[PIGMI] TRON the game

[George]

Hey Simon,

On 23/12/2010 9:46 AM, Simon Wittber wrote:
>> The film is good by virtue of the soundtrack, which wasn't even made by the movie makers themselves... ??? That's almost like saying a movie was good because the seats were comfortable ;)
> Would you enjoy a meat pie without tomato sauce? The two ingredients
> work together to make something greater than the sum of their parts.
>
> Considering a movie apart from it's soundtrack is similar to
> considering pancakes without maple syrup, or a chocolate cake, with no
> icing!

Ah, but the analogy here is really: The pie was gristle and mush, but it 
was a great pie because it has nice tomato sauce on it.

Or: The cake was mouldy and rancid, but it had great icing so the cake 
was excellent.

I'm reacting to the apparent rating of Tron highly based solely upon 
it's visual and auditory elements. I notice nobody has said anything 
about the story, or characters, or really anything else. Was there a 
single character you actually cared about in the film at all? Does 
anyone feel the story was well crafted or clever or interesting or well 
thought out?

But still it seems Tron gets a pass, or even a distinction because it 
had a "killer" soundtrack.

> A few other films that even depend on the soundtrack to carry the
> film, yet have critical acclaim:

A soundtrack alone cannot carry a film - there must be more, otherwise 
you don't really have a movie at all, you have the equivalent of a 
fireworks display - great sight and sound, but no other elements.


>   - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
>   - Requiem for a Dream
>   - Titanic :-)
>
>
> The soundtrack was a perfect fit to the film, lots of crunchy, low
> fidelity filters and effects, simple synths reminiscent of cheesy
> arcade sound boards, melded perfectly with orchestral sections. While
> the soundtrack may sound repetitive on the surface (to an unaccustomed
> ear) you can dig very deep and discover a plenty of pleasing harmonics
> and subtle progressions.

We agree it was a perfect fit to the film :)

But how to dig deep and discover all that? At the time of watching the 
film the music washed over me leaving no impression at all, other than 
the vague knowledge it was techno music with a drum beat. After the 
movie I checked out the Daft Punk site and listened more closely to a 
couple of tracks to find....nothing more. Repetition of a riff does not 
equal progression. Single tune melody with no harmony.

Sounds like you may be a Daft Punk fan? Would you enjoy any film as long 
as it had a Daft Punk soundtrack?

> The story was simple, and a common one, but that doesn't make it a bad
> story. I went in to the cinema with no expectations, and came out with
> a positive experience.

The story wasn't simple. It was a mess that had absolutely zero internal 
consistency and sense. It meandered, lost the plot (literally), fell to 
pieces, bored you to tears and went nowhere, attempted nothing, failing 
to be interesting, engaging, or entertaining. It raises more questions 
than it could ever possibly answer, and it does not, cannot answer them 
as the film-makers literally have no idea.

I went into the cinema with low expectations, and came out with much 
less than that.

-- 
   George