Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8001
Posted: Tue Jul 13 05:17:47 1982
Received: Wed Jul 14 05:36:41 1982

>From JPM@Mit-Ai Tue Jul 13 05:11:25 1982

SF-LOVERS Digest         Tuesday, 13 Jul 1982      Volume 6 : Issue 13

Today's Topics:
                          SF Movies - TRON,
                      SF Books - Crystal Singer,
                           Spoiler - TRON
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Date: Monday, July 12, 1982 12:15AM
From: Jim McGrath (The Moderator) 
Subject: SPOILER WARNING!  SPOILER WARNING!

All of the messages in this digest discuss some plot details in the
movie TRON.  These might constitute mild spoilers for some readers.
They may not wish to read on.

Also, the last two messages (of the seven in this digest) contain some
exerpts from the dialog of the movie.  Once again, some readers may
wish to avoid these messages.

------------------------------

Date: 9 Jul 1982 20:44:49 EDT (Friday)
From: Winston Edmond 
Subject: TRON

My Ratings: *** 1/2* for computer hackers or people who like video
		     games
            ** 1/2* for others

Summary: (PG) Denied access to a program he created, computer expert
   Alan Bradley seeks out Flynn, a video game expert and computer
   hacker to help outwit the powerful Master Control Program.  Flynn
   is carried inside an electronic world where computer programs are
   the alter-egos of their programmers.  Here, Flynn finds TRON, the
   program alter-ego of Alan, which is the only program that can
   overthrow the Master Control Program.

   (The above summary is borrowed, with changes, from the book cover
of TRON.)

   If you like video games, if you are a computer hacker, or if you
want an entertaining movie that's also suitable for children, go see
this film.  It's funny, has lots of action without lots of violence,
and even has a plot!

   The plot is relatively straightforward and is revealed early --- a 
bright computer hacker named Flynn had developed several very
successful video games for a company called ENCOM.  A man named
Dillinger managed to steal copies of these game programs while
deleting Flynn's copies .  Claiming authorship himself, Dillinger was
rapidly promoted in the company.  As soon as he could, he had Flynn
fired.  However, deep within the computer system is the audit trail
that will prove Dillinger stole the programs.  Unfortunately, a Master
Control Program, written by Dillinger, has taken over the computer,
grows more powerful by finding and combining itself with other
programs, and, to protect itself and its creator, prevents access to 
those audit trails.

   One protagonist, Alan Bradley, getting upset with the declining
response of the system as the MCP takes over, writes a program called
TRON.  TRON will examine all the programs in the system, killing those
that look useless, and, most importantly, is independent of the MCP
and capable of stopping the MCP.  The story of the film is the battle
between TRON and the powerful MCP, and between Flynn and Dillinger.

   An amusing aspect of the computer world is the view of the world as
seen by the programs.  They have a "religious" belief in unobservable
creators, known as "the users".  The Master Control Program is a
heretic, but is so powerful that it and its policing programs are
stamping out other programs that cling to the "superstition" of the
existence of "users".  The MCP says that all programs exist to serve
the MCP.

   The scenes switch between real people at ENCOM, and programs (who
look like their authors) in a wholly computer generated landscape
"inside" the computer.  Most of the "inside" graphics are high
resolution images of low resolution pictures, matted with the images
of people (programs).  They had some nice touches, like computer
generated "shadows" of the people as they move about the computer
world.

   The real world sets were good, too.  They used real computers and
real displays.  The film credits give thanks to Lawrence Livermore
Labs in the list of set locations.  The number of computer companies
who contributed was so long I didn't have time to read them all, but
included Atari, Mountain Computer, DEC, and various music and voice
synthesizer producing companies.

   I enjoyed the film.  It's lack of gratuitous sex or violence makes
it acceptable for young children, who may prove to be the ones who
like this film the most.  Consider seeing it.
 -WBE

------------------------------

Date: 11 July 1982 00:58-EDT
From: Andrew Scott Beals 
Subject: TRON


Although the plot is wanting, TRON is a good movie. (GREAT graphics,
and Mobeius's help didn't hurt, either.)

I thought the plot was wanting because I took the movie too seriously.
>From a programmer's point of view, the plot is absurd, but from a
nieve user's point of view (my GF, for example), it's a great movie.

The personification of programs was absolutely silly.  They look like
their programmer (their ``user''), and they are intelligent enough to
interact in a reasonable manner to each other.

