Just as Ben-Hur once thrilled movie-goers with its marvelous chariot race (filmed on an 18-acre set with 40,000 tons of white sand and 8,000 extras), Tron captivated viewers with its fantastic light cycle scene (for which three actors were only minimally involved, as the movie was arguably the first major production to make extensive use of CGI). The movie was a modest hit, but, according to director Steven Lisberger, did not get a Oscar nomination for its special effects, as “The Academy thought we cheated by using computers.”
THE MOTORCYCLE USED: The computer-generated creations were designed by famed concept artist Syd Mead, who once remarked that science fiction, was merely “reality ahead of schedule
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