Tron film: Encyclopedia II - Tron film - Plot summary

Tron film - Plot summary

Kevin Flynn is a young and gifted programmer who once worked for the software mega-corporation ENCOM. He created several games for ENCOM, but just before he was able to show his work to its executives, his work was stolen by another programmer, Ed Dillinger. Dillinger locked Flynn out of the system and went on to present the games to the executives, thus earning himself a series of promotions. Meanwhile, Flynn quit the company and was reduced to running a video game arcade, which ironically featured several of the games he created.

Several years later, Dillinger is now a senior executive of ENCOM, and the company is run mainly by the Master Control Program, an artificial intelligence that he created. The MCP, as it's called, catches one of Flynn's computer programs, Clu, attempting to hack into the mainframe and find sensitive information. It successfully destroys Clu and summons Dillinger to discuss the matter. Dillinger authorizes the MCP to shut down access to all personnel who had the same level of access as Flynn. This locks out a current ENCOM employee and a friend of Flynn, Alan Bradley.

Alan goes to speak with Dillinger about being locked out of the system, and in the process, he reveals that he is working on a security program named Tron, which he would use to monitor communications between ENCOM and outside systems. He states that it would not be a part of the Master Control Program, but rather that it would serve as a watchdog for the MCP. Dillinger dismisses him quickly, only to be confronted by the MCP about Alan's project. The MCP claims that it can run things "900 times better than any human." When Dillinger senses his control of the MCP slipping, it essentially blackmails him into keeping quiet and complying with its wishes.

Meanwhile, Alan goes to speak with Lora, a laser lab technician and Flynn's former girlfriend. The two set off to Flynn's apartment to warn him that Dillinger knows about his hacking. After being convinced that Flynn is looking for evidence that he was cheated by Dillinger, Lora and Alan offer to sneak him into ENCOM's laser lab, where he can forge an access code for a different security group. This would allow him to find the information he is looking for, and would also allow Alan to finish his work and get Tron online.

Flynn settles down at Lora's lab terminal, which has a high-power laser used for her digitization experiments pointed right at it. As he tries to gain access to the system, he confronts the MCP. While he "chats" with the MCP, it takes control of the laser and suddenly digitizes Flynn into the digital world inside the computer. Within the system, programs are represented as characters who resemble their creators.

Flynn materializes in the digital world and is taken to a holding pit, where a financial program, Ram, tells Flynn that he is a "guest" of the Master Control Program, and that he is going to be made to play games. Flynn seems excited about this at first, saying "I play games better than anybody."

Shortly afterward, Flynn and a number of other Programs are taken to meet Sark (who is Dillinger's counterpart in the digital world). Sark tells each of the Programs that they can either join the MCP willingly, or they will be forced to compete in gladiator-style games that will result in their eventual elimination. Each Program receives an identity disc, which both stores their actions and experiences, and also doubles as a powerful weapon. On their way back to the holding pen, Flynn sees Tron fighting a number of other Programs, and Ram tells him that Tron fights for the Users.

Before he can return to the holding pit, Flynn is taken to such a game, which plays similarly to Jai Alai. He is forced to face another Program, and after several volleys, his competitor struggles to keep from falling off of his platform. Sark terminates the game, causing Flynn's opponent to fall to his death, but he spares Flynn, recalling the MCP's admonition: "I want him in the games until he dies playing."

Flynn returns to a holding pit where Ram and Tron are waiting for him. Flynn immediately mistakes Tron for Alan, and Tron reveals that Alan is his User. Before they can talk much more, the three are taken to the Light Cycle arena, where they must attempt to guide their opponents into their trails. They team up and manage to force one of their enemies into the side of the arena, opening a large crack that they all escape through.

Having escaped into the system, Sark launches security forces (which consist of Tank and Recognizer programs) to try to find them. The three locate an I/O tower that Tron needs to access in order to communicate with Alan, but on the way, Ram's Light Cycle is destroyed by a Tank and Tron is separated from the group. Flynn takes the injured Ram to a pile of junk, which turns out to be a damaged Recognizer. He activates it and sets off in search of the I/O tower, but on the way, Ram dies and "de-rezzes".

Meanwhile, Tron breaks into a simulation chamber where a Solar Sailer is being constructed. There, he finds Yori, a program written by Lora. He and Yori make their way to the I/O Tower and confront Dumont, the keeper of the tower. He grants Tron access to the port, and Tron receives the critical information he needs in order to destroy the Master Control Program. They then make their way back to the Solar Sailer, narrowly escaping Sark's forces, and set off to find the MCP. Along the way, Flynn rejoins them, having disguised himself as one of Sark's troops. He explains to Tron and Yori that he is actually a User.

Sark eventually captures Flynn and Yori, ramming the Solar Sailer with his ship. Sark then disembarks and begins de-rezzing the ship. As Yori and the ship fade around him, Flynn manages to keep her alive and the ship intact. Yori believes Tron to be dead, but in reality, Tron has escaped on Sark's shuttle, which lands nearby the MCP's core. Here, a number of captured programs are locked against a wall to face the MCP, which appears as a giant red face on a huge spinning cylinder. The MCP senses Tron's presence and sends Sark out to battle him, and then the MCP begins to tell the Programs of their impending fate, to be assimilated into the MCP.

Sark and Tron battle it out on the mesa, and at one point Tron gains the upper hand, damaging Sark and destroying his disc. The MCP then boosts Sark's power, causing him to grow many times Tron's size. Tron then attacks the MCP directly, attempting to break through the shield protecting its core. As the battle continues, Yori guides the remains of Sark's ship toward the core, where Flynn jumps inside. This distracts the MCP long enough for Tron to throw his disc through a gap in the shield, destroying the MCP in a dramatic explosion.

The digital world comes alive after the MCP's defeat. I/O towers light up all over the landscape, and the Programs rejoice in the fact that their world has become a free system. They ponder Flynn's fate, but Flynn is sent back to the real world, the laser re-materializing him at the terminal. A nearby printer begins printing the evidence that Flynn's programs were "annexed" by Dillinger.

Dillinger arrives at the office the next morning to discover a message on his computer's screen showing the evidence of his wrongdoing. The movie closes with a brief scene where Alan and Lora greet Flynn at the helicopter pad on top of the ENCOM building. Flynn is now the executive of the company.

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