Tron/Tron Legacy [Blu-ray][Region Free]

Okay, this is a review of the blu-ray, since no one else in the universe seemed to list what was actually in the box.

Tron Legacy:

Yeah either liked the film or you bitched about it, but watching it again last night I found I was just as blown away, with the Blu-Ray, as I was seeing it in 3D at the cinema.
The sound on the Blu-Ray is just immense as is the picture.

The thing that lets the Blu-Ray down is the lack of special features.
There are some nice little things on there, but no-where near enough. No commentaries, no deleted scenes or gag reels, screen test, no music documentaries. All there is is a few featurettes regarding casting, the legacy of Tron and the look of Tron. The only saving grace is a ten minute minisode called "The Next Day" which is set... the day after Tron Lagacy finishes.
But after enjoying the film so much, I kinda want more.

Tron.

The Blu-Ray transfer of the original Tron is just stunning, and they really did a great job on it. There's also some nice extras which don't appear on the two-disc special edition DVD.

So all in all it's a great product, I only wish people would embrace Blu-Ray and make the most of the format buy filling it chock-full of bits n' pieces, just like they did on the Scott Pilgrim Blu-Ray. Also it would have been nice if each of the films had separate slip-covers, but these are just minor gripes.

I have always been a huge fan of the original Tron movie, which in my opinion was one of the most ingenious, underestimated visionary cinematic masterpieces of the `80s, even if it needed years to reach the "niche" cult status it enjoys today... Actually, for all the people that never had the chance to see the original movie, and especially for all the young people that only saw the "sequel" (which actually was just a sort of uninspired remake with up-to-date CGI, IMHO...), I think this offer is unmissable!

Tron Legacy of course looks simply stunning in this Blu-ray, even if it is NOT in 3D, which is even better, IMHO, since the 3D glasses in theatres IMHO took away _a lot_ of brightness and saturation from the polished and contrasted images of this movie. Actually, I enjoyed much _more_ the movie in this Blu-ray, than when I saw it in 3D in a theatre, since I was not distracted by the 3D effects and I could concentrate on aspects like CGI, costumes, design, cinematography, etc.

The picture quality is absolutely first-rate, with minimal grain, perfectly rendered CGI and stark, contrasted colours. (Even if the red/blue neon-like movie colour palette is much more muted and "boring", IMHO, compared to the multicolour-galore that was the original Tron...).

Audio is great too, with a beautiful rendition of the mesmerizing soundtrack (maybe the strongest point of this movie), perfectly balanced with the digital effects.

Extras are definitely limited, unfortunately: I would just recommend to Tron fans that never saw Tron Legacy to watch the short "Flynn Lives" on this disc _before_ watching this movie, since it ties the 2 movies together. The best one is probably the Derezzed music video, which is a _much_ more faithful homage to the original Tron universe, compared to the matrix-like, neon-disco style of Tron Legacy...

Too bad this movie basically sits on itself after the first 45 minutes or so until the ending, IMHO, but considering the very low price of this twin-pack offer, I think you should not miss it, even if you - like me - are just interested in the Blu-ray version of the original Tron.

Regarding the latter, although the 20th year DVD edition was already an extremely fine quality package, with a lot of interesting extras (all included here again, with very few additions), only with _this_ Blu-ray we finally have the chance to re-experience the pure work of art and imagination that was the gorgeous, vibrant, oversaturated universe of the original Tron movie in every minute detail. (Errors included, unfortunately, more on that below...).

Disney made an incredibly good job at transferring this 30-year old picture to Blu-ray, and in my opinion Tron never looked better! Colours (especially the intense reds and blues) are astoundingly brilliant and vivid, backlit drawings, line-art and lighting effects (both digital and hand-drawn) literally _jump_ off the screen, often in stark contrast with the more "coarse" original B/W live-action footage of the actors' faces in the "digital world", (showing a more prominent grain that has nothing to do with the fine grain of this Blu-ray transfer); the level of detail, actually, is so high that even has some interesting side-effects...

In fact, the high resolution of this Blu-ray edition highlights not only the graphic qualities of the movie, but also every wrong matte line, glitch, light flickering, colour banding and moiré pattern that have always been part of the _original_ film. (Technical issues that have been explained at length in the making of the movie.)

In this Blu-ray, actually, even _more_ issues of the original film become evident: for instance, in many digital scenes you can clearly see the vector lines of CGI models _through_ their solid-colour surfaces, as if these models were transparent. Moreover, the fine lines in object edges are so well-defined, that you can even notice the aliased, "jaggy" graphics of some fine-line objects like the Recognizers (remember, no anti-aliasing filters existed at that time...).

You can even spot clearly some still backgrounds repeated and panned over and over to simulate movement (in the Sea of simulation scenes, which in this edition are mesmerizingly beautiful).

All of these issues, anyway, do not detract from the global beautiful picture quality of this transfer, since they have always been there from the start, and they actually contributed in creating the unique "hand-drawn digital" look of this movie.

By the way, all the scenes shot in the real world are transferred perfectly, with an extremely high detail level: you can really appreciate the realistic details of the unique Livermore Laboratory laser sets and the incredible design of the Encom touch-screen glass desk, for instance: a really visionary glimpse into a future 30 years ahead!

Finally, regarding the audio, the new DTS track is extremely good (as was the 5.1 original remastering on DVD), for a movie of this age, and its quality is particularly evident in the electronic score by Wendy Carlos.

In a nutshell, both for Tron and Tron Legacy fans this is really the BEST OF BOTH WORLDS, do not miss it!

End Of Line

Now Tron Legacy was always going to look good on Blu-Ray , or any other format really , but the real gem here is The Original Tron movie that you get with it for an extra couple of quid.
Certainly not the greatest film you'll ever see by a long shot , but the transfer to Blu-Ray is absolutely flawless and really does look as crisp and sharp as if only filmed yesterday.

Have had a few duff Blu-Rays recently where Zero effort has been made to make a film look and sound its best , or have its features skimped on , but Tron really has been lovingly transferred and the fact you get it for what is basically lose change just shows up other companies who do their transfers to SHAME !