, it seems to be
approaching a cityscape as seen from the air; notice there
appear to be analogs of building lights, city blocks, cars
moving on thoroughfares, and even a possible freeway system
on the right-hand side of the screen. And then we fade out
and into a real world city street, right in front of Flynn's
arcade.
As the scene moves to a teenager playing the Light Cycles
arcade game in Flynn's, the video game cabinet is very
similar, though not exact, to the look of the actual
Tron arcade game which was in arcades in
conjunction with the release of the film. (In the
novelization, a boy and a girl are playing each other and
they play a game of discs instead of Light Cycles).
The top video image displayed on the Light Cycles
game console is
a representation of the MCP's communication tower.
As the teenager is playing his game of Light Cycles, the POV
changes back and forth from the video game screen to what
seems to be the actual dual in the computer world.
Presumably the living program seen driving the yellow cycle
is a representation of his "User", that is, the teenager
playing the video game (we never see the boy's face). This
would seem to suggest that every video game session played
in the real world is represented by an actual (and deadly!)
game in the computer realm, at least in cases where it is
User vs. Computer as it is here (video game warrior vs. Sark).
But, if it were two Users playing each other on the game, would it
be two User-controlled programs fighting (and killing) each
other? (The novelization suggests that this is the case.)
In the scene at 1:40 on the DVD, the three controller
programs on Sark's Carrier, stand unmoving (inactivated?)
until he touches his podium. Then they all start moving and
sit down at their controls. Were they all just at attention
as he entered, or inactivated? Notice also that a light
flashes on the wall-sized schematic in the background when
Sark activates his podium. When we again see Sark approach
and touch the podium at 32:17, the three programs behave in
the same manner and there is, again, a flash point of light
on the wall schematic (though in a different location this
time).
The compound interest accounting program played by Peter
Jurasik is named Crom. I'm not aware of a specific computer
term that corresponds to his name. Possibly it was derived
from the words "computer" and "ROM" (Read-Only Memory) to
form CROM. Then again, maybe Lisberger got the name from the
deity, Crom, worshipped by Conan the Barbarian!
At 2:18 on the DVD, Crom seems to gesture to his armor as he
says, "Look, this...is all a mistake. I'm just a compound
interest program. I work at a savings and loan. I can't play
these video games!" This seems to indicate that the armor is
not the normal wear for many programs. (The novelization
confirms that Crom was forced to don the armor and
half-tunic of a Warrior conscript).
When Crom gets tossed into a cell, there is a black display
panel behind him that is flashing words or messages in red
text. The text is too blurry to make out. Later we see these
displays in all of the prisoners' cells.
Dan Shor plays Ram. In computer terms, RAM stands for
Random Access Memory.
Flynn has written a program called CLU to try to dig deep
into the memory files of ENCOM's system and retrieve
evidence of the video game codes that were stolen from him
by Dillinger. Consequently, he has thus created a program in
the Electronic World named Clu. CLU is also the name of a
programming language invented by MIT professor Barbara Liskov
and her students. CLU is short for cluster (a "block" of CLU
syntax forming a command to perform a function). In
Legacy, CLU is said to stand
for Codified Likeness Utility in regards to the character
who appears there (and is created by Flynn in
"Betrayal" Part 1), but it's
not clear if the name has the same meaning for the character
depicted here.
In the System, we hear Flynn speaking to Clu in full,
comprehensible sentences. Presumably this is just a
shorthand way of letting the audience know what is going on
and "translating" the communications between Flynn and Clu
since Flynn is really just typing command lines into his
computer terminal, not having a conversation with the
program.
Flynn tells Clu this is important, not just correcting his
bank statement or phone bill problem again. This implies
Flynn has used CLU to perform these tasks; perhaps cheating
on his accounts and bills?
At 4:36 on the DVD, a glass of "liquid" suddenly appears on
a console next to Clu in the tank, which he picks up and
drinks. It's easy to miss in all the lights and rotation of
the tank cockpit.
