When Tron hit theaters in 1982, the idea of a person being transported into a video game world was almost totally brand-new. Further, the idea that the world of this virtual “Grid” was, at points, created by self-perpetuating computer programs was a brand of cyberpunk never quite glimpsed in a mainstream movie. Yes, 1982 also gave us Blade Runner, but those AIs were very much tactile, humanoid Replicants who existed in our world. Tron was the reverse: a “Program” was a person, and in the world of the Grid, the Programs created everything.
Now, over four decades after the original Tron, and 15 years after its sequel, Tron: Legacy (2010), the third movie in the franchise — the upcoming movie Tron: Ares — is poised to deliver on a strange promise suggested by the first movie. But is this actually what we wanted way back in 1982?
