THX 1138

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Kyle C @kylekc Sep 5 George Lucas’s debut feature THX 1138 is often praised as a bold vision of a dystopian future, but for me, it fell flat. At less than 90 minutes, it somehow manages to feel much longer. The pacing is slow, the atmosphere is dry, and the near-total absence of music makes even the supposed moments of tension feel lifeless. The film doesn’t give much reason to care about its characters, and the worldbuilding feels half-baked. Take the hologram companion, for example. He just shows up and we never get a real explanation or backstory of who he is or why he matters. The sets occasionally stand out with a stark, sterile look, but more often they just look like regular parking garages, office buildings, or tunnels. While that could have been an intentional choice to blur the line between “our world” and the dystopia onscreen, the film doesn’t sell the idea convincingly. Instead, it feels like a cheaper imitation of 2001: A Space Odyssey mixed with 1984, but without the spark that makes either of those works powerful. That said, there are a few things I appreciated. The CGI, often derided, isn’t nearly as bad as its reputation, with only a handful of scenes standing out as distracting. I also liked the way the film portrays religion as a hollow government service, while economics are the real mechanism of control. The idea that THX isn’t a revolutionary hero but just an expendable cog escaping the system—only to be abandoned once it’s too costly to pursue him—is interesting, even if it dulls the impact of the ending. Ultimately, THX 1138 has some intriguing concepts but never brings them together into a compelling whole. Its narrative is murky, its characters are thin, and its style leans heavily on influences it can’t match. See more thiago s @Thiagostone Aug 24 Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom See more kevenquinlan T @RT75276071 Jul 12 Ahh, Meh. Listen, I understand I'm watching this for the first time and it's 2025. I might've liked it in 71? There isn't much story to it other than to show a technologically advanced dystopia but it was so non-sensical and, you can't take the human element out of humans and expect it to function in any meaningful way- and this movie doesn't function in any meaningful way. The people would be so miserable by the level of surveillance and being forced to live like this= they'd all be depressed and most would kill themselves. Than what's the point of a dystopia if no one can tolerate it- and it's not tolerable. This is like 2001- if you didn't see it when it dropped you'd be hard pressed to get anything out of it now. I won't be keeping it, the cool thing is all the little cues from it they used to better effect in Star Wars. See more Brad S. R @RT07389644 03/11/2025 Thoughtful, but sluggish to a fault–even when it's supposed to be exhilarating. See more Geoff R @RT47350921 01/05/2025 Fantastic first effort but just not enough to sustain the movie. See more Christopher C @RT03805568 01/04/2025 Just seeing one of Star Wars’ George Lucas first efforts alone is enough, but also with producer Francis Ford Coppola is a watershed moment in film making for the sci-fi genre. Part of its beauty is in its starkness, sterile humanity and the foresight in 1971 that yes, the future is not so much a green garden eutopia as a bleak existence as a worker of the masses working in a devoid robotic, sterile environment where the possibility of being critically injured is not uncommon (think Amazon or any other corporate warehouse of today). See a talented young Robert Duvall cut his teeth in an understated set design and with a sparse script that challenges and shows his talents early in his career. Hell, there’s even a car chase with Lola sports cars modified to look even more futuristic, one of which in real life James Garner finished second in the 24 hours of Daytona. If your attention span is short or you can’t comprehend that dystopian stories can be subtly understated you may be challenged here. However for me, this remains one of my favorite sci-fi films of all time. Pure in the delivery of its story, before the silliness of Star Wars took over and dominated the movie landscape. Keep an eye out for a scene slightly reminiscent of a scene in the second Blade Runner remake (holograms). It’s important to note that in 2004 in retrospect Lucas has realized the importance of this visionary seminal film that holds up well over decades and returned to make a few tweaks with CGI slightly expanding its length and a new trailer. There’s also a separate version included on the Blu Ray version minus dialogue with the interesting sound effects only. Be sure to see it Blu Ray for a crisp rendition and support the growing Blu Ray resurgence. Have a productive day and remember to consume. To consume. To consume. See more Read all reviews

THX 1138

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