To younger readers who can’t quite grasp the appeal of taking a trip to “a world inside the computer,” as the poster advertised, a little context might be useful. In 1982, any computer more powerful than an Atari 2600 was considered pretty exotic, and while the visuals might seem rudimentary today, audiences had never seen their like before. Dramatically, TRON is well-crafted, with endearing computer whiz Flynn (Jeff Bridges) making friends and foes in his quest to defeat a menacing rogue AI after being zapped into the foreboding domain of bits and bytes.

A mere 28 years later (now there’s a title), commoditized computers were in everyone’s pocket and so a new approach to the franchise was required, and TRON: Legacy delivers more of everything. This was the first feature film from director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick, F1) as an older Flynn has been trapped inside the computer, locked in a struggle against his ageless, single-minded doppelganger CLU, with the future of the world hanging in the balance. Working with a budget ten times that of the original, Legacy boasts a bigger cast, sophisticated special effects, and far grander action setpieces.

Each of these titles presents unique considerations on its journey to 4K. TRON was supposed to be a big deal for Disney in 1982, and ultimately I suppose it’s become one in the decades since, and so in addition to its oh-so-analog 35mm film origins, select shots were captured in premium-format 65mm and VistaVision, on the way to a 70mm release with six-track audio in select theaters. As such, Disney was able to create a true 4K master, digitally restored under the supervision of director Steven Lisberger, with razor-sharp clarity in the real-world scenes and wonderfully subtle color reproduction, right down to the shades of the actors’ eyes. Watched on an OLED, some of the more aggressive geometric patterns against their pure black background even take on a glass-less 3D effect. Grain fans will be pleased as a noticeable quantity remains, more so in the computer realm because of the necessary compositing (the combination and then rephotographing of separately shot elements, such as characters and backgrounds). For these scenes, the performers were shot in black-and-white and all of the colored accents on their costumes were applied by hand in post-production, and their high-dynamic-range glow is lovely. The hiccup here comes from the limited resolution of the digital graphics created for the fantastical environments, vehicles, etc., subject to flicker and prone to stair-step artifacting, which is a term I haven’t used in ages.

Legacy was captured digitally (with scenes inside The Grid in authentic 3D: this was 2010) and at shifting aspect ratios intended for IMAX presentations, yielding a 2K master which has been upscaled here to 2160p, in Dolby Vision, personally supervised by Kosinski. (LOVE that Disney included both directors in the process.) The practical electroluminescent lighting system built into the costumes provides abundant highlights and the quality of the highly evolved visual effects transitions to 4K with impressive results. The jump between 2.35:1 and 16:9 framing is never jarring, although that final iota of sparkling detail evident in the original movie is absent here, with more video noise than I was expecting, too.

The bulk of TRON‘s music was composed by Wendy Carlos, blending synthesizers (analog Moog and digital Crumar GDS) with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for a pseudo-futuristic yet still classic vibe that sounds terrific in the new Atmos mix. Much like the leading man’s charisma, the sound goes a long way to selling a less-than-realistic story, and the bigger-than-life soundscapes of the digital world are thrilling–particularly during the high-stakes games–while also imparting a sense of inescapability. Real-world scenes don’t skimp either, as in the all-encompassing din of Flynn’s video arcade on a busy night, with a little pop tuneage from Journey snuck in.

Among Legacy‘s many upgrades is the bass, which is undeniably bolder and certainly welcome amid the next-level action on screen. The music by Daft Punk, this being the electronic duo’s only original film score, demands no less than the kickass treatment of this mix. Overhead and 360-degree immersion is tremendous in big ways and small, with some clever, remarkably subtle use of the surround speakers at times.

TRON and TRON: Legacy are sold separately in coordinated 4K/Blu-ray/digital copy SteelBook combo packs that look great next to one another. The 4K discs of both movies are devoid of supplementary material, even though a commentary exists for TRON. That track is present on the set’s second platter, the same HD Blu-ray that was released in April 2011, which also brings a vast archive of extras dating back to the DVD, in addition to a pair of new-circa-2011 features. Legacy Disc Two is again simply its 2011 HD Blu-ray, vintage movie trailers and all. The legacy Legacy content is sometimes insightful, often fluffy, but the interactive “Flynn Lives Revealed” mini-movie and Second Screen handheld device app recall an optimistic time when home entertainment was more technologically ambitious. At least A/V quality has kept pace.

Chris Chiarella