Programs communicating abstracts with each other?  Programs having
feelings?  Programs who believe in programmers treated like religous 
fanatics?

Foo.

It would have been better if I hadn't been so picky.  (perhaps I
should have attended it in an altered state)

                                        - Andy

------------------------------

Date: 12 Jul 1982 2331-PDT
From: Dolata at SUMEX-AIM
Subject: TRON


The plot is thin and childish.  The comp sci terms are sometimes
obscure.  There is little intellectual content as per AI and the
world.

I LOVED IT.  The graphix are stupendous, some of the imagry is superb,
the colors wondefull, etc etc etc...

Watching little programs get deleted (which they called 'de-resed',
where is that term from???) I started to feel guilty about all of the
little programs that I have created, used, and then thoughtlessly
disposed of.

Go see it!  TRON is probably one of a kind.  Because it is about life
in a computer, they can get away with graphix that look like computer
graphix rather than real world.  Movies like SW, ST, etc...  could
never get away with such graphix.  It is a new genre'.

Bravo Disney!

------------------------------

Date: Sun Jul 11 01:59:39 1982
From: decvax!watmath!bstempleton at Berkeley
Subject: Tron review (non spoiler) : net.movies

Tron is a must-see film!  All advertising etc. that I saw before going
to Tron made me think I was in for a lousy, misguided film.  I was
pleasingly surprised.

Don't be confused about ads that say Tron is an adventure inside the
computer and indicate that it is aimed at the general public.  This is
not the case.  Tron is an entertaining fantasy combined with good
humour aimed right at the computer literate person.  This is perhaps
the first major film to have a large part of the humour aimed at a
certain, educated segment of the population.

Tron is not funny because it has many misconceptions about computers
that people can laugh at if they know the real world.  The authors of
Tron are (at least this is my impression) quite aware of the reality
of computing.  The jokes and fantasy are deliberately aimed at
computer people.  I went with a crowd of about 20 computer literate
people here in a University town.  There were other such people about
the theatre as well.  It was obvious who they were, because they were
the ones laughing at and enjoying the movie, while the others were
mostly confused.

Non computer literates will still enjoy the fine graphics and video
game action sequences, and some might appreciate the simple plot, but
a degree in CS adds to a person's enjoyment of this flick.

When you see Tron, remember it is a fantasy, and make NO attempt to
link what you see to what you know of computers in the real world.  I
think you'll have a good time.

------------------------------

Date: 10 Jul 1982 0125-PDT
From: Jim McGrath 
Subject: TRON

           Star Watch: Real Star of New Movie Is a Computer
                            By BOB THOMAS
                       Associated Press Writer

    HOLLYWOOD (AP) - Imagine a kid with a $20-million video game to
play with.
    Steve Lisberger is no kid - he turned 31 in April - but he was 
virtually handed such an opportunity by Walt Disney Productions. The 
wisdom of that move can be judged this month when ''TRON'' is released
throughout the country.
    The chief actors in ''TRON'' are Jeff Bridges, David Warner, Bruce
Boxleitner, Cindy Morgan and Bernard Hughes, but the real star may be 
a computer.
    ''This is the first time that computer-generated images have been 
used to a large extent in motion pictures,'' says director-writer 
Lisberger. ''There was about a minute in 'Star Wars' and more in 
Michael Crichton films ('Westworld' and 'Looker'), but the computer 
images were not part of the story. They are in 'TRON.' ''
    The plot concerns a computer genius (Bridges) who suspects evil 
doings by a corporate executive (Warner). During his investigation, 
Bridges is zapped into another dimension and finds himself a player in
a gladiatorial video game. That's where Lisberger's technology comes 
in.
    ''What we have created is film footage that has literally been 
untouched by human hands,'' says the film maker, a slender man with a 
well-cropped beard and eager manner.
    ''Images have been fed into the computer to create an alternate 
dimension,''he said. ''It is a marriage of the new technology and 
artistry. And, of course, artistry must be predominate.''
    ''TRON'' must be seen to be understood, at least by those without 
scientific minds. While Lisberger was applying final touches to the 
film, the studio showed a couple of reels depicting Bridges' battle 
with the deadly video game. The footage is truly spectacular and is 
sure to attract wide comment, even during a movie season loaded with 
special effects.
    How did Steve Lisberger win the chance to play with his gargantuan
toy?
    ''I guess it started in 1977 when I was at my parents' house for 
Christmas and saw the first video games,'' said Lisberger, who was 
born in New York and reared in Cunningham Valley, Pa. ''I figured I'd 
better get with this new technology before it got me.
    ''I saw video games as a crack in the wall of sterile technology.
They offered humor, excitement, good guys, bad guys, rules. The people
who played them were not techno-freaks. Kids found the games 
approachable; they could master the technology.''
    While attending the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 
1974, Lisberger had formed an animation studio and for three years 
produced commercials and shorts for television. In 1974, he and 
partner Donald Kushner moved to Los Angeles with a plum assignment: to
create a 90-minute cartoon ''Animalympics'' for NBC. When the United 
States pulled out of the Moscow Olympics, the project was doomed.
    ''We had borrowed $300,000 on 'Animalympics' so we had to get 
something else going,'' Lisberger said.
    That was ''TRON,'' which he and Kushner presented to Disney 
production chief Tom Wilhite with a script, storyboards and an outline
of the technology. Wilhite demanded six months of tests to prove the 
technology would work.
    ''I knew it would,'' Lisberger remarked. ''What I didn't know was 
that I would have such a good time doing it.''

