tylergfoster

I posted a link above. The "upgrade" is already done. Lisberger oversaw it for 6 weeks some time ago, and he talks about making the tweaks.

LosingMyMind

Some special features have been classified by the BBFC. I'm assuming these will be on the US version as well. A commentary was also classified, but it's unclear if it's an old commentary or new.

Panda Phil

Good old Hollywood. Always catering to a bunch of little bastards who think any movie made before 2000 'Looks stupid'.

Guru Askew

I never saw TRON until about 3 weeks ago. I'd always intended to watch it (it's almost required viewing for a nerd born in '81 like me ) so I purchased the DVD new for under $10 when I saw the "Legacy" trailer in March.

I only got around to watching it after I decided to sell my copy on Amazon.com and I watched it the night before I shipped it off (it went for about $95, by the way) and I have to say that as someone who isn't looking through rose-colored glasses that the movie is incredibly lame and dated and Disney is actually right to supress it in the months leading up to the movie.

The availability of the first movie isn't going to make or break the sequel. Believe it or not the people who obsessively have to "catch up" on something before seeing a sequel are rare. I'm one of them, I missed out on several early "X-Files" episodes and never got back into the show until it was available on DVD for example, but if you ever go see a sequel in theaters and listen to the people around you you'll hear tons of people talking about how they never saw the previous ones, asking their friends who did about them etc. It happens every time. If someone wants to see "Legacy" they're going to see it, at least the overwhelming majority will. The people who refuse to watch it without seeing the predecessor or without seeing it recently are a drop in the bucket in the big picture of this movie's potential audience.

Running this movie on TV or making it readily available for anyone under the age of 30 who isn't already familiar with it, on the other hand, would be a disaster. Even though I'd never seen the entire movie I was well aware of Tron in general and even so I was shocked by how slow it was, how bad some of the acting was and just how cheesy and lame everything was. I get the historical significance of the movie but a kid (or even an adult) who didn't wear out their Tron VHS 25 years ago isn't going to do anything but laugh while watching this movie. They spend like 3 minutes on a scene where the main character drinks water. To say the original movie is incompatible with the audience for the sequel is an understatement to say the least, and no, original Tron nerds are not Disney's audience. They need to make money on this thing.

I know there are die-hard Tron fans that think this is going to be the next Avatar but to be honest I think the original Tron probably deserved the lukewarm box office reception it experienced in '82 and if the sequel is anything more than a sleeper I'll be shocked.

story

Panda Phil

Not saying you're wrong Guru. I just don't happen to have a very high opinion of the average young moviegoers taste.

Rob V

You know what they say about opinions Guru... that said, you happen to be 100% spot on in this case.

bogrod

I just checked out a link and video with him. He did state that his tweaks were extremely minor. One aspect he did point out is that he wanted a consistency with the "glow" from the characters in their emotional responses, that he was apparently unhappy with. So, in other words, this is not a complete FX rework, which is good. I wish that Lucas had the same restraint.

In any case, the interview concluded with him stating that the work is already done, and that the release is going to happen relatively soon.

bogrod

I agree with that completely. I encountered a similar kind of close-minded reaction when I tried to interest friends and family in the new BSG. The majority of the negative reactions to the suggestion were based on their memories of the original show. In other words, that they assumed the new one would be as 'cheesy' as the original.

What I discovered is that people can be remarkably close-minded and dismissive of a film or a television series.

Panda Phil

Indeed. Though personally I'd have been thrilled if it had been more like the old show.

I think any movie buff whos tried to convince someone under 30 to watch a black and white film is well aquainted with the problem.

Guru Askew

I was competely open-minded about it and I had every reason to love it but I think it's perfectly valid to look at Tron as a dated and mediocre movie. As I said above, the acting is a mixed bag, Jeff Bridges and David Warner do a good job but everyone else is a average at best, the writing is pretty atrocious and when it comes to the directorial aspect I'll say that it's no surprise that Steve Lisberger never really went anywhere. Any nerdy sci-fi/horror/genre fan knows what it's like to be frustrated by the inherent lack of credibility that leads to this kind of property being dismissed but sometimes the shoe fits and I have to say that with "Tron" it does. "Blade Runner" or "2001" it's not.

The black-and-white comparison is flawed because there are sci-fi movies from '82 that aren't embarrassing and hilarious like "Tron" is. "Blade Runner" isn't. "Return of the Jedi" is heavily flawed and it only came out a year later and it holds up 10 times better than Tron.

At the same time I do think it's valid to have a soft spot for something you loved as a kid when you really didn't know any better (though I think there's a point where you have to acknowledge that you're not a kid anymore, I can't respect people who still think the original "Star Wars" movies are the greatest movies ever made and beyond criticism but that's another story) but like I said, this isn't going to happen with a kid watching the movie for the first time in 2010.

