THX-1138: The George Lucas Director’s Cut - Special Edition

-Warner Bros. (1971)

Summary:

So this guy, THX-1138, lives in this world where robots dressed in leather cop outfits, hit you with big black sticks, and machines have sex with you when you watch holographic porn. So why does he want to run away?

My Thoughts:

I first discovered THX-1138 on Cinemax when I was about sixteen. It wasn't as great as some of the other stuff I discovered on Cinemax when I was sixteen, but I did immediately fall in love with the film. Fans of THX-1138 have finally been rewarded for their wait for the film to appear on DVD in a rather special, special edition.

This isn't a film for everyone. It's more of a science fiction fan's sci-fi movie. Its hard to believe that this was George Lucas’s first film. The pacing, the direction, and the cinematography all boil down to the roots of art house flavor rather than a more commercial (some would say devoid of talent) outings like George Lucas's later films like Star Wars. THX-1138 is more about emotion and might not be fully understood on the first viewing, which is totally fine by me.

THX-1138 takes place in a future society that is a totally enclosed and self sufficient environment, sort of like the mall society in Logan's Run. Unlike that mall dwelling society, the world of THX-1138 is insanely depressing and oppressive. Every movement is watched, every person is drugged, and all the inner workings are controlled by some unknown force. THX-1138, played by Robert Duvall, becomes aware of himself and quickly finds that he doesn't fit into his society. After not taking his allotment of drugs and illegally having sex with his roommate, he has a breakdown. He eventually decides to break out of his surroundings rather than live in oppression. Like I said, this film isn't for everyone. It's a story about man against society and it doesn't follow most of the fast paced film norms that our culture has come to expect. Most of the story is told through sound and feeling as opposed to dialogue. This director’s cut version has packed in some special effects moments that make the action a little more exciting, but on the whole the story is rather slow paced. The great acting and an amazing atmosphere are what still hold THX-1138 as a spellbinding classic, regardless of any additions.

The original film had a cheapish feel, since it was made on an extremely low budget. That never hurt THX-1138, instead it gave it more character. The production values were still very good for the budget, and I never thought they looked all that bad. This version of the film has a lot of special effects scenes added for this new release. Does this sound familar to anyone? I know that I've gone on rants about how film makers shouldn't change their films, but the new effects shots in THX-1138 give the world more of a  wholeness to it. When THX is at work, you understand just what the hell he is making. The scenes that show a radiation explosion are awesome and are typically not the fun Ewok-friendly George Lucas type of material. The only bad thing I can say about the new footage is that it suffers a little from George Lucas's obsession with putting as much garbage as he can in one background shot. For example, when characters pass by a window there's an entire city with 8 billion people walking around outside. He did this with Bespin in The Empire Strikes Back and he again does it here. It’s not a horrible crime, but it goes a little over-the-top compared to what you might actually see outside a real window.

That doesn't mean that I don't think the original should have been included in this edition. I think its far worse to exclude the original edition of THX-1138 over Star Wars because of the nature of the work. Star Wars is a great film series, but it's not half as artistic of a work as THX-1138. Still, I'm resigned to live in a world that robs us of our original film treasures on a modern media format so I pretty much have to give up on this rant as well.

Extras:

To make this clear this review is for the THX-1138: The George Lucas Directors Cut Special Edition which is a two disc special edition, not the THX-1138: The George Lucas Directors Cut, which is only a one disc edition. This version contains a lot more special features, of course, and is my pick over the edition with less special features.

Disc one contains the film, of course, and a couple of extra features. These consist of a commentary featuring George Lucas and co-writer Walter Murch and an isolated musical/sound effects score called, “Theater of Noise.” The commentary track is a good watch, even though a lot of what is said appears in the documentaries on disc two. The musically themed special features are good too, but didn't hold my interest as much since I'm not big into the music aspect of filmmaking.

On disc two you'll find all the other goodies. The hour long documentary "A Legacy of Filmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope" is one of the best documentaries I've seen in a very long time. Its depth and rich history about the period of filmmaking in the early seventies and history of the company is a much watch for anyone interesting in film history or even a film student. Early Years is slightly self important, but it is candid about the companies failings, which is quite impressive.

"Artifact from the Future" is another deep and impressive documentary on the making of THX-1138. It doesn't reach the greatness of the "Legacy" documentary, but it is a better “making of” than most of the ones I've seen on DVDs lately. 

While the sans digital effects THX-1138 isn't available with this edition, the student film version entitled THX-1138 EB is. EB is impressive for a student film, but it carries that art house flair that is most associated with works of its type. If anything THX-1138 EB is even less accessible to current modern audiences, but it serves as a historical record that George Lucas did indeed at one time have an artistic vision before the dark side of the U.S. dollar corrupted him.

The biggest waste of your time is the “Bald” featurette. It's a classic “making of” from 1971 that's completely idiotic and focuses solely on the fact that the actors had to cut off all their hair. It might have been a big deal in 1971, but whatever charm is in the featurettes is completely lost on me today.

Last, but not least, is the collection of trailers. There is one 1971 trailer which is pretty awful and the pretty good to great collection of trailers for its 2004 edition.

Score:

Film: 9

Extras: 9

Edition: 9

If there is a God, he will change George Lucas's mind and have him put out all of his original works on DVD, pristine and untouched by his dirty corporate loving hands.

-Paul