THX 1138
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| THX 1138 | |
|---|---|
| Image:THX1138.jpg | |
| Directed by | George Lucas |
| Produced by | Lawrence Sturhahn |
| Written by | George Lucas (Story and Screenplay) Walter Murch (Screenplay only) |
| Starring | Robert Duvall Donald Pleasence Don Pedro Colley Maggie McOmie Ian Wolfe |
| Music by | Lalo Schifrin |
| Editing by | George Lucas |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | March 11, 1971 (original release) September 10, 2004 (select cities re-release) September 14, 2004 (DVD releases) |
| Running time | 86 min / USA:88 min (director's cut) |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $777,777.77 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
THX 1138 is a motion picture made in 1969 (but not released to theaters until 1971). It is primarily about two residents of a dystopian future-state where a high level of control is exerted upon the residents through the ever-presence of faceless, android police-officers and the mandatory, regulated use of special drugs that suppress emotion and sexual desire. It was the first feature-length film directed by George Lucas, and in reality simply a more developed, feature-length version of his student film Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138:4EB, which he made in 1967 while attending the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. It shares themes with The Machine Stops, Anthem, Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four, We, Ira Levin's This Perfect Day, and was inspired in part by the short film 21-87.
The film was produced in a joint-venture between Warner Brothers and Francis Ford Coppola's then-new production company, American Zoetrope.
A novelization by Ben Bova was published in 1971.
Contents |
[edit] Story
The film consists of three acts. In the first, we are introduced to daily life in the underground dystopia through the central character, THX 1138 (Robert Duvall), a nuclear-production-line worker. All emotions are suppressed in THX's world through the compulsory use of (soma-like) drugs. However, THX's female roommate LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie) has stopped taking her drugs, and secretly substitutes inactive pills for THX's medications. As the drug's effects wear off, THX finds himself experiencing authentic emotions and sexual desire for the first time. He and LUH begin a loving relationship, and plan to escape to the "superstructure", where they hope to be able to live in freedom. Before they can attempt this escape they are arrested and charged with having unauthorised sex and not taking state-prescribed drugs.
The second act sees THX incarcerated for his crimes in a white limbo world along with a collection of other prisoners, including Donald Pleasence as SEN 5241 – a sinister technician who has been using his programming skills to try to replace LUH as THX's roommate and who is, himself a 'prisoner' of the limbo because THX reported him for said programming violations. Some of SEN's dialogue is taken from speeches by Richard Nixon <ref>Lucas, George (Director). (2004). THX 1138 (The George Lucas Director's Cut Two-Disc Special Edition) [DVD]. USA: Warner Brothers. </ref>. The outlook and content of this section of the film is somewhat reminiscent of the work of Dr. Samuel Beckett. Most of the prisoners seem uninterested in escape, but eventually THX and SEN decide to find an exit. They encounter SRT (Don Pedro Colley), a (tangible) hologram who has become disenchanted with his role in the society and is making an attempt to escape. Upon exiting the limbo, THX attempts to find LUH and learns that her identity has been reassigned to a foetus in a growth chamber. This indicates that she has been considered "incurable" and killed. Separated from the other two fugitives, SEN makes a tentative exploration of the limits of the city's underground network. Cowed by what he sees, he returns to the city and is captured by the authorities.
The third act is an extended escape sequence, featuring a futuristic and often-copied car-chase sequence through a tunnel network. THX and SRT steal two cars, but the latter immediately crashes. It is uncertain whether SRT survives the impact, although the film's script indicates he does not. THX flees to the limits of the city's underground road network while being chased by android police, and eventually locates an access tunnel that leads up to the surface. The police pursue THX up the ladder, but the expense of his capture exceeds its budget, compelling the police to retreat, leaving THX to climb out and stand, for the first time, in the harsh surface sunlight. As THX stands before the setting sun, birds intermittently fly overhead, indicating that life is possible on the surface.
[edit] Production
In order to emphasize the dehumanizing nature of the world of THX 1138, Lucas insisted that most of the actors and actresses in the film shave their heads, with some characters going completely bald, while others were allowed to maintain a buzz cut. As a publicity stunt, Lucas arranged for several actors to get their first haircuts/shaves at unusual venues, and have this filmed for later use in a tongue-in-cheek promotional featurette entitled Bald. Robert Duvall had his head shaved while watching a baseball game, while his co-star, Maggie McOmie, had hers done in a scenic park location. Another actor, who would later play an insane man in the film, was allowed to cut off his own hair and was filmed doing so in a bathtub. The Bald featurette was included in the 2004 DVD release. Many of the extras seen in the film were recruited from the addiction recovery program Synanon, most of whose members had shaved heads.
