Plain and simply, “Tron: Legacy” was completely robbed on Oscar nomination day. The film got one nomination: Best Sound Editing. What the film should have come away with was Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score from Daft Punk, and at least make the film an even two and nominated it for Best Sound Mixing as well. Instead of four nominations, the film only gets one and it will probably not take that one.
My bets are on “Inception” winning the Sound awards, leaving “Tron: Legacy” completely out of luck. None-the-less, view the film and you will understand why the film was nominated for the Sound Editing category. The electronica and computer-based audio, matched with the 8-bit sound straight from the original “Tron” create a futuristic and overbearing soundscape. The problem is, “Inception” creates an overbearing soundtrack but with orchestra and sophistication, both lacking from “Tron: Legacy” and its sound design.
“Tron: Legacy” relies heavily on “created” sound, especially with vehicle and weapon noises. Creating and editing sounds to a futuristic film is quite the task. As I spoke about this award before, in relation to “Toy Story 3”, creating sound out of scratch is more impressive than dealing with existing sound. “Tron: Legacy” has the upper hand in completely building Flynn’s computer “grid” noise from the bottom up.
Even though “Tron: Legacy” lacks nominations, it still holds together as a great film. Daft Punk would have legitimately had a shot of winning the award, had they been nominated, but instead the snubs of the Academy keep on coming (i.e. Christopher Nolan in the directing category). Perhaps the 3D aspect hurt its chances, but I guess we will be waiting eighteen more years until they decide to make another “Tron” and see if that one can win some awards.
(16 OF 41 FILMS REMAINING)-(14 DAYS TO OSCARS)
