That’s a lovely haircut you have, THX.

The Flick

Long before he thought up the Midichlorians BS, George Lucas created the greatest Sci-Fi epic of all time, Star Wars.  Before that, he directed the 1971 film THX 1138.  Featuring a screenplay written by Lucas and Walter Murch, it was Lucas’s first feature length film adapted from his student film: Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB, which he made while at USC in 1967.   It wasn’t well received when it originally released but has since been considered a cult classic.

Much like the film The Matrix, THX 1138 features a future where the human race has been enslaved by robots.  Human emotion, touch and sex have been outlawed.  In order to force compliance, drugs are administered regularly, making humans mere replicas of the machines that control them.  In addition, the drugs allow them to work for long hours under extreme conditions. THX 1138 (Robert Duvall) is one of many who work to assemble the androids officers that keep them enslaved. 

Once his roommate LUH 3417 (Maggi McOmie) chooses to stop taking the control drugs and replaces his own with placebo pills, THX begins to feel true emotions for the first time.  Having witnessed the congress, SEN 5241 (Donald Pleasance) has LUH removed from being THX’s roommate with the hopes that the two of them could become mates. Upset by his actions, THX files a written complaint against SEN.  Shortly after, all three are imprisoned for their crimes.

After a time of imprisonment, LUH is reunited with THX and they once again share an intimate moment before being separated by security.  Eventually THX and SEN encounter SRT (Don Pedro Colley), a hologram turned human and they follow his plan to escape.  In what was an obvious budget constraint, security forces are only allotted a certain amount of credits (money) in which to use to pursue the trio, but it seems that cash is king and is the ultimate undoing to what could have been a telling ending of life outside the shell.  However, I’ll not spoil the awesome third act of this landmark film.

THX 1138is a film that can tell a large part of its story without the use of a dialogue track.  With that said, much of the dialogue contains numbered codes that aren’t given any real meaning.  Hearing the dispatch and intercom system shout out random numeric codes throughout the film with no indication of what they are just caused unnecessary confusion.  I can see how it helps show a lack of humanity in the futuristic world Lucas created, but I think its excessive use distracts more that it helps.  

Audio and Video

THX 1138on Blu-ray features a 1080p High Def 16X9 widescreen presentation with a 2.4:1 ratio.  Despite this film being made in the 70s, you’d be hard pressed to guess that after seeing this film on Blu-ray.  Back in 2004 when this film was brought to DVD the first time, Lucas introduced some CGI elements to clean up the film.  Those same elements return here and look better than ever.  The rest of the transfer looks incredible and much of other special effects have made the high def leap with better clarity.  The car chase scene toward the end looks particularly crisp.  The English 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack contains some great sound effects and dialogue, but THX 1138 doesn’t have much of a score to lend to the film.  Regardless, what’s there is fantastic.  There are also French 5.1 and Spanish 5.1 options along with English, French and Spanish subtitles.

Special Features and Packaging

THX 1138on Blu-ray comes as a single-disc collection in a standard recycle case with the following extras:

• Audio Commentary by George Lucas and Walter Murch
• Theatre of Noise Experience: Isolated Sound Effects Track
• Master Sessions: Docupod Gallery Showcasing Murch’s Pioneering Work
• A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope Documentary
• Artifact from the Future: The Making of THX 1138 Documentary
• Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB: Lucas’s Original Student Film
• Vintage Production Featurette: Bald
• Theatrical Trailers

The audio commentary by Lucas and Murch is pretty standard fare.  They speak largely on how this film was originally meant to be a silent film and how the sound effects were influenced.  Lucas sounded so nasal at the time of the recording that it became increasingly annoying to me as the film went on.  They both cover the basics on how the ideas for scenes came about and how they were shot.  The Theatre of Noise Experience is the entire film without a dialogue track.  Originally Lucas and Murch wanted this as a silent film and this extra pays homage to that original idea.

The Legacy of Filmmakers documentary is another great addition to the already robust amount of extras present here.  It focuses on how Hollywood changed back in the 1960s and paved the way for the creation of American Zoetrope to which Lucas, Spielberg, Coppola and many other legendary filmmakers were part of.  Fans of classic cinema or these gentlemen as directors will absolutely love this addition.  The Master Sessions is something of a commentary but based around the music within the film.  The film runs normally but occasionally a small red block will appear on the screen during a particular sound effect sequence.  The Enter/OK button can be pressed for some additional behind the scenes information. 

Bald is a short eight minute featurette on how they wanted everyone to shave their heads for the film and what an ordeal it was to get a female lead to go through with it.  The best offering in the extras is the Artifact from the Future: The Making of THX 1138 documentary.  It runs about 30 minutes and it’s a retrospective look at how the film was created and features Lucas, Murch, the cast and many others including Steven Spielberg as they talk about the influence of the film. 

Overall

THX 1138is a greatreminder of how much of a visionary George Lucas was in the Sci-Fi genre at the time.  Fans of his work have been treated to an excellent version of this classic film with a ton of watch worthy extras.  Do not miss this one.

ComicsOnline gives THX 1138 on Blu-ray 4 out of 5 insufficient credits.
 

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