The Return of Tron

Those who remember seeing Tron, Disney’s landmark computer-set adventure, on the big screen 27 years ago almost certainly remember those awesome two-wheeled light cycles. In the reboot, Tron Legacy, due out from Disney in 2011, the light cycles are back, but with a modern update so impressive that it’s hard to believe we were once astonished by the computer effects of the 80’s.

As in the original, the new teaser trailer released at Comic-Con is filled with motorbikes, their motion creating a backdrop of light as they trap rival players. All minimalist streaks of curving luminescent waves, the clip offers a dazzling two-minute digital lightshow.

Jeff Bridges, who starred in the 1982 version as Kevin Flynn, a computer genius “held captive in the digital world itself”—according to the original trailer—is also back, this time as an ominous, controlling figure who stands above the game-play. There’s also the reappearance of the last film’s deadly glowing Frisbee. Directed by commercial auteur Joseph Kosinski (famous for his “Mad World” spot for the Gears of War videogame), Tron Legacy may match the brilliance of its forerunner, though  it’s hard to say whether there’s a compelling story behind the sleek, shining imagery. With a year to go before the release, they have some time to get it right.