Can you believe it has been twenty-five years since the release of TRON? Since 1982, the sci-fi movie has turned into a cult classic for the geek and gamer sets, peaking (in my opinion) recently with an Adidas shoe design. And while the original is mostly appreciated for its ground-breaking yet dated special effects, Disney has decided to finally develop a TRON sequel, and it has just revealed its choice for director. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio is once again going with a first-timer, commercial director Joseph Kosinski. You may have heard that name before, though, because he's the guy also set to helm the remake of Logan's Run over at Warner Bros. Kosinski will be developing the sequel, in addition to directing; he will oversee the visuals and the script, which is being written by Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz of TV's Lost (they wrote, among their many, the mostly insignificant, but entertaining episodes "Tricia Tanaka is Dead" and "Exposé") . The story is, of course, being kept secret, but Kosinski is said to be working on a Light Cycle (see the photo) sequence that will serve as showcase of his vision for the movie. The sequel, which will be produced by original TRON director Steven Lisberger, along with Sean Bailey (Matchstick Men) and Brigham Taylor, has also been described as "the next chapter" of the storyline from the original.

The first thing to wonder is whether or not Jeff Bridges will be involved. Disney will probably want a younger star, but they should at least allow Bridges to appear in some capacity (they must also give a cameo to this guy). The next thing, which is actually more of a concern than a wonder, regards the special effects. CGI has come a long way since debuting in TRON -- some (me) would often say a long way for the worse -- and any modern effects would lack the kitsch appeal of the original. Sure, many movies these days have CGI that resembles video game visuals, but that's a bad thing. THR reports that many effects people are vying for the chance to work on this project and that most of them have been heavily inspired by the original. So, hopefully the chosen effects teams and personnel will be able to pay homage, retain the style and also somehow update the look of the first movie without turning out something too realistic or modern.

You'd think that after an epic geek classic like TRON, the writer/director would at least have a successful career for a number of years to come, if not many of his future years. However, after making the sci fi flick, Steven Lisberger's film work pretty much tanked. He followed the sci-fi classic with Hot Pursuit, and then directed one more -- Slipstream -- before slipping off the radar. After that, he wrote a TRON sequel, but that never got anywhere and things looked grim. He says that he became jaded until a fan perked him up. Variety is reporting that the writer/director took on the brainchild of IGN's Jessica Chobot, and penned a new futuristic film called Soul Code, which Reliant Pictures has just bought.

As the story goes, the two chatted at a TRON screening, and he was taken by her idea. He then wrote the script about a "tech pioneer who has perfected a way to download and transfer a person's memory. [The] script examines what happens when her memory is placed into a much younger woman's body," and now he gets to direct it as well. It's definitely got the makings for a cool story -- one to please both geek and non-geek crowds. I'm hoping they dip into not only the ramifications of memory transferral, but how much, if any, mannerisms and actions go with that. I'm thinking something like the Faith/Buffy switch. Lisberger says: "Jess is not a film person -- she was a fan -- and that was refreshing. She wasn't double-thinking what the audience wants; she was the audience." I'm hoping she's thought about the mannerisms (or that he has, for that matter), but what would you like to see with Steven's return to science fiction?

As much as I complain about CGI in movies, I do recognize and respect the few films that have used computer effects well. The truth is, some bad movies have great digital effects that go under-appreciated, which is far more tragic than the so-so movies that are ruined by weak CGI. Sure, Tron is a guilty pleasure for me and many others, but its only real worth is in its place in film history. Other movies that are important for their advancement of digital effects include Forrest Gump, Cliffhanger and The Perfect Storm -- none of which needs to be thought of for any other reason.

Popular Mechanics has listed these four films with six other (better) milestones. Many of them are not surprises; everybody thinks of Terminator 2: Judgment Day when thinking of significant digital effects, even though it wasn't even the first movie to feature morphing (Willow is not included in the ten, but it is referenced). Jurassic Park is also obvious, but then, this isn't really an opinion-based list. It is a chronological top ten based on real, monumental breakthroughs. There are a few on the list, such as Cliffhanger, that I didn't even know were of importance. Did you know it was the first film to use digital effects as an eraser?

So, I may have to take a look at this list whenever I'm about to curse the existence of computer effects. A lot of the worst effects are appropriately featured in movies that are already terrible, anyway (personally, I think The Lord of the Rings and its CGI fall into this worst/terrible category, but I probably shouldn't be admitting this, especially since it is on the list).

What do you think was the most important advancement in special effects history (pre-digital era included)?

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My family had a pretty early personal computer, but I never used it for anything more sophisticated than word processing, and my mean parents would NEVER let us get Nintendo, so our home was pretty much videogame-free. As a result, it didn't even register with me when Tron came out in 1982. In fact, I didn't see it until years later as a senior in high school and, though I love it now, what I get the biggest kick out of is the dated special effects, and how silly and simple they now seem.

It's fascinating, then, to read the massive article at Tom's Hardware Guide about the movie's development, and how revolutionary it truly was. For example, though Tron only needed about 10 minutes of CGI, the movie with the most computer work to that point was Westworld, which featured only a single minute of such footage. Additionally, at the time there were only a handful of computer that were even capable of doing the sort of work the creators of Tron envisioned - to use one of them, they had to go in at night, when the company that owned it was closed and the computer was available.

If you've got any interest in either Tron or CGI in general, the piece is certainly worth 30 minutes on a lazy Saturday - I know I'll never look at the movie the same way again. (And, while I can't promise that I'll be able to stop calling it silly, I really will try.)

After years of unsuccessful attempts and turn-aways, comic book writers Landry Walker and Eric Jones have finally obtained the prize they'd long been seeking - the rights to a comic book version of Disney's huge geek title Tron. Originally, the two desired to write a prequel to the story, but that idea was shot down due to conflicts with Disney's concepts of the Tron story. Instead, Walker and Jones will pen the story of Jet Bradley, the son of the lead characters from the film. Jet starts the story a bit techno-gunshy after an accident, but is forced back into the computer realm due to a war between two ideological factions. They also claim that the comic book will put a cap on the entire story, saying "This is a six-story arc, which is kind of the final moment for the movie and the game."

Who among us doesn't love Tron? The only downside I can find to this annoucement is the ever-present fear of "what if they really screw it up?" that huddles at the back of your mind every time somebody decides to "breath new life" into a franchise you love. I'm excited, and willing to give this short arc a chance. Thoughts?