The chase scene featured Lola T70 Mk.IIIs with dummy turbine engines racing through two San Francisco Bay Area automotive tunnels: the Caldecott Tunnel between Oakland and Orinda, and the underwater Posey Tube between Oakland and Alameda. The final climb out to the daylight was actually filmed, with the camera rotated 90 degrees, in the incomplete (and decidedly horizontal) BART Transbay Tube before installation of the track supports, with the characters using exposed reinforcing bars as a ladder.
[edit] Director's Cut
The original cut of the film had been available for several years on both Laserdisc (in letterbox format) and VHS but was not immediately available on DVD. Although this was in part the result of early skepticism of the DVD format on the part of Lucas, it was also because of his desire to slightly re-work parts of the film before it was released on DVD.
Lucas finally set about getting a DVD version of the film together in early 2004, putting the film through a meticulous audio/video restoration and making use of computer-generated imagery to modify certain scenes to his liking, mostly by expanding crowds and sets. In addition, Lucas shot new footage for the film, and even went as far as to re-shoot several scenes using computer systems to insert the actors and replace existing footage. This Director's Cut was released to a limited number of digital-projection theaters on September 10, 2004 and on DVD in Region 1 on September 14. Region 2 and 4 releases came later. Fan and critical reaction to this version was actually quite positive[citation needed], given the backlash Lucas faced with altering the Star Wars films.
[edit] Trivia
- George Lucas apparently named the film after his San Francisco telephone number, 849-1138 -- the letters THX correspond to letters found on the buttons 8, 4 and 9.
- The cinematic sound systems company THX Ltd. was founded by Lucasfilm and has been thought to be named after this film. THX officially stands for "Tomlinson Holman's eXperiment". Tomlinson Holman developed the THX sound system, having been commissioned to do so by Lucas in 1982. According to Lucas' thoughts, the "X" in the sound system name THX stands for "crossover", a piece of audio processing equipment. In either case, it is not named for THX 1138 and Lucas says that the similar names are just a coincidence.
- In the audio commentary track on the DVD release of the film, co-writer and editor Walter Murch explains it was his belief that the names of the two main characters "THX" (pronounced "thex") and "LUH" (pronounced like the word "love" without the "v" sound) refer to their being representations of "sex" and "love", respectively.
- In an interview, Don Pedro Colley indicated that the cars were modified Chaparral racing cars. Colley is incorrect—they are cosmetically modified Lola T70 Mk.IIIs. This was verified by an article in Car & Driver magazine from the early 1980s discussing John Ward, who modified and prepared the cars for the film. This can also be verified by close inspection of the finished film.[1]
- During the chase sequence, a voice actor improvising background radio dialogue said, "I think I ran over something... I think I ran over a wookiee on the expressway." The ad-lib became the name of a prominent alien race in the Star Wars films.
- Tamil writer Sujatha wrote a science fiction novel in two parts called En Iniya Iyandhira , based on THX-1138.
- George Lucas claims that the scene where technicians mess with THX's nervous system, sending him into comical spasms, was drawn from his antipathy towards the doctors who treated him after his near-fatal car crash as a youth.
- The underground chase near the end was shot in a not-yet-completed segment of the BART subway system in San Francisco.
- The music playing during the end credits is the first movement from J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244.
- A scene in which THX 1138 falls into a garbage compactor and fends off a mutated rodent was cut because the monster did not look realistic. This situation was later reused in Star Wars (1977).
- The opening credits scroll down instead of up.
- George Lucas has worked the title of this film, or parts of it, in some of his other films. In American Graffiti (1973), the license plate of one car is "THX 138". In Star Wars (1977), a reference is made to "prison cell 1138". The cinema stereo sound system he co-developed is called "THX".
- This film was made as a result of George Lucas' student film short project at USC, entitled "THX-1138:4EB". Having won significant praise and attention for what was, at the time, an unconventional short, Lucas was given the opportunity to direct a feature-length version starring Robert Duvall, produced by his mentor Francis Ford Coppola under his newly formed production company American Zoetrope. Zoetrope was a financial failure, as was "THX-1138", but the attention was enough to win Lucas the opportunity to make "American Graffiti", the success of which paved the way for the opportunity to make "Star Wars".
- Director George Lucas insisted on casting the stage actor James Wheaton over Orson Welles to play the voice of "OMM" in the film.
- In the computer room near the end of the film, the lights on one computer can be seen flashing the word "TILT".
- This was the first film for Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope.
- Officials at Warner Brothers did not like the finished film. They cut the film and reduced the marketing budget.
- The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) features a car chase where the license plate is given as THX 175. The cinematographer on this film was 'Douglas Slocombe' who would go on to work with 'Steven Spielberg' , a long time friend of George Lucas.
- Although uncredited, the "elevator music" played in the "shopping mall" scene in THX-1138 was not composed by Lalo Schifrin. It was composed by Franz Waxman for the film Miracle in the Rain (1956) for the scene when Jane Wyman first arrives to work at her New York City office.
- To provide the large number of extras required, George Lucas contacted the Synanon drug rehabilitation facility. He found many recovering drug users who were required to be shaved bald for the drug program anyway.
- To provide the voices of the unseen overseers and announcers, George Lucas contacted San Francisco-based theater group The Corporation. He gave them brief character outlines, and allowed the actors to improvise all the "overheard" dialogue in the movie.
- Co-writer Walter Murch has said in interviews that George Lucas never explained the origins of the character names THX and LUH to him, but he believes that they are deliberate homonyms for sex and love - the two factors that set them apart from society.
- Publicity photos and some foreign posters and video covers feature a shot from a scene not included in the final film: The police robots approaching the dead body of the OHM priest (who SEN killed earlier) and checking for a pulse.
- For the final shot it is Matthew Robbins (I) wearing a bald cap and not Robert Duvall playing THX-1138 as he escapes to the outside.
- For the final sequence in which THX-1138 is climbing up to the surface, it is a simple perspective trick. It is not a ladder, but re-bar embedded in concrete. The actors are actually crawling along a horizontal surface. By tilting the camera to appropriate angles, it appears that the characters are climbing upward.
- The cat-and-mouse chase scene between THX and the robot cops was apparently shot in a telephone exchange; the endless rows of electronic equipment are actually telephone switches. (source: "Crossbar" mailing list)
- Average Shot Length (ASL) = 6 seconds
- The image in the confessional booths that resembles Jesus is actually a self portrait of Northern Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer, painted in 1500.
- Lucas's original plan for THX was to shoot the film in Japan, but Francis Ford Coppola did not give Lucas enough money in the film's budget to take the entire production to Japan. The film was instead shot in San Fransisco and L.A.
[edit] THX 1138 References in other media
- The number 1138 is a recurrent Easter egg in subsequent George Lucas films and products of the Lucas-founded LucasArts and Industrial Light & Magic. For example, 1138 is the number of the cell block Luke Skywalker claims Chewbacca is being transported to on the Death Star in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope; the number-plate of Paul Le Mat's deuce coupe in American Graffiti is THX 138; in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Rogues 10 and 11 are ordered to sector 38; in Raiders of the Lost Ark the Nazi harbor loudspeaker announces "eins, eins, drei, acht" (German for one, one, three, eight); the number 1138 is printed on a battle droid's back in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace; and in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Clone Trooper Commander Bacara of the Galactic Marines has the numbers "1138" as his clone registration number.
- A nod to the film that inspired THX-1138, 21-87 is featured in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Princess Leia's cell is number 2187.
- In the Lucasarts game Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, the total of Zak's phone bill is $1,138.
- In the DVD versions of all the Star Wars episodes, highlighting the THX 'icon' and pressing 1138 (some DVD players/remotes require that you press the button '10+' then press 11 then 3 then 8 while on some DVD players/remotes you may have to press the button '10+' then press 11, then '10+' then 03 then '10+' then 08) grants access to special bonus features. For example, in the Episode III DVD, the bonus feature include Yoda dancing to some hip-hop music.
- In the Star Wars computer game Republic Commando, 1138 also is the number of delta Boss RC-1138.
- In the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow a door leading to a scientist's lab is labelled 1138.
