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Over the past century, athletes have been performing better and better. But why? Is it because technology has boosted performance? Or is it because people have just gotten more athletic and overall better? Let's find out.

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In the past years, athletes have been getting stronger, faster, and bigger. This is due to technology and the progression of equipment, nutrition, etc.

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Table of Contents (click to expand)

Yes, athletes are really getting faster, taller and stronger. Technological advances have played a role in this by providing better data collection and feedback, research in sports, virtual reality and performance enhancers.

"Citius Altius Fortius" interpreted into English as "Faster, Higher, Stronger" is the Olympic motto that has inspired and motivated athletes over the years.
Today's world of professional and Olympic-level sports has produced athletes that seem to be stronger, faster and bigger than those from only a century ago. Modern-day athletes like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and Ryan Crouser have broken all previously set bars and have emerged as the best this century has ever seen.

All these amazing performances at the very highest level lead us to an important question - are athletes really getting better? Has technology helped athletes push past their brain's natural barriers, allowing them to access their untapped potential?

It has been argued that the bodies of athletes haven't changed much over this period, and that the improved performances are mostly the result of technological advances. Let's take a closer look.
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What Do The Statistics Say?

Jesse Owens won the Olympics in 1936 with a 100-meter dash time of 10.2 seconds, but he would have come last in the race of 2013 where Usain Bolt set his record of 9.77 seconds.

The men's high jump has been present on the Olympic athletics lineup since the very first Summer Olympics in 1896, while the women's high jump was one of five events to feature on the first women's athletics lineup in 1928. However, the records that stand to this day are those made in 1996 (men's) and 2004 (women's).

The 34m gap between Martin Sheridan in 1906 and Jurgen Schult in 1986 within the same weight category is another indicator of how far the athletes themselves and the technology in the discus throw event have evolved over the years.

Also Read: Science Behind The Fastest Man Alive: Usain Bolt
What Changed?

Looking at the statistics, one might believe that the performance and efficiency of the human body have improved over the years, which is why we are now witnessing these all-time high records. However, there's more to it than meets the eye.

The track that Jesse Owens ran on was a soft surface made of wood ash, whereas Usain Bolt ran on an ergonomically engineered carpet. The start of the race also varied significantly; Jesse Owens had to dig himself small holes in the ground, whereas Usain Bold had standard starting blocks. Jesse Owens was at a significant disadvantage for these reasons, and when analyzing these parameters, one may estimate that Owens' would have been within a foot of Bolt, rather than 14 feet behind him.

Similarly, when the high jump was first invented, athletes would jump in their bare feet or regular runners. Modern high-jumping shoes consist of sharp protrusions usually made of metal that provide appropriate friction and minimize the likelihood of slipping, especially in the heel.

Also, the surface that the high jump is performed on has likely improved the height of the jumps. The high jump was performed on grass up until the 1950s, when tartan was first introduced. Tartan gives jumpers extra spring and friction so they can approach a leap with a more powerful technique.

What Role Has Technology Played?

Data collection and feedback - The video camera became commonplace in the 1980s and provided coaches with a way to capture and analyze sporting performances like never before. The video camera is perhaps the single-most important development in coaching in the modern era of sports.

Information collected during games gives coaches and managers more to work with during training sessions and even during competitions. For example, a camera on a cricket batsman's helmet or on a tennis court sends data to a processor that translates it into useful information for coaches and managers to use during and after the competition. You can formulate better strategies, backed by reliable data, and improve your overall performance.

Research in sports - New research has significantly enhanced training methods for players. There are now specific techniques in every sport that focus on maximizing productive output and minimizing the risk of injuries. Practicing the right thing is much better than exercising the wrong thing. Learning correct form and technique leads to fewer injuries and greater effectiveness.

Virtual Reality - Until recently, coaches used video footage to train and prepare for matches and study athletic performance, but VR offers a unique analytical approach and enables coaches to visualize games before actually playing in them. Using 3D simulators, athletes can look at various tactical options and essentially face their opponents before the actual game takes place. The technology also helps to deal with the mental and emotional pressure generated on the field, preparing players for what it could be like on Game Day!

Also Read: How Has Technology Changed The Game Of Cricket?
What About Performance Enhancers?

The average weight of throwing athletes at the 1896 Athens Olympics was 63 kg, as opposed to 141kg at the 2016 Beijing Olympics. The diet of athletes has improved at a tremendous rate, as have the supplements that they take to improve their performance.

Performance-enhancing drugs were banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the 1968 Games in Mexico City. The only athlete to be banned back then was Swedish pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall, who was stripped of his bronze medal.

Since then, more than 200 athletes ( procon) have been banned for taking performance-enhancing drugs at the Olympics. What did all these athletes have in common? Most of them were podium finishers, meaning that their performance enhancers clearly played a part in the outcome of the contest.

Also Read: What Are The Physical Effects Of Taking Performance-Enhancing Drugs?
What Does The Future Hold?

Professional sports are much more popular as a profession than they were in earlier decades. This has not only increased the opportunities to play different games, but also raised the level of competition. With billions of dollars swirling in the ether for talented athletes, it's a seriously big business, with millions aspiring to join the elite ranks of legendary athletes.

Sports Training for children has also become a major industry. Most kids like sports and most parents put their children in them. The reasoning is clear.... why not see if your kid is the next Tiger Woods?

Also Read: What Benefits Does A Country Get After Winning The World Cup?
A Final Word

Over the last few decades, we have learned to push beyond what we had once considered our physical limits, through rigorous training and challenging ourselves. However, we cannot overlook the role that has been played by technological advancements.

In combination, human adaptation, sports innovation and unlocking the mind have truly led to athletes becoming faster, better and stronger, just as the Olympics mantra states. Given our constant drive for improvement, I wouldn't be surprised to see all the athletic records that currently stand get broken in the next few decades!
Also Read: What's The Fastest A Human Can Run?

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References (click to expand)

1. David Epstein: Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger? | TED Summaries - tedsummaries.com

2. Olympic Games Records - World Athletics. World Athletics

3. Are Athletes Getting Better or Are We Learning How to Push .... infofit.ca

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Are Athletes Really Getting Faster, Taller And Stronger?

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Table of Contents (click to expand) Yes, athletes are really getting faster, taller and stronger. Technological advances have played a role in this by providing better data collection and feedback, research in sports, virtual reality and performance enhancers. "Citius Altius Fortius" interpreted into English as "Faster, Higher, Stronger" is the Olympic motto that has inspired and motivated athletes over the years.

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Athletes' stats have shown tremendous growth and improvement over the past few decades. Athletes from a long time ago would not seemingly be able to compete with each other in a sport like ice hockey because of the technological advancements of equipment like skates and sticks. But there are still other sports like shotput and javelin, where there is really no way to make it too much easier on the athletes.

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Team Canada - Official Olympic Team Website

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When you first think of science, you may not easily make the connection to sport.

However, science plays a major role in sports, in more ways than one.

Think of the mechanics at work in the way an athlete's body moves perfectly over a high jump bar, or the elements used in equipment that would completely change sports as we see them today.

Here are eight sports that have undergone unique transformations over the decades - and even centuries - to become what we know and enjoy today.

Figure Skating

Then: The first ice skates didn't serve the purpose of performing jumps and spins - they were simply used as an essential means of winter transportation. According to Frederico Formenti - a physiologist and sports scientist at King's College London - skates in the 15 th century were as popular as cars are today.

Looking at it through the lens of the sport, figure skating used to look completely different than it does now. In the beginning, only men participated, until Brit Madge Syers entered the 1902 World Championships. It wasn't unusual for competitions to be held outdoors, with men in full suits and women in long skirts. The boot of the skate also reached much higher on the leg.

