Short Circuit vs Tron
May 07, 2008
By: 
rollerkaty
Category: 1982, 1986, Science Fiction, Short Circuit, Tron
Some movies from the 1980s stand the test of time, and some, sadly, do not.
The other day, for lack of anything better to do, the RollerBlog family took a chance and settled in for a viewing of the movie Short Circuit (1986). The movie was free on cable, featured a robot in a prominent role, and starred Ally Sheedy from The Breakfast Club. Sounded like a safe bet.
Wrong! The Robot is entertaining enough, and even occasionally endearing (Number 5 is alive!), but that’s about all the movie has going for it. The acting in the movie is terrible, and Ally Sheedy’s performance is downright cringe-worthy. Short Circuit is definitely a movie that has not stood the test of time.
Having grown up during the eighties, though, I can’t always trust my own judgment on such matters. So, I turned to my son (who just turned 12 last week) for a truly unbiased opinion.
RollerKaty: So… what did you think of Short Circuit?
RollerBoy: Wow, Mom. That was a really bad movie.
RollerKaty: Yeah, it was pretty bad wasn’t it? Sorry about that.
RollerBoy: I don’t see how you could have thought that was a good movie when you were a kid. Even I know that was a bad movie.
RollerKaty: …. (embarrassed silence)
So it was with some trepidation that we introduced RollerBoy to another Sci-Fi classic: Tron.
Tron stars Jeff Bridges as Flynn, a genius computer programmer who gets sucked inside the computer system of his former employer ENCOM. He must traverse an alternate electronic universe populated by computer programs and defeat the villainous Master Control Program before he can return to his own reality.
Mr. Rollerblog and I both have fond memories of watching this movie many years ago. I remember thinking that this was possibly one of the coolest movies *ever* in the eighties. Who couldn’t love a movie about video games?
But there was the matter of the special effects to consider. The computer-animated graphics, although groundbreaking at the time, are positively primitive now. I wasn’t exactly sure how well the special effects would hold up 25 years later - especially to someone who was born 14 years after the movie came out.
So we watched the movie. Then came the moment of truth.
RollerKaty: So… what did you think of Tron?
RollerBoy: I thought it was pretty cool.
’nuff said.
| 2.5 |
May 7th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Ahh, but the redeeming feature of Short Circuit is that it gave us that awesome 80’s song, “Who’s Johnny?” by El DeBarge. Or was that Short Circuit 2? Anyway, now I have DeBarge stuck in my head.
Check out the video on YouTube.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6jaWPQ3Z7FE
Tron was Awesome, though. I loved playing that in the arcade. I got pretty good at the light cycles.
May 7th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
cromely, that song is definitely from Short Circuit! I recall that video, too.
Katy, you’re so right about Short Circuit. REcently, we had it on sale at work for 8 bucks, so I picked it up, in order to share it with our 11 year old. I remembered liking that film back in the 80’s, and our older son (he’s 23) was a fan.
The acting is HORRID. I have NEVER understood the appeal of Steve Guttenberg, and this film is a prime example. And I didn’t remember there being all of those swears. I’m not prudish and I am known to drop the f-bomb in adult company, but I still try to limit the foul-mouthed flicks for the kiddo. Short Circuit surprised me with plenty of swears! And even my kid noticed that Fisher Stevens didn’t look like a guy from India AT ALL! LOL.
I still can’t get into Tron, though. I think it’s a “guy” flick or a “kid of the 80’s” flick. tee hee. But give me “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” and I’m so THERE!
May 7th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Smart kid. Tron is definitely “pretty cool”. Have you seen the light cycles scene recreated here?
http://www.didntyouhear.com/2008/03/31/its-movie-monday-sweded-tron/
May 7th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Tron for me was one of those iconic movies of the 80s that will forever stick with me. Short Circuit was just “cute”. Though it did have Ally Sheedy in it, so that was a bonus.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
[...] I saw this today at Didn’t You Year and laughed by butt off. Literally. My wife says I have no butt. It’s an older post on the blog that was linked to by a comment on a post on The Roller Blog here. [...]
May 7th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
When Tron was in theatres circa 1982, I was a teenager. Me and my friends saw it on the big screen no less than 14 times. We spend an entire day at the theatre yelling the lines at the screen -which I’m sure was incredibly annoying for anyone else unlucky enough to be there with us.
End of line.
May 7th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I have not watched Short Circuit, but my friend tells me that the upcoming Pixar movie Wall-E reminds her of Short Circuit, do you agree that there are some similarities?
May 8th, 2008 at 2:38 am
Okay I guess I will go over here ————————>
I loved Short circuit when I was little and still rather like it.
Loved Tron too.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I actually remember the Tron video game better than the movie.
That and Battlezone & Tempest,were major quarter vacuums in my life at the tender age of 16.
Thanks again to “wngl” for the loan of Tron.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:47 am
I am in total agreement of not understanding the Steve Guttenberg mystique/appeal/draw. How did he get sooo many movie roles?
May 9th, 2008 at 2:49 am
Tron is an awesome movie. One of my favorite of the eras and an inspiration for my career choices (is that sad?).
Great site!
May 11th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Tron was one of my favorites growing up in the 80’s.. so was short circuit!!! anyone remember Monster Squad and Monsters starring Fred Savage? CLASSIC!!!!!
May 12th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
My second son liked Short Circuit and he liked the song. I felt kind of weird watching it with my children- like I had drank too much soda and was waiting for the bad feeling to go away. I always play up these old movies in my head to be better then they were. The reality is as far as kids go- my taste in movies or anything really was just a s crappy as the next kid. I don’t know why I think I was any more refined then…
June 17th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I can’t wait for the new Short Circuit. Johnny Five is the best! That Wall-e looks like a cheap rip-off… I also just got a copy of Short Circuit on Blu-Ray. The sound and picture quality is sooo amazing!!! It was like being a kid again and watching it for the first time in theaters.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:07 pm
[...] I saw this today at Didn’t You Year and laughed by butt off. Literally. My wife says I have no butt. It’s an older post on the blog that was linked to by a comment on a post on The Roller Blog here. [...]
January 24th, 2010 at 1:21 am
cool pics