- Quentin Tarantino's film Kill Bill Volume 2 pays a similar homage to this title on the license plate of Bill's jeep. Though hard to discern through the mud on it as he leaves The Bride at Pei Mei's, it reads THX-1169.
- In the film Ocean's Eleven, Matt Damon's character enters the numbers "1-1-3-8" into the electronic lock during the vault heist segment. Damon makes reference to Lucas and the film in the DVD commentary.
- It has been said that a reference to THX 1138 appears in every subsequent film that Lucas has been involved with. Fans are still looking for some of these.
- In Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, click on the Galactic Empires Trooper, and sometimes you will hear "THX 1138 ready, sir!"
- On page 193 of the Shadows of the Empire novel (which occurs between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi), the plans for the second Death Star are located in sector Tarp-Hard-Xenon (THX) on the computer the Bothans are hacking that was recovered from a freighter allegedly carrying fertilizer. Also, on page 336, in requesting that the guards in the subbasement level of Pince Xizor's castle report in, a person says over the comlink: "Come in, sector one-one-three-eight"
- A tribute to THX 1138 can be heard in the queue area of the Disneyland Star Tours attraction; a public address announcement asks the owner of a land speeder with license "THX 1138" to return to their vehicle.
- Many industrial music and synthpop artists, among them Laibach, Chemlab, Floater, Moev, DJ Shadow, UNKLE and Clock DVA, have utilized samples of sound effects and dialogue from the film. The beginning of the first track from Nine Inch Nails' 1994 album The Downward Spiral features an excerpt from the "beating channel" watched by the title character.
- The free tekno sound system Spiral Tribe sampled dialogue from the film extensively in several releases, including the track "Track 13 (Criminal Drug)" (from the "Forward the Revolution" EP) .
- In the opening title sequence for Pinky and the Brain, The Brain is seen writing THX=1138 on a blackboard.
- In episode "The Train Job" of the short-lived Fox television series Firefly, a train car can be briefly seen with the digits 1138 on the top.
- In issue 38 of the third incarnation of DC Comic's Teen Titans, "Titans Around The World" THX 1138 is the numberplate of a pickup truck parked outside a store that former Teen Titan Risk holds up.
- In the Smallville episode "Thirst", the name of one of LuthorCorp's projects is referred to as 'Project 1138'.
- In 3D Realms' 1996 game Duke Nukem 3D, "1138" is seen displayed on a security monitor in episode 2, level 2.
- There is notable similarity (Underground Dystopia, escape sequence to Earth's surface that is now inhabitable) in the plot of Capcom's "Breath Of Fire V: Dragon Quarter" for the PlayStation 2 console.
- London (UK) dance act have the name THX1138 .. See official site.THX1138
- In the John Carpenter movie Dark Star a piece of the ship is labelled "Toilet Tank THX 1138"
- Track number 7 on Jeff Beck's album "Who else!" is titled THX138
- The song entitled, "We Are 138," written by Glen Danzig of the Misfits, was written in reference to the android-like sate of THX-1138.
- On the Swedish rapper Promoe's album Government Music there is a song titled THX 1138 handling the subject of a big-brother state.
- "SEN-5241", an alternative reality game (ARG), was created by the web development group at VirtuQuest. The game was a continuation of the THX story, some years after THX's adventures. This game is archived and playable in the gallery at VirtuQuest.com.
- In the online comic Freefall, "THX 1138" can be see on Helix's "Helix Vision (v1.01)". strip #203
- In Tamil movie Thiruda Thiruda (dubbed into Telugu as Donga Donga), the stolen money from a bank is hidden inside a cargo container named "SKF 1138"
- In Rockstar Vancouvers PS2 Game, Bully, the password to the 'Nerds' base is 1138.
- In the movie Swingers, Trent's (Vince Vaughn) car has the license plate THX 1138.
[edit] External links
- Official site (Director's Cut release)
- THX 1138 at the Internet Movie Database
- Changes made for the DVD release
- Another page with images of the DVD changes
[edit] References
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Categories: Articles with unsourced statements | Articles lacking sources from November 2006 | All articles lacking sources | 1971 films | Directorial debut films | Dystopian films | Films directed by George Lucas | Warner Bros. films | American Zoetrope films | Surreal films | Avant-garde and experimental films | Prison films | American films | English-language films
