THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut

Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama  |  Sci-fi

Written by: George Lucas (also story and earlier screenplay)
Walter Murch

Directed by: George Lucas

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 10, 2004
DVD: September 14, 2004

Running Time: 88 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R for some sexuality/nudity

Starring Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Don Pedro Colley, Maggie McOmie, Ian Wolfe, Marshall Efron, Sid Haig, and John Pearce

A complete digital restoration and remastering of THX 1138 -- the first feature film by George Lucas -- a nightmare impression of a world in which a man is trying to escape a computerized world which constantly tracks his movements.

Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site Official THX 1138 Site

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jay H. gave it a4:
Overrated, just because George Lucas had something to do with it doesn't make it good. It's cold and aloof, poor character development. I never cared what happened to any of the characters. It has some imagination, good photography but the film is lifeless.

Jared C. gave it a0:
The thing about this is that it goes somewhere, but only leads to the already known succession. Nothing special besides the mastering of digital arts happens in this dull feeling bore. It takes so little time in the creating of the technology that it is way over the top and light hearted. Its an unappreciative film that shows the storyline of a director's heart in improving things, but his performance leading towards his character goes no where, it is hard to find the character by the neutral appearance of George Lucas' character. Only if the movie was 2 hours long I would respect this, but because of the quick but bad tasting plot, it sucks, you have to expect something when George Lucas writes and directs the movie. And this is not his style, I cannot see how George Lucas made such an unrelatied style to the way he directed Star Wars. I am not happy with this film, not happy. And that means something about this film you know, with all these high ratings it seems to be that the film is a very very very very very flawless movie, the way I see it. its hard to like, it is a letdown, it isn't disappointing because I've waited so long for a dumb movie, but its that I got a bad view of how George Lucas did it. I would rather have been their seeing how he really made THX, not watch what he thinks would be best for his success, you know there is so much more to just showing importance, its the idea (which is great), the acting, the performance by every involving filmmaker. This movie never tries but fails by how movies never should be made as, this just shows what George Lucas thinks what makes his important role in history is, not a movie for entertainment.

Mobius gave it a9:
I loved the original and to be honest i do prefere the directors cut. it looks cleaner and those added scenes are so quick that they just blend in unoticed only a fan of the film will see the new scenes everybody else wont notice. i have to say i did love how they added the scene where 3 of them escape into a very busy area very convincing how they done that.

Optimus Prime gave it a 10:
Think not of this movie as a George Lucas film. This is an atmospheric masterpiece made in a film age where less was most certainly more - the antithesis of the later SW films. Subtley effecting and utterly absorbing. I love it more each time I watch it.

Gordon M. gave it a 9:
What critics of the new changes seem to be missing is that Warner Brothers had recut the film, removing five minutes of footage (most of which, I presume, has been added back into the director's cut). While the merits of some of the new, CGI-laden additions are debatable, the original theatrical version was NOT his original cut. (Also, regarding the shell dwellers, if you listen to the commentary, George Lucas states that we are seeing shell dwellers AND the creatures they live with -- the midget in the earlier scene is still a shell dweller in the new version; the creatures that attack THX are their pets.)

Rick G. gave it a 9:
I'm glad this movie was re-released. Like with other Lucas films that came after it, THX 1138 is rich in visual atmosphere and sound, but short on dialogue and plot development. I've always believed that this doesn't matter with Lucas because he is a master at providing the viewer with audio and visual delights, even when he was forced to do it in the most minimalist manner in THX due to lack of money and the technology at tht time. THX borrows from other visions of a dystopian futures, most notably "1984" and "Brave New World." Where I believe Lucas strikes futurist gold is in the concept of a "chemical imbalance" that gets bandied about in THX. This is what is said to happen to a person when he/she doesn't to his/her legally mandated sedatives at the prescribed dose. This "chemical imbalance" idea is one that is used to mass market psychiatric drugs to the masses today. I wonder if it was ever used in a film before THX and how it got into the screen play. This is where THX is at its best.

Daniel S. gave it a 9:
An unaltered film would earn a 10, but this is a Lucas film-so that is a crazy thing to ask for. Most CGI additions blend in quite well, which is what makes its worst addition so maddeningly awful: the shell dwellers. They really look worse than what I read. The featured one doesn't look like it was even worked up from a wire-frame model and later textured. It looks like it was DRAWN-on a computer maybe-but still drawn frame by frame. Plus, it contradicts an earlier scene where one is announced as such and it is just a midget actor-no special make up or added CGI. The later one is identified out loud by the police and we are being shown what, yes, really does look like that little fellow from Lord of the Rings. The rest of the CGI is mainly centered on the plant where THX works. It blends in well. Other CGI additions are just establishing shots and go by in two to five seconds. During the viewing I didn't mind them-HEY! I'm as surprised as you are-but then during the commentary, Lucas says things like, "this was all shot at a real nuclear plant..." while new CGI is being shown on screen! What he MEANS is that it originally was shot there, but he goes to obvious effort NOT to mention that any footage has been added since he shot it in 1970. In fact, neither the DVD box nor anyone in the interviews mentions anything about the new footage. Even the CREDITS do not credit anyone at ILM for working on the added computer effects. What's that quote? A lie by omission is still a lie? (I wonder if the Star Wars DVDs go so far to not mention the additions. Probably not, as everyone and their secret twin brother knows how Lucas had to futz with them yet again!) In the DVD extras the same problem occurs when people gush over what a great job Lucas did finding existing locations while CGI is on the screen as they speak. Let's not talk of Lucas altering THX's eyes-and Duvall's performance- during a certain scene. What's good? The film itself. The story itself. The performances. The sound design. This is an important film to see in 2004. One may think it is a little over the top, but then turn the channel on your TV and listen to one of those "ask your doctor if the purple pill is right for you" ads and wonder just how much fantasy is really fact. Get in line on the freeway or at the grocery the next day and try not to think of so many similar scenes in the film. Sit behind your computer and-well, you get it. Often faulted for not having a definitive statement about what happens to THX in the end, if anything, the film is actually stronger for the open questions. That's reality. As that great statesman Bart Simpson said, sometimes there's no moral or meaning. There's just a bunch of stuff that happens. This film is a bit more than that, but it offers no solution to its dystopian citizens. It is smart in that there is no central villain. It's just a bad situation. Or maybe it is the only one available. Two escaping characters reach two completely different solutions. Both turn out to be right for themselves. In short, it is such a shame on principle that the original is no longer offered (and not included!!!) but the 2004 version is hardly changed and the story is totally intact. Note:The masturbation machine (added to an existing shot) gets the film an R rating now. The film is spot and dust free-important in so many all white settings! The sound is fantastic. And for fun: listen hard to the police radio in THX's stolen car. You'll hear someone state that they"ran over a Wookie back there on the freeway". Blessings of the State. Blessings of the Masses.

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