Now: Men and women are constantly pushing the technical boundaries of the sport, with quadruple jumps becoming the norm - something the outfits and skates of old would have hindered. Competitions are now always indoors and, since athletes no longer have to worry about the weather, the outfits are all about standing out and echoing the character in the routine. There have also been modifications to the skates, with the boot rising much lower on the leg than before. That makes it easier for skaters to point their toes, which results in a greater ability to 'spring' off the ice. Lower rise boots also allow for much more agility and ankle articulation for jumping and basic skating skills. Thicker material around the ankle provides more protection, absorbing pressure during takeoffs and landings of those three- and four-rotation jumps.

Ice Hockey

Then: Clint Benedict was the first goalie to wear a mask in a game, doing so on February 20, 1930. However, it was very different than what we picture these days. His mask was made of a basic leather that covered his nose, cheeks, forehead, and mouth while leaving his eye completely open.

Almost three decades later, on November 1, 1959, Jacques Plante was struck in the face by a slapshot and was badly cut on his nose. The Montreal Canadiens goalie had built a fiberglass mask in his spare time and had been using it in practice to protect himself and decided it was time to pull it out. The Canadiens went on an 18-game winning streak, only losing to Detroit when Plante was forced to remove his mask. After that, the mask was there to stay, and other NHL goalies began to emulate him.

Now: Athlete safety is a top priority, so not only does the goalie wear a mask, but the rest of the team also has protective headgear. The goalie mask is still made of fibreglass but has gained padding and an increase in thickness over time. Goalies have even opted for the full cage for better equipped protection. And though it may be a necessity, the goalie mask has also become a canvas for art that showcases the personality of the wearer.

Ski Jumping

Then: Ski jumping can be traced back to Norwegian Ole Rye who jumped 9.5m in 1808. In the early 1900s, his countrymen Jacob Tullin Thams and Sigmund Rudd developed a new jumping style referred to as the Kongsberger technique. Athletes jumped with their upper body bent at the hips with a wide forward lean and their arms extended at the front with their skis parallel to one another. This technique lasted until the 1950s, when the Daescher technique proved to provide better results. Athletes would fold their arms back alongside their body with less of a bend at their waist.

Now: The above technique lasted until the 1980s, when Jan Boklov introduced the V, which has been the preferred technique since all the 1992 Olympic medallists used it. The V technique is similar to Daescher's, with athletes still keeping their arms back, however the skis are now placed in a flying "V" shape to allow for more lift and even longer jumps.

Rowing

Then: Just like skating, rowing actually began as a means of transportation, with organized racing beginning in the 1820s at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The sliding seat was introduced to England 50 years later, so crews could use leg drive as well as arm power. Racing boats (known as shells) and blades used to be wooden.

Now: Modern shells are made from a composite material - usually a double skin of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic and honeycomb material - for strength and weight advantages. Blades, otherwise known as oars, are also commonly made of carbon-fiber.

Tennis

Then: Tennis used to be played at a much slower pace, with more points won at the net after a succession of volleys rather than through power. Athletes used wooden-framed rackets which were 9 inches wide and 27 inches long. The netting of the racket was made of natural gut, which was heavily affected by weather conditions. Contrary to today, athletes always wore all-white outfits in competition.

Now: Tennis is a fast-paced game of power. Points are often earned through explosive exchanges from the baseline rather than volleys by the net. Rackets are now much lighter as they are made of graphite and composite materials, sizing in at 10-12 inches wide and 27 inches long. These changes allow players to swing the racket faster and have a larger surface area to make good contact. Possibly the most eye appealing change that the sport has gone through, is its fashion. Players are now becoming more adventurous with fun and colourful outfits, except at Wimbledon where the all-white rule is still in place.

High Jump

Then: The first recorded high jump event took place in Scotland in the 19 th century, with early jumpers using either a straight-on approach or a scissors technique. The scissors technique entailed approaching the bar diagonally and having the jumper throw their inside leg over first, following with their outside leg in a scissoring motion, finishing on the sawdust landing pits.

Now: Dick Fosbury is the athlete that brought the high jump into the next century. He took advantage of the new raised, softer landing pads in use and added a twist in his method. He guided himself over the bar head and shoulders first, landing on his back - a technique not possible on the old landing pads. Since he used it to win Olympic gold in 1968, the "Fosbury Flop" became the preferred method by the best high jumpers in the world.

Cycling

Then: Once upon a time, athletes didn't wear anything on their heads for protection. Eventually, strips of leather-covered padding called "hairnets" were worn, which didn't really help with the initial impact of a crash. As for the bikes, they were made of steel with wheels that looked similar to those on leisure-use bicycles.

Now: Cyclists now wear modern skinsuits and tapered helmets that offer better protection and aid in cutting through air in order to move faster. The bikes are now made of carbon fiber and, in some events, have a disc wheel that acts as a sail to also help in cutting the air.

Speed Skating

Then: Speed skating originated in the Netherlands, where skates were first made from polished shank or rib bones of animals. The skates were upgraded to highly waxed wooden runners in the 14 th century and upgraded once again to iron blades in the 16 th century. For about the first 100 years of officially organized world championships, blades were fully affixed to the boot.

Now: In the mid-1990s an old idea became new again and made long track speed skaters even faster. The clap skate has designs dating back to the 1890s. It featured a hinge at the toe of the boot which allowed for greater extension and a longer stride but wasn't used in competition. In the 1980s, the clap skate re-emerged and some Dutch skaters began to show great improvement in their times. The big switch happened in the 1997-98 season when most competitors decided to wear clap skates. Soon, the distinct sound of the clap skate could be heard as world records fell.

When it is planted on the ice with weight upon it, the blade describes a nearly straight line. Clapskates provide a more beneficial position to the athlete for generating power at the knee.

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Then and Now: How sports have evolved over the decades - Team Canada - Official Olympic Team Website

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When you first think of science, you may not easily make the connection to sport. However, science plays a major role in sports, in more ways than one. Think of the mechanics at work in the way an athlete's body moves perfectly over a high jump bar, or the elements used in equipment that would completely change sports as we see them today.

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Every sport has a GOAT. But who is it for basketball, MJ, or LeBron? It is hard in this sense because basketball is a sport with areas of improvement in shoes, practice technology like shooting assistants, etc. These two athletes were not from two different eras though. MJ retired in 2003, which is the same day LeBron was drafted. So MJ was on his way out as LeBron was on his way in. MJ was the goat of his career, but how would LeBron have performed if he was competing against MJ's competition? Vice versa?

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The ESPN documentary series "The Last Dance" showed a younger generation of NBA fans that Michael Jordan is much more than a guy who sells retro sneakers. For those who witnessed Jordan's excellence over the course of two three-peats with the Bulls, it reinforced the belief that he is the greatest player to ever touch the court.

A current star has complicated that GOAT (greatest of all time) conversation, of course. There is an argument to be made for putting LeBron James over Jordan, and James' case only grew stronger after he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer.

The Sporting News' Bill Bender has a helpful guide with the most important talking points if you're ready to discuss MJ vs. LeBron, but we're simply here to provide the facts you need to justify your choice. Don't be the person yelling "six rings" with no backup plan.

Here's a closer look at where the GOAT debate stands...
(All stats current as of May 23, 2023)
Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James: Regular season stats

On a per-game basis, Jordan is superior in the scoring department, but James grabs rebounds and dishes out assists at a higher rate. While both players are known for tenacious defense on the wing, Jordan finished first in the league in steals three times in his career. James has not yet claimed a steals title.

In terms of longevity, James holds a clear advantage. The gap in total numbers will widen as long as James stays healthy, and he doesn't appear to be slowing down at age 38.