As Flynn is waiting for the results of CLU's search, he
says, "Come on you skuzzy data, be in there." Possibly the
word "skuzzy" was used as a joking reference to the SCSI ("skuzzy")
standard of connecting physical devices and transferring
data between them (Small Computer System Interface), though
that term was not coined until 1982, the same year the movie
was released, so it may be a coincidence.
At 6:59 on the DVD, we see that Flynn has an interesting
lamp on his computer desk that has as its base a statue
of an almost nude woman.
Is it just me, or do the Recognizers
bear a resemblance to the robot
Maximilian from the earlier Disney
film The Black Hole? |
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Recognizers from
Tron |
Maximilian from
The Black Hole |
At 8:12 on the DVD, we see that Dillinger's ENCOM
corporation helicopter is rimmed with red lights and
reflectors, making him similar in aspect to his Electronic
World counterpart, Sark.
At 8:46 on the DVD, there is an unusual statue (Indonesian?)
outside the bank of elevators in the ENCOM building. Other
art objects line the hallway approaching Dillinger's office
and inside it as well. (Page 24 of the novel states the
objects are all rare and valuable.)
The man named Peter who greets Dillinger in his office also
has a counterpart in the Electronic World who is Sark's
Lieutenant.
At 9:24 on the DVD, we see that Dillinger's password to
speak to the MCP is simply "MASTER". An abbreviation of
Master Control Program or an acknowledgment on his part of
who his master is? When the MCP comes online to speak to
him, Dillinger calls him "Master C."
At 10:30 on the DVD, Alan Bradley types in his request for
access to the Tron program and we see the program's full
name is apparently Tron JA307020.
At 10:38 on the DVD, we see on Alan's monitor that the
current date and time is Sept. 22, 18:32:21 PM.
At 10:43 on the DVD, we see that Alan's floor of the ENCOM
building appears to be an immense cubicle farm!
In the same scene above, the co-worker who asks Alan if he
can have some of his popcorn, is actor Dan Shor, who plays
Ram in the Electronic World, so this must be the ENCOM
employee who wrote the Ram program. Almost 30 years later,
in "The Next Day", we learn
the character is named Roy Kleinberg.
At 11:38 on the DVD, Alan tells Dillinger, "I don't even
balance my checkbook on down time, I have an abacus at home
for that." No, an abacus is not a PC brand name! It's an
ancient type of calculator, still used by merchants and
clerks in many parts of the world.
At 15:01 on the DVD, the screen display of the de-rezzing of
the orange shows two mentions of "YORI". Yori is the
Electronic World counterpart of Lora, so YORI must be the
program written by Lori which (whom?) assists in the de-rezzing
procedure.
During the sequence in Flynn's arcade, most of the names of
the video game consoles seem to be conveniently distant,
obstructed or blurry so they can't be made out (perhaps for
copyright reasons). However, at 17:56, Lora speaks to a boy
who is clearly playing Asteroids Deluxe. As she and Alan
walk through the arcade, we can also identify Berserk,
Atari
Basketball and Sprint. Flynn is playing
Space Paranoids, one of
the games he invented but which was stolen by Dillinger. (Although
several Tron related video games have been made in
the time since the movie's release, an actual Space
Paranoids was not developed until 2009 and premiered at that
year's
San Diego Comic-Con International to promote the
recently announced Tron sequel film
Tron:
Legacy). Also in the background we see Space War. There
are neon signs for some of ENCOM's games (again, developed
by Flynn and stolen by Dillinger): Code Wars, Astro Gunner,
Vice Squad, Matrix Blaster. (The novelization also mentions
signs for Nerve Net and Gonzo; and
mentions customers playing games called Intruder,
Zero Hour, Tail Gunner and The End;
real video games mentioned are Galaxy Wars and
Battle Zone.)
