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Prior to Tron, computer animation appeared in a scene here and there, in films like Star Wars and The Black Hole, but Tron marked the first extensive use of it. So it's something of a cinematic milestone, the great-grandfather of modern CGI fests like Avatar.  Tron looks and sounds like no other movie with its austere digitally-rendered landscapes, the characters in glowing tights, and a gitchy electronic score by Wendy Carlos.

The story features an interesting concept, that of “users” in the real world working with “programs” in cyberspace to defeat a tyrannical Master Control Program. But Tron has a heart as cold as its design. In spite of a charismatic cast including Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, and David Warner, you never care much about any of the characters. And as a kid, I never understood what they were trying to do — partly because I was just a stupid kid, but partly because Tron is a bit convoluted. But the movie’s legacy has survived, nurtured a cult, and even spawned a sequel twenty-eight years later.