Tron

Tron is a 1982 American science fiction action adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story he co-wrote with Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer and video game developer who is transported inside the software world of a mainframe computer where he interacts with anthropomorphic programs in his attempt to escape. It also stars Bruce Boxleitner (in the eponymous role), David Warner, Cindy Morgan, and Barnard Hughes. Tron was one of cinema's earliest films to use extensive computer-generated imagery (CGI). The inspiration for Tron dates back to 1976, when Lisberger became intrigued with video games after seeing Pong. He and producer Donald Kushner set up an animation studio to develop Tron with the intention of making it an animated film. To promote the studio itself, Lisberger and his team created a 30-second animation featuring the first appearance of the title character. Eventually, Lisberger decided to include live-action elements with both backlit and computer animation for the actual feature-length film. Various studios had rejected the storyboards for the film before Walt Disney Productions agreed to finance and distribute Tron. There, backlit animation was finally combined with the 2D computer animation and the live-action footage. Tron was released by Buena Vista Distribution on July 9, 1982. The film was a moderate success at the box office, and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its groundbreaking visuals and acting but criticized its storyline as being incoherent. Tron received nominations for Best Costume Design by Elois Jenssen and Rosanna Norton and Best Sound by Michael, Bob, and Lee Minkler and Jim La Rue at the 55th Academy Awards. Tron spawned multiple video games (including an arcade tie-in released shortly after the film) and, as it became a cult film, a multimedia franchise including...