THX-1138: A completely underrated masterpiece!!

I think this is a stunning film, i can't wait for George to go back to his roots as a non-commercial, abstract filmmaer. THX-1138 is chilling, haunting, cerebral and most of all powerful, it shows Lucas's range as a filmmaker is broader than most people would like to think it is.

As always their are some beautiful and resonant images in this film. The shot were the robot is leading the small child into the room hand in hand is very disturbing to me.


Glad ya liked it, but no need to shout

 

good luck with that.. he's the head of several of the largest corporations on the face of the earth, if Lucusfilm ever consilidated all it's holding into one big giant anti-trust-violating uber-company, he' give microsoft a run for it's money, so to speak...

I can't see Lucus ever being able to pull off anything resmbling the indi-films of his youth

 

then I think you might be suprised. lucas has said he intends to go back to his roots. and HE is not moving to the letterman building. he is staying at the ranch to make movies. this was in last weeks time or newsweek, I get both so I can't remember which it was. but the article talks about the move to the old persidio.

he has stated his love for films like KOYAANISQUTSI (life out of balence), and his intentions to do more experimental films like it. which means more less talking more sound and music driven films. similer in principle to thx. I for one would rather have him not do another indinia jones movie and scrap the star wars tv show and just make what ever films he really wants to do. but those two will help pay for what he intends to do next.

I can't wait to see what he has up his sleeve.

there is a saying. "Dare to fail" and george lucas has done that more then any other filmmaker.

 

These more experimental films don't really have to cost much, he is so successful that it doesn't matter if they don't make a penny, look at the money Lucasfilm has made of the prequels, and when these darker films come along, the Star Wars TV series will be the company's mainstream project. George has moved his base, he has left the buisness to the Lucasfilm suits, he said in an interview recently: "i have handed it over to them. I am going away to make movies..."

 

It really is a masterpiece!

 

the breakthrough lucas had in this film concerning sound. yeah this film blows me away each time I see it. it is a visual feast. I love the fact that the sound effects act as the soundtrack. no other movie has pulled this off.

 

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I agree completely. It is a great film, so very funny at times and so dark and chilling at others.
Though it isn't a film you want to see again and again.

-Seldon

 

I disagree. last september it was released in the theater I saw it for the first time in 6 years (my vhs copy got lost in a move). the next week it was released on dvd. I think I watched it 10 times in the week before the OT was released. I have since thrown it it many times. I may be one of the few people who does not mind the enhencements on this one. I loved duvalls eyes rolling back.

I have a friend how only sees the 1984 aspect of this film so he deems it a rip off. but I feel nothing could be further from reality.

I often can pull my self out of a movie and watch it just for the production value involved. the use of sound in this film just blows me away. you want spcifics? "whats wrong" the voices, the chatter is more like music in this film. the documentries on the dvd go into great detail of walter mursich editing of the sound. how he an lucas were practicly living together and bounced ideas off each other while editing. much of the look and feel came from the decisions thay made while cuting.

the subject matter is still very relevent today especially when you take into account his own marketing of products.
his concepts of mainstream religion. the god booth. god is listening. BUT ITS JUST A RECORDING!! the movie takes a stab at all aspects of modern life and is prphetic in many ways. the cop beating sombody on tv. this is entertainment. but notice the simularities to the rody king tape.

If one good thing comes out of star wars popularity it is that more people may see this film.

 

I love the film, and Walter did a fantastic job with it. I'm just saying that personally, it isn't a film I watch to rewatch a hundred times.

-Seldon

 

seldon you and I joines around the same time but till the last few days I don't think we had run into each other much but I gotta say you have a lot of the same tastes in lititure and film. I appriciate your comments.

anyways I can see how most cannot watch and rewatch this film. I am a little odd, it drives my wife nuts because I can watch movies hundreds of times. especially ones like this. I look at this film as a vry important one. when I edit a film this is one I watch, along with goodfellas just to remind me of what good editing is.

 

I found it quite boring to be honest.

 

not suprised. most people did because they were looking for a science fiction film to be action packed. but true science fiction is not about the action. in recent years science fiction seems to be anything that is in the future and has space ships and such.

but look at movies like M.Night shamalan, unbreakable and signs are both science fiction, and theres no gadgits or really any mind blowing special effects. both are more cerabel.

thx and science fiction in general is ment to reflect our modern time and make statements about our culture and socity, while seting it in a n unfimiler place. so it seems fresh, to draw atention to the simularities, to our obserdities.

but it does not need to have explosions and spaceships. there was a cool motercycle wreak, did you like that part?

 

It took me a long while to see the complete film. Every time i saw it on television I would catch it halfway through and I'd change the channel. I bought it when the dvd came out and finally saw the entire film. I liked it. Hopefully Lucas will make another film or two in his experimental style.

 

DarthMordor I agree with ya, wholeheartedly, what an extraordinary soundtrack...
and it's a masterfully edited film too.

AnakinAbrego said it's a masterpiece. In it's own way, considering it was
made for less than $ 800,000 and so far from Hollywood by a guy who had at that
point never made a feature film, it certainly is a masterpiece. One of the most
impressive feature debuts ever (along with Spielberg's Sugarland Express.)

Some may disagree, but one thing I like about it is that it's retained that
warped, weird paranoid quality...time has not lessened it's unique "feel" and
atmosphere. There's more original creativity in 5 minutes of THX
than there is in 95% of studio features released today.

And so many aspects of it show that even at age 25,
Lucas was way ahead of his time.

 

I first rented THX-1138 in 1995 and thought it was okay; pretty good, but strange. I was 15, so I wasn't exactly the right age to get a lot of it.

Since buying and watching the DVD as of last year, and seeing it a couple times since, I can now say that it's amazingly good, and I notice many more parallels with Star Wars than I previously did.

 

THX is a great film. While it's not a film for everyone to enjoy it's certainly a unique adventure worth visiting.

I'd love to buy the two-disc version sometime.

 

I highly recommend not only watching the Director's cut DVD, but then listening to the commentary by Lucas and Walter Murch as well. The interesting thing is that Lucas is far, far more engaged and enthusiastic in his remarks about THX than he generally is on the Star Wars DVD commentaries. It's amazing Lucas even got the chance such an experimental/visual and unusual film and have it released by a major studio, and he was well aware of it at the time.

And it's fascinating to hear the intentions of the visuals and the thinking process behind putting the film together. A must have DVD for any serious Lucas fan.

 

I really like the Director's cut, but I wish Lucas would release the original on DVD as well.

 

I second that. Supposdely you could still get the VHS tape that has the original. Then it's just a matter to transfer to DVD.

 

I do own the original on VHS, but it's crappy quality. I want the original released on DVD as well.

 

You, me and a lot of people want it, but if it ever happens it'll take a very long time. Maybe the heirs to the empire will one day do it to cash in.

 

Saw THX many years ago on TV. Thought it was cool, but it did'nt hit me the way SW did. Got the Director's Cut DVD last year. Have watched it several times since. What a remarkable film! What it says about society and those who control it was SO ahead of it's time. I think THX resonates more today then it did in the 1970's. Loved how the pursuit of THX was abandoned due to budget constraints.

Having seen both original and Director's Cut versions, I'd have to go with the Director's Cut. The film itself looks absolutely pristine (esp. all the white-room scenes) and I found that the ILM additions to it were far less obtrusive than the SW SE stuff. The new FX merely enhance the "hugeness" of the underground world. Great stuff. And Duvall and Pleasence both turn in excellent performances.

Another thing that I found interesting. The "entertainment" holograms (incl. the one who somehow gets free and joins THX on his escape) were all African-American. All the citizens of the city were white. I don't think GL was being a racist here but if black people only exsist in the "holographic" world, where did the living, breathing ones go? Did the quietly Fascist society than rules the underground get rid of "undesirables"? I think GL was saying a lot about those who really run America (rich white people) and what their ulterior motives may be.

 

Great comment on the racial themes Jwebb--i noticed that the only black person in the film was the hologram but i never considered this context. Makes perfect sense.

THX 1138 is a visual masterpiece, but as a film, as a story, it is somewhat flawed. I say somewhat because although there are definitly ways in which it could be improved--namely characters development--this is mainly due to the nature of the story, and is not hugely distracting. Some have argued that there wasnt enough material to make the film feature-length and i somewhat agree with that--if what you are looking for is consise narrative and well-rounded characters, which is what people typically look for. But really its a film that appeals to different tastes than those who expect and demand the above-mentioned things. Its a visual tome, a visceral experience, and with that aesthetic in mind, it is certainly one of the strongest works made with that type of subject matter. As a compelling human drama, a tragic and moving tale of a man finding love in a loveless world and breaking free of the oppressive system, it is a failure, but i dont think Lucas was trying to present that type of a depiction of the subject matter. This is more like Kubrick than a Ron Howard-esque "emotional drama" type of film. Its like appreciating abstract painting--just because a painting isnt a literal depiction of something doesnt mean its bad, and those that think such merely have different aesthetic tastes and expectation from their entertainment.

 

THX 1138 isn't a movie for everyone, but for those who can appreciate such works, there is alot of content both thematically and technically. The sound work is incredible, Lucas was really able to pull of "the film from the future" thing very well.