7/1/17 Tron

Post date: Jun 24, 2017 6:51:31 PM

The 1982 movie Tron came out a year after I got my first computer. It was an Apple II with 8K of ram. One of the games that was available at the time was a chess program called Sargon. I started programming in Apple Basic heavy using the TraceOn command. When I heard there was a movie about computer programmers, I was determined to go if even if Disney was behind it.

I was not disappointed though my family was less enthusiastic. Even though this was the first large computer animation movie, I thought it did not get bogged down in technology. There was always a personal element. The main actor, Jeff Bridges, hit the right tone as Kevin Flynn.

I loved the idea of the programs you write take on your persona. I loved the little computer details spread throughout the movie. I loved the evil bad guy was a chess program named sark and the good guy was Tron(TraceOn)

The biblical theme of the programmer as savior was just a bonus. :)