TRON (1982) has been "De-Flickered"

[Ernest Rister]

Okay, for this week's Disney Blu-Ray controversey, add Tron to the list of films that have been altered for Blu-Ray release.

Due to using a run of film negative out of sequence (there is a detailed explanation of the error on the old TRON DVD and laserdisc), the live-action "Grid" world of Tron has always sported some visual eccentricities, most notably sudden "pops" in bright contrast, causing a very noticeable momentary "flicker" of the live action actors.

I was listening to Ricky Brigante's 'Inside the Magic' podcast yesterday, and he reported that the "flicker" has been removed for the Blu-Ray. People who have seen the previous documentaries know that to compensate for the technical error, the creative team created other 'pops' and 'flickers' in the animated image, too, such as sudden bursts of light or electronic light patterns - all to make everything somewhat uniform.

Well, hang on to your styrofoam Tron hat. I'm spinning the disc right now, and while there are the same compositing frame-stutters, the facial flickers and pops have indeed been extensively minimized.

On the one hand, this was the intended look of the film, and perhaps Lisberger even asked for the correction. On the other hand, the creative team had to adapt to the problem, and now you have a film that retains the attempts at a creative solution in 1982 (the sudden electronic pops of light and patterns in the background), but no longer with the problem that forced the solution.

The film looks wonderful - but if you are vintage TRON fans, I'd hang on to those 20th anniversary DVDs, if I were you.