On October 28 Tron fans were treated to an early glimpse into the upcoming Disney movie Tron: Legacy.  Across the world select IMAX 3D theatres hosted TRON NIGHT, “a free exclusive 20+ minute sneak peek” of the movie.  I attended the special screening tonight, and here is a summary interjected with my impressions.

When I got to the theatre about an hour before the 7PM screening, there was already a small line forming.  While movie-goers waited on line we were handed Tron swag including promotional material about the size of a postcard; one is an image of Daft Punk in costume promoting the upcoming Tron soundtrack and the other is an image of a Tron program character and on the other side a promotion for an Asus laptop (they sponsored the event).  We were also required to check-in and wear a bracelet with the TRON NIGHT logo on it.  Don’t think I’ll be taking that off any time soon.  Before entering the IMAX 3D theatre, we were forced to leave our cell phones behind (for obvious reasons) and a security officer quickly scanned our bodies with a wand to make sure we weren’t harboring any electronic devices.  Crazy, right?  After receiving a pair of 3D glasses, we entered the theatre and took our (perfect!) seats.

A minute before showtime the event coordinator welcomed everyone to the screening and implored us to share our excitement for Tron: Legacy with friends and on the Internet (what do you think I’m doing right now?).  The lights went dim and we were presented with a brief message from the movie’s director Joseph Kosinski.  In a typed note, he told us that the scenes we were about to see take place in the first half of the movie and that it is OK to wear the 3D glasses during the 2D scenes.  Just in case you are not aware of this, the “real world” scenes were shot in 2D and the “Tron universe” scenes are in 3D.  After this brief introduction the sneak preview started right away (that’s right–no trailers).  The 23 minutes of (not entirely) never-before-seen footage was split into five scenes.  I will detail them as best I can below.

Scene 20: Sam’s Garage– This first scene was set in the “real world”, so it was shot in 2D but still looked brilliant with 3D glasses on (as the director promised it would).  The scene takes place in Sam Flynn’s (Garrett Hedlund) garage.  You’d recognize this scene from the trailer.  In it Sam and Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) engage in conversation and Alan tells Sam that he received a page from Flynn’s arcade.  Alan: “These are the keys to the arcade.  I haven’t gone over there yet.  I thought you should be the one.”  Sam: “Alan, you’re acting like I’m gonna find him sitting there working.  Just, ‘hey kiddo, lost track of time.'”  These lines are in the trailer, you’re starting to remember now.

This next part is included in Scene 20, but it sure felt like an entirely new setting as it took place elsewhere.  It cuts from Sam’s garage to the vacant and dusty Flynn’s Arcade.  Sam decided to take Alan’s advice and check out where the mysterious page could have come from.  Sam finds the circuit breaker and turns on the building’s power.  All of the arcade games light up and make so much noise.  On top of this Jouney’s “Separate Ways” plays loudly from the arcade’s sound system.  Sam looks at the dusty old Tron arcade machine and decides to play a round.  He inserts a quarter but it falls to the ground.  He is curious about a precise crack in the floor and manages to move the Tron machine to reveal a hidden passageway behind it.  Inside he finds a door with a key occupied in its hole and he enters a room.  It appears to be his father’s secret office where he stored a certain computer.  Sam looks around the room and we are shown images of a young Sam with his now-missing father and a blueprint labeled “Grid.”  Sam sits down at the touchscreen computer desk, wipes a thick layer of dust off it, and it turns on from standby mode.  He begins to type away but has no luck accessing the system since he doesn’t know the login information.  “Let’s try the back door,” he whispers to himself.  All of a sudden, a large laser projector-like machine turns on behind him.  It emits this whirring sound and suddenly a bright white light flashes and the scene ends. Continue reading TRON NIGHT summary & impressions →