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1----
2* ''YMMV/TronTwoPointOh''
3* ''YMMV/TronLegacy''
4** ''YMMV/TronEvolution''
5** ''YMMV/TronUprising''
6----
7!!''Film/{{Tron}}'' (1982)
8* AccidentalAesop:
9** Do not keep ALL your work in one file with ''no'' backups.
10** Make sure that any incriminating data is ''completely'' destroyed, lest someone or something find it and blackmail you. [[note]]Of course, a true programmer like Flynn would know that no data is ever ''completely'' unrecoverable as long as the server it was stored on still exists.[[/note]]
11* AccidentalInnuendo:
12** The resulting dialogue when Tron, Flynn and Ram find a [[CoolClearWater pure source]].
13---> '''Flynn:''' What's that?
14---> '''Ram:''' ''That'' is just what I need right now...
15** Ram seems to be more prone to these.
16---> '''Ram:''' My friends, my fellow conscripts, we have scored. I feel so much better.
17* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: [[{{AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/Tron}} See section under Film.]] The characterization being a bit thin, the characters and motivations could be read in several ways across both films.
18* AluminumChristmasTrees:
19** The laser lab, the computer facility, and the ridiculously large security door were not sets and props, but an actual location, Lawrence Livermore Labs. Unfortunately, all of it has long since been replaced.[[labelnote:*]]The hardware that replaced it can be seen as the USS ''Enterprise'''s warp core in ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness''.[[/labelnote]]
20** The room Flynn and company walk through that looks to be filled with large objects resembling washing machines... those were also real. They were ''hard drives''. That's what hard drives looked like in the 70s.
21* AwardSnub: The MediaNotes/{{Academy Award}}s refused to nominate the film for Best Visual Effects, saying that they "cheated" by using computers. Then ''Film/YoungSherlockHolmes'' was nominated three years later, and ''Film/TheAbyss'' won six years later, both for computer digital effects. Today, CGI is an integral part of visual effects.
22* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Some fans of the film really like the score, created by Music/WendyCarlos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. There's lots of synthesizer pipe organ and CherubicChoir. Music/{{Journey|Band}} also contributed pop songs to the soundtrack.
23* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The Grid Bugs appear briefly on-screen with Yori explaining that "if [they] get us, we've had it". However, they never appear or get mentioned in the rest of the movie. They were supposed to return in a longer sequence, but it got cut for time and expense.
24* CompleteMonster: The [[BigBad Master Control Program]], aka the MCP, is a [[AIIsACrapshoot despotic AI]] ruling over the digital world "the Grid". [[FromNobodyToNightmare Once a mere chess program]] who was upgraded by the ambitious Edward Dillinger, the MCP slowly grew smarter and more influential, seizing control of the Grid and [[EvilOverlord imposing its rule on the programs within]]. The MCP has countless programs taken to him so they may be forcefully assimilated into himself, and sends any others who believe in the Users to die in GladiatorGames run by his sadistic minion Sark, who the MCP regularly tortures for petty reasons. Not content with ruling over the Grid, he intends to hack into the Pentagon and Kremlin, plotting to force humanity under his rule as well, and blackmails Dillinger when he shows hesitance. As Kevin Flynn continually stands in his way, the MCP torturously derezzes his program CLU and later has Flynn dragged into the Grid. The MCP has Flynn sent to the games and has the newest batch of programs taken to him to be painfully assimilated like others before, finally empowering Sark to finish off Flynn and the rebels.
25* CultClassic: The film had a mildly profitable run at the box office, but in spite of lucrative merchandising, the movie was considered a financial disappointment. But the film's landmark innovations and memorable visual style kept it in public memory for decades, achieving a cult status that ultimately helped produce a $170 million sequel 28 years later.
26* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory:
27** Much is made of the "Users" being godlike to the programs, and Flynn himself seems to parallel the life and accomplishments of Jesus (especially at the end of the film, which is the Harrowing of Hell in all but name). A lot of scenes also seem to be reminiscent of ''Ben Hur'' and other big Christian epics of the 50s.
28** Sark is red, ''has devil horns'', and keeps hammering on the enslaved programs that users don't exist, like those DirtyCommunists.
