Greetings, programs.
– Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) in TRON
Good, bad, or indifferent — we are in an age of restoration. Between the wider acceptance of 4K UHD technology for home viewing in the last 12 years and a move toward preservation, nearly every week of every month sees a new title released in either 4K UHD Blu-ray or 4K HD. This includes respected classics like Casablanca (1942) by Warner Bros. Pictures, lesser titles like Spawn (1997) by Arrow Video, or totally niche releases like Super Mario Bros. (1993) by Umbrella Entertainment. Each of these new editions offers a chance, not only for films to be preserved in history, but for a new audience to find them. Two new such titles that certainly fit the “niche” descriptor are the 1982 Steven Lisberger-directed TRON and it’s 2010 Joseph Kosinski-directed sequel TRON: Legacy, both of which received restorations and remasters overseen by their respective directors through the Walt Disney Film Restoration team. It makes sense that Walt Disney would release these right about the time they want to invite audiences to see the latest installment, TRON: Ares (2025), but is there enough with this new edition to warrant a return to The Grid?
If you need the reminder, here’s what you need to know about each film:
TRON
Former ENCOM programmer Kevin Flynn (Bridges) knows that his co-worker Ed Dillinger (David Warner) stole his video game ideas and used them to get himself promoted. Recognizing that something strange is going on with Dillinger, Flynn’s former colleagues Lora and Alan (Cindy Morgan and Bruce Boxleitner, respectively) approach Kevin to warn him to stop snooping around; but, instead, the three go back to ENCOM to find evidence. However, what the trio don’t expect is that the Master Control Program (MCP) (voiced by Warner) Dillinger installed doesn’t take kindly to interlopers and transports Kevin into the ENCOM system itself. Now Kevin must navigate the system, stop the MCP, and get out before it’s too late to return.
A scene from TRON. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.
TRON: Legacy
After his experience being digitized within ENCOM, Kevin Flynn (Bridges) is able to take control of ENCOM and raises its platform across the world beyond the video games they design. He even proselytizes the merging of science and technology into a brand-new philosophy that, he believes, through their union, will change the world. But, one day, Kevin disappears. Years later, Kevin’s grown son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) receives a message to go to an office hidden within Flynn’s Arcade, Kevin’s former business/office location, and finds himself similarly transported into a digital system — not ENCOM, but his father’s own created world. Quickly, Sam realizes that all the stories that his father told him as a boy were true, but that doesn’t provide any advantage as the dangers within The Grid are real and all the programs within it have their own reasons for wanting to get to Sam and, perhaps, find Kevin.
The following 4K UHD digital review is based on codes provided by Walt Disney Home Entertainment. As a result of these being digital editions, there will be no discussion of technical elements as it relates to bitrate or disc size as these cannot be commented on with first-hand experience.
Center: Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn in TRON. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.
If you’re unfamiliar with the series as a whole, much of both stories comes down to one simple thing: greed. Much like releasing all of one’s repertory remasters only in steelbook so as to jack up the price while simultaneously not having enough inventory so as to create scarcity, TRON is about Kevin’s battle against Dillinger’s greed and Dillinger’s subsequent subservience to the MCP in a bid to claim all power for it (and him) self. Likewise, the idyllic and naïve perspective Kevin possesses for the ways in which the digital space could provide a way to develop breakthroughs in science and medicine, is destroyed by the too-rigid programming of his digital avatar CLU (also played by a digitally-de-aged Bridges). CLU’s greed to create a perfect system resulted in civil war and destruction as well as a deep desire to use Kevin to reach the real world and expand. Greed exists within the framework of the TRON universe, the persistent foe by which the Flynns do battle and, yet, much like the artist who struggles with the need for capitalism in order to make more art, so does TRON find itself besieged by the greed of those who see nostalgia as a thing to be milked until all that can be drained from it is done. This is a dour view of this new release, but it’s difficult to see it any other way, especially after a rewatch of the films, considering that the bonus features in these two supposedly premium viewing releases not only lack many of the previously available materials, the digital editions are, themselves, gatekept. If all you care about are the films, then you’ll be satisfied and we’ll have more on that shortly. But if you want more from your physical media, the fact that the previously available Disney Movie Club edition two-film collection contains more and different bonus features speaks less to the restrictions of the technology and more of the Mouse’s desire to limit the materials, thereby requiring that someone own multiple copies to get the full story on the making of these films.
“The only way to win the game is not to play.”
– Kevin Flynn (Bridges) in TRON: Legacy
So, what’s included and not in the digital edition of TRON and why should you hold onto your DVD or Blu-ray, if you have one?
