Sam Flynn, the tech-savvy and daring son of Kevin Flynn, investigates his father’s disappearance and is pulled into The Grid. With the help of a mysterious program named Quorra, Sam quests to stop evil dictator Clu from crossing into the real world.
Credits: TheMovieDb.
Film Cast:
- Sam Flynn: Garrett Hedlund
- Kevin Flynn / Clu: Jeff Bridges
- Quorra: Olivia Wilde
- Alan Bradley / Tron: Bruce Boxleitner
- Castor / Zuse: Michael Sheen
- Jarvis: James Frain
- Gem: Beau Garrett
- Siren: Yaya DaCosta
- Siren: Serinda Swan
- Siren: Elizabeth Mathis
- Young Mrs. Flynn: Amy Esterle
- Young Sam: Owen Best
- Sobel: Brandon Jay McLaren
- Green Light Cycle Rider: Michael Teigen
- Chattering Homeless Man: Ron Selmour
- Bartik: Conrad Coates
- Half Faced Man: Kis Yurij
- Edward Dillinger: Cillian Murphy
- Black Guard: Aaron Toney
- Young Man on Recognizer: Darren Dolynski
- Reporter #2: Catherine Lough Haggquist
- Reporter #3: Shaw Madson
- Grandma Flynn: Belinda Montgomery
- Security Guard #2: Thomas Bradshaw
- Young Kevin Flynn / Clu Performance Double: John Reardon
- Black Guard: Kim Do Nguyen
Film Crew:
- Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Christopher Boyes
- Producer: Steven Lisberger
- Executive Producer: Donald Kushner
- Casting: Sarah Halley Finn
- Sound Effects Editor: Kyrsten Mate
- Casting: Heike Brandstatter
- Casting: Coreen Mayrs
- Costume Design: Michael Wilkinson
- Supervising Art Director: Kevin Ishioka
- Sound Designer: Steve Boeddeker
- ADR Editor: Michael Silvers
- Foley: Dennie Thorpe
- Foley: Jana Vance
- Art Direction: Sean Haworth
- Art Direction: William Ladd Skinner
- Set Decoration: Lin MacDonald
- Sound Effects Editor: Teresa Eckton
- Makeup Artist: Rick Baker
- Music: Thomas Bangalter
- Supervising Art Director: Mark W. Mansbridge
- Art Direction: Grant Van Der Slagt
- Producer: Jeffrey Silver
- Assistant Costume Designer: Karen L. Matthews
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Samir Hoon
- Makeup Artist: Leslie Graham
- Producer: Sean Bailey
- Director of Photography: Claudio Miranda
- Sound Effects Editor: Warren Hendriks
- Visual Effects Producer: Randal Shore
- Co-Producer: Steve Gaub
- ADR Voice Casting: Holly Dorff
- Music: Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo
- Screenplay: Richard Jefferies
- Makeup Department Head: Rosalina Da Silva
- Director: Joseph Kosinski
- Associate Producer: Bruce Franklin
- Co-Producer: Justis Greene
- Sound Recordist: Ronald G. Roumas
- Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Gary Rizzo
- Production Design: Darren Gilford
- Art Department Coordinator: Mike Piccirillo
- Conceptual Design: Ed Natividad
- Hairstylist: Susan Germaine
- Co-Producer: Justin Springer
- Visual Effects Producer: Dennis Berardi
- Casting Associate: Tamara Hunter
- Hair Department Head: Anji Bemben
- Art Direction: David E. Scott
- Screenplay: Edward Kitsis
- Screenplay: Adam Horowitz
- Pilot: Jim Filippone
- Assistant Costume Designer: Carlos Rosario
- Art Direction: Ben Procter
- Costume Supervisor: Tangi Crawford
- Key Costumer: Kim M. Holly
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Charlie Iturriaga
- Visual Effects Producer: Robin L. D’Arcy
- Supervising Sound Editor: Addison Teague
- Digital Effects Supervisor: Darren Poe
- Dialogue Editor: Cheryl Nardi
- Supervising Sound Editor: Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
- Additional Photography: Stephen S. Campanelli
- Set Costumer: Carolyn Bentley
- Key Costumer: Laura Baker
- Gaffer: Drew Davidson
- Script Supervisor: Portia Tickell
- Set Costumer: Lauren M. Walker
- Construction Coordinator: Robert J. Carlyle
- Aerial Director of Photography: Hans Bjerno
- Visual Effects Editor: Joel Thompson
- Sound Effects Editor: Christopher Scarabosio
- Digital Effects Supervisor: Jon Cowley
- Sound Effects Editor: Ken Fischer
- Lead Animator: Patrick Perez
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Chris Harvey
- Aerial Director of Photography: Steve Koster
- Sound Effects Editor: Josh Gold
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Jonathan Harb
- CG Supervisor: Votch Levi
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Naomi Foakes
- CG Supervisor: Craig Calvert
- Makeup Artist: Ann McLaren
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Aaron Weintraub
- CG Supervisor: Jonathan Litt
- CG Supervisor: Victor Lizarraga
- Visual Effects Producer: Lisa Beroud
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Eric Barba
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Steve Preeg
- Sound Effects Editor: Adam Kopald
- Art Direction: Robert W. Joseph
