Tron (1982)

Tron was the first live-action feature to use 3D computer-generated imagery to any lengthy degree, and it took four companies to do it: Triple-I, MAGI-Synthavision, Robert Abel & Associates and Digital Effects, a measure of how much computer imagery the film demanded in 1982. The Lightcycle race is the sequence to watch. Its hard-edged vehicles and glowing grid show the film turning the limits of early rendering into a design language rather than hiding them. Much of the glowing look of the actors in costume was done with backlit, hand-processed animation instead of computers, a useful reminder of how much of the film was still traditional craft.