Now that James is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, one question remains: Will he put the record out of reach? There's a very good chance that James blows by 40,000 career points. Could 45,000 be in play?

Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James: Regular season advanced stats

It's all about which category you choose when it comes to advanced statistics. VORP and Win Shares favor James, but PER and Box Plus/Minus go to Jordan.

Pick a side, nerds! (That's a term of endearment.)

Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James: Playoff stats

The playoff statistics mirror what Jordan and James produce during the regular season. Despite James' increased usage and efficiency from beyond the arc over the course of his career, it's worth noting that he shoots about the same percentage as Jordan from 3-point range.

Oh, and the lazy narrative claiming James shrinks in big games - his postseason lines are often more impressive than his regular-season performances. That's not a smart way to argue against him.

Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James: Playoff advanced stats

Jordan is the all-time playoff leader in PER and Box Plus/Minus, and he has the highest usage percentage. But James tops everyone in VORP and Win Shares.

So, yeah, these guys are pretty good.

Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James: Accolades and awards

And here's the big one. Jordan fans have championships in their back pockets. MJ went a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals and never needed a Game 7 to win those series.

James has gone 4-6 in his 10 NBA Finals appearances, but he also controlled the Eastern Conference with the Cavaliers and Heat for almost an entire decade.

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Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James: The key stats you need to know in the GOAT debate | Sporting News

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There is an argument to be made for putting James over Jordan, and James' case only grew stronger after he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer.

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This poem relates to the topic of the goat debate in basketball. Is it a poem about LeBron? No. It's about MJ who is from an older generation of basketball players. So Maybe athletes have not improved as much in basketball as in other sports.

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© Neil Dickinson more by Neil Dickinson

Published by Family Friend Poems March 2009 with permission of the author.

There's a fellow we knew as Air Jordan
Years ago many planes he was boardin'
When he left his abode
To play games on the road
He was larger than life, like Flash Gordon

With the Bulls he was clearly the leader
With three kids, he was also a breeder
He could jump really high
That's no word of a lie
Off the court he was quite the good deeder

In his prime he won titles galore
And controlled what went down on the floor
He got pounded each night
But he always took flight
He was graceful as Eva Gabor

Once he tried playing baseball, but stunk
As he couldn't hit pitches with junk
Also those that had none
So it wasn't as fun
As a drive through the paint for a dunk

He's enjoyed spending time on the links
And he plays quite a lot, but he stinks
He has lost many bets
And incurred many debts
But his wife still wears diamonds and minks

After failing at 2 other sports
He returned to the basketball courts
Where he starred once again
Making boys out of men
Faking many right out of their shorts

Michael's never been frugal or thrifty
On the court he was clever and shifty
He's the greatest of all
Making hoops with a ball
Now this tall glass of water turns fifty

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© Neil Dickinson more by Neil Dickinson Published by Family Friend Poems March 2009 with permission of the author.

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Connor McDavid. The undisputed MVP of the National Hockey League. He dominates the league today against all of other all stars he faces. But how would he do against previous undisputed league greats? Considering how much the equipment in the sport of hockey has improved, I don't know if someone like Wayne Gretzky could even stand a chance against Connor McDavid. So that just goes to prove how much better hockey has gotten in previous decades.

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Connor McDavid is a rarity, a prospect so gifted that he can be compared to Wayne Gretzky with a straight face. He is a prospect so talented, in fact, that even Gretzky tacitly acknowledged the comparison.

"He's as good as I've seen in the last 30 years," Gretzky told Postmedia's Joanne Ireland (via the National Post).

Gretzky is remembered by hockey as the Great One, and his exploits in a different era of the game are going to be hard for any individual to match. That hasn't stopped the hockey world from looking, though. McDavid is the latest in a shortlist of players hailed as the Next One, who, along with Mario Lemieux (the Magnificent One and a contemporary of Gretzky's), received massive attention for years leading up to their draft dates.

McDavid has been compared to Gretzky, and he's also been compared to the players who have been compared to Gretzky. The Hockey Writers' Mark Scheig, for example, argues that McDavid will be better than current NHL star Sidney Crosby:

At the end of the day, both Crosby and McDavid are superior talents. But you can't teach size. Both players are equally talented. But Connor McDavid's size stands out as the main reason why he will be the player with the better career. McDavid is Sidney Crosby, add two inches and about 10-15 pounds. That is scary good.

How does McDavid really stack up with those players? We can't know how his career will turn out, but we can compare his performance at the junior level to the performances of Gretzky and Lemieux. Crosby and Eric Lindros, both of whom were hailed as the Next One prior to their respective draft days, are also on the list.

In addition, included for comparison is John Tavares, whom pundits similarly hyped in his mid-teens. However, Tavares saw his scoring numbers drop off over the course of his major junior career.

All of these players played major junior, either in Quebec or Ontario, but they competed across vastly different eras. To compensate for that, I have included two statistics beyond traditional scoring numbers.

The first is the percentage a player picked up a point on his team's goals. Team strengths vary, so I have also included an era-adjusted scoring figure: The total number of points each player would have been expected to record over an 82-game schedule if each had played in a league in which teams averaged 3.5 goals per game.

Gretzky played what would have been his NHL draft season (he was never drafted) in the World Hockey Association, so we have to go back one year earlier to see how he stacks up against our group of elite junior players:

This is, of course, just a snapshot in time. Gretzky turned 17 midway through the season above; from what he achieved, it was obvious he would be great, but he wasn't yet the player who would rewrite the NHL's record books.

It's worth noting that Crosby and Lemieux played in the QMJHL, while the others competed in the OHL. Most statistical comparisons show minimal gap between the two leagues, but there are those who argue the Ontario circuit is superior to its Quebec counterpart.

McDavid shows well here; his achievements at the ages of 16 and 17 are nicely on track with Lemieux's, and Lemieux was three months older, which at that age can make a difference.

What about in each player's draft year? Regrettably, for our purposes, Gretzky was already playing professional hockey at this point and thus, we can't keep him on the list, but the other five players all stayed in major junior, and we can compare them.

Those who see McDavid as Gretzky's successor will be disappointed by this result, as his age 17-18 season lags behind both Crosby and Lemieux. If that sounds like criticism, it isn't.
John Locher/Associated Press
At age 27, Crosby has already collected two Hart Trophies and three Ted Lindsay Awards, and he's done it despite significant health issues along the way. Lemieux earned those awards on seven occasions, despite playing in the same era as Gretzky. Lemieux is readily acknowledged as one of the best players in league history, and by the time he retires, Crosby will be as well.

It's cliche, but even being in the conversation with those players is a remarkable achievement.

McDavid is well clear of Lindros and Tavares, both exceptional players in their own right. Lindros collected one Hart Trophy and probably would have managed more if not for injury-in a 13-season career, he played 70 or more games just four times. Tavares is just 24 and is a finalist for the Hart; it's the second time in three years that he's earned that honor.

There are those who will be disappointed if McDavid becomes anything less than a candidate for the title of best player in NHL history. Junior numbers are hardly absolutely definitive, but McDavid's production in these years suggests he's a step back from the greatest players of all time. He isn't Gretzky, or Lemieux, or Crosby. Instead, he slides somewhere in between those players and occasional MVP candidates like Lindros and Tavares.

There's nothing wrong with that. He's Connor McDavid, and however his NHL career turns out, it's a good bet that it will be awfully special.
Jonathan Willis covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for more of his work.

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How Connor McDavid Stacks Up Against the All-Time Greats

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Connor McDavid is a rarity, a prospect so gifted that he can be compared to Wayne Gretzky with a straight face. He is a prospect so talented, in fact, that even Gretzky tacitly acknowledged the comparison. "He's as good as I've seen in the last 30 years," Gretzky told Postmedia's Joanne Ireland (via the National Post ).