At 19:14 on the DVD, Flynn's bedroom above the arcade has what
appear to be tribal masks hanging on one wall. Next to the
doorway is what looks like part of a tree trunk of the type
sold as scratching posts; does Flynn have a cat? We also see
a parking meter and a neon Recognizer sign from Space Paranoids.
The handheld video game that Flynn is playing at 20:11 on
the DVD looks like it may be the Coleco Electronic
Quarterback
game, released in 1978.
Before telling Alan and Lora the story of his trouble with
ENCOM, Flynn says, "Sherman, set the wayback machine for 3
years ago." This is a reference to the Peabody's
Improbable History segments of the two animated series
Rocky and his Friends and The Bullwinkle Show
which ran in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The WABAC
machine was the time machine invented by Mr. Peabody, a dog
who was a genius. Sherman was his pet boy. (In the
novelization Flynn sets the wayback machine for 5 years
instead).
Dr. Gibbs tells Dillinger, "You know, you can remove men
like Alan and me from the system, but we helped create it.
And our spirit remains in every program we design for this
computer." Without realizing it, Dr. Gibbs has perfectly
described the entities living in the Electronic World. (In
the novel, Gibbs' statement silently hits home for
Dillinger, implying he is realizing the MCP got it's
ruthlessness and
ambition from its designer...Dillinger himself!).
When the MCP starts speaking to Dillinger about breaking
into the Pentagon's system, a colorful vector graphic of
Sark's Carrier appears on Dillinger's desktop screen. Why
would the MCP choose to show it at this time? Dillinger does
not seem to know what it is since he is not aware of the
universe of the Electronic World. (The
Pentagon is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of
Defense.)
At 25:55 on the DVD, the MCP threatens to go public with
Flynn's file that would prove Dillinger stole Flynn's ideas
by showing a mock-up of The Times newspaper on the
display screen.
The Times is the original "Times"
newspaper, based out of London, England, from which other
newspapers such as the New York Times and Los
Angeles Times take their name.
At 27:12 on the DVD, we see that Alan has a quote hanging in
his cubicle at ENCOM. It is "Gort, Klaatu barada nikto," a
famous alien phrase from the 1951 science-fiction film
The Day the Earth Stood Still. The phrase has never
been officially translated. Gort is the name of the alien's
robot and Klaatu is the name of the alien. In the film a
human woman delivers the phrase to the robot at the now dead
Klaatu's request in order to stop the robot from destroying
Earth. The fact that Alan has this particular phrase posted
in his cubicle says that he has fears about how artificial
intelligence could be used to harm humankind, hence his
dedication to writing the Tron program to be a watchdog over
other powerful programs.
Shortly after its comment about raiding the Pentagon, and
being in the Kremlin, the MCP tells Dillinger to get it the
Chinese language file it asked for. Perhaps this is an
indication it is planning to hit Chinese government systems
next? (The Kremlin is the official home of the Russian
President.)
As he sits down at Lora's computer terminal at ENCOM, Flynn
remarks, "Like the man says, there's no problems, only
solutions." This is a paraphrase from the John Lennon song
"Watching the Wheels". The actual lyric is "....there's no
problem, only solutions." Additionally, the rock band
Journey provides a song to the Tron soundtrack called "Only
Solutions", probably partially inspired by the earlier
Lennon song.
After Dillinger locks out all Level 7 access (which includes
Flynn, Alan, and Dr. Gibbs), Flynn gains access via a Level 6
password "REINDEER FLOTILLA".
As Flynn is de-rezzed and his consciousness journeys down
into the Electronic World, the images we see are analogous
to the real world, such as geometric clouds, a sphere of a
world, and city lights and blocks.
The music and images that accompany our journey to the
Electronic World with Flynn are somewhat reminiscent of
those seen in Dave Bowman's trip through the cosmic gateway
in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
When Flynn arrives in the Electronic World, he is in the Game
Grid, already wearing the armor of a Warrior conscript. The
MCP must have programmed Flynn's journey to end that way.