- Sound Effects Editor: Mac Smith
- Visual Effects Producer: Arin Finger
- Visual Effects Producer: Unjoo Lee Byars
- Visual Effects Editor: Andrew Loschin
- Special Effects Supervisor: Alex Burdett
- Animation Supervisor: Matthias Wittmann
- Property Master: James H. Chow
- Animation: Erik Baker
- Script Supervisor: Elspeth Grafton
- Costume Illustrator: Fabian Lacey
- Assistant Costume Designer: Koreen Heaver
- 3D Animator: Eric Demeusy
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Kevin McAllister
- Visual Effects Producer: Michael S. Pryor
- Digital Effects Supervisor: Jonathan Gerber
- Rigging Gaffer: Keith Woods
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Matt Glover
- Rigging Grip: Kevin McCloy
- Foley Editor: Brian Chumney
- Boom Operator: Donald D. Brown
- Animation Supervisor: Daniel Mizuguchi
- Rigging Grip: Daryl Makortoff
- Construction Coordinator: John Dale
- Hairstylist: Sharon Markell
- Key Costumer: Mila Hermanovski
- Key Makeup Artist: Beate Petruccelli
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Chris McLeod
- Dolly Grip: Gil Forrester
- Gaffer: Simon Hunt
- Key Grip: Kim Olsen
- Stunt Double: Jackson Spidell
- Gaffer: Stacy Sievek
- Music Editor: Charles Paley
- Costume Illustrator: Robert McKinnon
- Hairstylist: Kimberly Carlson
- Visual Effects Coordinator: James Greig
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Dana Jurcic
- Visual Effects Producer: Charles Self
- Visual Effects Editor: Francisco Ramirez
- Makeup Artist: Danielle Fowler
- Hairstylist: Sharon Mosley
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Becca Donohoe
- Art Department Coordinator: Lynn Snedden
- Camera Operator: Chris Oben
- Camera Supervisor: Vance Wiese
- Dolly Grip: Jay ‘Sully’ Sullivan
- Dolly Grip: Bryce Shaw
- Key Grip: Troy James Sobotka
- Rigging Gaffer: Thomas McGough
- Rigging Grip: Curt Griebel
- Rigging Grip: Ryan McGuire
- Ultimate Arm Operator: Robert Petrin
- Casting Associate: Leslie-Ann Reale
- Costume Coordinator: Jennifer Grossman
- Costume Illustrator: Steve Jung
- Ager/Dyer: Rob Phillips
- Set Costumer: Lindsay Borowko
- Set Costumer: Lucas Comstock
- CG Supervisor: Joel LeLièvre
- CG Supervisor: Arudra Jaykar
- CG Supervisor: Zai Ortiz
- Digital Effects Supervisor: Peter Plevritis
- Pre-Visualization Supervisor: Scott Meadows
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Charlie Bolwell
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Bhavana Gidwani
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Patrick Halm
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Kit Ho
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Venessa Loubert
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Rachel A. Mariscal
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Damian O’Farrill
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Gustavo A. Pablik
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Mansi Shah
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Vince Buda
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Elizabeth Asai
- Visual Effects Coordinator: Katya Krotenko
- Visual Effects Editor: Ryan Delk
- Visual Effects Producer: Bhakti Patwardhan
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Janelle Croshaw
- Visual Effects Technical Director: Eric D Legare
- Music Supervisor: Jason Bentley
- Sound Recordist: Chris Barron
- Costumer: Stephanie Portnoy Porter
Movie Reviews:
- Matt Golden: Where do you start with Tron: Legacy? It’s a sequel to a minor cult hit that arrived in theaters 28 years ago, a film more renown for its (at the time) state-of-the-art design than its coherent story or classic characters, rekindled now not as a reboot or remake, but as a direct sequel to that long-ago work.
Tron’s esteem may have grown in the intervening years (much the same fate as another maligned-at-the-time science fiction film, Blade Runner), but time has been mostly unkind to it; Disney attempted to stage a run of pre-LEGACY screenings of the original film, but modern audiences greeted its dated appeal as unintentionally hilarious. Frightened by the impact this might have had on their $170 million spectacle, they pulled plans for a theatrical release, and whisked the recent 25th anniversary DVD off of store shelves. And so, bereft of a childhood that contained Tron, I went into the sequel with naught but a Wikipedia plot breakdown (which was, to be honest, frustratingly informative) to fill in what turned out to be largely irrelevant narrative gaps. I say that to say that I am reviewing Legacy solely for Legacy’s sake, untainted by nostalgia or high expectations.
