Slashdot Mirror
THX-1138 Finally Coming to DVD
OMM0000 writes "George Lucas' first film, THX 1138 is finally coming to DVD. They've also launched a new site, as USA Today reports. As webmaster of a certain THX-1138 fan site (which will remain nameless to avoid slashdotting), this is excellent news. For all of you lamenting the Star Wars prequels, be sure to see where Lucas' roots in filmmaking are."
Saw it once ages ago, had to fight to stay awake.
Now I can FINALLY get a film to help me during my bouts of insomnia! Huzzah!
Sorry...but the way it was worded, I took it as a personal challenge.
Maybe you shouldn't have posted this as OMM0000 if you really wanted to prevent a Slashdotting.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
Probably because Lucas didn't direct Empire
While it's a very interesting film from an experimental point of view, THX 1138 is not something that's likely to appeal to too many Star Wars fans, apart from the George Lucas connection. It's set in a dystopian future where everything is run by machines, and there is very little interpersonal dialogue or human interaction. Like I said, it's interesting from an experimental point of view to see how Lucas uses film to tell a story in a very non-conventional way, but it's clearly not aimed at mass audiences.
If you want to watch an early George Lucas film, most people will be better off with "American Graffiti", which got a pretty good DVD release a few years back, and is a very entertaining film.
For those of you who haven't seen it, it's a totalitarian society in which:
A drug violation means being under-medicated.
Most identity is removed, people don't have names, only prefix-suffix designations.
Sex is illegal
You confess your sins in booths to a recording of a Jesus-like picture of Ohm
It's weirer than can be described.
It's a definite must see for sci-fi fans.
AccountKiller
There's some hidden stuff on that page, I found a trailer in pretty decent resolution.
Link-city
# THX 1138 was based on a student film Lucas made while attending USC.
# The original title was Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB
# The stars of the film were Robert Duvall as THX 1138 (yes it's a name!), Donald Pleasence as SEN 5241, and Maggie McOmie as LUH 3417
# THX 1138 was not only ahead of its time in sound effects, but also in the themes which it portrayes, such as the loss of individuals for the good of the group, the self-corruption of the human spirit, racism in science fiction, and yes, even channel-surfing
# The film was produced by American Zoetrope Studios, then co-owned by Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola
# The extras used in the film came from a drug rehabilitation center called Delancey Street Foundation. The only way to enter Delancey Street was to have your head shaved. (Thanks to donasso@pacbell.net)
# When George Lucas lived in the San Francisco Bay area, where the tunnel scenes in THX were filmed, one of his phone numbers was 849-1138, or as a mnemonic, THX-1138. (Thanks to nbeckett@gte.net)
# The "shell dwellers" in THX served as the basis for the Jawas in Star Wars.
# The sound made by the staves which the robots use to condition prisoners are remarkably similar to the lightsaber sound effect.
# Star Wars was, at one point, going to be a prequel to THX, with the character who would become Luke Skywalker conceived as a young THX.
# The licence plate number on Milner's deuce coupe in American Graffiti was THX 138.
# In Star Wars, Luke says "Prisoner transfer from cell block 1138."
# During the car chase scene, someone can be heard over the intercom saying "I think I ran over a Wookiee back there on the expressway." As any good Star Wars fan can tell you, Chewbacca is a Wookiee.
# In The Empire Strikes Back, General Rieekan says, "Send Rogues ten and eleven to station three-eight."
# Not from a Lucas movie, but in The Lawnmower Man, the experimental chimp is named Rosco 1138.
# This is unconfirmed (I'll confirm it as soon as I can get to the theatre again!) but a reliable source told me that the battle droid who loses it's head in The Phantom Menace has the number "1138" on its back.
shamelessly stolen from this site (it's geocities, so go easy)
Now Dark Star is really really bad. SO bad it is all the way back around to good.
The hard-to-navigate movie site states that the short will be on the second disc of the DVD set.
Your mileage may vary, but mine is constant.
Sucks real hard.
Not only that, but if you spin up the flash plugin, all you get is a set of links that then cause more flash loads.
In summary, a very lame site. I aborted after clicking the first link and seeing the "Transferring data..." status line.
I've seen the movie(in theater no less). I liked it, but I'm not going to torture myself trying to find my way through a website about it.
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
are detailed here...