29** The original film is essentially a Christian parable. The electronic world is inhabited by living programs, created in their Users' image. This world is being tyrannized by [[LouisCypher the MCP,]] a program that is rebelling against its creators (it's hacking the military to literally make war on humanity). The MCP is trying to stamp out belief in the Users (which is explicitly called a religion; communication with the Users is handled by Dumont, whose design resembles the garb of a clergyman), persecuting the faithful and throwing them into [[AncientRome gladiatorial combat.]] Those who join the MCP become his red-colored minions. His chief flunky Sark even wears a helmet shaped like devil horns. Into this world comes Flynn, a User who has become a mere program (wearing a tunic reminiscent of a prophet's robes). He displays supernatural powers, including the ability to heal by laying on hands. He ultimately [[MessianicArchetype sacrifices himself to defeat the MCP and save the digital world,]] and ascends back to [[{{Heaven}} the real world of the creators,]] a realm beyond the programs' comprehension. The {{Novelization}} by Brian Daley is even more explicit about the symbolism.
30** [[Film/TronLegacy The sequel]] can be interpreted as what happens when Kevin Flynn, who is after all a flawed mortal man, lets this godlike status go to his head.
31* EnsembleDarkHorse: Ram gets a ''lot'' of fanfic and fanart, to the point where his User (credited only as "Popcorn Guy") was given a name and substantial role in the Flynn Lives ARG.
32* HarsherInHindsight: After [[HappyEndingOverride watching the sequel]], watching the first film can be painful.
33** That cheerful smartass protagonist ends up a broken, ruined man; widowed before age 35, goes half-crazy from the stress, is betrayed by his creation, and spends the rest of his days (the equivalent of 1000 years) in a HopelessWar or exile.
34** The title character? There are [[FateWorseThanDeath fates worse than de-rez]] and he gets handed them all. Sark's taunt about how Tron should have joined him? [[spoiler: "Rinzler" ends up serving the same function for CLU 2.0 as Sark did for Master Control. ]]
35** There's a moment at the film climax where Yori's hit her DespairEventHorizon, and Flynn argues back "We're only defeated if we give up!" In the sequel, he says, "Life has a way of moving you past wants and hopes." Ouch!
36** Dumont's sad declaration that if the Users can't help, then the situation is truly hopeless takes on a ''whole'' new meaning after knowing Flynn throws in the proverbial towel and abandons the Programs come the filmed sequel.
37** The last scene where the three human protagonists have a GroupHug and walk off into the sunset? Well, no matter what timeline you use ([[VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh 2.0]] or ''Film/TronLegacy''), that PowerTrio breaks up, with Alan left to carry on alone. It's actually ''nicer'' in the ''Legacy'' timeline as Lora's PutOnABus instead of killed off.
38** That sweet lullaby-like ending theme? Well...same notes, slower, and a different key, and you get [[DarkReprise "Adagio for Tron"]]
39** Flynn tells CLU, "I wrote you. I taught you everything I know about the system... Now, you're the best program that's ever been written. You're dogged and relentless!" In ''Film/TronLegacy'', CLU 2.0 turns into a villain.
40** The other ones come from the tie-in games. Platform/{{Intellivision}} got an early draft of the script to work from, so ''Tron: Deadly Disks'' depicts the title character as an ''orange'' figure cutting down ''blue'' colored "enemies." Simple color goof in 1982, but considering what happens later...
41** The other one was Maze-A-Tron, again from Intellivision. Playing Flynn, you're alone and trapped in a circuitry maze. There is no way to win this game, just keep playing until an enemy recognizer or other obstacle does you in. Again, consider the sequel...
42** A meta one. Barnard Hughes (Dumont and Gibbs) had a [[http://www.gamechangers.com/barneys-law-part-one/ surprising moment of insight]] while talking about the potential for computers to remember ''everything,'' including embarrassing or upsetting information from people's past which would prevent people from overcoming it. He died well before the Internet and social media took off, but his prediction about "receipts culture" definitely came true.
43--->''People are supposed to be able to forget certain things, he explained. We’re not meant to remember everything. Some things that happen to us, we need to let go, and leave them in the past. My concern is that with computers, we’ll never be able to forget. We’ll remember everything that ever happened.''
44* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The character on screen credited as "Popcorn Guy," and implied to be Ram's User, is given a name (Roy Kleinburg) and large part in the ExpandedUniverse as the fiercest defender of Gibbs's and Flynn's vision for Encom and the future of computing, becoming a dedicated hacktivist. Oh, and he's HeterosexualLifePartners with Alan Bradley, whose role in Flynn Lives is more covert. Ram's faith was anything but misplaced.
45* HilariousInHindsight:
46** For the more retrocomputer-nerd minded, the fact that Flynn uses an Apple III, a commercial failure with a reputation of being TheAllegedComputer in RealLife.
47** Alan Bradley has the same name (in sound) as Allen-Bradley, an electronics company that makes lots of products for computers and human-computer interfaces.
48** Peter Jurasik makes a cameo as Flynn's opponent in the ring game. He and Bruce Boxleitner would later co-star in ''Series/BabylonFive''.
49** Those threatening Recognizers in the film? In ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'', they're reduced to being ''cargo carriers''. HowTheMightyHaveFallen.
50* HoYay: Tron and Flynn. You saw it.
51** ''Ram and Flynn.'' Seriously.
52** Add in [[LesYay Lora and Yori]], and you have a minor record for ThreesomeSubtext.
53* IAmNotShazam: People who only know of ''TRON'' through its significance and the [[TronLines aesthetic it inspired]] sometimes assume TRON is the name of the cyber-world itself, when it's actually the name of a character ''in'' the cyber-world. When people don't think TRON is the name of the world, they think he's the main character, when it's actually Flynn.
54* LoveToHate: The [=MCP=]
55* MemeticMutation: "End of line."
56** "Greetings Programs."
57** "I Fight for the Users" (To the point where the Electronic Frontier Foundation has cheerfully appropriated it)
58* NarmCharm: Aspects of this film's visuals, acting, and dialogue have not aged well. But many find this cheesy camp to be a [[SoBadItsGood great reason to watch the movie]], while others don't find anything cheesy about it.
59** Even the producers on the DVDCommentary had occasional chuckles, like when Sark requests the battering ram called "Logic Probe", especially how [[ComicallySerious serious he sounds]].[[note]]A [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic_probe logic probe]] is an actual piece of computing equipment, by the way, used for analyzing and troubleshooting the logical states of a digital circuit.[[/note]]
60** Cindy Morgan remarked that Creator/DavidWarner was such a good actor, that he sold his lines. "When he says in the film, 'You're going to '''die''' ' - you ''believe'' it."
61* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: Both the 1982 arcade game (which earned more than the film's original release!) and ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh''. The Intellivision games, especially Deadly Disks, were also solid sellers for Mattel.
62* OneTrueThreesome: See ThreesomeSubtext - Flynn/Lora/Alan is a RunningGag in fandom, nicknamed "Big Dumb OT3" or "Shall we Dance" on Website/{{Tumblr}}. It's a satisfactory workaround for those who ship Alan/Flynn, but don't want to discard the canonical Alan/Lora marriage.
63* SignatureScene: The Light Cycle chase and the Disc battle scenes are arguably the most memorable.
64 * UnintentionalPeriodPiece:
65** The general look and feel of the computer world is built to resemble the computer displays and games of the time black backgrounds, semi-wireframe 3D graphics, etc.
66** The computer technology itself is quite dated, including monochrome CRT monitors, command-line interfaces, teleprinters, and hard drives the size of washing machines. The tablet-like interface of Dillinger's desk surface, however, would still be pretty slick today.
67** Flynn's arcade is a hip and happening hang-out for an audience ranging from kids to suit-wearing old couples. It's no wonder that, in the sequel, it's been out of business for 20 years.
68** Corporations, especially after the dot-com bubble burst, have made an increased use of contracts with [[ReadTheFinePrint an added stipulation]] that any work done by an employee using corporate resources is automatically property of the company, a stipulation that corporations love to use to screw over any promising creators like Flynn (or Dillinger, pretending he made the games).
