For Disney, Tron is the little franchise that could. It’s odd how each movie in the series has gone into production with massive expectations behind it, only for the movies to inevitably achieve only middling theatrical success. How so? Well, Tron made $33 million in 1982 — which were not the blockbuster numbers the studio hoped for. The sequel, Tron: Legacy, made $172 million — a solid number but not amazing considering the movie cost at least $150 million to make. Yet, thanks to international grosses and home media (as well as merchandising — such as the classic Tron arcade game), each movie turned a profit, meaning even if it took decades, Disney would take a stab at the franchise again, hoping this would be the moment it finally connected. This weekend, Disney is trying it again with Tron: Ares, which — being a story about AI — seems oddly timely. How does it stack up to the rest of the series? Let’s take a look with our Tron Movies Ranked list — from BEST to WORST.
1. Tron:
1982’s Tron is easily the best film in the franchise thus far. For one thing, it was beyond cutting edge, using extensive CGI before it was commonplace. The movie’s visuals, with the film taking place inside of a computer, are still pretty stunning, giving the movie a retro but also timeless quality. Of all the movies, I’d wager it’s the one with the best real-world scenes, with it anchored by Jeff Bridges’ charismatic performance as Kevin Flynn, the video game designer who gets sucked into the grid. The cast is great, with Bridges a charming and cool hero, while Bruce Boxleitner is suitably heroic as the titular security program (everyone always forgets that Bridges himself didn’t play Tron). I always liked the duality of Boxleitner’s performance, where he’s ultra-nerdy as the real-world Alan, but then cool and collected as his program, Tron. Plus, David Warner as Dillinger is a memorable bad guy, while the late Cindy Morgan is adorable as Lora in the real world, and Yori on the grid. As is typical for Tron, the film also has an incredible score, with an old-school synth soundtrack by Wendy Carlos (a favorite of Stanley Kubrick) of Switched-On Bach, A Clockwork Orange, and The Shiningfame.
2. Tron: Ares:
Some will think I’m insane for putting this ahead of Tron: Legacy. I get it — for the first half hour of Ares I thought I was watching the year’s worst film. But once the premise kicks into high gear and we hit the grid, I had a freaking blast. The score by Nine Inch Nails is an all-timer, while the visual style is stunning (I love the emphasis on red, being that Ares is initially an ENCOM program). While Jeff Bridges is wasted in a throwaway role and Greta Lee has nothing to work with, Jared Leto is surprisingly great as the heroic Ares. My only real complaint is that I wish Cillian Murphy had returned to play the younger Dillinger, as Evan Peters is too over the top.
3. Tron: Legacy
While it’s my least favorite Tron movie, I still like Tron: Legacy. I think the visual style is incredible, with them doing a terrific job modernizing the original. The score by Daft Punk — of course — is top-notch. But Garrett Hedlund, who would later become a great actor, makes for a wooden hero. The same could be said of Olivia Wilde, who looks amazing as Quorra but struggles with some of the lame dialogue. The worst aspect, though, is how terrible the CG de-aged Jeff Bridges looks as CLU. The technology really wasn’t there when this was made, but the director, Joseph Kosinski, would go on to far better blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick and F1. It’s a bummer that despite the rumors, Disney didn’t bother tweaking the VFX for CLU on the recent 4K release.
And there you have it — those are my Tron movie rankings. Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments!
