tron legacy

I know you're bummed that you missed out on that wicked awesome velcro Tron wallet during the recent Flynn Lives viral campaign, but don't worry, the world of Tron Legacy collectible memorabilia has not ended yet. If you head over to Arcade Aid you can find a little Tron Legacy mini-game that could net you an ENCOM employee ID badge.

All you have to do is scroll through their visual puzzle and correctly identify the 56 classic games referenced within. It sounds pretty easy. Once you've proven that a lifetime's worth of playing video games has finally paid off, you'll be taken to a screen that will ask what you want on your badge. And then through the magic of the US Postal Service, you'll eventually find a real life ENCOM badge in your mail box.

Simple enough, no? Happy Hunting.

Hold on to your butts. The trailer for Tron Legacy has arrived, ready to melt your brain into a useless puddle of goo until December 17, 2010 rolls around and we can actually see the whole thing.

I love everything about this trailer. I love that it's a straight-up sequel to Tron, while being completely accessible to a new audience. I love the newly-designed look of the computer world, a look that somehow manages to be completely original while never betraying the original designs. I love the way it's shot, the way it's cut, and the music cues. It's a perfect, gorgeous tease.

What do you think? Has this added Tron Legacy to your list of 2010's must-sees or does it feel like just another 3D reboot?

(I consider myself a pretty serious movie fan. But the simple fact of the matter is that I miss stuff. Famous and interesting stuff. But not for long! Welcome to the column where I continue my film education before your very eyes. I will seek out and watch all of the movies I know I should have seen by now. I will first "review" the movie before I've watched it, based entirely on its reputation. Then I will give the movie a fair chance and actually watch it. You will laugh at me, you may condemn me, but you will never say I didn't try!)

The Film:



Starring:

Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner and Cindy Morgan

Why I Haven't Seen It Until Now:

I grew up on a steady diet of Indiana Jones, James Bond and Marty McFly. 1980s live-action Disney films couldn't have felt less appealing to a kid like me.

Pre-Viewing:

Tron is a fascinating but tremendously dated and ultimately boring film that hit a specific generation at the exact right moment to have a lasting impact. Like The Goonies, this is a film that coasts on nostalgia and rose-tinted childhood memories and those who loved it as children have yet to realize just how bad it really is.

Jeff Bridges stars as an adventurous computer programmer who enters the computer world known as TRON, where he engages in a bunch of lame video game challenges, culminating in the famous light cycle sequence. There is little plot to speak of and what is there feels like filler to connect the various special effects sequences, which may have been impressive in 1982, but are borderline unwatchable today.

Ultimately, I can see how Tron was a major step forward for visual effects, but outside of that, it's an empty, plotless mess with little to offer me and I'm only watching it because the trailer for Tron Legacy looks pretty nifty.

Post-Viewing:

Okay, put those stones down. I was way off.

Blue Sky reports that Disney is moving forward with a CG-animated television series set in the world of Tron Legacy that would serve as a way to keep the franchise alive between live-action sequels to the feature film. A computer-generated cartoon about programs with personalities, fighting evil in a cybernetic world within a computer? Sounds like Tron is not the only thing getting a reboot, but ReBoot as well. Of course I realize that Tron came first, but there's a younger generation out there with fonder memories of ReBoot than of the twenty-eight year-old cult film Tron. It'll be interesting to see how Disney sets the show apart -- will it keep the darker look of the upcoming film and will it be geared towards adult fans or the Saturday morning crowd?

Tron Legacy hits theatres on December 17, 2010.

The 3D and IMAX train keeps on a'rollin.' When will it stop? Beats me. I'm going to say, oh, about 2013. Unless the world ends in 2012 and then we'll have bigger things to worry about than $15 ticket prices.

Two new reports on the future of cinema today, but I'm combining them into one article for your reading pleasure (and because I'm not sure if they're all that interesting separate, but together, you have a tasty morsel of movie news).

The first is that Guillermo Del Toro's soon-to-begin-production (I hope and think) The Hobbit may very well go 3D. Awhile back, Mr. Del Toro clearly and plainly stated that there were no discussions about The Hobbit going 3D and that if there ever were, he'd make sure we knew right away. Avatar came, saw and conquered and Del Toro is a man of his word. You can read his original posting over at The One Ring or you can be like me and check out Coming Soon, which places all of this in a more helpful context.