The Electronic World has technology analogous to the
transporter of Star Trek, able to disassemble a
being in one location and reassemble them in another, as
witnessed in the scene at 42:39 on the DVD. It seems to be a
more refined version of the digitization recently tested
successfully by Lora and Gibbs in the real world. In the
alternate timeline story
Tron 2.0, this technology is
referred to as a data stream.
The "jai alai" game played in the Electronic World is
revealed to be called hyper ball in
Battle Grids.
There appear to be stylized numbers and mathematical symbols
on the walls of the Game Grid.
At 45:20 on the DVD, there is a Pac-Man and a string of his
pac-dots on the right-hand
side of the schematic in front of Sark! Even the sound
effects in the background are from the Pac-Man video game!
Listen:
Pac-Man
For some reason, Flynn's and Ram's armor circuitry
highlights turn from blue to green when they enter the
bridge of the
demolished Recognizer. (My research indicates that the
original script of Tron called for different color schemes
on the computer characters and some of that was filmed and
colored in post accordingly before mid-filming script
changes came into effect; that is why Flynn and Ram change
to green in this scene and why Clu has yellow circuitry
instead of blue in the tank scenes.)
The character referred to as a bit is from a computing term,
"bit" being the most basic unit of information in computing.
At one point, when Ram is feeling pain, he says, "Oh, my
User!" in the way we might say "Oh, my God!"
As Ram dies and de-rezzes aboard the Recognizer, at 56:36 on
the DVD the cockpit lights of the vessel briefly glow
brighter. Did the vessel absorb Ram's energy as he de-rezzed?
At 56:44 on the DVD, Tron runs past some canyon walls that
have what looks like a blue-ified aerial shot of a city!
At 57:50 on the DVD, the program on the right-hand side of
the screen appears to be using a mouse or similar computer
peripheral. The graphic over which she is moving the device
appears to be a representation of the solar sailer.
At 59:45 on the DVD, an assortment
of bizarre characters appears on
screen near the Input/Output tower.
Tron asks Yori, "Who are all these
weirdoes?" To which she responds,
"Inoperative data pushers," and he
adds, "Controlled programs."
(The novel describes Tron walking by some of the strangely shaped
programs and notes their shape is derived from their function.
Programs described are: an unknown type of Warrior with an energy
lance cradled in his left arm, his right arm and part of his helmet
blown away, leaving long, trailing streamers of glowing filaments; a
segmented connectoid crawling like a huge, blind worm; and
cryptarithmetic priests wearing circuited cassocks.) |
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These guys look like a vacuum tube
and a dust bunny! The vacuum tube
may be what the novel describes as a
"light exchange monitor, enclosed in
a glassy bulb". |
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As Flynn is trying to guide his out-of-control Recognizer at
1:00:55 on the DVD, a monk-like program seems to say, "Here
comes our headache!" as the Reco unintentionally dive-bombs
him and his companion! Listen:
here comes our headache
After Flynn crashes the Recognizer, Bit disappears with it,
not to be seen again. Was the poor little guy de-rezzed?
(Apparently not, according the novelization. Flynn notices
he has lost the little guy somewhere along the way on page
123. Then, on page 170, as Tron and Yori celebrate the MCP's
demise and realize Flynn is gone, the Bit returns, the
narrative simply stating it had finally caught up with its
program's friends.)
At 1:01:42 on the DVD, Flynn walks past some scantily-clad,
female entities. Sex programs?
When Tron blasts the Memory Guard at 1:02:48 on the DVD, the
Guard's eyes are just plain weird!
Dumont, the guardian of the Input/Output tower appears to be
an Electronic World version of Dr. Gibbs.
After seeing Tron dispatch a couple other Memory Guards, a
third one seemingly chooses to jump from the Solar Sailer at
1:09:56 on the DVD!
