As part of Disney's viral marketing campaign, special events were held in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Syndey this morning for Tron: Legacy, giving ticketed guests their first look at the film since last year's San Diego Comic Con, where the lightcycle test footage was first shown. As many predicted, what was shown this time around was the first full-length trailer for the film, shown in IMAX 3D (and none of that IMAX digital bullshit, mind you), and I'll be damned if it isn't greeted with impressed awe when it is given a wide release (which is supposedly going to be next Friday).
The trailer begins with a voice over by Bruce Boxleitner, reprising his role as Alan Bradley from the first film, saying that he has new "information about your dad." He is then shown speaking to the son of Kevin Flynn, Sam, played by Garrett Hedlund, who we get our first clear look at. The voice-over continues over shots of Sam riding his motorcycle, Alan saying that he received a call from Flynn's Arcade, despite the phone having been disconnected for years.
Sam is then seen entering the arcade, which is now covered in dust and cobwebs, and heads to the Tron machine in the back. He inserts a quarter only to have it fall to the floor, where, when he leans down, he notices grooves in the concrete. Alan continues by saying that Kevin has discovered "something that will change everything." Pulling the game out from against the wall, Sam discovers a door and walks into a room filled with computer monitors, which, while on, are also sheathed in dirt and grime.
Sam asks what to expect when he sees his father, assuming that he will say something along the lines of "I lost track of time." From behind Sam, who is looking at the monitors, the laser that digitized his father slowly rises. The screen goes black. What came next caused everyone in the theater to mutter "holy shit": a giant, beautifully rendered Recognizer that goes so far beyond anything seen in the 1983 film that it makes the original look like a joke.
The audience is then treated an incredible sequence of short cuts, featuring disc battles, more lightcycle racing, an incredible-looking Olivia Wilde in repose on a couch and, of course, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) himself. The trailer ends with another voice over, this time from the first meeting between father and son. Sam says, "It's been a long time," only for Kevin to respond, "You have no idea."
As stunning and truly fantastic the trailer was, where Disney really screwed up was that they had all of these people gather for this huge event, rented out IMAX theaters around the world and had people show up in the bright and early hours of the morning to show a two-and-a-half minute video. And, not only was it only two-and-a-half minutes, but they didn't even have the courtesy to play it twice, despite persistent pleas from the crowd. While I can't say I am linked in with the inner workings of the Disney corporation, perhaps they theought they were excused because they gave out such fashionable t-shirts.