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Are we doing the work or is technology doing it for us?

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Are we doing the work or is technology doing it for us?

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It is safe to say that the human population has not evolved in the past 100 years, that's not how it works. But how would we explain the constant new world records?
"Jesse Owens won the 1936 Olympics in 10.2 seconds, but would have come last in the 2013 race where Usain Bolt set his record of 9.77seconds.” However, he believes that humans have not evolved over that 77-year time span, but technology has gotten better at supporting them. (David Epstein). So to keep it short and sweet, technology has clearly been the reason for our rapid advancements in recent history.

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Are Athletes Getting Better or Are We Learning How to Push Human Limits? - Infofit - Personal Trainer Certification

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Are athletes getting better? Has technology helped athletes push past their brain’s limitations, allowing them access to their untapped power?

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Tron is an example of a fictional movie that is revolved around the advancement of technology.

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Tron (styled as TRON) is a 1982 American science fiction action- adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, and Barnard Hughes. Bridges plays Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer and video game developer who is transported inside the software world of a mainframe computer where he interacts with programs in his attempt to escape.

The inspiration for Tron dates back to 1976, when Lisberger became intrigued with video games after seeing . He and producer Donald Kushner set up an animation studio to develop Tron with the intention of making it an animated film. Indeed, to promote the studio itself, Lisberger and his team created a 30-second animation featuring the first appearance of the title character. Eventually, Lisberger decided to include live-action elements with both backlit and computer animation for the actual feature-length film. Various film studios had rejected the storyboards for the film before Walt Disney Productions agreed to finance and distribute Tron. There, backlit animation was finally combined with the computer animation and live action.

Tron was released on July 9, 1982. The film was a moderate success at the box office, and it received positive reviews from critics who praised the groundbreaking visuals and acting. However, the storyline was criticized at the time for being incoherent. Tron received nominations for Best Costume Design and Best Sound at the 55th Academy Awards and received the Academy Award for Technical Achievement fourteen years later.[citation needed ] Tron was not nominated in the Best Visual Effects category. Over time, Tron developed into a cult film and eventually spawned a franchise, which consists of multiple video games, comic books and an animated television series. A sequel titled Tron: Legacy directed by Joseph Kosinski was released on December 17, 2010, with Bridges and Boxleitner reprising their roles, and Lisberger acting as producer, followed by the animated series Tron: Uprising set between the two films. Tron, along with The Last Starfighter, has the distinction of being one of cinema's earliest films to use extensive computer-generated imagery (CGI).

Kevin Flynn is a leading software engineer, formerly employed by the computer corporation ENCOM, who now runs a video game arcade and attempts to hack into ENCOM's mainframe system. However, ENCOM's Master Control Program (MCP) halts his progress. Within ENCOM, programmer Alan Bradley and his girlfriend, engineer Lora Baines, discover that the MCP has closed off their access to projects. When Alan confronts the senior executive vice president, Ed Dillinger, Dillinger claims that the security measures are an effort to stop outside hacking attempts. However, when Dillinger privately questions the MCP through his computerized desk, he realizes the MCP has expanded into a powerful virtual intelligence and has become power-hungry, illegally appropriating personal, business, and government programs to increase its own capabilities. The MCP blackmails Dillinger with information about his plagiarizing Flynn's games if he does not comply with its directives.

Lora deduces that Flynn is the hacker, and she and Alan go to his arcade to warn him. Flynn reveals that he has been trying to locate evidence proving Dillinger's plagiarism, which launched Dillinger's rise in the company. Together, the three form a plan to break into ENCOM and unlock Alan's "Tron" program, a self-governing security measure designed to protect the system and counter the functions of the MCP. Once inside ENCOM, the three split up and Flynn comes into direct conflict with the MCP, communicating with his terminal. Before Flynn can get the information he needs to reveal Dillinger's acts, the MCP uses an experimental laser to digitize and upload Flynn into the ENCOM mainframe cyberspace, where programs are living entities appearing in the likeness of the human "Users" (programmers) who created them.

Flynn learns that the MCP and its second-in-command, Sark, rule and coerce programs to renounce their belief in the Users. The MCP forces programs that resist to play in deadly games and begins pitting Flynn in duels. Flynn meets other captured programs, Ram and Tron, between matches. Partnered, the three escape into the mainframe during a light cycle (an arcade game Flynn wrote the program for and is skilled at) match, but Flynn and Ram become separated from Tron by an MCP pursuit party. While attempting to help Ram, who was wounded in the pursuit, Flynn learns that he can manipulate portions of the mainframe by accessing his programmer knowledge. Ram recognizes Flynn as a User and encourages him to find Tron and free the system before "derezzing" (dying). Using his new ability, Flynn rebuilds a vehicle and disguises himself as one of Sark's soldiers.

Tron enlists help from Yori, a sympathetic program, and at an I/O tower receives information from Alan necessary to destroy the MCP. Flynn rejoins them, and the three board a hijacked solar sailer to reach the MCP's core. However, Sark's command ship destroys the sailer, capturing Flynn and Yori and presumably killing Tron. Sark leaves the command ship and orders its deresolution, but Flynn keeps it intact by again manipulating the mainframe, while Sark reaches the MCP's core on a shuttle carrying captured programs. While the MCP attempts to absorb captive programs, Tron, who turns out to have survived, confronts Sark and critically injures him, prompting the MCP to give him all its functions. Realizing that his ability to manipulate the mainframe might give Tron an opening, Flynn leaps into the beam of the MCP, distracting it. Seeing the break in the MCP's shield, Tron attacks through the gap and destroys the MCP and Sark, ending the MCP's control over the mainframe and allowing the captured programs to communicate with users again.

Flynn reappears in the real world, rematerialized at his terminal. Tron's victory in the mainframe has released all lockouts on computer access, and a nearby printer produces the evidence that Dillinger had plagiarized Flynn's creations. The next morning, Dillinger enters his office to find the MCP deactivated and the proof of his theft publicized. Flynn is subsequently promoted to CEO of ENCOM and is happily greeted by Alan and Lora as their new boss.

Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a former programmer and video game developer at ENCOM and video arcade proprietor who is beamed into the ENCOM mainframe via a digitizing laser by the Master Control Program.

Bruce Boxleitner as Alan Bradley, Flynn's work partner and fellow programmer at ENCOM.
Boxleitner also portrays Tron, a security program developed by Bradley to self-monitor communications between the MCP and the real world.

David Warner as Ed Dillinger, the Senior Executive Vice President of ENCOM and former co-worker of Flynn's, who used the MCP to steal Flynn's work and pass it off as his own, earning himself a series of undeserved promotions.

Cindy Morgan as Dr. Lora Baines, Bradley's co-worker and girlfriend, as well as assistant to Dr. Gibbs on the digitization experiment.
Morgan also portrays Yori, an input/output program developed by Dr. Baines and an ally of Tron.

Barnard Hughes as Dr. Walter Gibbs, a co-founder of ENCOM running the company's science division, who creates the SHV 20905 digitizing laser with Dr. Baines's assistance.

Hughes also portrays Dumont, a "guardian" program developed by Dr. Gibbs to protect input/output junctions in the mainframe.

Hughes also provides the uncredited voice of the Master Control Program's original incarnation.

Dan Shor as Roy Kleinberg, an ENCOM employee
Shor also portrays Ram, an actuarial program possibly developed by Kleinberg to sort out connections between ENCOM and an unnamed insurance company, who is a close ally of Tron and Flynn.

Peter Jurasik as Crom, a compound interest program matched against Flynn on the Game Grid.

Tony Stephano as Peter, Dillinger's assistant.
Stephano also portrays Sark's Lieutenant.