The scene of the Memory Guards turning to watch the Solar
Sailer take off at 1:10:06 reminds me of the Stormtroopers
watching the Millennium Falcon blast off from Docking Bay 94
at Mos Eisley spaceport in Star Wars: A New Hope. |
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Speaking of
Star Wars: A New Hope, the scene of the gigantic
Carrier chasing the smaller Solar Sailer at 1:10:49 on the
DVD is reminiscent of the opening scene of that film, with
the seemingly endless bulk of the Star Destroyer passing
through the shot the way the Carrier does here.
The Solar Sailer flies over a hidden Mickey at 1:12:23 on
the DVD.
Is it just me or do the Grid bugs look entirely standard
animation, not CGI?
When the MCP sends a power surge into the beam to slow down
the Solar Sailer, Tron tells Yori they have to get off this
beam. But she replies they can't because there isn't another
junction for 7 or 8 nanoseconds. This gives us some sense of
the scale we're dealing with in the Electronic World. A
nanosecond is one-billionth of a second, so events in the
Electronic World are occurring at an extremely rapid pace
from the perspective of our world.
When Dumont locks the doors against the Memory Guards at the
Input/Output Tower, Sark calls for a logic probe to break
down the door. In the real world, a logic probe is a
pen-shaped device for testing the logical state (0 or 1) of
a circuit. Perhaps in the Electronic World, the logic probe
is also able to change the state of all bits in an object to
the same charge, causing it to de-rezz.
As the MCP absorbs Dumont and the other programs trapped on
his mesa, at 1:23:54 on the DVD we briefly see a skull form
over Dumont's face as he gets weaker and weaker.
1:24:18 on the DVD. Gee, no wonder Yori loves Tron so
much.
When Tron's disc smashes through
Sark's and slices the top of the
villain's head, it looks like brain
matter is visible in the gash at
1:24:26 on the DVD! It also appears
as if "blood" or something spills
out of his head as he hits the
ground. Seconds later, as the MCP is
resurrecting Sark as a giant, the
"blood" looks rather like a pile of
Froot Loops! Maybe Sark lost his
breakfast? |
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As the MCP dies, we see what appears to be an old man's
face in a pod construction similar to Dumont's. But who is
it? Is it the face of Dillinger since he designed the MCP?
Is it an amalgamation of people since, as the MCP states
earlier in the film, no one User wrote it?
As the MCP dies we hear various electronic sounds, including
some like those of someone typing on a typewriter!
Listen:
death rattle (The novelization describes more of the
MCP's pod and, like Dumont's pod as Guardian of the Tower,
his hands stick out near the base to manipulate controls.
Here, the dying MCP, in its primitive, early form, its
"gnarled and withered hands played on an old-fashioned,
standard typewriter keyboard, an instrument from the days of
its earliest origins.")
As Flynn finds himself abruptly back in the real world, the
printer next to him at the console starts to print out
information about Dillinger's theft of Flynn's video game
Space Paranoids. Why is that information coming out now? It
seems like Flynn would still have to proceed with his search
and then he might find the information with the MCP now
dead. And why does it start showing up on Dillinger's
monitor as well?
During the end credits, the credits for Production Ink and
Paint Matting show they were done by Cuckoo's Nest
Productions in Taipei, Taiwan and the individual names are
presented in Taiwanese. Am I the only one who is reminded of
Space Invaders while seeing it?
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Notes from the
Tron novelization by Brian Daley
(The page numbers come from the 1st printing,
paperback edition, published June 1982) |
The novel refers to the digital world as the Electronic
World or the System and the real world as the Other World.
Page 7 has this description of the entities living in the
Electronic World: The programs are
only algorithms as human beings are only collections of
chemicals.
Sark is also referred to as the Command Program and the Lord
of the System, under the rulership of the Master Control
Program.
When the MCP mentions capturing some military programs on
page 11, Sark thinks of DARPA and the DIA. DARPA is the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, formed as ARPA in
1958, which develops new technology for the U.S. military. The
DIA is the Defense Intelligence Agency, formed in 1961 to
gather military intelligence for the U.S.
Pages 14-15 expand on the conversation between Crom and Ram.
We learn from Crom that Tron is already known throughout the
System as an independent program who fights against the MCP,
refusing to give in. He is shocked to see that Tron is
a captive in the cell on the other side of Ram's. He is at
first dismayed at seeing this, but is soon filled with hope
by Tron's words of resistance.
Page 18 describes Flynn's hair as blond. This must have been
written before Lisberger and the producers had decided on
casting the brown-haired Jeff Bridges in the role.
Page 18 also reveals that the giant, floating attack
vehicles used by the MCP (and which appear in the Space
Paranoids video game) are called Recognizers (Recos for
short). In computer terminology, recognizers are part of an
electrical finite-state machine and they determine the
acceptance or rejection of a command with a yes/no
statement.
After crashing the tank in battle, Clu tells Bit to "get
outta here!" In the film, Bit answers, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Here
in the novel, Bit answers, "Yes! Ja! Sí!"
Ja and sí are
German and Spanish for "yes".
Page 22 reveals that the guards working for Sark and the MCP
are called Memory Guards.
In the movie, the MCP tells Dillinger it has Flynn's file
secured away in its system. But in the same scene in the
novel, on page 26, the MCP says Flynn's file is still lost
somewhere in the System.
During Gibbs' meeting with Dillinger on pages 49-50, the
display on Dillinger's desk shows Gibbs a simulation of
Sark's Carrier, as a craft appearing in a new videogame, and
the solar sailing craft, which will be used by Flynn, Tron,
and Yori later on.
On page 53, Flynn wonders about Dillinger "flipping his
peruke". A peruke is a type of wig popular from the 17th to
early 19th centuries. Maybe Flynn thinks of Dillinger with
an old style wig because he's English?
At the computer keyboard on page 54, Flynn thinks of himself
as Flynn at the Mighty Wurlitzer! The Rudolph Wurlitzer
Company was known for making organs and electronic pianos
until sometime in the 1980s.
On page 60, the MCP seems to speak Sark's full designation:
Sark, ES--1117821. What does the ES stand for? Edward S?
(Edward is Dillinger's first name.)
When Ram first experiences Flynn's odd behavior on page 65,
he thinks perhaps Flynn is glitched!
When Flynn first sees a Recognizer in person on page 67, he
realizes it is the size of the Arc de Triomphe. The
Arc de Triomphe is a monument in Paris, France that stands
160 feet in height, 148 feet in width. The Arc even looks a
bit like a Recognizer!
Page 73 suggests that Flynn is skilled at the games on the
Game Grid because he invented many of them as video games
based on sports and skills with which he was familiar.
Page 79 seems to suggest that every game on the Game Grid is
reflected in a video game being played in the real world.
During Flynn's "jai alai" (hyper ball) battle with Crom, when he realizes
that if he wins, Crom will fall to his death from the rings,
he refuses to launch the final assault. And in the real
world, two players playing the equivalent video game at a
bus station, are frustrated when the game suddenly freezes
up, refusing to respond further. This brings up a host of
metaphysical questions about how the real world and
Electronic World relate to each other, such as which world
takes precedence in conflicting circumstances; for example,
if Tron, the best player known in the Electronic World,
plays a game, is the equivalent player in the real world
automatically going to be an excellent video game player?
That is to say, a lousy player would never find themselves playing
through Tron, because that would suddenly make Tron a terrible player?
Page 86 suggests that when the wall of the Game Grid is
damaged during the Light Cycle match it would normally have
re-rezzed almost immediately, repairing itself. But the MCP
is taking so much power that the re-rezzing is impaired,
allowing Flynn, Tron, and Ram to escape the Grid.