69* ValuesDissonance:
70** When Alan and Lora go to meet Flynn, he makes a joke that leads to Lora joking about all his friends being fourteen. In 1982, this would be taken at face value about [[{{Manchild}} his (lack of) maturity]] but nowadays, it would make him sound like a [[PaedoHunt pervert.]]
71** Also, in 1982, video arcades were not considered family-friendly places. [[NewMediaAreEvil Sensationalist media]] was all over reporting the arcades as a hotbed of drug deals, covert (or overt) gambling, prostitutes working the floor, and innocent young kids having their health and/or minds ruined by over-stimulation and the seedy clientele. Flynn's Arcade, back in 1982, would have been seen as one step up from a DenOfIniquity, and established Flynn (owner and champion player) as a bit of a scoundrel. Indeed, the building appears to be in a [[TheCityNarrows less than desirable neighborhood]]. By the time of ''Film/TronLegacy'', the area went from a seedy, but thriving, area to a ghost town crossed with a demilitarized zone.
72** At the time, there were few if any comments about Flynn's sketchy behavior towards Yori. Bring it up on a fan board now (especially [[Website/{{Tumblr}} Tronblr]]), and it's considered outright sexual assault with Flynn coming off as an utter creep.
73* VideoGameMoviesSuck: Flopped on release, though acknowledged to be a classic now. [[SubvertedTrope It made it on to G4's ''Movies That Don't Suck''!]]
74** An inversion since the arcade game came out just shortly before the movie did.
75* VindicatedByHistory: It may have been a flop at first, but now it's considered a classic revolutionary pioneering effort in film science fiction and visuals. Creator/JohnLasseter, in an interview which is part of ''The Making Of Tron'', stated that "without ''Tron'' there would have been no ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1''."
76* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The special effects are revolutionary for their time, and are still impressive, especially if you consider the fact that they were made on computers slower than your cell phone.
77** The most powerful computer they had for rendering was the size of a refrigerator, had a CPU core that ran at about [=10Mhz=], [=2MB=] of RAM, access to barely [=300MB=] of storage on a room full of storage devices also the size of refrigerators, and each one of those boxes cost many tens of thousands of dollars. And these folks had the ''audacity'' to decide to make movies on them! (In comparison, the average smartphone today costs a couple hundred bucks, fits in your hand, has two CPU cores running about 750 times faster, each, 1000 times more memory, and you can buy a memory card 1/4 the size of a postage stamp that offers 10x the amount of storage for about $20. =)
78* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: The film itself came out before the PG-13 rating (1982), and while it was technically aimed at kids, it was much DarkerAndEdgier than the usual Creator/{{Disney}} fare. On its roster; brutal on-screen deaths (including a BoomHeadshot with some [[LudicrousGibs gibs]]), ElectricTorture (CLU 1.0 is tortured to death, Dumont and the other Tower Guardians come close to it), overt religious themes (more blatant than the second film's), ThreesomeSubtext, snarky innuendo and a ShirtlessScene... then there's the DeletedScene that was ostensibly cut for pacing, but was quite obviously sexual in nature.
79
80!!General:
81* BaseBreakingCharacter: Kevin Flynn. He's either thought of as a CrazyIsCool LoveableRogue (in the first film) and a good man who tried to build Utopia and ended up in ruin (''Legacy''), or as a egotistical, charismatic jackass who blundered his way into heroism, sexually harassed one of his allies, completely made a hash of things with The Grid, and threw his friends and allies under the bus, leaving them to clean up the mess when it inevitably blew up in his face.
82* ContestedSequel: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. While ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'' and ''Film/TronLegacy'' are technically in different continuities, the video game is much lesser-known. ''2.0's'' supporters point to Lisberger's direct involvement, the colorful look, the sympathetic treatment of Programs, and relatively hopeful ending as being closer to the original. The change from AIIsACrapshoot to HumansAreTheRealMonsters is also brought up as a selling point. ''Legacy's'' supporters will prefer the filmed sequel's sleeker look and bleaker storyline as a more mature take on the mythos. Of course, there's also enough support for [[TakeAThirdOption discarding neither sequel]] by saying [[PatchworkFic they both happened.]]
