THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut - Movie Trailers @ Ultimate DVD

Reviews

Reviewer: J.W. Bos Date: 11/13/2004 10:30:26 PM
Subject: THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) - Review
George Lucas's enigmatic feature film debut expands on a student film he made at USC. Created under the wing of producer Francis Ford Coppola, this movie is a bleak vision of a world in which technology, not man, is the ultimate dictator. Efficiency overrides every other aspect of human life, as people are reduced to code names and their lives are contained, monitored, and manipulated for the sake of the system. Featuring unsettling performances by Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasance, and Maggie McOmie, THX 1138 does not attempt to explain how things became this way; rather, it utilizes the alienation of its characters, the stifling white-on-white imagery of its sterilized society, and the claustrophobic, droning sound design to emphasize the dangers of a world reliant on soulless technology.

First off, it's not for the kids like the Star Wars prequels, as well as being downbeat throughout the whole film. Second, the complaining over George "tinkering" with the film is petty, when compared to what the studio did originally (all explained in the documentary). It's got a lot of subtle messages in the film, mostly about modern living and our dependencies on technology, the government taking over how we think, religious belief replaced by slogans, pills taking care of all our problems, "unplugging" from the system (like in the Matrix) and having TV fill in our desire for sex and violence. Also there's a theme that runs in Lucas' films, one of escaping your surroundings which he would explore in "American Graffiti" and "Star Wars". It's under 90 minutes and never gets boring.

Menus:
The Menus look great and easy to use. The menus are a plain white screen and the menu options but the ever changing photo makes it look great.

Extra’s:
the "early years at Zoetrope" are worth watching for. You learn where "Wookie" comes from. You learn that this was heavily influenced by Japanese films and was filmed like a documentary from the future. You learn how "Finian's Rainbow" was what brought George and Francis together, and George got money for "THX-1138" by making a documentary for "The Rain People" soon after.... You see where Lucas' bitterness towards Hollywood comes from as well as forming his own studio away from Coppola (too crazy). You see the genesis of the great films and directors of the 70s being formed, including interviews with Spielberg and Scorsese, but "A Decade Under the Influence" is more in-depth. Also included on the second disc are the original and prerelease Trailers.

Conclusion:
The Audio and video quality is very good. It’s like the movie has been made just this year. The Dolby 5.1 channel is very clear and gives the desired effect when watching the movie. This was the first time I’ve seen this movie but it’s looks and feel are timeless. Even is these modern times this movie is still interesting and the movie gives you something to think about how far should we go in the future.
There are not much Special Effects in this movie but it’s not necessary to gets it message over to the people.

Video Quality: 8
Audio Quality: 9
Special Effects: 7
Extras: 8
Overall : 8/10
This text refers to the THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) DVD Region 1 Edition