Customer Reviews

THX 1138

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow! I expected a typical 1970s hack job, but this novelization really adds to the experience of this film.

Ben Bova's vision is ultra-violent where George Lucas' savagery is implied...but it's compelling because it's believable. We understand the nature of the hologram (I thought that they were humans that thought of themselves as computer images). We understand a little more about the sad fate of LUH, and what was eventually planned for THX. And the rapes...ugh.

Special note for SF Bay Area residents - check out the BART cameo towards the end!

This really is a great novelization of a George Lucas story but only the first edition printing has the ending to it! For some reason the subsequent editions cut the final two or three pages of the story. Good luck finding a copy of the 1st edition paperback, I haven't seen it since I was in high school 25 years ago!

I've read the fist edition (a long long time ago) of this Ben Bova's adaptation of THX 1138. As far as I recall when THX emerge from the underground shaft's grating; he was standing up from a mound or a hill and was amazed by the sight of the sun (rising or setting?) on the horizon against a clear blue sky.

This was similar in George Lucas' screenplay and film. Only difference is, is the film's oversized sun on the screen with a yellowish red background with some silhouette of birds flying instead of the clear blue sky.

Also on Bova's book when THX gazed down from the hill; he saw trees,a field, a farmhouse (like a pastoral landscape). And outside by the farmhouse and the trees, he saw a family dining on an wooden table and those long wood bench.

I think Bova extrapolated a tiny tiny bit on the conclusion of Lucas' original story to give readers a little more conclusion on the ending. The reason(s) for omitting this part on the other editions is unknown.

At least the movie has some sense of resolution but left me wanting more. Usually the books expound and cover more elements than the movie.

Such is true here as I could not put the book down. The major disappointment here was the ending, what ending? It was as if someone took out the last pages, but there were 2 pages after the "end" and they were blank. It does not appear that the text faded away, and oh would that be just convienent; the text is fully intact and readable (even thought the book is old) and the last pages' text is faded. I DON'T THINK SO. What a cruel joke. Unless this book has a sequel or it is first in some kind of series, I am HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED as it definitly left me with wanting more.

So what happened? I guess it's obvious that the Superstructure is not radioactive, at least not lethal anyway. So our hero decides to go "Outside" which is said to be polluted and unlivable. Well? The dude makes it to the top where a rusted grating is in place and he pushes on it, can't get it open. So he pushes up against it with his back.... Well did he get it open or not? What was the outside really like, it would have made the read worth the while. SPOILED THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE.

What an extremely disappointing ending to such an intriguing, captivating story. The storyline to this seemed to just "stop" at the end. The story's plot is an excellent exploration of a society living off of pills and generic food-like items. A structured society with rigid rules of employment, social interaction, and a ban on sexual activity, among other things. The characters do not have names, but rather three letter designators and a numeric suffix. People are seemingly programmed to handle life as near automatons, with real robotic figures handling disciplinary and enforcement positions. The ending, however, leaves one completely flat. Not at all an ending with some sense of closure, but it left me feeling flat - like the story had impacted against a brick wall and exploded into nothingness. Mr. Bova is an excellent writer, and this particular short story seems to be based on a George Lucas screenplay. It may be that Lucas had the movie end in such a low, depressing moment - where there are more questions than answers. This might be great for a movie, but it sure sucks for a book.