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David McK (3728 KP) rated Tron: Ares (2025) in Movies

Jan 13, 2026 (Updated Jan 13, 2026)  
Tron: Ares (2025)
Tron: Ares (2025)
2025 |
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The original, 1980s, "Tron" movie was one of those 'lightning in a bottle' type of movies, oft credited for its trailblazing mix of live action and CGI when Jeff Bridges enters The Grid.

It's sequel, 2010s "Tron: Legacy" never managed to live up to its predecessor, despite some striking imagery and an electric soundtrack mix by Daft Punk.

The latest movie, 2025s "Tron: Ares", is even further away from that, despite an intriguing premise ("this time, they're coming to us") that sees programs from The Grid coming into 'our' reality. The whole thing, in essence, plays out like an extended chase sequence (as they can only stay here for a limited amount of time, and are chasing a character who holds the secret to 'the permanence code' which will allow them to stay indefinitely), owing more than a bit to the far-superior "The Terminator" film (both the original and T2) but lacking the bite of either.
  
Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (1986)
Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (1986)
1986 | Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Fourth big-screen Trek dodges the usual 'all SF blockbusters must be action movies' pitfall and opts for some gentle social comedy instead. Alien probe is outraged by the extinction of Earth's whales and decides to wipe out civilisation; Kirk and the gang have to travel back to 1980s San Francisco to recruit some substitute cetaceans and save the day. Very possibly riding on the coat-tails of Back to the Future, but also Nick Meyer's Time After Time (Meyer wrote the middle section of the film).

Solidly structured and engagingly played: the actors know their characters backward and it's a pleasure to spend time with them. Interesting to speculate about the original version of the film, which would have co-starred Eddie Murphy (Paramount nixed the idea). Doing a lighter Trek works well here, but led to the studio insisting on comedy bits being added to future films in the series, which was arguably a big mistake. Doesn't detract from the entertainment value of Star Trek in one of its magisterial phases.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Blinded by the Light (2019) in Movies

Aug 13, 2019 (Updated Aug 13, 2019)  
Blinded by the Light (2019)
Blinded by the Light (2019)
2019 | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Clumsy, trite, and overlong musical coming-of-age drama. The story of an Asian teenager living in Luton in a dress-up version of the late 1980s is brought to life through the music of Bruce Springsteen (well-known as one of the great interpreters of the British Pakistani experience).

As you can probably tell, there is something slightly odd and out-of-whack about the whole premise of the movie, but it's the realisation that is really shocking. Badly-performed characters swap platitudes and re-enact virtually every movie about growing up with strict Pakistani or Muslim parents you have ever seen before, with occasional musical interludes where characters sing along, not well, with Springsteen tracks. To say the dance routines look under-rehearsed is charitable. Apparently aims to be a feel-good movie but I'm sure I felt it trying to suck the soul out of my body. 'Blinded by the Trite', more like - certainly more dross than Boss (I can keep this up all day).