The inspiration for Tron occurred in 1976 when Steven Lisberger, then an animator of drawings with his own studio, looked at a sample reel from a computer firm called MAGI and saw for the first time. He was immediately fascinated by video games and wanted to do a film incorporating them. According to Lisberger, "I realized that there were these techniques that would be very suitable for bringing video games and computer visuals to the screen. And that was the moment that the whole concept flashed across my mind". The film's concept of entering a parallel game world was also inspired by the classic tale Alice in Wonderland.

Lisberger had already created an early version of the character 'Tron' for a 30 second long animation which was used to promote both Lisberger Studios and a series of various rock radio stations. This backlit cel animation depicted Tron as a character who glowed yellow; the same shade that Lisberger had originally intended for all the heroic characters developed for the feature-length Tron. This was later changed to blue for the finished film (see Pre-production below). The prototype Tron was bearded and resembled the Cylon Centurions from the original 1978 TV series, Battlestar Galactica. Also, Tron was armed with two "exploding discs", as Lisberger described them on the 2-Disc DVD edition ( see Rinzler).

Lisberger elaborates: "Everybody was doing backlit animation in the 70s, you know. It was that disco look. And we thought, what if we had this character that was a neon line, and that was our Tron warrior - Tron for electronic. And what happened was, I saw Pong, and I said, well, that's the arena for him. And at the same time I was interested in the early phases of computer generated animation, which I got into at MIT in Boston, and when I got into that I met a bunch of programmers who were into all that. And they really inspired me, by how much they believed in this new realm."

He was frustrated by the clique-like nature of computers and video games and wanted to create a film that would open this world up to everyone. Lisberger and his business partner Donald Kushner moved to the West Coast in 1977 and set up an animation studio to develop Tron. They borrowed against the anticipated profits of their 90-minute animated television special Animalympics to develop storyboards for Tron with the notion of making an animated film. But after mentioned the project briefly during its early phase, it caught the attention of computer scientist Alan Kay. He contacted Lisberger and convinced him to use him as an adviser on the movie, then persuaded him to use real CGI instead of just hand-animation.

Bonnie MacBird wrote the first drafts of Tron with extensive input from Lisberger, basing the original personality of Alan on Alan Kay. He gave her and Lisberger the same tour of Xerox PARC that famously inspired the Apple Macintosh, and their many conversations (and a class she took with Donald Knuth at Stanford) inspired her to include many computer science references. As a result of working together, Kay and MacBird became close and later married. She also created Tron as a character (rather than a visual demo) and Flynn. Originally MacBird envisioned Flynn more comedically, suggesting the then-30-year-old Robin Williams for the role. Besides many story changes after the script went to Disney, including giving it "a more serious tone with quasi religious overtones", and removing most of the scientific elements, none of her dialogue remains in the final film, and there was a "rather bitter credits dispute."

The film was eventually conceived as an animated film bracketed with live-action sequences. The rest involved a combination of computer-generated visuals and back-lit animation. Lisberger planned to finance the movie independently by approaching several computer companies but had little success. However, one company, Information International Inc., was receptive. He met with Richard Taylor, a representative, and they began talking about using live-action photography with back-lit animation in such a way that it could be integrated with computer graphics. At this point, there was a script and the film was entirely storyboarded, with some computer animation tests completed. He had spent approximately $300,000 developing Tron and had also secured $4-5 million in private backing before reaching a standstill. Lisberger and Kushner took their storyboards and samples of computer-generated films to Warner Bros., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Columbia Pictures - all of which turned them down.

In 1980, they decided to take the idea to Walt Disney Productions, which was interested in producing more daring productions at the time. Tom Wilhite, Disney's vice president for creative development, watched Lisberger's test footage and convinced Ron Miller to give the movie a chance. However, Disney executives were uncertain about giving $10-12 million to a first-time producer and director using techniques which, in most cases, had never been attempted. The studio agreed to finance a test reel which involved a flying disc champion throwing a rough prototype of the discs used in the film. It was a chance to mix live-action footage with back-lit animation and computer-generated visuals. It impressed the executives at Disney and they agreed to back the film. MacBird and Lisberger's script was subsequently re-written and re-storyboarded with the studio's input. At the time, Disney rarely hired outsiders to make films for them, and Kushner found that he and his group were given a chilly reception because they "tackled the nerve center - the animation department. They saw us as the germ from outside. We tried to enlist several Disney animators, but none came. Disney is a closed group." As a result, they hired Wang Film Productions for the animation.

Because of the many special effects, Disney decided in 1981 to film Tron completely in 65-mm Super Panavision (except for the computer-generated layers, which were shot in VistaVision and both anamorphic 35mm and Super 35 which were used for some scenes in the "real" world and subsequently "blown up" to 65 mm). Three designers were brought in to create the look of the computer world. French comic book artist Jean Giraud (also known as Moebius) was the main set and costume designer for the film. Most of the vehicle designs (including Sark's aircraft carrier, the light cycles, the tank, and the solar sailer) were created by industrial designer Syd Mead. Peter Lloyd, a high-tech commercial artist, designed the environments. Nevertheless, these jobs often overlapped, leaving Giraud working on the solar sailer and Mead designing terrain, sets and the film's logo. The original 'Program' character design was inspired by Lisberger Studios' logo of a glowing bodybuilder hurling two discs.

To create the computer animation sequences of Tron, Disney turned to the four leading computer graphics firms of the day: Information International, Inc. of Culver City, California, who owned the Super Foonly F-1 (the fastest PDP-10 ever made and the only one of its kind); MAGI of Elmsford, New York; Robert Abel and Associates of California; and Digital Effects of New York City. Bill Kovacs worked on the film while working for Robert Abel before going on to found Wavefront Technologies. The work was not a collaboration, resulting in very different styles used by the firms.

Tron was one of the first films to make extensive use of any form of computer animation, and it is celebrated as a milestone in the industry though only fifteen to twenty minutes of such animation were used, mostly scenes that show digital "terrain" or patterns, or include vehicles such as light-cycles, tanks and ships. Because the technology to combine computer animation and live action did not exist at the time, these sequences were interspersed with the filmed characters. The computer used had only 2 MB of memory and no more than 330 MB of storage. This put a limit on detail of background; and at a certain distance, they had a procedure of mixing in black to fade things out, a process called "depth cueing". The film's Computer Effects Supervisor Richard Taylor told them "When in doubt, black it out!", which became their motto. Originally the film was meant to use white backgrounds like in THX 1138 inside the Grid, but it would require such huge amounts of lights that it was decided to use black backgrounds instead.

The computers at the time could not do animation, so the frames had to be produced one by one. In some of the more complex sequences, like the Solar Sailer moving through metal canyons, each frame could take up to six hours to produce. There was no way to digitally print them on film either; rather, a motion picture camera was placed in front of a computer screen to capture each individual frame.

Most of the scenes, backgrounds, and visual effects in the film were created using more traditional techniques and a unique process known as "backlit animation". In this process, live-action scenes inside the computer world were filmed in black-and-white on an entirely black set, placed in an enlarger for blow-ups and transferred to large format Kodalith high-contrast film. These negatives were then used to make Kodalith sheets with a reverse (positive) image. Clear cels were laid over each sheet and all portions of the figure except the areas that were exposed for the later camera passes were manually blacked out. Next the Kodalith sheets and cel overlays were placed over a light box while a VistaVision camera mounted above it made separate passes and different color filters. A typical shot normally required 12 passes, but some sequences, like the interior of the electronic tank, could need as many as 50 passes. About 300 matte paintings were made for the film, each photographed onto a large piece of Ektachrome film before colors were added by gelatin filters in a similar procedure as in the Kodaliths. The mattes, rotoscopic and CGI were then combined and composed together to give them a "technological" appearance. With multiple layers of high-contrast, large format positives and negatives, this process required truckloads of sheet film and a workload even greater than that of a conventional cel-animated feature. The Kodalith was specially produced as large sheets by Kodak for the film and came in numbered boxes so that each batch of the film could be used in order of manufacture for a consistent image. However, this was not understood by the filmmakers and, as a result, glowing outlines and circuit traces occasionally flicker as the film speed varied between batches. After the reason was discovered, this was no longer a problem as the batches were used in order and "zinger" sounds were used during the flickering parts to represent the computer world malfunctioning as Lisberger described it. Lisberger later had these flickers and sounds digitally corrected for the 2011 restored Blu-ray release as they were not included in his original vision of the film. Due to its difficulty and cost, this process of back-lit animation was not repeated for another feature film.

