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I wouldn't say I am a big fan of the original TRON movie itself; the storyline is pretty weak and (outside of Jeff Bridges) the acting is pretty stiff.  Nevertheless, the movie was a huge leap forward in movie technology, many of the components of it (discs, light cycles, the general art design) are iconic to sci-fi, and the arcade game was a classic.  So when I saw the test footage for "TR2N" from the 2008 Comic-Con, I was immediately juiced.  But I'm a nerd.

After the incredible reaction (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPGWYAUF3v4) to that test footage, Disney greenlighted a sequel to TRON, 28 years after the original.  And to their credit, Disney has pulled an all-out media blitz to promote the movie, hoping that it will be a four-quadrant film (young, older, male, and female).

I saw the midnight viewing on Thursday night/Friday morning, and I definitely wasn't disappointed; I felt the movie was better than the first TRON in every aspect save possibly originality (TRON came up with a LOT of stuff out of nowhere).  One thing's for sure: Legacy is a freaking beautiful movie, and definitely has the feel of what TRON could have/should have been, with the right technology available.  I also really liked the soundtrack, but I'm already a Daft Punk fan, so that didn't take much effort.

Disney also appears to be positioning TRON to be a serious franchise; they are making theme park rides, a new TV series, and so on.  Part of the sci-fi geek in me screams "mass-market sellout," but hell, if there's a property that Disney is going to force down my throat, why not TRON?  So I'm down.

My questions to the reader are:

1) What did you think of the original TRON?

2) If you've seen TRON: Legacy, what did you think of it, both as a standalone movie and as a sequel?

3) How do you feel about Disney trying to turn TRON into a big franchise?

1. I loved Tron. It was so unique back then.
2. I think Legacy did a good job as a sequel. It could have been its own movie, although the guy playing hs son was very stiff.
3. I hate the mass marketing overkill, but that is what Disney has been doing for decades.

1) I liked the original, but never saw it as being a great movie or anything. Definitely unique though...

2) I haven't seen Legacy yet, and will likely wait until it hits PPV or maybe even HBO/Showtime.

3) It makes complete sense... From a branding & marketing standpoint, it rings most of the little bells. The word "Tron" is monosyllabic, has a soft vowel and is already part of the English vernacular, so memory retention value is through the roof. It's in the right media and genre (movie, sci-fi) to not only allow for spinning off into other visual-based merchandising media like print, toys & figurines...and as Spidey noted, theme park rides, et al. Spidey also pointed out the "four-quadrant" potential, so what you end up with is...
     * a brand that's easy to remember
     * a concept that's easy to merchandise
     * and a market wider than Oprah after a 6-hour Golden Corral binge

It would have surprised me if they "didn't" aggressively market this particular property...

Well, given that they let TRON sit on the shelf for nearly 30 years, it was a bit of a surprise how hard they charged out of the gate.

It looks like Disney is feeling a bit of pressure from the Star Wars/Marvel/Harry Potter/etc. film franchises, and they don't really have anything to compete with them (outside of maybe the Pixar stuff as a whole).  They kind of tried Narnia, but it isn't really taking.  So they brought back Pirates of the Caribbean and are also pushing TRON.