Page 94 suggests that it's Flynn's autonomy as a User that
makes him formidable in the Electronic World. The programs
that live there don't have that aspect, they only have what
they were programmed to do.
Page 101 compares Flynn's unbidden firing-up of the
demolished Recognizer with St. Elmo's Fire. St. Elmo's Fire
is an electrical weather phenomenon that is known to create
a glowing plasma field around a grounded object.
The city containing the Input/Output Tower is called the
Factory Domain.
Page 105 reveals that the Reco Flynn resurrects is the one
that was destroyed by Clu earlier in the film.
Pages 110-112 feature a scene not found in the film. Tron and
Yori rest (and make off-screen whoopee) in her quarters in
the Factory Domain. Below is pre-production art by Peter
Lloyd depicting the scene from the Tron Official Giant
Collectors' Edition magazine (1982).
Page 138 reveals that the Solar Sailer comes from a
simulation for a video game based on NASA concepts. In
reality, NASA has
actually researched solar-sailed craft and Japan launched an
unmanned probe with solar sails to Venus in May 2010.
Pages 158-159 describe the other prisoners brought to the
MCP citadel with Dumont as other decrepit Guardian programs.
During the deresolution process, the MCP was searching them
for components he wished to retain.
When Flynn kisses Yori on page 167, she is transformed, her
circuitry giving way to traceries, her hair flowing. The
transformation does not occur in the movie.
Page 167 also describes the face of the MCP being
transformed into Flynn's when he jumps into the MCP's beam.
In the film, the face does undergo some distortions at this
point but it's not obvious that the face becomes Flynn's.
Page 172 shows quite a bit more information on the printout
that proves Flynn's contentions of theft against Dillinger,
including that Kevin Flynn's middle initial is O.
Page 173, the last page of the book, features a few
paragraphs that go a little farther into the epilog of the
film, depicting: a brief discussion among the three after
Flynn arrives in his helicopter and meets up with Alan and
Lora; and a "final shot" of Tron, Yori, and the Bit
cheerfully sailing across the now free System in the Solar
Sailer.
Notes from the Theatrical Trailer
The Tron theatrical trailer suggests that the
Electronic World exists inside the ENCOM 511 computer.
As the trailer progresses, the
camera pans and zooms across an
extreme close-up of a computer
keyboard, one which has a number of
unusual symbol keys on it besides
the normal QWERTY layout. It also
shows somebody pushing the TRON
button! |
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Unanswered Questions
Where did Sark come from and how did he get his name?
Presumably Dillinger wrote a program with that name. Or
could the MCP have designed Sark itself? Since the MCP was
designed mainly by Dillinger would a program written by the
MCP also look like Dillinger as Sark does?
Memorable Dialog
you're getting brutal, Sark.wav
no buts.wav
that's the
spirit.wav
yes.wav
yes-yes-yes.wav
end of line.wav
disappointed.wav
more bugs than a bait store.wav
14 years
old.wav
wayback
machine.wav
what
computers are for.wav
our spirit remains in every program we design.wav
big door.wav
don't
spill anything.wav
you shouldn't have come back.wav
it's the big Master Control Program.wav
a
few unsolvable problems.wav
this
isn't happening.wav
who
you calling program?.wav
where am I?.wav
prepare all programs for war games.wav
on the other side of the screen.wav
null unit.wav
dead zone.wav
army for
rent.wav
digital beam transport.wav
a circuit that could hold you.wav
no.wav
another mouth to feed.wav
pretty
good driving.wav
no-no-no.wav
doesn't handle so good in town.wav
what's this
do.wav
no-no-no-no.wav
stop this
thing.wav
the realm of the invisible.wav
pocket
calculator.wav
you
incompetent zero.wav
greetings,
program.wav
I
hate to disappoint you.wav
I'm busy.wav
a chess
program.wav
maybe I should keep you around.wav
your User cant help you now.wav
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