THX 1138

The only other George Lucas movies I had seen prior to THX 1138 were the Star Wars movies and American Graffiti. I was much younger when I saw AG, so I hardly remember anything about it, but I do remember liking it for one reason or another. (Sometimes when I've gotten a ticket I still want to stuff it in the glove compartment labeled "CS") As for the Star Wars movies, I loved them as a kid, but their novelty soon wore off, never to redeem themselves again. I never really considered the prequels serious films since they were released in such a consumer franchise driven environment. The first thing I noticed about George Lucas when I looked him up on IMDB is that he hasn't made nearly as many films as I had thought. It's almost as if Star Wars crippled his career, because since 1977 the only thing he has directed has been Star Wars movies.

As usual, I have seen some references or influences from THX1138 before actually seeing the film itself. In the first level of Hitman Contracts, you play as Agent 47 (who looks a bit like Robert Duvall as THX 1138). You awake in a room that is very similar to the wall-less jail, white and seemingly endless, until you reach a doorway.



Also, many elements of Star Wars have recognizable roots in this film, including many of the sounds. Light Saber sounds are used for the batons that the robots use, and the distorted harmonic voices that are used to communicate from ship to ship in Return of the Jedi are also in THX 1138.

I'm always surprised to see when movies are set so far into the future. The 25th century is a little ambitious considering what we see on screen (the cars for instance all dressed up 60's Lolas), but maybe that's 21st century hindsight talking.

SPOILER ALERT, don't read after this point if you haven't seen this film...really! It's not the Sixth Sense, there's still a chance that you could be surprised!

The film's ending is so straightforward and final. It wasn't exactly what I expected. The last moments of the movie show a little bit of inner conflict with THX1138 as he is climbing his way out to the forbidden outer shell. (a.k.a nature), but it rests solely on a few glances that Robert Duvall makes, and his body language. This is one of those delightful situations in film where a character is left without any companions to whom he can communicate what he is thinking verbally. It really isn't developed any further than slight suggestions, and there is no fanfare. At first I hated this, I felt that the ending should have been developed more. For that matter, THX should have returned to the custody of the robots, so he could at least see LUH again, if this is a story about the persistence of love. However leaving this last minute struggle as such a minuscule detail, it makes me wonder if perhaps if it was my imagination. It's much more ambiguous this way. One clue that suggests that THX really almost went back underground is the timing of the budget for his capture running out. He was so close to making a clean break, that even if the robots didn't have to turn around because of budget constraints and continued to pursue him, he was far enough ahead of them to still be able to leave. But with the budget running out at that moment, it offers up the moment when the robots stop chasing him and ask him politely for the last time if he would come back with them. This really gives THX a moment to react and contemplate over that, if he does at all.