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Thx 1138

post #1 of 17
4/9/08 at 11:33pm
Thread Starter 
There was on old thread but of course it was lost in the purge.

Man alive does this film get better and better with each viewing, and this is referring to tweaked DC. First of the tweaking here is some how all in service of the story and tone, and not just a bunch of spaceships landing, which many have thought is well out of George's reach. Also of note is how enthused the Beard sounds on the commentary. Also every thing on the disc is relevant and important unlike the complete dip every last drop releases of SW. The restoration is breathtaking this thing looks like it was shot yesterday instead of 1971. On top of that right next to Lawrence there is not a one bad composition in the whole entire movie.

On top of that wizz bang stuff we associate with the beard, is the story which is only getting more and more relevant as time marches on. And add to that a style of acting that perfectly suites Georges hands off approach, and I can not really point to any deep inherit flaws. Duvall acts the film entirely with his eyes, which is even more powerful than you think given the sound design. But this time around I must really give credit to Pleasence, he always use to seem to overbearing, but know knowing a person much like his character in real life, has led his part in this one of sage even more weight.

So to all of you have given up hope on Gerorge and have not seen this recently, seek it out. Hopefully a Blu release will be sooner rather than later.
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post #2 of 17
4/11/08 at 12:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharpel007 View Post
There was on old thread but of course it was lost in the purge.

Man alive does this film get better and better with each viewing, and this is referring to tweaked DC. First of the tweaking here is some how all in service of the story and tone, and not just a bunch of spaceships landing, which many have thought is well out of George's reach. Also of note is how enthused the Beard sounds on the commentary. Also every thing on the disc is relevant and important unlike the complete dip every last drop releases of SW. The restoration is breathtaking this thing looks like it was shot yesterday instead of 1971. On top of that right next to Lawrence there is not a one bad composition in the whole entire movie.

On top of that wizz bang stuff we associate with the beard, is the story which is only getting more and more relevant as time marches on. And add to that a style of acting that perfectly suites Georges hands off approach, and I can not really point to any deep inherit flaws. Duvall acts the film entirely with his eyes, which is even more powerful than you think given the sound design. But this time around I must really give credit to Pleasence, he always use to seem to overbearing, but know knowing a person much like his character in real life, has led his part in this one of sage even more weight.

So to all of you have given up hope on Gerorge and have not seen this recently, seek it out. Hopefully a Blu release will be sooner rather than later.

You know, I hate that CHUD has no-sold this thread, since I totally agree with you on the greatness of THX-1138.

In fact, I must say.....it interests and impresses me more than STAR WARS*, and that was one of the greatest, most influential pictures ever shot.

Really, the Beard is damn proud of THX, at least he does seem so from his commentary track, and you know, I don't fault him at all. With the refurnished Director's Cut, without any of the CGI enhancements making any shitty changes to the deterent of the film or the editing organic narrative, this is a great underrated movie. P

Really, how Lucas went from that cerebral slick editing to that of his SW prequels....damn, what happened?

THX-1138 (1971) - ****1/2

P.S. - You got your avatar from the John Hurt 1984? Awesome.


*=It's goddamn STAR WARS to me, not that A NEW HOPE.
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post #3 of 17
4/11/08 at 3:28pm
Thread Starter 
Yes, my avatar is Big Brother from the Hurt 84.

And thanks for the compliment on the article, so much of this site has been buit around dissecting Star Wars that the man first true piece of art has been glazed over. Granted we will never get that George back again, but one can dream what would of happened if WB did not shut down Zoetrope.
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post #4 of 17
4/14/08 at 3:32pm
I love this movie. I also love the DVD Directors Cut. Its funny how he just put enough little extra and it fits perfectly.

It would be nice to see him get back to making a film like this again.
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post #5 of 17
4/14/08 at 3:51pm
I didn't like the director's cut. I feel much of what he added took away from the claustrophobia aspect of the film.

