Tron: Legacy Blu-ray 3D and Tron: The Original Classic Blu-ray Review

The 5-disc combo pack release of Tron: Legacy on Blu-ray 3D that includes Tron: The Original Classic on Blu-ray is an unusual pairing in that nearly 30 years separate the release of the cult classic original and its sleeker, bigger and modernized sequel. If not for a massive digital restoration job on the original Tron, it would have been painfully harsh jumping from one film to the next.

Tron is a film whose premise reaches far beyond the execution. Its ideas about computers, networking, hacking, users, programs, and so on are far more relevant to today’s world than the pre-computer literate generation movie audiences of the early 1980s. In that respect, Tron and its digital frontier stands the test of time.

Inside the world of a massive computer network i.e. “grid” at the Encom corporation is where Tron is its greatest triumph and worst enemy. Some of the almost neon-visuals, especially in the interior of tanks and an arena where discs of light disappear from under combatants’ feet when struck by the opponent’s identity disc, still look impressive even by today’s standards. Falling far short of any standards is universally hokey dialogue and lack of depth to any of the characters beyond their primary objectives. The good guys want to wipe out the bad guys, and vice versa, and that’s the extent of it. Even the main conflict between rival developers Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) and Dillinger, the man who stole Flynn’s video game designs, is a one-note play.

Tron: Legacy introduces more complex and compelling scenarios than Tron, but still struggles to take full advantage of the groundwork that’s been laid out. There’s potential for a fascinating father/son dynamic between Kevin and his son Sam that never fully matures. The female lead, this time played by Olivia Wilde, is as underutilized as Cindy Morgan’s Lori from the original. Most unforgiving is the glossing over of Tron himself, such an integral component in the original relegated to an almost nondescript cameo-role in Legacy.

The real star of Tron: Legacy is unsurprisingly what takes place on the grid: more lightcycle battles, Identity Disc matches and new to the franchise, aerial combat. Modern computer animation makes all of these computer-world spectacles look light years beyond the original film’s similar sequences, especially in 1080p high definition and with Daft Punk’s excellent score pushing the intensity and a computer-generated younger version of Bridges as the villain, Clu. In some respect, Legacy is as much an homage and partial redo of Tron as it is a true sequel due to these similar action-oriented story beats.

Tron: Legacy 3D Presentation

Tron: Legacy’s exemplary 1080p high definition video quality in 2D carries over to the 3D presentation, but there’s bound to be some polarizing reactions to the multi-dimensional effectiveness depending on what kind of 3D trips your trigger.

The 3D version of Tron: Legacy begins with a disclaimer stating that portions of the film were shot in 2D and will be presented as such. These portions are the real-world segments of the film in their entirety, a welcome creative decision to further contrast the two distinctive worlds. Shooting the real-world sequences in 3D would have offered little, if any improvement other than a more consistent 3D presentation throughout as Disney’s other recent Blu-ray 3D release Tangled offers. The grid portions, however, scream for the 3D treatment.

Once Sam Flynn enters the grid, the 3D springs to life and there’s no mistaking its presence versus the more flat 2D reality. The depth at times is what you’d expect from 3D, most often during the IMAX sequences when the aspect ratio shifts to 1.85:1 and you get your full screen real estate for the 3D effect to work its magic. There’s no ghosting, crosstalk or other anomalies that might detract from the 3D.

On the downside, there’s nothing in the way of “wow” moments that some other top-tier Blu-ray 3D titles bring to the table. The lightcycle, Identity Disc and aerial battles are enhanced by 3D, but there are better examples of 3D floating around in the marketplace. It’s as if 3D was an afterthought in the production process rather than a primary directive, a shame considering the grid world is perfectly suited for mind-blowing 3D effects.

More impressive than either visual presentation of Tron: Legacy is the 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio sound mix. Skywalker Ranch has already anointed Tron: Legacy as the loudest mix they’ve ever recorded and hearing it on Blu-ray backs up that claim. The perfect audio begins with the chilling Daft Punk electronica score and extends through fantastic localization of sounds, thunderous bass and many reasons to rewind and “listen” again as much as “see” again. The Inception soundtrack is fantastic, but Tron: Legacy ups the bar another notch.

