Tron (1982) 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review

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Despite its cutting edge visuals and a booming video game market, Tron failed to meet the expectations of the struggling Disney studio, repelling the savvy teen market it was aimed it, confusing general audiences and eventually landing behind Young Doctors in Love as the 26th highest grossing film in the U.S. in 1982. But what could have become a failed footnote in the studio's long history quietly germinated into a cult following that led to an unlikely franchise resurrection with 2010's Tron Legacy, which ultimately followed a similar pattern despite undisputable box office success.

When ENCOM software developer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is passed over for a promotion after his video game 'Space Paranoids' was stolen by a senior executive, he embarks on a search for the evidence required to back up his claims. But when Flynn hacks the ENCOM OS, it responds by transporting him into the computer world of his own design, which Flynn will have to successfully navigate in order to return to the real world.

It's hard to imagine today, but in 1982, computers were not the pervasive devices they are today - strictly the purview of universities and cutting-edge workplaces, still unfamiliar (and viewed with suspicion) by the masses. Computer games were increasingly popular but relatively new (Pac-Man was barely two years old) and were seen as the domain of kids. Thus, a film so intrinsically linked to both of these elements was almost inherently doomed to fail from the start.

Forty-three years on, the original Tron is impenetrable as ever, saddled with a somewhat bland script, an infuriating score, and technology that falls way short of its original. Still, the core story concept remains uniquely delicious, both ahead of its time and a throwback to a simpler time. There's nothing else out there like Tron and I think that's the secret to its morbid fascination.

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Video

Tron is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.20:1 in the Rec. 2020 color space, finished with dynamic Dolby Vision and static HDR-10 high dynamic range formats and encoded with AVC H.265 compression.

For its 4K debut, Disney has returned to the 70mm camera negative and interpositive elements to strike a brand new, director-approved 4K master which remains authentic to the original presentation, but carefully and judiciously implements modern restoration techniques to present it in the best way possible. Disney has confirmed that the 70mm live action segments were scanned at 8K and the CG interpositive scanned at 4K.

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Despite its reputation as a "CG film", much of Tron's iconic visuals were reliant on layered, hand-crafted cel animation and rotoscoping, with layers of physical film blowups photographed in a similar process to traditional animation. Thus, there are many imperfections that are inherent to the master, which provided the restoration team with doubtless some very specific limitations to overcome. With the knowledge that Tron is forever a product of the technical limitations of its production, Disney has produced a stunning remaster which stands heads and shoulders above the previous SD and HD masters that have previously been struck.

Whilst retaining the analogue charm of its production, Disney's restoration team has heavily reduced instances of baked-in film artefacts, whilst avoiding obvious instances of digital noise reduction and other destructive techniques. Underneath the healthy level of film grain is a level of sharpness and detail that's been hiding, making for an astonishingly impressive restoration effort.

In my Blu-ray review nearly 15 years ago, I said "Tron has never looked better, and it likely never will." Well, I was wrong about that - it shines better than ever!

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Audio

Tron is presented in a newly remixed Dolby Atmos object-based container.

Originally mixed in 6-track Dolby Stereo and reworked for 5.1 surround on the 20th anniversary edition DVD, Disney has seen fit to overhaul the elements again in this new Dolby Atmos mix, which adds more depth to the surround and height surrounds.

Dialogue is generally unproblematic, save for a few lines of dialogue that are occasionally hard to make out. Sound effects scrub up well, and the light cycle chase sequence is a really nice bit of aggressive remixing. The surround channels are supported to varying degrees throughout, which really kick into gear mid-way through the film. The Wendy Carlos score is mixed well, with plenty of bleed in the rears, and is ever-present for better or worse. Bass reaches surprisingly deep at times and does everything required of it.

Overall, a pretty good track and again, a surprisingly nice restoration from the original elements that sounds refreshingly renewed in Dolby Atmos.

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Extras

Whilst Disney has not prepared any new bonus features for this release - no, not even a tie-in trailer for the soon-to-be-released Tron: Ares, but they have included a pack-in copy of the 2011 Blu-ray, which preserves all previous bonus features. Let's jump in.

The crown jewel of the collection is the 9-minute Making of Tron documentary. As you would imagine from the length, it's extremely in-depth and brings back many of the principal actors and crew for their vivid recollections. No matter how dedicated a fan you might be, you'll definitely learn something. Notably, this documentary was produced long before Tron: Legacy or Ares was even mooted, so that isn't discussed here, although the future possibility of a sequel is.

Next up are two newly produced featurettes (in high definition) The Tron Phenomenon which takes a look at the original through the prism of the sequel, and Photo Tronology which features Director Steve Lisberger and his son Carl return to the Disney archives to look at the extensive collection of behind the scenes and promotional photography from the film's production. Whilst viewing these, Carl prompts his Dad for some behind-the-scenes stories and really gives the viewer a nice fly-on-the-wall feeling of discovery. It's edited together extremely well and is a really touching feature.

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More features can be found in the 'original DVD features' section, under the unimaginative headings of Development, which reveals early production tests from the six month pre-production schedule, Digital Imagery which looks at the cutting edge visual effects and backlit photography, Music presents segments of film set to Wendy Carlos music that was ultimately cut from the final film and Publicity which rounds up multiple trailers. Design reveals some of Syd Mead's concept art that heavily influenced the look of the film. Mead was hot off his stunning work in Blade Runner and was at the top of his game.

The Deleted scenes are pretty brief but reveal the fabled 'Tron and Yori love scene', while the Storyboards and Gallery features are re-purposed from the original DVD, but now presented in HD.