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.

Scene 77: Recognizer Capture– This scene takes place in the Grid (aka the “Tron universe”), so 3D is now in effect.  In it Sam finds himself standing atop a Recognizer aircraft.  He tries to escape but there’s no where to run; a bottomless pit surrounds the aircraft.  Next he gets apprehended by two programs and is forced to board another Recognizer aircraft.  He is strapped in with other programs who know little about their fate.  The Recognizer flies high into the sky and Sam is taken to his next destination.  It is Sam’s accent into the sky where we get grand look at the fascinating world of the Grid.  Dark, ominous cloud sit above the electric city and thunder bolts scream booms and quick bursts of light.  I want to explore this foreign, wondrous land more, but the Recognizer lands and Sam and the other programs are greeted by new program guards.  One scans each program on the Recognizer, instructing them “work deferment” or “games.”  Sam gets “games” and is escorted by the guards to a platform that plunges him downward into a new underground area.

Again, this next part could be considered a new scene, but alas it is included in Scene 77.  In an underground chamber, Sam is stuck on the platform and four extremely attractive women (programs) wearing white high heels and Tron suits approach Sam; they recognize that he is “different” from the others.  Using the tip of her glowing finger, one of the women removes Sam’s clothing off his body and almost instantly a black Tron suit covers up his body.  Fantastic special effects here; it all looks so bizarrely natural.  The ladies attach body armor over the suit and Sam is given an “identity disc.”  Sam is warned that if he loses the disc or fails to follow instructions this will result in de-resolution.  A woman snaps the disc into place on his back and we see Sam’s eye’s flicker for a second.  In some manner the Tron suit and Sam’s body have become one.  Sam is instructed to “games” and the ladies return to their pods.  In desperation Sam asks, “What am I supposed to do?”  A woman replies simply with a smile, “Survive.”  And scene.

Scene 32: Disc Wars– The scene begins with Sam stationed inside a chamber that is getting lifted high in the air.  He sees that programs dressed similarly to himself are also locked inside their own chambers traveling alongside him.  It is soon revealed that all of these chambers comprise a giant elevator that is bringing all those inside to an enormous arena.  The arena is packed with thousands of cheering spectators, one of them being the film’s villain Clu who unfortunately only makes this single, masked appearance in the preview.  Each chamber connects to a platform and soon enough Sam realizes he is about to partake in a battle against a familiar-looking opponent.  Sam remembers that he has a tiny figurine of this program on his shelf at home.  His opponent withdraws his disc and throws it directly in Sam’s direction.  Sam moves out of the way just in time, and the disc ricochets off the wall and back into the hands of the opponent.  On a nearby platform, Sam witnesses another ongoing battle and watches a program explode into a billion shards of glass when he gets struck by a disc.  Sam starts to get it; he takes out his disc, it lights up, and he aims it at his opponent.  After some awesome back-and-forth combat, Sam ends up victorious.  Sam says, “I won.  Now let me out!”

Scene 52: Escape Plan– The next scene begins in the middle of a lightcycle battle.  Sam is seated inside a lightrunner that is being operated by a masked driven.  The lightrunner drops mines in an attempt at taking out two red lightcycles.  One vehicle is taken out and the other nearly crashes into oblivion before it rezzes into full form again.  The high speed chase continues, but Sam’s mystery driver blows a hole in the arena’s wall and barely manages to escape death.  The driver’s masked is removed and she’s revealed to be Quorra (Oliva Wilde).  The stunningly gorgeous program calms startled and curious Sam and promises him that “all his questions will be answered” in time.  She explains that the other red lightcycle cannot chase them anymore because it is not designed to work “go off Grid.”  When the lightrunner starts speeding across rougher terrain the wheels transform to handle it and all of a sudden the vehicle starts to look like a Dark Knight tumbler.  Quorra drives the lightrunner into the side of a giant structure, they park on a lit platform, and the scene closes.

Scene 56: Flynn’s Safehouse– They saved the best material for last.  It is in this scene where we finally get to meet Sam’s father, the incarcerated Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges).  It opens with Sam and Quorra rising up into a large, dim room.  Sitting a few feet away is a man cloaked in white with his back facing us.  Quorra approaches him and informs him of the arrival of a special guest.  He stands up from his meditating state and immediately recognizes that the guest is his son, Sam.  Flynn: “Sam?”  Sam: “Long time.”  Flynn: “You have no idea.”  Trailer dialogue!  Sam tells his father that Alan got the page from the arcade, but Flynn has a hard time remembering sending anything.  Flynn seems oddly off in this scene; earlier he warns Quorra, “something has happened” and we’ll have to wait for the movie’s theatrical release to find out what he’s talking about.  After a short exchange of words, Flynn cuts the conversation off says they’ll reconvene later that night.  He walks off onto his deck overlooking the dark electric city he created with tears in his eyes.  Sam is also caught off guard by this reunion and he too is overwhelmed with emotion.  And that is why this scene worked the best.  The human relationships and consequential interactions and emotions they evoke will drive this movie in an exciting direction.  What will also make this movie a success are the connections it will make with the original Tron.  And that’s exactly how this scene ends.  Sam spots a “vintage” lightcycle parked inside his father’s safehouse.  Quorra says it was built “many cycles ago” and it certainly appears to take design cues from the old lightcycles featured in the first movie.  The final shot is of Kevin Flynn looking out into the distance.

Trailer bits: After the five scenes mark their conclusion, a brief montage of mostly scenes plucked from the trailer are played in front of the epic, pounding theme track performed by Daft Punk.  The French duo makes an appearance, along with Michael Sheen’s Kaster and Clu (played by a CGI version of a “young” Jeff Bridges).  Disc wars and lightcycle battles ensue between Sam and villainous opponents.  So much action backed by a tantalizing soundtrack.  We get to hear Clu say, “Your move Flynn…C’mon, c’mon!”  And it all ends with the Tron: Legacy title sequence and Quorra telling Sam, “Here they come” as a group of giant red flying machines swoop over the Grid in a hot pursuit.

All in all, TRON NIGHT served as a brilliant, off-the-walls exciting teaser for what will surely be a fantastic film.  As expected, the 2D and 3D visuals popped and the Daft Punk soundtrack is phenomenal.  The tiny little hairs behind my head stood straight up during the entire course of the screening; whether you’re a long-time Tron fan or simply a fan of science fiction, Tron: Legacy is a must-see film that will stimulate the senses and delight you to no end.  It’s hard to say at this point that the acting is totally believable and that the characters are worth investing in since all of these scenes were viewed out of context and without much background knowledge of where they come from and what their motives are.  However, I have faith that the characters and the story will prove to be worthwhile, engaging, and highly entertaining.  Hedlund may come off a bit stiff at times, but as he comes to learn more about the universe his father creative I have no doubt his character will grow and movie-goers will come to accept him as a likable character.  I’m also curious to see how they handle Clu, the CGI Jeff Bridges; the villain program was noticeably absent in the new footage.

It all comes down to this: the special effects are top-notch, the music is out of this world, and the pure excitement surrounding this movie is palpable.  At the conclusion of the screening all those in attendence applauded and cheered what they just saw.  We were part of a lucky few who got to see a sneak peek into exclusive, never-before-seen footage from Tron: Legacy.  And I believe it is my duty to share my overall impression of what I sat through.  I did that so now I’ll say this.  Go see Tron when it hits theatres December 17.