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| THX 1138 - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: George Lucas
Actors: Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Don Pedro Colley, Maggie Mcomie, Ian Wolfe
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $26.98
Buy New: $5.78
You Save: $21.20 (79%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $4.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  (126 reviews)
Sales Rank: 6841
Format: Ac-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Original Recording Remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, Director's Cut, Surround Sound, Collector's Edition, Thx, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 88 minutes
Number Of Items: 2
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.6 x 0.6
MPN: WARD11162D
ISBN: 0790765268
UPC: 085391116226
EAN: 9780790765266
ASIN: B0002CHIKG
Release Date: September 14, 2004
Theatrical Release Date: March 11, 1971
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Description
Two-Disc Special Edition:
* Digitally remastered with THX certified sound
* Commentary by George Lucas and co-writer/sound effects editor Walter Murch
* Theatre of Noise sound-effects track with branching segments to 13 master sessions with Walter Murch
* 2 New documentaries: "A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope" and "Artifacts from the Future: The Making of THX 1138"
* George Lucas's original student film "THX-11384EB"
* "Bald": 1971 production featurette
* Five new trailers from the 2004 theatrical release
* Original theatrical trailer
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| Customer Reviews: Read 121 more reviews...
Excellent September 21, 2008
THX 1138 is, if not a great film, damned close to it, and one of the greatest directorial debut films ever made. The story is rather simple, and archetypal, broken into three discernible parts that pretty much recapitulate each other. In some futuristic dystopian world, where humanity has been forced to live underground, and the state is controlled by a leaderless hegemony run by a computer that prescribes medication to all its shaved bald citizens, thus allowing effete chrome-faced robots easy control over them, something is awry. THX 1138 (Robert Duvall- looking very much like Robert De Niro) is being tempted out of his stupor by his rebellious female roommate LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie), who slowly seduces him into foregoing his meds and exploring sex and love. This scenario is as old as Adam and Eve, literally, but is also used in tales like George Orwell's 1984. What sets THX 1138 apart, though, are the splendid visuals. The underground scenery, especially enhanced by skillfully and unobtrusively placed CGI, really gives a futuristic feel to the film. After THX and LUH are inevitably discovered, and tried as felons, they are thrown into a large white room one last time, where they have sex under the watchful eyes of the state, eager to understand just what this sexual attraction is. Presumably, their society has been shorn of such passions for centuries, and with machines in charge, not unlike the later Matrix trilogy, there seems to be a yearning to understand the potentially disruptive nature of strong emotions. In this way, THX 1138 harkens back to a staple of alien invasion films.
The flaws worth talking about in this version of the film are all carryovers from the original film, such as the fact that SRT says he's a hologram, yet he eats food, and has a material presence. Things like that, and a few other even lesser niggles, are real problems with the film, not the CGI enhancements, but even they are minor, compared to the excellent touches the film deploys, such as scenes where people are told to buy things, relentlessly, only to quickly destroy them so they can be recycled and bought again; or the fact that confessional booths are not operated by priests, but by a blank Renaissance image of Jesus Christ, rendered as Big Brother; or, best of all, concerned medicine cabinets that ask people opening them and reaching for meds or just an aspirin, `What's wrong?', as if these things, or the state behind them, really care. These, plus the rather simple techno-barren effects, help the film retain its futuristic look, where far more gaudy sci fi films of the era have dated badly. One of the truisms of reality is that technology only gets smaller, simpler, and more simple in appearance as it gets powerful. A truly futuristic technology would simply not be huge and hulking, but streamlined, small, and sleek, and THX 1138 seems to get that, even if only subliminally.
In the commentary, Lucas vows that now that he has finally done with the Star Wars films, he is set to return to avant-garde filmmaking of this sort, and his heroes from the French New Wave. Let's hope so, because after three decades of dumbing down the art of film with his simplistic and pallid Joseph Campbellian rot, the man owes literate filmgoers, and owes us big time for he became, wittingly or not, the very thing that his great first film excoriates, and, if the commentary is to be trusted, he still does not get it. Let's toss him a softball and pray for the future.
 THX 1138 July 17, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I watched this movie as a kid and thought it was very frightening. Re-watching it 30 years later was really interesting. The movie takes place in a totalitarian future where humanity is living underground. I like how everything is not explained in detail (which year is it, why are everyone underground, are there other countries and so on???). I was a bit worried about Lucas new cgi "improvement", but it is wasn't disturbing at all (most noticeable in some cityscapes and the car chase). This movie has certainly aged well, and with all the extras and the reasonable price, it is really recommended.
 Original vs. Director's Cut May 9, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Although I like the digital restoration treatment Lucas gave the film, I always felt that the extra CGI scenes are completely out of place with original movie. After seeing the direcotr's cut on DVD a little while back, I was dissatisified with it and went scouting the original copy and found it on VHS from here on Amazon. As I was watching it I realized that not only had Lucas added the additional CGI, but he also had dramtically re-edited a few important scenes or removing them altogether ( i.e., there's a scene just after THX and his mate LUH have just made love, THX enters a room of benches filled with people staring at him as he enters, he looks around feels uncomfortable and leaves, was almost completely taken out ). Although I'd never seen the original before seeing the director's cut, I could tell some things just didn't seem to fit in. Nowhere on the DVD commentary does Lucas and compoany mention that any changes where made at all, just that it was restored. I also read that Lucas doesn'y plan on releasing the original on DVD at all. I hope someday enough poeple's voices will be heard and get and it out on DVD.
Another bad "director's cut" April 30, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I hate it when they screw up great old movies by adding unwanted and inappropriate scenes. Boooo! I subtract two stars from an otherwise five-star movie to punish George Lucas for insulting our intelligence with lame special effects--pathetic eye candy in a movie whose initial charm owed a fair amount to stark minimalism. Did I say boo?
perfect March 30, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is one of the best movies ever made! The perfect movie to show us what the government is willing to do to keep up silent. Not a likely future but makes you think.
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