Tron film: Encyclopedia II - Tron film - Plot summary

Tron film - Plot summary

Past: Kevin Flynn was a young and gifted programmer, who used to work for a software mega-corporation named ENCOM. One of ENCOM's leading executives is a man named Ed Dillinger. Flynn, an up-and-coming programmer, was cheated out of the profits and royalties for games that he created for Dillinger. Dillinger, in fact, stole Flynn's games and passed them off as his own. After being unable to prove his authorship and quitting the company, Flynn is reduced to running a video game arcade. Many of the games he created are featured in the arcade.

Present Day: After some freedom-of-information issues arise from the current employees Alan Bradley and his associate (and Flynn's ex-girlfriend) Lora, Dillinger increases the security of the Master Control Program (an artificial intelligence mainframe that runs the company) by deleting from the system those programmers who have been granted "Group 7 Access." This in effect locks these programmers out of the company. Desperate, Alan and Lora decide to turn to Flynn for help in bypassing the increased security of the MCP, in the ultimate hope of gaining further freedom in their programming. For his part, Flynn is only looking for evidence that Dillinger did indeed steal his creations.

After the trio break into the building after-hours, Flynn confronts the MCP, and is absorbed ("digitized") into a digital world tyrannically ruled by the MCP. In the "real world", the MCP's interface resembles an exceptionally high-tech boardroom desk. From inside the computer system, the MCP resembles an enormously foreboding face, glowing red with energy.

In this world, programs are represented by characters who resemble their creators; Flynn is initially mistaken for a program, "Clu", that he had previously written. Flynn needs to find "Tron", a security program created by Alan. Tron can help Flynn fight against the despotic MCP to free his company's mainframe and escape to the real world. Along the way he has to participate in several gladiatorial action games including "Light Cycles" and a kind of Jai-Alai.

The "Light Cycles" game is similar to an old computer game sometimes known as Surround. The players are in constant motion on a playfield, creating a wall behind them as they move. If a player hits a wall either by accident or by having no more room to move, he is out of the game, and the last player wins. Tron depicts this game as being played by the humanoid programs in futuristic two-wheeled vehicles that resemble motorcycles which create walls of colored light. Countless versions of this game have been created since the release of the movie.

There are many not-so-subtle political and religious overtones in Tron. Inside the computer, the MCP rules by a Fascist-style oppression, with help from his main general, Sark, and an army of troops. Regular programs are herded into concentration camp-style detention cells, and forced to battle each other to the death. If they do not comply, they are derezzed (terminated, killed). Most programs believe, or want to believe, in a higher entity, referred to as "Users". They claim that these Users, who are their programmers in the Real World, are their Creators. Programs who believe in these Users are also subject to "immediate deresolution," or "derezzing."

In Tron, the character Tron plays a martyr-type, who "battles for the Users." When a User himself (Flynn) is dropped into the environment, and found to be a User, he assumes the role of a Messiah-type of character, who can perform what seems like miracles to other programs, and who gives his life to save all of the programs.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Plot summary", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki