William Quincy Belle: Movie Preview: Tron: Legacy

Friday 26 November 2010

Movie Preview: Tron: Legacy

In 1982, a computer generated looking film named Tron came out of the Disney studios with a style never before seen. In the era of Star Wars, this film had a very unique look and considering the state of special effects in 1982, it was a pretty good look too.

Fast forward to 2010, 28 years later and we are about to witness the return to Tron but with the developments of the past decades in the area of special effects with IMAX and 3D. If the trailers are any indication of what we're all in for, this is going to be a visual feast. I am pumped.

How much better could this film be? The original 1982 was made with a budget of $17 million. The budget of Tron Legacy has been pegged at $170 million; a tenfold increase!

The official web site offers activities relating to various parts of the movie as seen in the trailers. I note that you must install a "Unity plug-in" to get "high quality interactive 3D content". You can ride a light cycle - you control the cycle using your keyboard - watch the latest trailer, listen to the soundtrack music by Daft Punk, play games and download posters, wallpapers and "buddy icons". There are lots of other miscellaneous things to explore; it's a nerd's delight.

A video game Tron: Evolution is to be released on December 7, 2010 as part of the movie marketing blitz. It will be available on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Wii and Nintendo.

So with various things to occupy us in the run-up to the movie, we can carefully plan out our visit to the cinema for this long awaited sequel to the original. My advice? Don't even bother to see it in a normal theatre. Hold out for IMAX. This is going to be visually stunning and I'm definitely going to see it on the big screen. I want to get my senses blasted and coupled with big sound, this looks very well like the film to do it.

December 17, 2010

Scotiabank, downtown Toronto

IMAX

3D

You will see this: