'TRON: Legacy': Hints of '2001' and Ziggy Stardust. What was your favorite homage?

Image Credit: Disney

As a sequel to a 28-year-old cult movie, it's to be expected that TRON: Legacy would have a nod or two to that other film, and sure enough, a movie poster for the original shows up pretty much in the first scene. But there were a few other surprise tilts of the cap to pop culture phenomena that popped up as the film progressed. First, Flynn's not-so-humble abode, with its floor of light panels and its future-baroque furnishings (did he hire an interior design program?), was a clear wink at the Jupiter room from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Then, Michael Sheen's batty performance as the albino backstabber Zuse channeled none other than Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie, even so far as having that weird circle-y thing on his forehead. But easily my favorite homage of the movie, whether intentional or not, was Jeff Bridges' occasional Dude-isms, like "You're messing with my Zen thing," or the ten or so zonked-sounding lines that ended with "man." What about you guys? Any other little tributes you caught that you liked? Did the arrows that made the light-bikes speed up remind anyone else of the boost pads from Super Mario Kart?

TRON: Legacy opened on Dec. 17. For more December releases, check out our events calendar here.