THX 1138 (DVD)
Directed by: George Lucas
Written by: George Lucas and Walter Murch
Starring: Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Maggie McOmie

For years I knew only about George Lucas’ first movie through obscurereferences and passing mentions. As the namesake of his patented sound technology, the inspiration for theMisfits song “We Are 138″, or the licence plate on a car in the early Lucasarts game Maniac Mansion,but I really had no clue what the movie was actually about. And it’s really no wonder, considering that themovie has been out of print on video for years and even during its theatrical run was relegated only to ahandful of b-movie theatres.

Now, just before releasing the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD, GeorgeLucas saw the perfect opportunity to revisit his neglected first born child and make it available on DVD aswell. But who are we kidding… this is George Lucas, and he can’t re-release a movie without trying to tweak it insome way or incorporate new technology into it. So what he has given us is a brand spankin’ newnever-before-seen Director’s Cut of THX-1138. Despite the well-rounded two-disc DVD package it comes with,however, I have to wonder if maybe this movie was better left as the long-forgotten legend after all.

THX 1138 is an attempt at dystopian future science-fiction in the vein of1984 and Brave New World. While a lot of the specifics of the world’s day to day operations are left unclear, what is clear is that human workers aren’t given names rather they are assigned letter/number codes and they are supplied with regular doses of sedatives to keep them emotionless and numb to their daily routines. THX 1138 (Robert Duvall) is just your average drone worker, but he has a problem. His sedatives aren’t working and he’s beginning to feel weird. It turns out that his mate LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie) is replacing his sedatives with stimulants in order to fulfill her urges for intimacy… intimacy which is forbidden by law. When THX begins to act strangely during a work shift, he is investigated and eventually imprisoned for his drug violation. This all leads him to the realization that he must escape at all costs.

Visually, the movie is quite arresting at points, and you have to give Lucas credit on that front. You can see how this movie hinted at the special effects empire he would eventually build over the years, even if most of the futuristic sets were actually just clever use of interesting real-world locations. His imagination and creativity are very apparent in the movie, and you can also understand why he was regarded as a filmmaking prodigy at a young age. The minimalist design works for the most part, and there are some neat camera tricks used here. The motorcycle chase sequence at the end of the film is pretty spectacular.

Personally I found it hard to distinguish what additions were made to the movie, but that is probably a good thing as it means George Lucas hasn’t tinkered too much. Some of the futuristic backdrops and robot factory elements look computer generated and I’m sure were enhanced to make the environments look a little less sparse… but then again, wasn’t that sparseness part of the movie’s theme?

The core of the movie hasn’t changed though, and the problem I had is that there’s not really much of a story going on here. The movie drags for a good chunk of its running time. It has that artsy film school feel to it, where nothing is explained clearly and everything is deliberately slow-paced. Think of movies like Solaris and Blade Runner on a smaller scale with weaker stories and you’ll have an idea of the tone of THX 1138. In one of the supplementary interviews they explain that Lucas wanted the world to have all these arbitrary, unexplained rituals to add authenticity but a lot of them just seemed too staged.

Coming from someone who really digs this kind of science-fiction, the movie struggled to hold my attention for the entire 90 minutes. I think if it wasn’t George Lucas’ first movie, it wouldn’t be all that noteworthy. In other words, film nerds need only apply here. You need to have an appreciation for the ways in which the movie broke new ground, and of course the time period in which it was released. It is pretty crazy to think it was released over 30 years ago. THX 1138 is certainly nowhere near the mainstream appeal of Lucas’ other creations like Star Wars, and I can see why there was such a struggle with Warner Brothers to release it.

The extra features in this DVD set do make up for much of the film’s shortcomings however. There is a running commentary with George Lucas and the co-writer/sound designer Walter Murch a number of featurettes, the highlight of which is an hour long documentary on American Zoetrope, the studio Francis Ford Coppola started. It’s also neat to have Lucas’ original student film on here as well, to get a sense of where Lucas really came from.

THX 1138 is an interesting film but more for historical and technical reasons than for its sheer brilliance. If you’re not a George Lucas fan, you may want to steer clear. However, if nothing else, it offers a fascinating look at the roots of one of the most influential filmmakers of our time. — Sean

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