Den Patrick attends an IMAX screening of 20 minutes of TRON: Legacy, and is knocked off his Light Cycle…

Unless you’ve been living under a self-imposed media blackout, you can’t fail to have noticed that new a TRON film is hurtling towards us, leaving a trail of brightly coloured expectation in its wake.

Filmgoers are going back to the digitized world of the Grid 28 years after the original was released, which surely sets a new record for the longest time to realise a sequel. (OK, so The Birds II came 31 years after the original, but we're trying to block that experience from our memories.)

So what did the lucky preview-goers see on the gloriously massive BFI IMAX screen?

Opening with a scene at Sam’s riverside apartment, we were treated to Bruce Boxleitner’s character, Alan Bradley, informing Sam Flynn he received page from Flynn’s Arcade – this information is briefly covered in the trailer. It was a real treat to see the scene in full, and the footage answered one all-important question: does Garrett Hedlund have the acting chops to pull of a leading man role? A resounding yes from this quarter.

Further scenes revealed Sam’s capture on the Grid by the huge Recogniser ships that power across the skies of the neon landscape, and subsequent ‘refitting’ by the Sirens; resplendent in white outfits and closely choreographed, stilted movements.


It’s difficult to sum up just how beautiful, polished, slick and gorgeously designed the world of TRON: Legacy is. A cyberpunk wet dream, complete with bleeding-edge soundtrack from France’s finest electro outfit, Daft Punk.

What the audience possibly wasn’t expecting was Sam’s first fight on the game grid – in full. If your pulse isn’t pounding after this showdown there’s a good chance you’ve already been Derezzed.

As if that wasn’t enough, we were spoiled with Sam’s escape from the Game Grid, and a touching reunion with his father. It really is a massive coup that Jeff Bridges adds his cachet to TRON: Legacy, and he brings huge amounts of vulnerability and pathos to the film – even from the brief scene he appeared in at the preview.

With the advertising and marketing machines running at full power, you’re going to be hard pressed to not succumb to hype overload. On the evidence of this preview footage, the hype is entirely deserved.

TRON: Legacy opens in UK and US cinemas on 17 December 2010.