Sound design and creation for the film was assigned to Frank Serafine, who was responsible for the sound design on Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979.

At one point in the film, a small entity called "Bit" advises Flynn with only the words "yes" and "no" created by a Votrax speech synthesizer.

wrote: "Although this film is very much the personal expression of Steven Lisberger's vision, nevertheless [it] has certainly been a group effort". More than 569 people were involved in the post-production work, including 200 inkers and hand-painters, 85 of them from Taiwan's Cuckoo's Nest Studio. Unusually for an English-language production, in the end credits the Taiwanese personnel were listed with their names written in Chinese characters.

This film features parts of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; the multi-storey ENCOM laser bay was the target area for the SHIVA solid-state multi-beamed laser. Also, the stairway that Alan, Lora, and Flynn use to reach Alan's office is the stairway in Building 451 near the entrance to the main machine room. The cubicle scenes were shot in another room of the lab. At the time, Tron was the only film to have scenes filmed inside this lab.

The original script called for "good" programs to be colored yellow and "evil" programs (those loyal to Sark and the MCP) to be colored blue. Partway into production, this coloring scheme was changed to blue for good and red for evil, but some scenes were produced using the original coloring scheme: Clu, who drives a tank, has yellow circuit lines, and all of Sark's tank commanders are blue (but appear green in some presentations). Also, the light-cycle sequence shows the heroes driving yellow (Flynn), orange (Tron), and red (Ram) cycles, while Sark's troops drive blue cycles; similarly, Clu's tank is red, while tanks driven by crews loyal to Sark are blue.

Because of all the personal information about citizens which exist inside computer networks, such as social security number and driver's license, the idea was that each real world person has a digital counterpart inside the Grid based on information about them, which is why it was decided to use some of the same actors in both worlds.

Budgeting the production was difficult by reason of breaking new ground in response to additional challenges, including an impending Directors Guild of America strike and a fixed release date. Disney predicted at least $400 million in domestic sales of merchandise, including an arcade game by Bally Midway and three Mattel Intellivision home video games.

The producers also added Easter eggs: during the scene where Tron and Ram escape from the Light Cycle arena into the system, Pac-Man can be seen behind Sark (with the corresponding sounds from the Pac-Man arcade game being heard in the background), while a " Hidden Mickey" outline (located at time 01:12:29 on the re-release Blu-ray) can be seen below the solar sailer during the protagonists' journey. The film set also included the arcade games Space Invaders (1978), (1979) and (1980).

Tron was originally meant to be released during the Christmas season of 1982, but when chairman of the Disney board Card Walker found out the release date of Don Bluth's film The Secret of NIMH was in early July, he rushed it into a summer release to be able to compete with Bluth, and it ended up competing with films like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Blade Runner and Poltergeist.

The soundtrack for Tron was written by pioneer electronic musician Wendy Carlos, who is best known for her album Switched-On Bach and for the soundtracks to many films, including the Stanley Kubrick-directed films A Clockwork Orange and The Shining. The music, which was the first collaboration between Carlos and her partner Annemarie Franklin, featured a mix of an analog Moog synthesizer and Crumar's GDS digital synthesizer (complex additive and phase modulation synthesis), along with non-electronic pieces performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (hired at the insistence of Disney, which was concerned that Carlos might not be able to complete her score on time). Two additional musical tracks ("1990's Theme" and "Only Solutions") were provided by the American band Journey after British band Supertramp pulled out of the project. An album featuring dialogue, music and sound effects from the film was also released on LP by Disneyland Records in 1982.

Tron was released on July 9, 1982, in 1,091 theaters in the United States and Canada grossing USD $4 million on its opening weekend. It went on to gross $33 million in the United States and Canada and $17 million overseas, for a worldwide gross of approximately $50 million, which was Disney's highest-grossing live action film for 5 years.

In addition, the film had $70 million in wholesale merchandise sales.

Despite the gross and merchandise sales, it was seen as a financial disappointment, and the studio wrote off some of its $17 million budget.

The film was well received by critics. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars and described it as "a dazzling movie from Disney in which computers have been used to make themselves romantic and glamorous. Here's a technological sound-and-light show that is sensational and brainy, stylish and fun". However, near the end of his review, he noted (in a positive tone), "This is an almost wholly technological movie. Although it's populated by actors who are engaging (Bridges, Cindy Morgan) or sinister (Warner), it's not really a movie about human nature. Like or The Empire Strikes Back but much more so, this movie is a machine to dazzle and delight us". Ebert closed his first annual Overlooked Film Festival with a showing of Tron. Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also awarded four out of four stars, calling it "a trip, and a terrifically entertaining one at that...It's a dazzler that opens up our minds to our new tools, all in a traditional film narrative." Tron was also featured in Siskel and Ebert's video pick of the week in 1993.

InfoWorld's Deborah Wise was impressed, writing that "it's hard to believe the characters acted out the scenes on a darkened soundstage... We see characters throwing illuminated Frisbees, driving 'lightcycles' on a video-game grid, playing a dangerous version of jai alai and zapping numerous fluorescent tanks in arcade-game-type mazes. It's exciting, it's fun, and it's just what video-game fans and anyone with a spirit of adventure will love-despite plot weaknesses."

On the other hand, disliked the film and said in its review, " Tron is loaded with visual delights but falls way short of the mark in story and viewer involvement. Screenwriter-director Steven Lisberger has adequately marshalled a huge force of technicians to deliver the dazzle, but even kids (and specifically computer game geeks) will have a difficult time getting hooked on the situations". In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin criticized the film's visual effects: "They're loud, bright and empty, and they're all this movie has to offer". The Washington Post's Gary Arnold wrote, "Fascinating as they are as discrete sequences, the computer-animated episodes don't build dramatically. They remain a miscellaneous form of abstract spectacle". In his review for The Globe and Mail, Jay Scott wrote, "It's got momentum and it's got marvels, but it's without heart; it's a visionary technological achievement without vision".

Colin Greenland reviewed the home video release of Tron for magazine, and stated that "three plucky young programmers descend into the micro-world to battle the Master Control Program with a sacred frisbee. Loses much of its excitement on the little screen."

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 72% rating based on the reviews of 65 critics, with an average rating of 6.38/10. The website's consensus states: "Though perhaps not as strong dramatically as it is technologically, TRON is an original and visually stunning piece of science fiction that represents a landmark work in the history of computer animation." Metacritic gave the film a score of 58 based on 13 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

In the year it was released, the Motion Picture Academy refused to nominate Tron for a special-effects award because, as director Steven Lisberger puts it, "The Academy thought we cheated by using computers". The film did, however, earn Oscar nominations in the categories of Best Costume Design and Best Sound ( Michael Minkler, Bob Minkler, Lee Minkler, and James LaRue).

In 1997, Ken Perlin of the Mathematical Applications Group, Inc. won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement for his invention of Perlin noise for Tron.