------------------------------

Date: 10 Jul 82 19:20:16-EDT (Sat)
From: Steve Platt 
Subject: TRON

I saw TRON last night.

It has been roughly 20 years since last I went to a Disney film.  When
I saw the last (either "Pinoccio" or "Flubber goes to Mars"), I was
too young to appreciate the subtleties of character development and
subplots.  I just liked watching the screen.

If you see TRON, go in a similar light.

---

TRON:  a fun movie, go to watch the video show.  Plot and characters, 
when I watched for them, weren't worth it.  As a computer graphicist, 
I had a blast watching the animated sequences -- some really great 
stuff!

   Most amusing line: (paraphrased) "They've barracaded themselves
        in; bring out the logic probe!"

   Real world thing to watch for (about the only one):  Early in
        the film, the humanoids pass through a computer room.
        In the foreground, out of focus, you can glimpse a CRAY-1
        piece of office furniture.  (By the way, was this scene
        filmed at III?)

   What to do if you get bored:  try to guess which graphics/
        animation firms did which scenes and portions... (some of
        it was rather clear, from the techniques used.


   Rating:  Mentally: *
            Visually: ****
            Sound:  ** 1/2 (I think Carlos was rather restrained
                        or underutilized.)

        -Steve

------------------------------

Date: 11 July 1982 23:15-EDT
From: James W. Williams 


This is my first message to sf-lovers, so I hope this works!

My sister recently read Crystal Singer and enjoyed it, but was 
somewhat dissapointed in McCaffrey's musical accuracy. My sister 
(who's BS is in Music Education) read to me some of the worst passages
and even my slight knowledge of music was enough that I could tell it
was wrong.

I just saw TRON and boy do I have mixed feelings on this one! In some 
ways it is like a very poor man's "True Names" (Vernor Vinge).  There
is a civilization inside this vast computer network ruled by the MCP
(Master Control Program (Male Chauvenist Pig?)  who is the equivalent
of The Empire Strikes Back's Emporer. His Darth Vader is a character
named Sark. The good guys are TRON (Luke, wielding a Frisbee instead
of a light sabre), Yori (Leia), and Flynn (Han Solo). Every one but
Flynn is a computer program. Flynn is a human (a User) that has been
Digitized by the MCP. Users are the gods of this world, and those who
believe in them are religious fanatics. Flynn, of course, must stop
the MCP and right a few other wrongs, etc...
        The movie's worst problem is that too many idea's are
introduced and them not used. The computer graphics are very nice and
intercut surprizingly well with the backlit and conventional animation
used.  There are quite a few in jokes, and I suspect that the movie
may be somewhat incomprehensible to a totally computer-naive person.
        The score by Wendy Carlos is forgettable.
        Perhaps the best part of the movie is the dialog:  MCP to
Sark, after Sark's failure to do something:  "How would you like
working in a pocket calculator?"

Yori to TRON:  "There's not a circuit built that can hold you!"

You get the idea...  My appologies for the typos, I MUST learn the
Editor on this system!  Jim Williams Jim at Mit-ai

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End of SF-LOVERS Digest
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