The second bit of today's "Movie-Going Experience of the Future!" news comes from /Film, where they confirm that Tron Legacy will pull a Dark Knight and have five sequences shot exclusively for IMAX. If you've seen a movie in IMAX before, you know (or at least should know) that the IMAX screen is shaped for a 1.7:1 ratio while most movies are shot in 2.35:1 or 1.85:1 these days. This results in black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. If you saw The Dark Knight in IMAX, you surely remember how the entire screen was suddenly filled for key action scenes and shots. I remember because it was dizzying, disorienting and amazing. I'll let you follow that link for the technical details and I'll just say "Cool! Big pictures!"

I'm not quite sold on 3D but I am sold on IMAX, so I'm going to call this a mixed bag of goodies. If Del Toro does pursue 3D (or if he's forced into it), I hope they shoot in 3D and don't convert in post. That will mean the difference between crystal clear, Avatar 3D and washed out, blurry, migraine-inducing 3D. As for the guys on Tron Legacy...let's see that trailer already!

Tron Legacy is not coming out for a whole ten months, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything to talk about. Take these two photos released by Disney; Jeff Bridges, hot off his academy award nomination for Crazy Heart, is looking rather serious with some sort of glowing halo on his back. Below are Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund in what appears to be a potentially romantic scene.

These are the only two pictures in the Disney press kit, so it's barely a taste, and they hardly qualify as teasers. I'm hoping we get a whole lot more in the near future. I'm interested to see how Hedlund fares in his role, as he's not had much of a chance to show his strengths as an actor, with Troy and Eragon, although I liked him in Friday Night Lights and Four Brothers. Wilde is a better known entity, with plenty of TV work (House, The Black Donnelly's, The O.C.). Now we have the lesser knowns pictured, how about some Michael Sheen, hmmm? Or James Frain, or even Bruce Boxleitner, who was in the original Tron with Bridges? Please?

I promise the drool-inducing above image of War Machine from Iron Man 2 is not meant to throw off the voting. There's just a metric ton of great-sounding genre stuff coming out in 2010, and I'd really like to know if there's one film, more than any other, that folks are dying to see.

The movie I'm the most curious about is Tron Legacy -- though I don't know that it's my most anticipated. I have high hopes for Iron Man 2 (of course) and Clash of the Titans (ohgodpleaseletitbeawesome), but there's something about that upcoming Tron reboot/sequel that makes me get weirdly geeky. Maybe it's because the first one is one of those films that I want to love more than I actually do. It's looks so damned cool, I often forget how the plot is slower than a 300 baud modem. I think there's only room for improvement with a new Tron, and the images are, frankly, blowing me away. I don't know if I can hold out for a whole year...

What sci-fi/fantasy films are you most anticipating in 2010?

[Welcome to the Sci-Fi Lunch Break, where we'll be supplying you with a cool bit of audio/visual goodness to break up the monotony of the work day. You bring the turkey on rye, we'll bring you something out of this world to watch while you eat it.]

Spike TV held their annual Video Game Awards presentation the other day and while there were some actual awards given out, the main reason to watch the show was for the first-look trailer debuts for upcoming games. I've sifted through the lot of them and cherry picked all the genre-friendly ones, of which there were quite a few.

Making an appearance were Tron Evolution (the tie-in release for the film Tron Legacy), Batman: Arkham Asylum 2, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Crackdown 2, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. All of them are nice, glossy bits of marketing that should appeal to fans of the respective franchises, but it was The Force Unleashed 2 that really knew how to throw down a gauntlet (LucasFilm may not be banging it out these days, but LucasGames sure is) by capping off with a nice throwback to an icon from Return of the Jedi.

And the rest aren't too shabby, either.

IO9 posted this little video earlier today for Tron Legacy. I am not a gamer, but I have to say this intrigues me. I'm a fan of the original movie, and this makes me excited about the sequel to one of the most innovative films in decades.

While the original characters and light cycles were state of the art at the time, the new characters have advanced significantly, looking "super sleek" as Meredith at IO9 points out. Back in 1982, when Tron was released, color graphics adapters were still brand spanking new, so this is an incredible update. According to the report, a longer clip will be shown on December 12th at the Spike Video Game Awards.

Watch the video game sneak peek after the jump.

Not long after the Tron Legacy panel, an awesome teaser trailer arrived online for the sequel. If you're a fan of the original, you'll love this -- and if you've never seen Tron, then I highly suggest you pick that sucker up and watch it before the sequel crashes into theaters next year. The effects here look amazing, and these are only preliminary -- can you imagine what this will look like in 3D? I think we know what next year's most anticipated sci-fi flick will be ... Here's the just-released synopsis:

"TRON is a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that's unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (GARRETT HEDLUND), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (JEFF BRIDGES), looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin's loyal confidant (OLIVIA WILDE), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous."

Tron Legacy hits theaters in 2010. Watch the teaser trailer after the jump.