DVD Review: THX 1138
Yes, George Lucas’ first student film!
Extraordinary, visually hypnotic.
History
Ever pop in a film, then that harmonious THX branding sound label fades in and fills your ears as you scratch your head and say, “what does THX stand for?” Well, the mystery is solved folks. Just watch THX 1138 and you’ll know that answer. Did you really think I was just going to spill it out? What would be the fun in that?
Over 38 years ago, George Lucas set out at the age of 27 to make his first film: THX 1138. He wanted to push the notion of the “what if” factor. What if government ended up controlling everything—even our minds, thoughts, emotions, . . . feelings. “Ouch,” right? Wouldn’t that like bite, kids? But Lucas pushed the question even further than 1984, putting us in harms way with THX 1138.
Lucas spent the better part of the year restoring this film. He mentioned, “. . . I was struck by just how much it reflects how I saw the world in 1970. It was designed as a metaphor for the way we were living at the time. Our world has taken many strange twists in the past three decades, and ‘the future’ isn’t what it used to be.”
If you end up watching THX 1138, keep in mind that the film industry was undergoing a dramatic change during its shooting. A new era of corporate-owned film companies, which meant the dictatorship of “commercial” material would only be produced, was eclipsing the old studio system; the system of producing privately funded projects that would today be considered: Independent Films.
Back then, if you wanted to be truly creative and experimental, you had to work outside the system, enter Francis Coppola (Writer/Director of the God Father Series and five time Oscar winner to boot), who was the executive producer of THX 1138, under the umbrella of American Zoetrope Picture Company out of San Francisco. Zoetrope was an outlet for filmmakers to express their concerns about changes in society, about a shift away from creativity and individual achievement and toward a corporate, consumerist mentality. Those very fears and concerns are seen throughout THX 1138.
The Storyline
Robert Duvall stars in this classic drama: the struggle between government and the society it controls. The story is very slow in the beginning, but picks up, causing the viewer to want more. The plot directs us to examine our own lives, what we have and if it’s truly important. Can we leave behind the ones that we love for our own personal freedom? We follow Duvall’s character through many of these decisions as the plot unfolds. The story suspends the viewer with creating a lot of thinking about “what would you do?” The ending will make you want more.
The Good, Bad and Indifferent
A great start for Lucas. When you watch this film, you can see where many of the “nuances” came from in Star Wars. The beginning of the story is slow, but the amount of imagination that was put into set designs and costumes is amazing and will keep your attention. The pace eventually picks up, and the audio makes us fully understand why Lucas named his sound company, THX. Even down to the smallest trinket, each sound effect you’ll hear throughout this film will amaze you. What was that? How was that made – mind you, it was 1969-70, so no synthesizers or personal computers to mix with existed. THX 1138 is truly a masterpiece in its own right.
The Bottom Line
It’s like this: You’re in Paris; you know the Mona Lisa just hangin’ around the corner – ya just gotta see it! THX 1138 is here – now, on a digitally re-mastered DVD box set. It’s one of the greatest filmmaker’s student films. This is a must see for all Star Wars fans to get a sneak peek, a brother/sister film if you will, to the epic series that changed how films were made – and toys played with (knocking over one of my storm troopers on my desk – “take that you: white, non-jointed, plasticie, sperm-cloned jerk!”) Thank you Warner Brothers for renewing this classic piece.
*Special note: I picked up my copy (2 disc, crafty, unique box set) for $3 at Big Lots !!! Obama’s stimulus plan is working, baby! I hear crates of Dodges arrive next week!