Ultimately withdrawing the "Tron" DVD is a win/win for Disney because nobody who already loves "Tron" is going to boycott the movie but as it stands it's bad for Disney if some 40-year-old guy who hasn't seen "Tron" since he was 12 sits down to watch the movie with his own 12-year-old son and they both think it's lame as hell.

Ultimately "Tron" fans should just be thankful that their little guilty-pleasure box office dud with its lukewarm reception got a big-budget sequel 28 years later. I guess that's what really matters, there are a ton of obscure properties I'd like to see get a similar treatment and I wouldn't give a crap if they bombed or succeeded at the box office but as it stands the mere existence of this sequel is totally perplexing.

If Disney had sequelized a movie that was unanimously well-received and financially-successful we wouldn't be debating this right now but they did and here we are talking about how it's appropriate for Disney to literally be ashamed of the source material.

tylergfoster

It's double win for Disney because most people don't read the internet like us. 90% of them will never know Disney is hiding the movie on purpose, they'll just think it's "in the vault". I was at Fry's today and I ran into a guy who seemed to be, of all things, a Disney employee or vendor (!) who said his wife had been looking for a copy for months.

smurr05

To each his own...I'm still quite fond of the original Tron!

porieux

I think the new BSG is extremely cheesy, just in a different (worse) way than the original (in its best moments at least, it was pretty inconsistent though). YMMV.

Mabuse

Guru Askew,

I agree with much of what you've said, you make a lot of well reasoned arguements...

...EXCEPT, when it comes to the original TRON itself. You say it is "a dated and mediocre movie" but you offer no examples. What's dated about it?

I'd argue that rather than being dated Tron suffers from being so unique it alienates a portion of its audience then and now. It doesn't look anything like any film made before it and it doesn't look like anything made since. The fact that in the last 5 years it's look has inspired Hyundai commercials and music videos and has inspired a sequel (28 years between films must be some kind of record) I think it testifies that people are only now catching up to the cutting edge visualization of the film. The film's look and the tools used to create it are too unique to ever be dated. That's like saying the Skeleton Dance is dated because today we have computer animation and motion capture. All the technology in the world could never replicate The Skeleton Dance or Tron, at least not in any manner that would improve it.

You also criticize the script. I might agree with you if you found fault with the dialogue, which is strident and often filled with too much bravado, but the story is air tight. What's wrong with luxuriating in a scene where a character drinks water (leaving aside the fact that the scene is filled with essential exposition)? It's a pivitol moment for the characters. They've broken out of prison. It is their first taste of freedom.

Put simply, you've done an excelent job of assessing the sequel's box office potential, I ask you to defend your assessment of the original film's qualities. You call out its weaknesses as if everyone agrees with you. I beg to differ.

story

You think that's bad? Try telling people about the systemic changes needed to lessen the effects of globalization and bring social justice to those who starve because of our institutional privilege in the US.

Mazje

We're still talking about Tron,right?

therock69

i got this a few months ago when it first went OOP i just seen a few 2 disc editions for 10 dollars at hastings about a month ago

bogrod

In my previous posting, I didn't really state that I also tend to agree that when looked at objectively, the original Tron isn't that great. For 1980, the FX were jaw-dropping, but I also get the impression that there was a certain portion of that movie that spent in simply reminding the audience that "Wow! We're in a computer!" And that was certainly to the detriment of the story itself. I dare say that the story took a backseat to the FX. I don't say that to really slam the filmmakers, as from everything I've read, "Tron" was a very difficult film to make.

I'm not sure if that will be the case with the new movie, but I would certainly not be surprised.

bogrod

I will agree that the new BSG was uneven in terms of its quality, (but I will say that it was probably a tough act to follow with the overwhelmingly awesome first season and a half) but otherwise, yes, my mileage varies very much differently than yours.

hanshotfirst1138

Why Disney haven't rerleased it to coincide with the sequel is a mystery to me, but try the library. As many people like you and i are interested in seeing it, it's likely that there'll be a long waiting list, but that's probably your best shot at seeing it presently. Don't know why Disney's problem is.

Do they ever not ?

bogrod

In the previous posting this was sort of discussed. Disney did a "test" screening of this some time ago (IIRC, in the article it was at one of the Disney parks) and the screening did not go well, in terms of audience approval. That is the reason why there is no current re-release on home video or in the theaters, but it sounds like it will happen after Legacy gets its run in the theater.

bogrod

LOL. Yeah, I was gonna say something, but you beat me to the punch. Sorry, I don't discuss politics/human rights on a forum for dvd's, whether I agree with them or not.

Spiky

Really?? Maybe in the first post, but the second one turned into a diatribe against people older than him.

Nice guy, obviously.

Maybe this should be turned into a political discussion, just to get it off this track.

xage

Dude, its available nationwide on Tuesday. Are you planning to buy it? or your bought the wacked out hoarded $100+ now probably $5 - old DVD edition?