TRON: LEGACY/TRON: THE ORIGINAL CLASSIC (1985, 2010, Blu-ray released April 5, 2011 – MSRP $39.99)
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Tron: Legacy, the long awaited sequel to the original 1982 film, was released on Blu-ray this past week in a variety of configurations. I had a chance to screen the 5-Disc combo pack which includes the new film on 3D and 2D Blu-ray discs, along with DVD and Digital Copy versions. The Combo Pack also includes a Blu-ray of Tron: The Original Classic (as it’s now dubbed) in all its restored glory. This is an extraordinary release that falls just shy of being a fan’s dream come true.
- “When Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), the world’s greatest video game creator, sends out a secret signal from an amazing digital realm, his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) discovers the clue and embarks on a personal journey to save his long-lost father. With the help of the fearless female warrior Quorra (Olivia Wilde), father and son venture through an incredible cyber universe and wage the ultimate battle of good versus evil.”
In talking to people about both films, following the release of Legacy, I’ve discovered that Tron is a love-it or hate-it kind of franchise. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of gray area whether you’re talking about the original film, the new film or the entire property. People who loved the original seem to be blown away by Legacy. People who only saw Legacy and went back to discover the original seem to be open minded about its flaws. And those who’re just into the concepts seem to be able to get off on just about anything attached to the franchise. I don’t really belong to any of those camps but found something to love about both films just the same.
I hadn’t seen Tron since I was a child and entered into my screening of the sequel with a handful of iconic images that have stuck with me through the years – light cycles, glowing-frisbee wars, Jeff Bridges being scanned into the computer world by a laser. All good stuff. I was expecting to have a decent enough time with the new film but to my surprise came away enjoying the hell out of it! And I give most of the credit to the aesthetics.
Yes, I’m a bit of a design snob. Not in my personal life but in the art I enjoy. And Tron: Legacy had all of my circuits tweaking. This film, beyond anything else, looks and sounds incredible. The future-mid-century production design, glowing-plastic costumes, slick effects and astounding, intensely listenable score by Daft Punk combine to turn the film into the kind of sense-candy I go nuts for. So, you can understand then how I’m able to let Legacy‘s cardboard characterization and tired story devices slide, in the wake of my sensory overload. It follows a natural path from the original 1982 film, substituting Kevin Flynn with his son Sam who’s set out on the classic “hero’s journey”. Just as Gilgamesh, King Arthur and Luke Skywalker before him, Sam leaves his youth behind and is carried away by the adventure that matures him to manhood through profound discovery and loss. There’s nothing new here, in the story, to get excited about. It’s the man-in-machine concept, our lives in the virtual world, that offers up the food for thought – well-trodden ground as that might be in our 21st Century world. And it’s the music, the light cycles and the gorgeous Olivia Wilde in her luminescent, skin-tight, black cyber-suit that will keep you attentive until the end.
Going back, afterward, to watch the original film proved to be something of a shock to my system. It’s really bad. I mean, really, really bad. I can’t even begin to imagine how this script got the green light, filled as it is with redundant scenes and painfully random, ham-fisted dialogue. And the sluggish editing doesn’t help sell the story in the least. I found Tron almost unpleasant to watch. But, at the same time, it’s a fascinating artifact of the era in which it was created. There’s a lot of forward thinking effects work and computer animation here, along with some truly stunning and groundbreaking designs by the likes of Syd Mead (Blade Runner) and Moebius (Alien). The visuals, combined with concepts of the digital world that few could even conceive of at the time, years before the personal computer would be commonplace, entitle Tron to its place among the pantheon of important and influential sci-fi films of all time.
I’m sure I don’t need to describe in detail how beautiful Tron: Legacy looks on Blu-ray. It’s a reference quality disc up and down, though the visuals might prove a tad dark for some to use this as demo material. The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, on the other hand, proves to be just the kind of pitch-perfect sound track to show off your audio setup. Tron: The Original Classic is the real surprise here, from a technical standpoint. Disney has really done a bang-up job restoring and remastering this film for Blu. I’m astounded at the detail, the vivid colours, the deep blacks and the overall cleanliness of this transfer. It’s stunning! The only factors of the visual presentation that betray the films age are the visual effects. Groundbreaking as they were in 1982 they look dated now. But that’s not such a bad thing. As a film fan I’m happy to be able to see the effect work cleaned up and looking better than ever, preserved for posterity in a transfer that Disney and their Blu-ray team should be proud of. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 isn’t quite as robust as its modern sequel but sounds great just the same, especially for its age.
Now, let’s talk about the special features on these discs. In short, Tron: The Original Classic is stacked with a ton of extras carried over from the 2002 DVD with some brand new, excellent retrospective stuff thrown in for good measure. Tron: Legacy falls short, featuring a handful of neat stuff like a short follow-up to the film, Disney Second Screen and some featurettes but lacking the lengthy “Making Of” doc, commentary or Picture-in-Picture track needed to really delve into the production.
The features on the Tron: The Original Classic Blu-ray are comprehensive, including a great, feature length “making of” doc, director and production team commentary track, deleted scenes, development art, animation, tests and so much more. This is a great package of goodies, topped off by newly produced featurettes – a retrospective look at the original film called ‘The TRON Phenomenon‘ and ‘Photo Tronology‘ (watch a clip in the video above), a visit to the Disney archives to uncover classic Tron materials with director Steven Lisberger and his son, Carl Lisberger. Quality stuff, all around.
Legacy serves up decidedly fewer glimpses behind the curtain and suffers for it. ‘The Next Day: Flynn Lives Revealed‘ seems to be the star of the show here – a Blu-ray exclusive extension of the film with an interactive element (read: more footage available, including a hint of what we might see in Tron 3 if you press the right buttons at the right time) – but comes off feeling like a cheap clip-show, integrating only a few moments of new footage that could be meaningful to the story. The featurettes (watch clips above and below) provide around half-an-hour of interviews and behind the scenes glimpses but feel as if they really only scratch the surface of the production. I get the feeling that there’s a lot left unsaid. In fact, there’s barely a mention of Daft Punk and their amazing score anywhere in the special features. Well, outside of the “Derezzed” music video, that is.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the excellent Second Screen feature, the downloadable interactive iPad or PC application that’s chock full of production art, behind the scenes videos and interactive features, making this something of a visual-commentary track. I didn’t find that the Tron: Legacy app sucked me in as deeply as the Bambi one but it’s certainly the best thing going when it comes to the features of the this Blu-ray disc. I honestly hope Disney keeps producing these applications for future releases, continuing to push the limits of what we can expect from the Blu-ray experience.
READ MORE: Tron: Legacy and Tron: The Original Classic Blu-ray disc details
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