Search - THX 1138 (The George Lucas Director's Cut) on DVD

THX-1138 looks for meaning in a future of crushing anonymity

Chet Fakir | 04/03/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ignore any comparisons of THX-1138 to any other films. It is stylistically and thematically superior to most other Science Fiction released at the time (except perhaps 2001:A Space Odyssey). Fresh out of film school with little experience, George Lucas crafts a sensual masterpiece set in the sterile, homogenized world of a possible future.Unlike Orwell's "1984," this is an anti-utopia we have brought on ourselves. Our quest for self-perfection has become our undoing. THX-1138 (Robert Duvall) finds himself haunted and confused by emotions and urges with which he cannot cope. Through his struggle to understand his own nature, we explore the nature of our humanity. We join him on his quest to free himself from the oppressive weight of enforced mediocrity.Lucas' vision is stunning, with the human element pitted against chrome-faced robotic police in stark black and white settings. The early work of sound design demi-god Ben Burtt plays a vital role in the creation of the technologically suffocating environment.Leonard Maltin's criticism of the "dull script" is understandable if he did not appreciate its subtlety, or the importance of the "nonsense dialog" between characters and in the ambient sound.p.s. Be listening for the voice talents of one David Ogden STEERS (as spelled in the credits), 6 years before his first credited on-screen appearance."

Georgie screws it up (again)

Chet Fakir | DC | 02/02/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"When I first saw THX 1138 back in the '70s I was spellbound. George Lucas' vision of an antiseptic consumer driven dystopia where not taking drugs was a crime really resonated with me and was original for the time. So I bought this DVD thinking that by "Director's Cut" I'd get extra scenes that were edited out of the original, WRONG! Instead George Lucas has added scenes of modern CG that are completely out of character with the original movie. The original movie was claustrophobic and paranoid. Everything occurred in white hallways or small spartan rooms, or on video monitors. The one exception being the "white out" detention center where the only color came from a few pieces of furniture and the actors faces. Now we have wide angle city shots interjected throughout that completely destroy that ominous and powerful claustrophobic mood of the original. That's not the worst of it though. There's some awful CG character animation as well. George has seen fit to replace the shell dwellers. Originally they were supposed to be humans that had mutated from prolonged exposure to industrial wastes and were played by little people with wild matted hair. And what did Lucas replace them with? CG monkeys, yes that's right, CG monkeys. Nasty ones to be sure, but fake looking, obvious bits of animation nonetheless. He also adds an equally fake looking scorpion-like animal that frightens Donald Pleasance's character SEN. Well we see a foot next to a scorpion-like animal and then Pleasance scurrying away going back to the city. And there's now a car race scene during rush hour traffic that adds nothing to the movie, looks like a video game and once again detracts from the original mood. The worst new bit though is the masturbation machine THX uses while watching holograms looking like a giant milking machine descending from the ceiling. It manages to be simultaneously vulgar, pointless and really really silly. What I find most annoying about this director's cut is that no mention was made re the new added effects. When will George Lucas realize that it's not a good idea to do change a movie simply because he can? Most likely never. Unlike modern DVD's of the '70s era Dr. Who TV show, you are not given the choice of either watching the original movie or watching scenes with newer special effects added. You get what George Lucas decides to give you and that's it. The additions to THX somehow degrade the movie and make it a less than adult film. The movie seems more childish, more fantastic and much less real. I've since sold my Director's Cut and have ordered a used VHS tape of the original movie, which is the only way I can see the splendid original since it hasn't been released on DVD. Yeah I still have a VCR, thank god."