Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski is trying to bottle the same magic with his sequel that Steven Lisberger managed to capture with the original twenty-seven years ago. Kosinski said in Thursday morning’s Comic-Con panel in the cavernous Hall H that the mission of the new film is to “push the boundaries” of the current level of film-making technology much like Tron did in 1982. This includes shooting in true 3-D, using the same techniques exploited to such success by James Cameron and Avatar.

“This will not be a conversion,” Kosinski stated emphatically. To prove his point, eight minutes of the film were shown to the audience.

In the footage, Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), son of the original film’s main protagonist Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), is captured by a Recognizer (the iconic flying arch-like craft) and brought to an area for processing “rogue” programs. He is suited up in techie glowing armor and bestowed a disc by four form-fitted lovelies, upon which all of his experience and identity is stored, and sent to the “games.” On his way out he asks one of the lovelies, “What do I do now?”

“Survive,” she intones dramatically, with a hint of electronic distortion modulating her voice. What follows is a dizzying montage of footage from the film showing among other things the familiar light cycle races and battles with the Frisbee-like discs, sublime visuals made more spectacular by 3D effect.

The footage also confirms a dual role for Jeff Bridges, playing both the elder Flynn and Clu 2.0, a younger, more menacing version of himself that harkens back to the Flynn of the original. Bruce Boxleitner also reprises his role from the first film. Garrett Hedlund (Eragon), Olivia Wilde (House M.D.), and Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon) round out the cast. All were on hand, along with Kosinski, producer Sean Bailey and Tron creator Steven Lisberger. The panel was moderated by comedian Patton Oswalt.

During the discussion, Kosinski also hinted at surprises in the film when discussing the cast, which suggests the possibility that other actors from the original may reprise their roles, like Cindy Morgan or David Warner.

Later, Kosinski announced to the attendees that technicians from Skywalker Sound were on hand to record crowd sounds and proceeded to direct the room in several choruses of cheers and chants that, he said, were likely to wind up in the final sound mix of the film. Needless to say, the audience acquitted themselves well and were thereafter treated to a new trailer as a reward.

The original Tron was, at best, an ingenuous attempt to bridge pop culture and the then-burgeoning world of computer technology and video games and at worst a silly fantasy bearing no resemblance to its purported subject matter. But none of that seems to have mattered to the hundreds on hand for the presentation. Surveying the crowd, it would be fair to say that many weren’t even alive when the first film was released, yet they embraced news of the sequel with all the enthusiasm and none of the vapors of a vapid Twilight crowd. Whether that enthusiasm translates into box office gold will have to wait until the film releases on December 17th, 2010.

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