Here’s what I’ve been doing almost every night for the past seven nights. Ann will go to sleep, I’ll turn off the lights and turn on my DVD of Tron that’s letterboxed and loaded with THX soundand watch the commentary track. And about six minutes later I’ll be asleep. Pretty much at the same point each night (right when Flynn, Alan and the girl sneak past the big door at Encom) I’ll drift off to sleep and wake up at 4 AM on the couch.
I’ll eventually get around to watching the commentary track (it’s interesting so far; it’s just that I’m tired) but the REAL amazing thing is the print on this DVD. Tron was originally shot on 70 mm, and despite having seen it in the theater (twice) what I REALLY remember is the VHS copy I watched over and over and over again. (My recent viewing of it was on this same old VHS copy discovered at my parents’ house. I bought the DVD a few days later.) Not only is the VHS pan-and-scan, but it was completely washed out. I’d been thinking this was an artistic choice. No. Tron is crystal clear and looks fantastic. And did you know there were Recognizers/Space Paranoids flashing in neon in the back of Flynn’s arcade? Awesome.
