Every Tron Movie, Ranked Worst To Best

The “Tron” movies hold a complicated legacy. Despite each of them being regarded as technical marvels, no singular film turned out to be universally praised by both critics and fans. Funnily enough, the only work in this franchise that received a unanimous thumbs-up is the animated series “Tron: Uprising,” which has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer and 94% on the Popcornmeter — and which doesn’t qualify for this list.

So, how does one go about ranking the “Tron” movies then? For this feature, the methodology consists of a two-fold approach. The Rotten Tomatoes scores are taken into consideration, but there’s also common sense applied to the usage. If there’s a bigger divide between the critical and audience scores, then the film falls into a divisive category and we may defer to fans.

It’s also important to note that Rotten Tomatoes has more reviews for the newer movies than the first film. The aggregator pulls from digital publications, but it may struggle to get the consensus from newspapers and magazines that were much more dominant in the 1980s, especially if they haven’t been archived online.

Having said that, let’s enter the Grid and rank every “Tron” movie from worst to best.

Jared Leto’s reverse Midas touch befalls another franchise. “Tron: Ares” sees the creation of Ares (Leto), a soldier-like Master Control Program that goes from the digital world into the real one. Seen as expendable, Ares gets used as a pawn in the race for technology supremacy between Dillinger Systems and ENCOM. However, he soon starts to understand and empathize with humans, breaking free from his coded shackles and defying his creator’s instructions.

There’s no dispute that director Joachim Rønning serves up a visual feast here. Out of the three “Tron” movies, this may very well be the most impressive-looking of the lot, with its stellar depiction of digital architecture and rich neon, while the Nine Inch Nails score pumps out endless club-worthy bangers. Much like the visuals, the music in this movie tops everything else that came before it, including Daft Punk’s legendary effort on “Tron: Legacy.”

Looper’s “Tron: Ares” review acknowledged the stylish leanings of the film but couldn’t ignore the lack of a soul. Storywise, this comes across as distinctively average and blander than porridge. Oh, two tech companies trying to fight for first place and one sabotaging the other? Sounds like any other Tuesday. Also, Leto’s performance as a lead results in a 404 — the charisma simply cannot be located. On Rotten Tomatoes, “Tron: Ares” has 53% on the Tomatometer and 84% on the Popcornmeter. Maybe the higher audience score comes from 30 Seconds to Mars fans.

It took decades for a “Tron” sequel to materialize, but 2010’s “Tron: Legacy” from later “Top Gun: Maverick” director, Joseph Kosinski, brought the goods when it did. It’s a passing of the baton to a new generation, as Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) heads into the Grid to find his father, Kevin (Jeff Bridges). In this virtual reality, Sam, Kevin, and the digital construct Quorra (Olivia Wilde) battle to stop the Codified Likeness Utility (also played by Bridges) from hopping into the real world and running amok.

From a visual perspective, “Tron: Legacy” ups the ante and improves upon its predecessor. There’s a cleaner, sleeker, and modern aesthetic to this film, while the characters stand out more boldly due to their unique designs. Kosinski goes cyberpunk to the core here, unleashing one of the most visually arresting movies of the 2010s, while Daft Punk electrifies the aural sensibilities.

Unfortunately, “Tron: Legacy” didn’t make an awful lot of money, making just under $410 million from a $170 million budget. That resulted in Disney giving up on “Tron” for many years. Coupled with financial disappointment, the reviews were middling, as it holds 51% critical approval and a 64% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

One of the chief complaints being that the story and characters didn’t match the spectacular visuals, ironically the same issue with “Tron: Ares.” However, “Tron: Legacy” leaps one step ahead since Sam Flynn is a more compelling protagonist than Jared Leto’s Ares, aka the God of Bore.

There was only one choice for the top pick, honestly. The groundbreaking “Tron” popularized a new era of filmmaking in 1982, showcasing the power of CGI to illuminate and enhance stories. Written and directed by Steven Lisberger, this film changed the game, creating a distinct aesthetic that hadn’t been seen up until that point while also tapping into the growing video game zeitgeist. Sure, the visuals have been surpassed by the sequels, but in the early ’80s, “Tron” proved to be pioneering.

The film doesn’t take too long to introduce its conflict. Programmer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) believes that his former employer, ENCOM, stole his work for the video game “Space Paranoids.” He teams up with ENCOM employees Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) and Lora Baines (Cindy Morgan) to use Alan’s Tron program to break into the system, but they end up imprisoned in this digital world. Now they fight to free other programs from the Master Control Program’s clutches, as well as ensure their own survival.

On Rotten Tomatoes, “Tron” has 60% on the Tomatometer and 69% on the Popcornmeter. Not exactly the strongest scores, but remember that this is a film that was ahead of its time, posing questions about technology that many had never even considered yet in the ’80s. People don’t grasp its brilliance, even in the modern day, since various of its predictions are only coming to fruition now. Unquestionably, “Tron” is a 40-year-old-plus science fiction film that withstands the test of time.