However, I will agree this movie has made me think much more than the Star Wars films.
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post #6 of 17
4/14/08 at 4:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MilkManX View Post
I love this movie. I also love the DVD Directors Cut. Its funny how he just put enough little extra and it fits perfectly.
Huh? There are way more changes in the THX Special Edition than any of the Star Wars movies, maybe more than all three put together. It's just that there are very few people who have obsessively memorized every shot, sound effect, and piece of dialogue of THX like some people have done with Star Wars.
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post #7 of 17
4/14/08 at 4:02pm
And the changes are a lot more subtle too.
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post #8 of 17
4/14/08 at 9:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin K View Post
Huh? There are way more changes in the THX Special Edition than any of the Star Wars movies, maybe more than all three put together. It's just that there are very few people who have obsessively memorized every shot, sound effect, and piece of dialogue of THX like some people have done with Star Wars.
Do you have a full run-down of the changes?
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post #9 of 17
4/14/08 at 9:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LatinoInferno View Post
Do you have a full run-down of the changes?
Click.
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post #10 of 17
4/14/08 at 10:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin K View Post
Thank you....and I must say, alot of these changes are surprisingly subtle.
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post #11 of 17
4/15/08 at 12:56am
Thread Starter 
I must say adding more populace to the public scenes does not really ruin the world for me if anything it makes it more real, also I saw the original cut right before the DC, and I must say the clarity of the holograms, the coloring of the robot scenes really does help the film as whole. I even prefer the new monkeys. The only bad addition though is the CGI Hot Wheels car sequence, although ILM post Pirates might be able to fix it further.
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post #12 of 17
4/15/08 at 1:55am
I love the film.
This and American Graffiti are Lucas' best films as a director. Some may disagree(no doubt), but these films were all him. Star Wars simply had too many other factors. If the effects were shit, it would have been dead in the water(maybe not dead, per se, but not what it is today). Same goes for editing, score, casting, production design, etc.

The changes, while there are a lot of them, are probably on par with the changes made to the original Star Wars. I think Kevin's exaggerating a little, although the changes to Empire weren't too monumental(and the only one Lucas didn't fuck up in some way).

It's true, I haven't seen the original, but even with the screengrabs on that link I think they're about the same level when compared to the first of the SEs.

I can't reccommend the DVD enough, particulalry the double disc. The docs on THX-1138 and particularly American Zoetrope are awesome. It has Lucas' short student film on which it was based as well(surprisingly, untouched).

*edit-
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharpel007 View Post
The only bad addition though is the CGI Hot Wheels car sequence, although ILM post Pirates might be able to fix it further.
The main problem with that sequence isn't that it looks particularly fake(it does look good), it's that it has a level of crazy camerawork not seen in the rest of the film. And yes, it does hurt the claustrophobia that surrounds the rest of the movie. Aren't they underground? Not to mention the fact THX is like a professional racecar driver all of the sudden.

*edit 2- Everyone always brings up 1984 when they're talking about Equilibrium, but I think that movie has a lot more of THX-1138 in it.
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post #13 of 17
4/15/08 at 10:20am
I don't think it's an exaggeration at all to say there are more changes in THX than there are in Star Wars. Star Wars adds about three major sequences (new Mos Eisley intro, Jabba scene, entirely re-done Death Star effects) and maybe another dozen small changes (Greedo shoots first might be a major thematic change, but in terms of screen time it's a split second), but if you really go through Star Wars with a fine-toothed comb you'll see that most of the movie was untouched. THX's doesn't add any new sequences like Star Wars does, but there are dozens and dozens of small changes. I'm not saying they're good or bad (at best the changes are a mild improvement), I'm saying they shouldn't be dismissed as insignificant. The THX Special Edition is a totally different movie, even moreso than the Star Wars Special Edition in my opinion.
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post #14 of 17
4/15/08 at 11:33am
I just want to add to the love for this movie, and say that I feel that it's one of the more under appreciated great sci-fi flicks of the era. I don't think it's what you could call a forgotten masterpiece, but it doesn't often get mentioned alongside some of the more well-known classics from the same time, and hasn't really gotten it's due.

