The Movies
This one has got to be some kind of record, right? More than 28 years after TRON hit American theaters, raking in a less-than-blockbuster $33M, TRON: Legacy was released upon audiences apparently hungry for sequels, eye candy and fresh 3D. A 1982 buck is worth a lot more than a 2010 greenback, true, but the follow-up not everyone was waiting for grossed $44M in its first weekend alone.
Star Jeff Bridges picked up an Oscar and a few wrinkles in the interim, and this film finds his computer whiz Kevin Flynn once again trapped inside the digital realm. It's a server that houses the "grid" he created decades earlier, with the help of his supposed-to-be helpful virtual doppelganger, CLU, and the original Tron program (Bruce Boxleitner), both ageless. But CLU takes too seriously his quest for technological perfection, soon enslaving Tron and sending Flynn into the outskirts of the grid, where he has hidden until the present day. And CLU won't be done until he has entered the real world and "rectified" more imperfections, namely humanity itself.
The only hope lies with Flynn's now-grown-up son, Sam (Garrett Hedlund), who like all dadless movie moppets born since John Connor has turned out to be a genius hacker on a motorcycle. He follows his father's trail all these years later, a journey full of revelation, reunion and revolution... plus light cycles and identity discs and gladiatorial combat. The first act pays a surprising bit of homage to The Dark Knight, and I was struck by how many other cinematic clichés it plays into, but I also imagine that it could really serve as a wonderful bonding point for fathers of the arcade era and their computer-savvy sons.
"The Original Classic" TRON on Disc Five is actually better than I remembered, silly of course but well-structured and undeniably ambitious for its era. This was the first time that the elder Flynn found himself zapped into the world of bits and bytes, and the quaint "science" beneath it all inspires great nostalgia, like an Atari 2600 game in the PS3 age.
Get with the program and read Karen Dahlstrom's review of TRON: Legacy, too.
The Picture
Both the 2D and 3D versions of TRON: Legacy (on separate platters for maximum bitrate and picture quality) alternate between 2.35:1 and 1.78:1, to better preserve the preferred IMAX theatrical experience. (At least once I noticed the transition during a single shot, which is unusual for these recent multi-aspect-ratio titles.) There are also several 2D scenes mixed in with the 3D, although we are assured that it is nothing to fret about and we should leave our glasses on the entire time.
The stereoscopic effect is clear and impactful, all the more impressive in its you-are-there feel for the fact that this fantastical place and everyone in it is assembled in post-production. In truth the 3D is often subtle, without a lot of hokey bits zipping about to make us ooo and ahh, but even in 2D this is one of the most visually complex movies ever made, a digitally enhanced concoction of dark and light. There's so much to see, and thankfully the image is pleasingly sharp. The much-ballyhooed rejuvenating special effect applied to Jeff Bridges is mostly convincing.
TRON meanwhile benefits greatly from its brand-new HD remastering, strictly 2D, quite pleasingly crisp with a 2.2:1 image that pops better than ever. There's some grain, noise, flicker and stair-stepping, but these are all a part of the movie itself, largely rendered as it was on 30-year-old computers. Blacks could be a little more lifelike though. Watching it again immediately after Legacy, TRON almost looks like a cartoon for its charming simplicity.
The Sound
Disney has done it again, with an amazing DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 channel track to complement both versions of the film. The surrounds and subwoofer seem effortless as they render strong, effective echoes and powerful bass throughout. Trebles too, for tinkling debris, are spot-on.
There are diverse, active environments--an arcade, a metropolis, an arena--some beyond our imagination, and all are exquisitely realized through expertly-crafted sound. So much of the illusion of being inside the computer is born of the enveloping multichannel mix.
I also have to give a special shout out to Daft Punk, the French house/synth-pop/electronica duo who have now evolved to become world-class cinematic composers. Their work here transcends even their formidable blend of genres to elevate the film beyond our expectations, so much so that I recommend picking up either/both the original TRON: Legacy soundtrack CD or the recent companion CD TRON: Legacy Reconfigured, with 15 tracks remixed by heavy hitters like Moby, The Crystal Method and Paul Oakenfold. With the right pair of 'phones, they can be quite the head-trip.
The seminal 1982 TRON has been remixed/remastered for DTS-HD Master 5.1 and this high-resolution track has it all. The results are extremely modern, with deftly utilized discrete rears and significant low end.
The Extras
The Blu-ray 3D Disc has just a couple of 3D movie trailers but Disc Two, the 2D version, offers plenty. "The Next Day: Flynn Lives Revealed," exclusive to Blu-ray, is an interactive HD movie that seeks to bridge the gap between TRON and TRON: Legacy.
The second disc is also the second title to support Disney's Second Screen feature (following Bambi), which uses an iPad or a nearby computer to display extensive behind-the-scenes still images and video clips. It requires a free download of the app, either from the iTunes App Store or from disneysecondscreen.com.
There are also somewhat predictable featurettes about the cast and the look of the film, whereas "Launching the Legacy" offers the most interesting insight. This is where we can watch the now-fabled Comic-Con presentation trailer. Also at Comic-Con, the filmmakers invited the 7,000 audience members to record their voices for the movie's stadium scene, as chronicled in "Disc Roars." All of the video these segments are in HD. The Daft Punk music video for their track "Derezzed" is also in Dolby Digital 5.1. Visually it is an interesting hybrid of the two movies. We're also given a glimpse of the upcoming Disney XD animated tie-in series, TRON: Uprising.
Disc Three is a DVD of TRON: Legacy with two of the same featurettes and the cross-promotional frou-frou. The original TRON Blu-ray packs its own unique extras. "The TRON Phenomenon" (ten minutes) looks at, well, the enduring legacy of the first film, while "Photo TRONology" (16-and-a-half minutes) allows us to join director Steven Lisberger and his son Carl as they delve into the extensive archive of TRON production photos and more. The extras from the out-of-print DVD, which were quite extensive, have been archived here as well. (Full listing below.)
Lastly there is a Digital Copy of TRON: Legacy on Disc Four, for our iTunes or Windows Media enjoyment.
Final Thoughts
Admirers of the classic TRON and/or its recent sequel would do well to pick up this comprehensive five-disc set, with its awesome 2D/3D picture and sound, along with extras that reach into the past while also giving us a peek at our dual-screen future.
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