mp (07/14/82)
I saw Tron last night, and it didn't quite meet expectations. I had been told by people that the special effects would "blow me away" and that the "4-track Dolby was awesome". Our group saw it at a second-rate theater, though; instead of 70mm multi-track stereo, we got to see a small, dim screen with a mono soundtrack. This brings up a question: how does the theater influence your impression of a movie? I think that, especially when a movie shows off lots of special effects (for instance 3D), it needs to be shown in a bright, large-screen house. At a recent SMPTE meeting, an audio person was lamenting the growth of n-plexes, where the screens are a fraction of the size they should be and the sound level is more than 10db below optimum. To avoid having a poor lasting impression of Tron, I'll probably see it again at the more reasonable theater that's showing it, 10 miles away. Apparently, all the good nearby Boston theaters are packed with ET, Poltergeist, and ST2. Mark