The iTunes version of TRON 4K UHD includes “Computers are People, Too,” “Digital Imagery in TRON,” “Beyond TRON,” and Trailer #4, while the MoviesAnywhere edition has these four elements plus “The TRON Phenomenon,” “Photo TRONology,” and a previously available documentary “The Making of TRON.” But if you don’t have a MoviesAnywhere account, you won’t have access to this and it doesn’t seem to indicate anywhere that it’s missing or how to access it, leaving a significant share of digital owners in the dark. As an owner of the two-film Disney Movie Club edition that included TRON on both DVD and Blu-ray, I can confirm that the prior Blu-ray release did come with a series of bonus features unavailable here that look at the music of the film, publicity, storyboards, image galleries, deleted scenes, or the audio commentary track with Lisberger and several others. It’s possible that these are included with the Blu-ray disc that accompanies the 4K UHD steelbook edition or U.K. standard edition, but, should you go digital-only, you won’t have access at all to these files.
TRON 4K UHD steelbook packshot. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.
TRON: Legacy shares a similar issue with fewer discrepancies. In the case of this title, the iTunes and MoviesAnywhere edition are in-sync with the five previously-available bonus features consistent across both digital platforms. This means you can watch and explore “The Speed of Light,” “Launching the Legacy,” “Visualizing TRON,” “Installing the Cast”, and “Disc Roars” on either platform, just as you could on the previously available standalone or combination release Blu-ray. However, both digital versions are missing features included with the Blu-ray on the aforementioned two-film set, such as, “The Next Day: Flynn Lives Revealed,” the first-look at TRON: Uprising, the “DEREZZED” music video by Daft Punk, and instructions on how to view the film with Second Screen. Granted that this isn’t much and, once more, it could still be available on the included Blu-ray with either 4K UHD edition, but it’s strange that these feature don’t carry over at all into the new digital edition.
In short, if you want the full TRON experience, you have to have a physical format edition to get it. How very Dillenger of Disney.
With all of that kvetching, one might surmise that the 4K UHD editions themselves aren’t worth the hassle. Speaking as someone who prefers physical formats and understands that physical media will always outshine streaming under current conditions, these digital editions do impress and will absolutely blow away any fan of the films. The Walt Disney Restoration Film team did such impressive work on both films that series fans can identify differences even just by observing a few scenes. In TRON, the radiating light from the characters is dimmed somewhat without diminishing the colors in their light suits (blue or red) and other colors (such as purple) take on a new dimension and notice. Even though the graphics themselves in the original film are antiquated by today’s standards, the restoration sharpens the details and heightens the color, making the transversal Kevin experiences into the ENCOM system all the more immersive. Even the original lightcycle sequence feels more intense as a result of the restoration.
TRON: Legacy, however, was always about the visual and auditory experiences, maximizing as much as it could in its original 2010 release. The 4K UHD restoration manages to amplify it all. With the enhanced visual detail, one can actually identify the different fabrics and materials that make up the suit Sam wears and the texture of the fabrics making up Kevin’s robe in the scene in which the father and son reconnect over a meal. The fluid effects in the lightcycle sequence are far more pronounced, but so are the degradations of color between cycle riders, whether on the blue or orange teams. The audio track, whether the borrowed sound from Hall H to announce Disc Wars or Daft Punk’s entrancing score, continues to fill the sound space, making the already beautiful film even more immersive.
TRON: LEGACY 4K UHD steelbook packshot. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.
In both cases, without the ability to check the bitrate, one can’t speak to the fidelity of the digital editions, however, seeing as the films are being compressed and uncompressed in order to stream through your service of preference, neither digital edition will provide the optimum viewing experience that the physical editions can. Shame there isn’t enough inventory to make this a reality for physical media fans who prefer it.
When it comes to the 4K UHD edition of the TRON films, as the only option to screen them with the physical editions out of stock, I feel comfortable recommending these editions. They do look incredible and they will only enhance the appreciation that some viewers (those who would want these on 4K UHD) already have. The preference would be to have these on physical for the optimum experience, as well as the fact that all digital editions are not truly owned but a licensed rental, making the physical versions far more of a permanent investment in entertainment; but, in the absence of that option, the digital one with its bonus features of mixed availability is very much better than nothing at all.
End of Line.
TRON 4K UHD Digital Special Features*:
- Development: Computers are People Too (4:31)
- Digital Imagery: Digital Imagery in TRON (3:47)
- Digital Imagery: Beyond TRON (4:02)
- Trailer #4 (1:37)
- The TRON Phenomenon (9:45)
- Photo TRONology (16:38)
- The Making of TRON (1:28:21)
TRON: Legacy 4K UHD Digital Special Features*:
- The Speed of Light (9:51)
- Launching the Legacy (10:30)
- Visualizing TRON (11:57)
- Installing the Cast (12:15)
- Disc Roars (3:05)
*Bonus features dependent on participating retailers
Available on 4K UHD Blu-ray Steelbook and digital September 16th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Walt Disney TRON webpage.
For more information, head to the official Walt Disney TRON: Legacy webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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