Capital Celluloid 2018 - Day 172: Sat Jun 30

Tron (Risberger, 1982): Everyman Screen on the Green, 11.30pm




This screening is part of a superb three-week late-night season at the Everyman Screen on the Green in Islington.

Introduction to Screen on the Green/Zabludowicz Collection season:
From camp to cult to classic, this series screenings feature rarely seen films and avant-garde shorts inspired by and of influence on artists Ericka Beckman and Marianna Simnett. Currently on view at the Zabludowicz Collection, their work ventures from video games and fairy tales to shudder-inducing surgery, resulting in an eclectic mix for these Late Nights. More details here.


In this 1982 classic, Tron, a computer hacker is abducted into the digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program. Prior to the film Ericka Beckman’s Hiatus (1999/2015, 21 mins) will be shown.

Entertainment Weekly review:
Amazingly, Tron feels both dated and wildly ahead of its time. Twenty-nine years ago, in the golden age of 
Space Invaders and Asteroids, the cyberthriller’s neon-lit F/X and trapped-in-a-videogame story line were undeniably of the moment, if not ahead of it. Sure, the film itself was kind of silly, but its eye-candy visuals were a gee-whiz harbinger of binary blockbusters to come. Jeff Bridges seems to be the only one having fun, playing a videogame designer who gets sucked into a Day-Glo world of his own creation. It’s like Alice in Wonderland acted out on a kids’ Lite-Brite toy. For most people, TRON‘s importance is as a historical footnote. It’s the Model T of our CGI age. But the film’s fans are passionate ones. Over the past couple of decades, Tron has become a geek touchstone: Mention the name of Bridges’ alter ego Clu in Comic-Con’s fabled Hall H and you’ll make friends for life. The movie also remains a celluloid smorgasbord for stoners. The Dude would undoubtedly dig it. The set’s extras are pretty sweet: a featurette on the original film’s place in history, with Bridges waxing nostalgic on the pre-Internet days, and a commentary from director Steven Lisberger and his nerd herd of F/X brainiacs. You even get one of the film’s glowing Frisbee gizmos, which actually lights up. Groovy!

Chris Nashawaty

Here (and above) is the trailer

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