Personally, I feel that the director's cut enhances the film in a lot of ways, as it expands the scope of the world that Lucas created, and at times makes it feel more claustrophobic (the underground society almost seems like it is overpopulated nearly to the point of bursting). The only gripe I have is the CGI monkey that attacks Duvall at the end. That scene is kind of distracting now, and usually serves to pull me out of the movie. Otherwise, I love the tweaks on this one, as most are done so subtly as to not even be noticeable.
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post #15 of 17
4/15/08 at 12:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin K View Post
I don't think it's an exaggeration at all to say there are more changes in THX than there are in Star Wars. Star Wars adds about three major sequences (new Mos Eisley intro, Jabba scene, entirely re-done Death Star effects) and maybe another dozen small changes (Greedo shoots first might be a major thematic change, but in terms of screen time it's a split second), but if you really go through Star Wars with a fine-toothed comb you'll see that most of the movie was untouched. THX's doesn't add any new sequences like Star Wars does, but there are dozens and dozens of small changes. I'm not saying they're good or bad (at best the changes are a mild improvement), I'm saying they shouldn't be dismissed as insignificant. The THX Special Edition is a totally different movie, even moreso than the Star Wars Special Edition in my opinion.
Which is a valid point, and probably why I reviewed that THE FINAL CUT of BLADE RUNNER from last year as an edit different from the 1982 and 1992 versions.
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post #16 of 17
3/16/09 at 9:21pm
Just watched the directors cut. Its been over 10 years since i last saw this and it didn't leave a good impression at all back then? I must have been crossed-eyed and brain dead as THX-1138 is absolutely stunning, cream in your pants stuff. I quite liked the cgi flourishes even with the the car sequences where the effects come to the fore.
I thought Duvall did a great job of grounding the story and when you take into account the amount of dialogue he had to work makes his feat even more impressive.

I'd forgotten so much of this film that it was like watching it for the first time.Great experience.

I've only just comes across the Region 1 dvd artwork too;



Quality.
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post #17 of 17
5/19/11 at 3:33pm

Just watched this for the first time, completing the Lucas director portfolio for me. Very provocative experience, managing to bring something new to the table while dealing with well-worn subject matter.

 

I viewed the director's cut DVD so I can't comment on any changes, except to say that it's a beautiful movie (besides the weird monkey attack at the end).

 

This is a very visual movie, but as someone pointed out above that plays to Lucas's strengths. He lets Duvall and Pleasance do the heavy lifting in that department, and spends the rest of the time world-building. And what a world, the implications are staggering. Why are they underground (especially since the surface world, the "superstructure", appears to be inhabitable)? How does the government work, is it all automated bureaucracy? When did Christianity evolve into OMM? I was impressed that young Lucas did so much to imply here rather than spell out, since his later movies have pretty on-the-nose dialogue. All the shots of hallways and stark whiteness were haunting. The cinematography was quite nice as well, with many shots having a satisfying symmetry to them.

 

I was also impressed that the movie dealt so frankly with sexuality, and had believable chemistry between the two leads, something that was lacking in the prequels. I also appreciated a multi-ethnic view of the future. Racial, as well as gender, politics seem to have gone out the window, which is fascinating. Still, I have to wonder if the choice to have all the holograms (except for the one man being beaten by a robo-cop) be African-American was deliberate, especially since two of them are naked and dancing sensually. Lucas saying something about exploitation of black people, especially since it's a movie about a slave society?

 

Lots to think about. Oh, and I bought THX zooming around like a racecar driver because he'd previously had experience dealing meticulously with high-stress situations involving machines. Maybe not a 1:1 parallel, but I bought it. Still, that sequence did stand out and was unnecessary.

 

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