Tron Legacy (Blu-ray + DVD) [Region Free]

Once upon a time....Long, long ago....I was a teenager.That was in a time now long forgotten.A time dimly remembered in myth and legend.And referred to only as: The 1980's.If you were a teenager at the start of the 1980's [although this was mostly the male ones] you loved visiting amusement arcades and shovelling ten pence piece after ten pence piece into the latest console [or coin op as we also called them] game. You thought computers were the most amazing things ever and that they would change the world.And you went to see the original Tron film at the cinema because it promised utterly amazing and mind blowing visuals and stunning special effects.Well, they pretty much were by the standard of the time.Nobody prepared you to consider what the script might be like.Nevertheless, Tron has a cult following. Thanks to that, a belated sequel has finally appeared. Presumably also thanks to that it's a sequel rather than another remake of a 1980's movie. So thanks to that indeed.There is enough exposition for those who haven't seen the original to get into it, but you're probably better off seeing the original first, in order to get more out of the story.Tron Legacy opens with Kevin Flynn, hero of the original, having made good via trading in on the story of what happened there. Something that has become a favourite bedtime story for his young son Sam. Who has a roomfull of all the Tron posters and merchandise that has made his dad rich. And look very familiar to fans of the original. Which is a nice touch.Jeff Bridges plays Kevin again. And the first clear look we get at him shows that he still looks the same as he did back then. Thanks of course to the wonders of digital technology. This first shot does grab the attention.Does Tron finally have the visuals we all dreamed of back then?But Kevin vanishes. Sam grows up. And finds himself in a world that's all too familiar. A world where mega corporations rule the computing industry and dream only of their profit margins. A world of videos of animals doing cute and/or funny things being internet sensations. And where the pioneers of the 1980's are now old men marginalised in the boardrooms of the companies they helped to create. [A nice performance from Bruce Boxleitner, returning to his role of Alan from the original.]Sam's trying to do something about this, but then a mysterious message sends him to a long forgotten video games arcade. And beyond. Into the world he'd only ever been told about. A world that has become as dark as the real one. Kevin Flynn's bold attempt to change things has been corrupted. And the fight to survive is on...Visually this does do so much that original couldn't. But of course the dvd doesn't have 3d big screen effects. Nevertheless whilst the light cycle and disc throwing battles do look good, the colour scheme of the whole thing isn't the brightest. Which does fit the storyline. But it means it's not quite as stunning as you might have expected. Rather like the original.The effect of digitising Jeff Bridges to make him look younger comes into play throughout, but whilst it does work fine his character in the bulk of the film wears a black body suit with no neckline. And thus it takes a lot of getting used to as it rather looks as if they've just superimposed film of his younger self onto another actor.A movie of chases and escapes and battling villainy and treachery with the occasional action set piece ensues.It does all this quite well.But where it succeeds is in it's resonance. Because it will strike a chord with those teenagers of the early 1980's. Those who've seen the computing future they dreamed of not quite turn out to be what they expected. We can, like the villain of the piece here, cling to the past, or we can learn from our experiences. As Kevin Flynn does.So for that reason, this is quite a successful piece of work. Jeff Bridges aquits himself very well in a role that requires him to do quite a lot of different things. And he gets able support from Olivia Wilde as a denizen of the computer world, who has a couple of lovely little scenes where she shows how desperate she is to know more of the real world.Garrett Hedlund plays the grown up Sam in a role that doesn't really stretch him too much. But watch for Michael Sheen in a supporting role having the most fun you might expect he's ever had on a movie.So it's still not quite the visual spectacular it could be, but the thought provoking parts of the script will make this a good experience for those of the right age.The disc has the following language and subtitle options:Languages: English, Spanish, Hindi.Subtitles: English, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Portugese.English audio description.It begins with several trailers and adverts that you can skip via hitting the next button on the dvd remote.There are more adverts in the sneak peeks section of the extras.But there aren't many more extras beyond that:A one minute long trailer for a forthcoming animated series called Tron Uprising.A four minute long advert for 3d hd dvd, featuring two characters from the Lion King.Plus two eleven minute long features:Visualising Tron: All about the genesis and production of this movie.Installing the cast: All about the cast members and their characters.Both are pretty brief but perhaps because of that do manage to be well paced and pack some interesting information in.

Visual Effects were very good and film was more than watchable but the story line and how they executed it let it down a bit. A bit more imagination could have made this film a masterpiece. 6 or 7 out of 10 for me. Please be aware that you need to watch the original Tron to understand Tron Legacy.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Tron and Tron Legacy was the film that 100% convinced me that 3D is a gimmick (I was 99% sure before this) but I do love Tron Legacy. It is a film that works best when you really don't think about it. The story is all kinds of silly but it works because the entire concept is a bit silly.Garrett Hedlund does an ok job of the lead but he is wasn't the most charismatic lead of all time (or even 2010). Jeff Bridges as Sam Flynn always had charisma and it shows here, he is the key to the story and does a good job in a role he could have chewed up the scenery with. As Clu he does go scenery chewing and whilst it might have worked without the CGI (which is the weaked CGI in the film) but it doesn't quite work. For me Olivia Wilde is the stand out of all the actors, she brings a fun, child like innocence to the film as well as much needed comic relief. Michael Sheen is way over the top and the rest of the cast are just there doing a job but really this isn't the kind of film you go to see to warch Oscar winning performances.Visually the film is stunning, not since Blade Runner can I remember a film that looked a visually pleasing. Most of the effects are great, with the exception of Clu, who looks too CGI, for some reason. The editing is generally good, most of the time it works well but there is an occasional horror of a cut, which just jars for a couple of seconds. The film does run slightly long but at no time does it feel flat or boring.Easily the best part of the film is the score and in many ways it feels like a 2 hour music video for Daft Punk. It is truly exceptional and I would easily give the album 5 stars. What I truly can't understand was how the score wasn't Oscar nominated.Overall it isn't the perfect film but I have watched it many times and always enjoyed it. If you want the best film of all time, then this isn't it, if you want something silly and fun, it is worth a watch.The DVD quality is good, not up there with Blu ray but with up scaling looks impressive. Extras are a bit lacking which is a pity as this would be a good film to see all the extras on.