The film, considered groundbreaking, has inspired several individuals in numerous ways. John Lasseter, head of Pixar and Disney's animation group, described how the film helped him see the potential of computer-generated imagery in the production of animated films, stating "without Tron, there would be no ."

The music video of the song " Abiura di me" of the Italian rapper Caparezza is based on Tron.[citation needed ] The two members of the French house music group Daft Punk, who scored the sequel, have held a joint, lifelong fascination with the film. Also, in Gorillaz' music video for the song " Feel Good Inc.", Russel, the fictional drummer of the band, can be seen wearing an Encom hat.

Tron developed into a cult film and was ranked as 13th in a 2010 list of the top 20 cult films published by The Boston Globe.

The film heavily inspired the music video for Danish pop/ dance group Infernal's 2006 hit single " From Paris to Berlin".

The Disco Biscuits, a Philadelphia-based jam band heavily influenced by electronic music, played an entire free-form set to correspond with Tron, which was projected onto a partially transparent curtain in the front of the stage for their December 31, 2015 New Year's Eve show from the PlayStation Theater in New York City's Times Square.

In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated this film for its Top 10 Science Fiction Films list.

The Simpsons references Tron in Season 7, Episode 6 ( Treehouse of Horror VI).

A novelization of Tron was released in 1982, written by American science fiction novelist Brian Daley. It included eight pages of color photographs from the movie. In the same year, Disney Senior Staff Publicist Michael Bonifer authored a book entitled The Art of Tron which covered aspects of the pre-production and post-production aspects of Tron. A nonfiction book about the making of the original film, The Making of Tron: How Tron Changed Visual Effects and Disney Forever, was written by William Kallay and published in 2011.

Tron made its television debut, as part of Disney Channel's first day of programming, on April 18, 1983, at 7:00PM (ET).

Tron was originally released on VHS, Betamax, LaserDisc, and CED Videodisc in 1983. As with most video releases from the 1980s, the film was cropped to the 4:3 pan and scan format. The film saw multiple re-releases throughout the 1990s, most notably an "Archive Collection" LaserDisc box set, which featured the first release of the film in its original widescreen 2.20:1 format. By 1993, Tron had grossed $17 million in video rentals.

Tron saw its first DVD release on May 19, 1998. This bare-bones release utilized the same non-anamorphic video transfer used in the Archive Collection LaserDisc set, and it did not include any of the LD's special features. On January 15, 2002, the film received a 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition release in the form of a special 2-Disc DVD set. This set featured a new THX mastered anamorphic video transfer and included all of the special features from the LD Archive Collection release, plus an all-new 90 minute "Making of Tron" documentary.

To tie in with the home video release of Tron: Legacy, the movie was finally re-released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Special Edition DVD and for the first time on Blu-ray Disc on April 5, 2011, with the subtitle "The Original Classic" to distinguish it from its sequel. Tron was also featured in a 5-Disc Blu-ray Combo with the 3D copy of Tron: Legacy. The film was re-released on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on June 27, 2011.

Tron: Uprising (TV series)

Tron: Uprising takes place during the time period between the story lines of the two movies Tron (1982) and Tron: Legacy (2010). In the series, young program Beck becomes the leader of a revolution inside the computer world of The Grid, tasked with the mission of freeing his home and friends from the reign of Clu and his henchman, Gen. Tesler. To prepare for the challenge, Beck is trained by Tron - the greatest warrior The Grid has ever known - who mentors Beck as he grows beyond his youthful nature into a courageous and powerful leader. Destined to become the system's new protector, Beck adopts Tron's persona to battle the forces of evil.

On January 12, 2005, Disney announced it had hired screenwriters Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal to write a sequel to Tron. In 2008, director Joseph Kosinski negotiated to develop and direct TRON, described as "the next chapter" of the 1982 film and based on a preliminary teaser trailer shown at that year's San Diego Comic-Con, with Lisberger co-producing. Filming began in Vancouver, British Columbia in April 2009. During the 2009 Comic-Con, the title of the sequel was revealed to be changed to Tron: Legacy. The second trailer (also with the Tron: Legacy logo) was released in 3D with Alice In Wonderland. A third trailer premiered at Comic-Con 2010 on July 22. At Disney's D23 Expo on September 10-13, 2009, they also debuted teaser trailers for Tron: Legacy as well as having a light cycle and other props from the film there. The film was released on December 17, 2010, with Daft Punk composing the score.

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Tron (styled as TRON ) is a 1982 American science fiction action- adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, and Barnard Hughes.

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 Why Olympic athletes keep getting Better.

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 Why Olympic athletes keep getting Better.

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This video talks about the reasons on why Olympic athletes have improved so much over the past century. Achieving things we never thought were possible.

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Why Olympic athletes keep getting better

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The 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang will likely feature the most impressive winter athletes ever. But that was true of the 2016 Summer Olympics, too, and at the 2014 Olympics, and, well, you get the point. Why is that? Here are four reasons why competitors in the Olympics are constantly getting better.

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Usain Bolt Breaking the 100 meter sprint world record

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Usain Bolt Breaking the 100 meter sprint world record

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Usain Bolt is one of the many athletes who have been breaking records and pushing our human limits even further.

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Team Canada - Official Olympic Team Website

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Photo: American Foreign Press

Records are meant to be broken. But that's harder with some than others.

Some of the world's most notable athletic achievements are from a completely different era, while some have raised questions on the physical limits of the human body. Then some records still stand because the athletes who set them were simply that far above their opponents. Of all these records, could some be broken?

Here's a look at 10 athletics' world records that have stood - or may stand - the test of time.

1. 1988 - Seven-Event Superstar
Heptathlon, women - Jackie Joyner-Kersee, 7291 points
Heptathlon combines seven athletics events, with points awarded based on measurements and times achieved. American Jackie Joyner-Kersee has held the world record for total score since July 7, 1986 when she became the first woman to surpass 7000 points at the Goodwill Games, scoring 7148 in Moscow. She increased the record twice more before setting the current mark of 7291 points in winning gold at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. Joyner-Kersee was so dominant that she owns the top six heptathlon scores all-time.

2. 1991 - Powell-Lewis Clash
Long jump, men - Mike Powell - 8.95 metres https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9GkPg6rj-E
For 23 years, no one had been able to touch Bob Beamon's long jump record of 8.90 metres that he had set in the thin air at Mexico City 1968. But that all changed on August 30, 1991. In the world championship final in Tokyo, Carl Lewis and Mike Powell produced perhaps the greatest long jump competition ever. After Lewis jumped 8.91 metres on his fourth attempt, albeit wind-aided, Powell followed up with a wind-legal 8.95 metre effort on his fifth attempt, setting a record that has now stood longer than Beamon's. In the years since, the closest anyone has come is the 8.74 metres jumped by Erick Walder in April 1994 and Dwight Phillips in June 2009.

3. 1992 - Hurdles No Obstacle for "Spiderman"
400m hurdles, men - Kevin Young - 46. 79 seconds
Kevin Young had finished fourth in the 400m hurdles at both the 1988 Olympic Games and the 1991 World Championships but was ready for his breakout moment at Barcelona 1992. He had worked to fix his stride pattern to avoid late-race fatigue. In the Olympic final, he had everything working for him and was quickly clear of the field, crossing the finish line in 46.78 seconds. He was the first 400m hurdler to clock a time under 47 seconds and broke the mark that had been set by the legendary Edwin Moses in 1983. As a point of comparison, the top time in the 400m hurdles at Rio 2016 was 47.73 seconds by another American, Kerron Clement. In August 2020, Norwegian Karsten Warholm came the closest anyone has come to Young's mark, running 46.87 seconds.