83* FandomRivalry: With ''Film/{{Tomorrowland}}'', but mainly one-sided. This is largely to do with the fact that Disney bet the success of ''science fiction as a whole'' on that one movie. After it had a similar turn out to, ironically enough, the original ''Tron'', they cancelled all future endeavors in the genre for the foreseeable future. This meant the cancellation of several films, including an in-the-works ''Legacy'' sequel. ''Tomorrowland'' fans tend not to have any animosity towards ''Tron'' fans (assuming they aren't fans of both), but ''Tron'' fans aren't very happy that the lukewarm reception of another "theme park attraction as premise" movie didn't live up to ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'''s standard.
84* FriendlyFandoms:
85** With ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'', naturally. Similar premise and computer-based humor. ''WesternAnimation/TronUprising'' fans also gravitate towards ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' and ''Film/RogueOne'' (similar themes and DoomedByCanon), or the ''WesternAnimation/{{Voltron}}'' reboot. [[Website/{{Tumblr}} Tronblr]] has plenty of cross-pollination with ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' as well. And due to the actors, they're also friendly with ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', ''Series/BabylonFive,'' and ''Series/ScarecrowAndMrsKing.''
86** When Sanzaru Games developed ''Tron [=Run/r=]'', ''Tron'' fans became this with fans of the ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' franchise, [[VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime the fourth installment]] of which was also developed by Sanzaru... mainly due to both franchises having no sequels to resolve their massive cliffhangers.
87* IdiosyncraticShipNaming: Crops up sometimes, especially with Website/{{Tumblr}}. Aside from "Shall We Dance," [[ThemeNaming they are named for]] Music/{{Journey|Band}} songs.
88** [[OneTrueThreesome "Shall We Dance"]] or "Big Dumb Ot3" for Flynn/Alan/Lora (named for Lora's line at the end of the arcade scene)
89** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfJQ6yveYH0 "Separate Ways"]] for Alan/Flynn
90** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYqMWv98tlc "Send Her My Love"]] for Flynn/Lora
91** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SswnbpA2qZ0 "After All These Years"]] for Lora/Alan
92** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jifOSQAI0G8 "Only the Young"]] for [[Film/TronLegacy Sam Flynn]] [[PatchworkFic and]] [[VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh Jet Bradley]] (either as a slash ship or [[HeterosexualLifePartners [=BroTp=] ]] )
93* MemeticBadass: More BadassBookworm than traditional "badass," but there's a good argument for Alan Bradley being the most dangerous guy in the franchise and plenty of fanfic to lay out the case. ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' added fuel to the joke by having Tron's user in that continuity being Ansem the Wise. Queue a few jokes in the fandom that Alan was another alias of Ansem.
94* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: Two movies, two graphic novels, an animated series... about a ''dozen'' games. Not a surprise, considering the franchise setting.
95* PeripheryDemographic: The fanbase is heavily and unsurprisingly loaded with IT staff, tech support workers, computer programmers, computer science students, and other tech workers. This has led to a few StrawmanHasAPoint moments in the franchise.
96* RoboShip: Justified, given how many of the characters are sentient computer code. There's the established RoboRomance with Tron and Yori, and the DatingCatwoman scenario with [[WesternAnimation/TronUprising Beck and Paige]]. Zed's hopeless crush on Mara in the same series. In ''Film/TronLegacy'', there's the downplayed flirtation between Sam and Quorra. With the AlternateContinuity of ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'', Jet and Mercury are interested in one another (it develops more in the ''Ghost in the Machine'' comic) and there's a case to be made for [[spoiler: Alan and [=Ma3a=], given [=Ma3a=] is Lora's VirtualGhost]]. And once you hit the fanfic? See the entries for OneTrueThreesome and HoYay.
97* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: A common criticism of the franchise is that it neglects to explore the interesting - and somewhat disturbing - implications of the Program (and Iso) species, and their worship of humans as creator deities, as well as what humanity's responsibility to the Programs might be. The closest we get is that Flynn tried to be a benevolent deity, [[GodIsFlawed but proved inept]] in the ''Legacy'' canon, and that the villains of ''2.0's'' canon pursued the path of virtual godhood to satisfy a lust for power.

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