Tron High-Def Presentation

For Tron: The Original Classic, Disney has gone back and digitally restored the original video and audio elements with remarkable results. The 1080p video is now extremely clean which, to some, might raise a red flag given the film’s 1982 original release. No artifacts or film grain while on the grid is how a computer-generated world should look, and in that respect the Tron transfer is a resounding success. The early animation style does result in some blooming of colors from the suits and noticeable edge enhancement at times on the grid, but none of those issues are present in the real-world segments.

Tron’s new 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is marked improvement over the previously released DVD. Dialogue can lack punch and suffer from too much directionality at times, but the surround use and extended bass when on the grid is a marked improvement. All sorts of digital bleeps and noises are almost continually coming at you from all directions.

Tron: Legacy Beyond the Feature

Tron: Legacy is the more expensive, more profitable, and more relevant film to today’s audiences. Yet in a bizarre twist, its HD bonus features are actually inferior to those of Tron: The Original Classic. There is volume in the content including some neat looks ahead to what might be expected from Tron 3. Considering all the build-up and hype surrounding Legacy’s special effects and most notably bringing Clu to life, you would have thought there would be extensive featurettes detailing the process. There aren’t, nor is there a single commentary track allowing any of the filmmakers to talk about it in context with the film or a separate audio mix for Daft Punk’s score.

The Next Day: Flynn Lives Revealed – A sneak peek into the events that occur shortly after Legacy ends.

First Look at Tron: Uprising – Another sneak peek, this one into the upcoming Tron animated series.

Music Video – The Daft Punk ‘Derezzed’ video.

Disc Roars – Director Joseph Kosinski gets the Comic-Con crowd roaring.

Launching the Legacy – Finally some making-of material, this first of three featurettes running approximately 10 minutes each is a series of interviews in which the filmmakers talk about how they became interested in the project and got it off the ground.

Visualizing Tron: Legacy – The costume and production designers talk about how they created a new look for Legacy while still paying homage to the original Tron.

Installing the Cast – Brief interviews with the two original cast members, Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner, as well as the new group including Michael Sheen, Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund,

Disney Second Screen – An iPad or PC feature that adds some picture-in-picture functionality to the feature presentation.

Tron: The Original Classic Beyond the Feature

The original Tron may run a half hour shorter than its sequel, but it’s packing around 5 hours of bonus material, some of it all-new for this Blu-ray debut. The filmmaker audio commentary and making-of materials missing from Legacy are present here in this complete collection of supplements. I’ve touched upon the all-new HD additions below.

Audio Commentary – Director Steve Lisberger, producer Donald Kushner , and visual effects directors Richard Taylor and Harrison Ellenshaw deliver a casual yet informative conversation about the filmmaking process and decisions made during production.

Photo Tronology – Lisberger takes his son to the Disney archives to look over and discuss old archival photographs. It’s an unusual but neat addition.

The Tron Phenomenon – The film’s cast and crew reflect about the film they all love and how it has become more admired by fans than they imagined it would.

The following are the previously available Tron: The Original Classic DVD bonus features.

  • Early Development featurette
  • Computers are People, Too featurette
  • Early Animation featurette
  • Early Video Tests featurette
  • Gallery of imagery
  • Digital Imagery in Tron featurette
  • Beyond Tron featurette
  • Backlight Animation featurette
  • The Role of Triple I featurette
  • Triple I Demo
  • Three Deleted Scenes
  • The Making of Tron – runs nearly as long as the film
  • 4 Design vignettes
  • 5 Storyboarding vignettes
  • Discarded music
  • Trailer and NATO presentation reel

Also included are Tron: Legacy on DVD and a digital copy of Tron: Legacy. Tron: The Original Classic on DVD is not included.

Tron: Legacy on Blu-ray 3D is a meaty package that’s thick in some areas and thin in others. Legacy has arguably the best audio available on Blu-ray to date yet the bonus features fall short. Tron: The Original Classic is improved in the features and presentation, but as a film doesn’t completely stand the test of time.

I’ve yet to see Avatar 3D in its entirety on Blu-ray 3D so that hardware exclusive release aside, the grid combat portions of Tron: Legacy land it just under Tangled as the Blu-ray 3D demo your hand should reach for first. That, combined with owning both Tron films in a single package, makes this big 5-disc set the one to own whether you already own Blu-ray 3D hardware or plan to in the future.

– Dan Bradley

Purchase Tron: Legacy on Blu-ray 3D with Tron: The Original Classic on Blu-ray included for a discounted price at Amazon.com.

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