TRON: LEGACY / TRON: THE ORIGINAL CLASSIC (FIVE-DISC COMBO: BLU-RAY 3D / BLU-RAY / DVD / DIGITAL COPY) (2010)

• First Look at TRON: Uprising, the Disney XD animated series
• Visualizing TRON - How did the filmmakers bring to life the gorgeous world inside the GRID?
• Installing the cast - Hear from all the stars of TRON: Legacy and their experience in making the movie
• The Next Day: Flynn Lives Revealed [BD Exclusive - Interactive bonus piece] - What happens immediately following the end of the movie? What is Flynn Lives and who is responsible for their efforts?
• TRON: Disney Second Screen [BD Exclusive - Interactive bonus piece] - Using your iPad or computer, watch the movie with exclusive interactive elements available on your 2nd screen
• Launching the Legacy - Beyond the amazing visuals is a rich story filled with an entire world's history and mythology. Discover how the writers and filmmakers created this complex fiction
• Disc Roars - Watch director Joseph Kosinski use the raucous crowd at Comic-Con to record actual ADR for the disc game stadium crowd
• Music video - "Derezzed" written, produced, and performed by Daft Punk

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Calling TRON Legacy great is a long way from calling it perfect . . .

By the cold light of day, it suffers from significant problems. Its storyline adheres to the original TRON too closely, its universe doesn’t always make sense, and star Garrett Hedlund struggles to register against the likes of Jeff Bridges and Olivia Wilde. Adult sensibilities pick up on these problems instantly, and if you come into it with an excess of cynicism, the results are bound to disappoint.

But on a simpler level – the level of wide-eyed innocence, and of the ten-year-olds we all used to be – the film becomes a wonder. Its inside-the-computer world soars with imagination and energy, delivering awe-inspiring vistas of light and power, along with breathtaking updates of the original film’s set pieces. Its storyline taps into primal themes - flawed gods, monsters run amuck and children seeking desperately for their lost parents – that girds the sound and light show with mythic power. Its plot holes gape wide at times, but they only become stumbling blocks if you let them. The remainder simply takes the breath away.

In the “flawed gods” department, we have Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), maverick game designer of the original TRON who spent the intervening years building a whole new universe inside a computer system. His chief architect/progeny is CLU (also Bridges), who satisfies the “monsters run amuck” equation when he decides that his creator is dangerously flawed and orchestrates a virtual coup. Flynn remains trapped inside the computer – adopting the persona of a Zen guru - while CLU remakes his fellow “programs” into minions of a crypto-fascist dictatorship. Enter Flynn’s son Sam (Hedlund): drawn into the computer world by CLU in an effort to bait Flynn out of hiding.

Director Joseph Kosinski surrounds that with all manner of chases and battles, boosted by a good eye for spectacle and truly extraordinary music from Daft Punk. That last element proves crucial, for without it, the film might have lost much of its dramatic resonance. But with it, the deeper elements of the screenplay come to the forefront and let us engage in TRON Legacy as something other than a fireworks display. The world becomes as real as Oz and Star Wars, carrying with it a fascination undimmed by over two decades of waiting. Like its protagonists, we’re pulled into it without thinking, bound by its vision in a state of abject awe.

In that light, pointing out its inescapable flaws does little more than kill the fun. TRON Legacy can’t exist as an adult concept: at least the jaded, skeptical adult who knows it for the corporate product it truly is. But the child-like wonder it engenders is no marketing trick: it earns its spurs as a first-rate Hollywood roller-coaster ride, and holds up extremely well for home viewing. If you don’t trust the source, don’t buy the ticket – you won’t gain anything from it, and the film’s defenders won’t deny your trepidation. But if you’re willing to forgive it just a little, it delivers a whole lot in return: as much as its predecessor and more than enough to rank it among the better science fiction films in recent years.

THE DISC: Disney is releasing multiple versions of the film, featuring copies on multiple platforms.

At the top of the list is a five-disc version, containing (big breath) a Blu-ray copy, a DVD copy, a digital copy and a Blu-ray 3D copy specifically for 3D televisions. It also contains a Blu-ray version of the original TRON, fully restored and looking better than ever. Both films contain copious extra materials, behind-the-scenes details, test shots, art galleries and similar bells and whistles. The TRON Blu-ray has all the extras from the long-gone 20th anniversary DVD, as well as a brief new documentary connecting it more firmly to the second film. Sound and video on both movies are absolutely gorgeous, porting the experience into the living room with nary a pixel lost. (Note that all of the special features are on the Blu-ray discs, so you won’t lose them if you pick a less expensive Blu-ray set.)

WORTH IT? By all means. Disney has pulled out all the stops to deliver a first-rate home entertainment experience, and even those less than thrilled by the movie itself will admire how good it looks and sounds on Blu-ray/DVD.

RECOMMENDATION: Though definitely worth buying, you should look closely at the various versions Disney is releasing, and decide which one best fits your needs. In addition to the five-disc version, you can also find a four-disc version (without the original TRON), a two-disc version (containing just the Blu-Ray and DVD of Legacy), a stand-alone DVD version (with one disc and fewer features), a stand-alone DVD of the first TRON, and a two-disc DVD/Blu-Ray combo of the original TRON. (Hard-core fans can also buy a special edition of the five-disc set with a commemorative “identity disc” in addition to the movies themselves.) The five-disc set is worth the money – it costs exactly the same as individual Blu-rays of TRON and TRON Legacy together – but if you don’t need both films and/or don’t want the film on multiple platforms, you may want to purchase a cheaper version.

- Rob Vaux