Tonight, I was able to attend TRON NIGHT 2010, a screening of 23 minutes from the upcoming Tron: Legacy (due out December 17th).  Tickets were given out for free on www.tronnight2010.com, and went very quickly.

I can’t lie, I don’t remember much about the original Tron, save for some of the iconic imagery.  Still, the trailers for the new film have blown me away, to the point that the new film is definitely one of my most anticipated films of 2010.  So I’ve been psyched about TRON NIGHT for weeks now.

My wife and I got to the theater an hour early (yes, for 20 minutes worth of footage), and there was already a short line waiting.  What surprised me is that, for as little as I remember the first film, more than half of the people in line were probably not even born when the original film was released.

After taking my cell phone back to the car (they weren’t allowed at all in the theater), we were given some posters, and wrist bands.  Pounded with the incredible sound of IMAX 3D, the preview began….

The footage consisted of a number of scenes from the upcoming movie…

  • Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), son of the original’s Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) meets with surrogate father Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner).  Alan tells Sam that he’s received a page from Kevin from his old office at the arcade.  Sam investigates, and finds a secret lab hidden behind an old Tron video game…
  • Sam is captured in the world of Tron and given a video game identity and costume by a bunch of hot chicks dressed in white.
  • Sam is taken to an arena, where he has a spectacular fight with discs
  • The escape – Quorra (Olivia Wilde) saves Sam and they escape into what appears to be a rebel base
  • Sam is reunited with his father
  • Random clips of the motorbike races and an aerial dogfight

Last year, I was able to attend a similar 20-minute preview for Avatar, and left the preview unimpressed.  I can say that, with Tron Legacy, I was absolutely blown away.  The IMAX 3D presentation was spectacular, the special effects absolutely amazing.

I do have a bit of a worry that the film, at least in snippets, does appear to come off a bit cold, with a focus on spectacle moreso than warmth and character.  Still, I know some reshoots were done after some screenings with Brad Bird (director of The Incredibles) to add that very thing to the film, so it may just be that the scenes shone were just meant to show off the spectacle, more than anything else.

I’ll be there at the midnight showing, seeing this flick in IMAX 3D…I can’t even express how impressive the clips were.  Plus, it’s got Olivia Wilde.

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