More than two decades after the events of the first film (which, for the uninitiated, involve a computer programmer [Jeff Bridges, reprising his role] being zapped from the physical world into the computer world he created and fighting an oppressive digital tyrant within), we’re introduced to that computer programmer’s twenty-something kid, heir to his father’s tech empire and not terribly happy about it. It seems he’s still hung up on his father’s mysterious disappearance long ago, and a mysterious message leads to him discovering Dear Old Dad’s secret underground lab, where he’s accidentally zapped into the digital world as well. I’m afraid I’m not spoiling anything to go ahead and say that within he finds his trapped father, and they must fight their way back out. To give more plot details would be unfair and pointless. Suffice to say that once within the digital realm, it becomes action beat after action beat wherein our young hero rescues dad and his requisite romantic interest until the film ends.
Oh sure, there are good guys, and there are bad guys, and there’s a token stab at depth, but what does it matter? That digital world looks really cool, right? And that’s why we go. The sad truth of the matter, however, is that what looks awesome in a two-minute trailer begins to wear on the eyes when presented long-form. “The Grid” exists in three colors: neon blue, neon orange, and black. Well, two colors and an absence of color, I suppose. As nifty as this may seem, two-plus hours of this (particularly at the reduced light offered by 3D projection) robs it of interest, and the whole thing becomes a dull slog. 3D works by enhancing depth, but little to no depth is present when the film is lit and shot in such a stylized manner. To boot, only the bad guys are orange. And as our audience proxy characters are good, we’re robbed even of the contrasting orange to break up the monotony.
There are some neat sequences, of course: the initial lightcycle battle, a digital dogfight later on, etc. Garret Hedlund and Oliva Wilde are perfectly fine in their frankly bland roles, and Jeff Bridges squeezes what depth he can into his dual characters (actual Kevin Flynn and his twenty-years-younger digital duplicate, thanks to some unnerving but nifty visual trickery). The film is far from the unwatchable dreck of, say, The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It’s just…not very interesting. Techno group Daft Punk’s score was easily the best part of the film, and something I’d actually recommend picking up with no hesitations. At its best, the Daft Punk score and stylized imagery (early in the film, before it wears you down) do provide a unique and imaginative experience. It’s just one fit for the length of a music video, not a feature film.
But let’s not kid ourselves: Tron: Legacy is a flashy, ridiculous spectacle that exists solely to put pretty pictures onscreen for two hours and drive a $4+ 3D surcharge. And I say that with no judgment. Some films simply are what they are, and you’ve no more right to expect a dog to meow than to glean from them deep meditations on the human condition. The history of cinema is full of this kind of shallow but aloofly entertaining distraction. But is it wrong to want more of these kinds of films? Take Star Wars, for instance: its strength lies mainly in its revolutionary aesthetic and special effects, but it’s the characters that we remember from the film, not just how cool some set-piece looked. And Lucas isn’t even a terribly good writer; the strength of his characters came from that universal pull all great archetypes have, that ability for audience identification and empathy. Will the name Sam Flynn have the same kind of longevity? What about…uh, Oliva Wilde’s character? Apparently not, at least for me. (Note: IMDb says it’s “Quorra.”) If nostalgia for the first film is strong for you, or you’ve no qualms about paying $14+ for a mildly-distracting if uninvolving experience, go for it. Everyone else may as well save themselves the money. Maybe catch it on Blu-ray.
I should note, though, that I can honestly say 3D added nothing to the experience, so if you want to be able to actually see in The Grid, save yourself the money and hop into a 2D seat.
- r96sk: A massive upgrade on the first film, at least for someone like me who certainly doesn’t enjoy the 1982 production.
‘TRON: Legacy’ is much more vibrant, developed and tangible. I actually formed a connection with the characters in this one, which is the complete opposite to the original. The special effects (bar the de-aging) are a vast improvement, which is to be expected in fairness; I love the look of this.
It’s nice to get a proper view into the ‘outside’ lives of the protagonists, rather than receiving a tiny backstory before shoving them into the new universe; I appreciated the build-up to the eventual entry. The score is also terrific, even if it’s strange hearing Daft Punk’s “Outlands” due to my familiarity of it coming from Sky Sports UK’s Formula 1 opening credits.
Garrett Hedlund is great in the role Sam, I enjoyed his performance from the get-go. Jeff Bridges is excellent too, I feel all the actors in general were given much more to work with in this one; I barely took notice of Bridges (& Co.) in the predecessor, but he stands out big here. Olivia Wilde and Michael Sheen are good, also. Cillian Murphy even makes a minute appearance.
It does, at least to me, feel like a very different film when compared to ‘Tron’, which may disappoint lovers of the latter but will be relief to opposing folk; e.g. me.
Wasn’t sure what to expect from this, but thankfully it produces an entertaining time.