4. 1993 - Sotomayor Soars in Salamanca
High jump, men - Javier Sotomayor - 2.45 metres
For 24 years and counting, Javier Sotomayor has been holding the high jump world record. It was in July 1993 in Salamanca, Spain that the leggy Cuban jumped over the bar set at 2.45 metres, succeeding in his second attempt at the height. It was in that same place five years earlier that he had first set the world record at 2.43 metres, but then was unable to compete at Seoul 1988 due to his country's boycott. In July 1989 he had been the first man to clear 8 feet with his metric jump of 2.44 metres. He finally made his Olympic debut at Barcelona 1992 where he won the gold medal. As a sign of his dominance, consider that there are 12 men in history, including Canada's Derek Drouin, who have combined to clear 2.40 metres 41 times. Sotomayor has done it 17 of those times. Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim has come closest to matching the world record, leaping 2.43 metres in September 2014.

5. 1995 - The British Kangaroo
Triple jump, men - Jonathan Edwards - 18.29 metres
It doesn't always take a large margin to create a new record, a notion well understood by British triple jumper Jonathan Edwards. On July 18, 1995, Edwards broke the mark of 17.97 metres held by American Willie Banks by a single centimetre. He then confirmed his dominance of the event by twice beating his own world record in the following weeks. At the world championships in Gothenburg, Sweden on August 7, he became the first to surpass 18 metres, leaping 18.16 on his first attempt in the final. He did even better on his second attempt, setting the current mark at 18.29 metres to finish 67cm ahead of the runner-up. In the 22 years since, the closest challenger to the world record has been Christian Taylor who jumped 18.21 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.

6. 2003 2019 - (New) Marathon Woman
Marathon, women - Paula Radcliffe - 2:15:25 Brigid Kosgei - 2:14:04
During the London Marathon on April 13, 2003, British home favourite Paula Radcliffe set the women's marathon world record when she covered the 42.195km course in 2 hours, 15 minutes and 25 seconds. It broke her previous world record, set just six months earlier in Chicago, by almost two minutes. In 2011, Radcliffe was in danger of losing her record when the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ruled that women's records needed to be set in women-only races. In the 2003 London Marathon, Radcliffe had followed male pacemakers. But there was such an outcry over her remarkable time being reduced to a "world best" that the IAAF reversed its decision and kept the world record on the books. It stood until October 13, 2019 when Kenyan Brigid Kosgei completed the Chicago Marathon in 2:14:04, taking more than a minute off Radcliffe's record. It was officially ratified as the new global standard in February 2020.

7. 2009 - The Fastest Man on Earth
100m and 200m, men - Usain Bolt - 9.58 seconds and 19.19 seconds
One can't write about athletics' world records without mentioning the fastest man on earth, Usain Bolt. The Jamaican sprinter has held the world records in both the 100 metres (9.58 seconds) and 200 metres (19.19 seconds) since the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. It was the third time Bolt had lowered the 100m mark, taking an incredible 0.11 of a second off the time he had run to win gold at Beijing 2008. He dropped the same amount of time from the 200m world record he had also run at the Olympic Games the year prior.

8. 2012 - Breaking an Unbreakable Record
4x100m relay, women - Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight, Carmelita Jeter - 40.82 seconds
The women's 4x100m record set at London 2012 by Team USA runners Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight, and Carmelita Jeter had a big impact on the history of the women's 4x100m relay as it erased a world record that dated back to October 6, 1985. The quartet took more than half a second off the mark set by an East German foursome at a meet in Canberra, Australia that had been one of the longest-standing running records on the track. It had also been a record looked at with much suspicion since the athletics world became aware of systematic state-sponsored doping by East Germany in the 1980s.

9. 2014 2020 - Mondo's World
Pole vault, men - Renaud Lavillenie - 6.16 metres Armand Duplantis - 6.18 metres https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QFUh2P9_Bg
In 1984, Sergei Bubka had already broken the pole vault world record three times when he met up with the last man to hold the global standard, Frenchman Thierry Vigneron, in Rome on August 31. For just a few moments, Vigneron reclaimed the world record at 5.91 metres, only to see Bubka soar 5.94 metres. That was the last time that anyone other than Bubka would hold the world record for three decades. In July 1985, the Ukrainian became the first to clear 6 metres. Over the years, he kept pushing the bar to new heights, eventually reaching 6.14 metres in July 1994 with his 17 th world record. Twenty years later, along came another Frenchman, Renaud Lavillenie. Competing in Bubka's home country, he amazed the athletics world with his vault of 6.16 metres in February 2014. But the global standard would only be his for six years. At just 20 years old, Swedish phenom Armand "Mondo" Duplantis cleared an incredible 6.18 metres at an indoor meet in February 2020.

10. 2014 2018 - Marathon Man
Marathon, men - Dennis Kimetto - 2:02:57 Eliud Kipchoge - 2:01:39
It was at the 2014 Berlin Marathon that Kenya's Dennis Kipruto Kimetto completed the 42.195km race in 2 hours 2 minutes 57 seconds to become the first marathoner to ever break the 2 hour 3 minute barrier on a record-eligible course. Four years later, his countryman Eliud Kipchoge became the first to drop below 2 hours and 2 minutes, running the Berlin Marathon in 2:01:39 for the official world record. Fun fact: six of the seven fastest marathons in history recognized by World Athletics have been run in Berlin.

Kipchoge also has the distinction of being the first person to run a marathon distance in under two hours. In October 2019, he broke the mythic milestone in Vienna, but his time of 1:59:40 does not qualify as a world record because of the closed conditions under which he achieved the mark, which included a rotation of professional pacesetters.

Bonus: 2015 - Genzebe Dibaba reaches the unreacheable
1500m, women - Genzebe Dibaba - 3:50.07
Genzebe Dibaba is another athletic icon who erased a mark that was long seen as unbeatable. At 24 years old, during the IAAF Diamond League event on July 17, 2015, in Monaco, Dibaba established the new world record in the 1500m with a time of 3:50.07. Every 100 metres, she kept or even surpassed her pace to beat the previous record of 3:50.46 which had been established in 1993 by China's Qu Yunxia. If the race is a matter of rhythm, well the Ethiopian certainly controls the music since she delivered one of the most impressive performances in women's athletics for the last 12 years.

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10 of athletics' most impressive world records - Team Canada - Official Olympic Team Website

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Photo: American Foreign Press Some of the world's most notable athletic achievements are from a completely different era, while some have raised questions on the physical limits of the human body. Then some records still stand because the athletes who set them were simply that far above their opponents.

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There are two Space Jam movies that have been made. The first one has MJ as the main character and the second has LeBron as the main character. Also goes to show how these two are definitely the best two basketball players of all time.

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ES
The highly anticipated Space Jam sequel will see Michael Jordan appear alongside LeBron James.

Space Jam: A New Legacy will hit the screens later this year and James' participation in one of the starring roles has been no secret, but it has now emerged that Jordan, star of the original Space Jam, will also make a cameo.

It is not yet known what role Jordan will have in the new film but Don Cheadle, who voices the movie's villain, has confirmed his participation in an interview with Access Hollywood.

"Michael Jordan is in the movie, but not in the way you'd expect it," said Cheadle.

In the original Space Jam (1997), Jordan was transported to the world of the Looney Tunes and this time around it is LeBron's turn.

James and his son will have to find their way back to the real world with everything resting, once again, on an epic basketball match involving some of the biggest stars from the NBA and WNBA.

Space Jam: A New Legacy is expected for release in July 2021.

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Michael Jordan to play alongside LeBron James... in Space Jam 2

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ES The highly anticipated Space Jam sequel will see Michael Jordan appear alongside LeBron James. Space Jam: A New Legacy will hit the screens later this year and James' participation in one of the starring roles has been no secret, but it has now emerged that Jordan, star of the original Space Jam, will also make a cameo.