Metrograph

The cross-breeding of video games and cinema began in earnest with Tron, one of the first films to extensively employ CGI, here depicting the darkly glittering digital world inside a mainframe computer that programmer Jeff Bridges must compete in a series of gladiatorial contests in order to escape.

“For Steven Lisberger’s groundbreaking Tron, Syd Mead designed the iconic light cycles, tanks, and carriers that defined the film’s digital universe. And as always with Mead—give him one piece, and he’ll build the world around it. His visionary work didn’t just shape the film’s aesthetic; it helped define an entirely new frontier for computer-generated design.” —Series curators William Corman and Elon Solo