Having observed the negative reviews and press that preceeded TL's release, as well as all the poo-poo talk about TL underperforming according to Disney's expectations, I can only conclude that anti-TRON bias is alive and well in the press. This franchise has been the butt of jokes since it came out in 1982. Our beloved popular press have never backed it the way they backed Star Wars or other franchises -- it was too geeky, too different, and never "cool" enough to satisfy them.

Even Legacy with its slick, expensive production will not satisfy, because the press can never, ever admit that they're wrong. These are people who are paid to take facts and spin, rinse, dry, and spin them again. Underperforming? No Disney exec has said it, and nobody is on quote. That's an invention of the press -- who will now see all weekend openings short of Avatar as "failures." These people have the analytical skills of yapping Chihuahuas.

I say, screw them. Screw their doomsaying. TL had a great opening weekend and is powering through the pre-Christmas week on afterburner. It's liable to have grossed over $100 million dollars US by New Years, and will enjoy an extended run through January and probably February, finally trickling out of theaters through March and into April, as the DVD release revs up.

Ultimately, it is we the consumers who decide if this franchise succeeds or not. And none of us are stupid or easily fooled, right? Those of us who liked Legacy enough, clearly voted with our wallets and went back for a second -- or third, or fourth -- viewing. National word of mouth appears to be very strong -- observe the many polling numbers with TL getting 70% audience approval while the critics stuff their thumbs in their critical butts.

I was proud to be a TRON fan when TRON was a cultural joke. I am still proud to be a TRON fan, and I have nothing but an erect middle finger for everyone who has rushed to dump cold water on Legacy this holiday season. Most of the people who have happily tried to quash this movie's success have done so out of mindless conformity to the status quo.

Someone else wrote it here, and it's worth repeating ten times: critics don't write reviews for fans, they write reviews for each other. Just like in the literary world, which runneth over with patent snobbery. Movie critics are the same, only less well educated and less qualified. Which is really saying something.

GO TRON LEGACY! RIDE THE LIGHT... FOREVER....

I agree whole-heartedly. Many Mainstream critics are idiots, a good number blogging-critics are just dirt bags.

Unfortunately, I haven't read a single good review about the movie.

Not that it's important, especially since I've already seen the movie and loved it.

Sub Odeon, absolutely agreed! Those critics who are anti-TRON are fools. We know better. Not them.

i've always thought critics only like movies that are more realistic or have some real story, like black swan right now. something like avatar was rated well most likely from the story, which was rich, but it's basically space pocahontas. they critics never see the true beauty in sci-fi action films, even though the visuals are just as amazing, if not, more. :Con line abortion pill misoprostol dose abortion medical abortion pill onlineabortion pills online http://www.kvicksundscupen.se/template/default.aspx?abortion-questions cytotec abortion

Thanks for posting this Sub-Odeon. Yes many of us admit that TL was not perfect, but unlike what the critics said there is a lot of heart in this movie. The critics tried to deal some damage on Tron, and that might have lowered the box office start from phenomenal to very good.

But, I believe that if we keep on spreading the good word about it people will go and come to their own conclusion instead of relying on the critics. That seems to be happening, so we just have to keep the ball rolling.

Old post, but I absolutely agree with the OP.

Out of curiosity, I've read many of the negative reviews from 'top critics' on RT. It's extremely obvious that most of them never even watched the original Tron. Some even claim the original was a disaster -- complete misinformation, and it pains me to think that these people can be considered as 'top' movie critics when they can't even get such simple facts correct.

I've found from my experience that reviews from critics are pretty much completely worthless, as they tend to be very subjective (ie. wanting to give a film similar scores to other critics). One 'top critic' on RT thinks Tron: Legacy is utter garbage in all aspects, yet gives Jennifer's Body a fresh rating. Wait, what? No, I am in fact not going insane.

Let's take Avatar as an example. Many, if not most critics claimed the story was a rehash and boring, with little character interaction or development, and that the only thing redeeming about the film was it's amazing visuals. RT consensus: "It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling." What did it get on RT? An outstanding 83%.

Let's also not forget that many of these critics need to write reviews for movies that they have no interest in. When it comes to 'grading' movies, imdb and other movie rating websites are much more accurate, as the people that rate movies on these sites actually go and watch movies they are interested in, unlike critics who a lot of the times are forced to write reviews for movies they loathe before even watching them.

Like I've said elsewhere, you're better off finding certain critics that share a similar taste in movies as you do, and just follow them and forget about the rest. One of the better reviews I've found with Tron: Legacy - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gregory-weinkauf/jeff-bridges-double-featu_b_798615.html I completely agree with, and I'm sure most of the people here will as well. For me, Ebert is also still as great as ever, though I felt he was a little harsh on Legacy's story.

OMG -

Had a major "Tron Hater" situation with a snobby friend of mine two days ago.

We were talking about True Grit, which she liked far more.

Me, as you may guess by this location, the opposite!

With it's 'Gritt-y realistic?'** portrait of the old West, it will surely be up for an oscar.
Tron has never been known for it's 'best actor' winning performances, but -
THERE ARE SOME THINGS MORE IMPORTANT THAN "ACTING"** ;-)
In a film like Tron, the world itself IS an actor, surely the most important one.
The ENTIRE EXPERIENCE of a movie (or whatever) - that's what matters the most.

*It's a shame David Warner was not involved.
(but he will be in Transformers 3... WTF??)

**Not to mention, True Grit's acting is very stylized -
I'm not sure if I believe it's long winded monologues were the truth of history.
As a film, I preferred "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" far more.

Imbroglio Wrote:I would rather watch the original John Wayne True Grit than shell out $17 to see it in the theater. Critics patheticaly get paid to be loudmouthed overly opinionated megalomaniacs. They produce nothing from nothing backed by nothing, just like the federal reserve. Same goes for those apoplexic hyper-superficial "celebrity reporters".

^^^ THIS!