Walt Disney took it on the chin with the first TRON when it was released back in 1982 and some eyebrows were certainly raised when they announced their decision to release the sequel TRON: Legacy in 2010. The 3D spectacle was the most heavily marketed film of the year; and certainly one of the most anticipated. The film earned mixed reviews from critics, and did not exactly light it up at the domestic box office as Disney certainly hoped it would. If not for the worldwide box office numbers, TRON: Legacy would have been a disaster for the folks at the magic kingdom.
Sold as the second coming of Avatar (from a visual perspective in 3D), the film did not exactly lower jaws; that was left to the breathtaking and feisty Olivia Wilde who made male viewers feel less guilty for spending $15 per ticket. The grid was certainly electrifying in the modern film; with the fantastic score from Daft Punk keeping things pulsating.
3D TV needs a shot in the arm right now, and Disney (as well as most of the major manufacturers of 3D TVs) certainly hopes that films like TRON: Legacy will inspire fence sitters to get off their duffs and take the 3D plunge in 2011. It is certainly encouraging to see that the studio is being aggressive when it comes to the marketing of its 3D movies for the home audience, offering many titles day and date on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D Disc.
Disney has a slew of quality titles coming out in 3D in 2011, and TRON and TRON:Legacy 3D are part of the first batch which includes the utterly charming Tangled. Multiple versions of the box set are now available for pre-order on Amazon, including a really great collector's set which includes an illuminated identity disc as the box to hold all five discs (this set includes both the original film and the sequel in multiple media formats). Sadly, Olivia Wilde is not included in the package.
For those of us who remember cutting school in 1982/1983 to sneak into the local arcade and drop bags of quarters into the original TRON machine, the inclusion of the Blu-ray remaster of the original film is bound to bring back some memories. It was the movie that made all those hours on the Atari 1040ST and Commodore 64 seem worthwhile; when fighting for the users against the Master Control Program meant something to our budding yet immature minds.
The street date for all of the releases is April 5th - which also includes standalone versions of the original film and the sequel on Blu-ray; with prices ranging from $27.99 to $79.99 for the uber cool illuminated identity disc set.
Pre-Order TRON and TRON:Legacy 3D on Amazon (individual films):
(sequel only) 
(original film only) Pre-order the Two-Film TRON Combo Packs:
