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THX 1138 - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)

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THX 1138 - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1971)

Starring: Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence Director: George Lucas Rating: R (Restricted) Format: DVD

3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (132 customer reviews)

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	84% buy the item featured on this page: THX 1138 - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) 3.9 out of 5 stars (132) $20.49
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Product Details

Actors: Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Dan Natchsheim, Joy Carmichael, David Munson
Directors: George Lucas
Writers: George Lucas, Matthew Robbins, Walter Murch
Producers: Edward Folger, Francis Ford Coppola, Larry Sturhahn
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, Director's Cut, Surround Sound, Collector's Edition, THX, NTSC
Language: French (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number of discs: 2
Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: September 14, 2004
Run Time: 88 minutes

Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (132 customer reviews)

ASIN: B0002CHIKG
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #33,335 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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For more information about "THX 1138 - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

DVD features

George Lucas's fascinating, almost art-house, film just took a quantum leap into the digital future. Never has the world of THX 1138 looked as bright, clear, and antiseptic as it does on this remastered version. It is equally impressive how far Lucas and the camera crew push the widescreen 2.35 aspect ratio, particularly on a film that emphasizes minimalism. For those that fault the film as being "soundless," prepare yourself for a shock. The new "THX enhanced" THX 1138 sports a newly remastered DTS audio track that enhances every wonderfully subtle, ambient sound of Lalo Schifrin's soundscape. Complaints are likely to be aimed at the restoration. As many assumed, the newly restored (and retitled) THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut underwent a few CGI alterations. In one aspect, the computer graphics are stunning, they're not excessive, and they don't take anything away from the film's storyline. In some aspects the CGI scenes bridge some empty gaps. However, the modern effects do look a little out of place in comparison with the rest of the film. Though a futuristic sci-fi film, THX 1138 is still very '70s in its look and feel. When the newly added scenes appear, it is pretty obvious what has been added. Yes, the purists will cry "Blasphemy!" but in all honesty those new to the film may not notice the differences, and most viewers will probably not care.

THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut DVD set contains pretty much everything you could ever want with regard to the film. It includes the new documentary Artifact from the Future: The Making of THX 1138 (30 minutes) as well as the original production featurette Bald (8 minutes). There is also the excellent 63-minute documentary A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope, featuring Zoetrope founder Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, John Milius, and Walter Murch. The DVD's informative and entertaining commentary is a combination of separate tracks by George Lucas and co-writer/sound designer Walter Murch. Though not an action-packed thrill ride, THX 1138 is nonetheless a very interesting, meditative film that hits a lot closer to our home than a galaxy far, far away. --Rob Bracco

Product Description

Two-Disc Special Edition:
* Digitally remastered with THX certified sound
* Commentary by George Lucas and co-writer/sound effects editor Walter Murch
* Theatre of Noise sound-effects track with branching segments to 13 master sessions with Walter Murch
* 2 New documentaries: "A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope" and "Artifacts from the Future: The Making of THX 1138"
* George Lucas's original student film "THX-11384EB"
* "Bald": 1971 production featurette
* Five new trailers from the 2004 theatrical release
* Original theatrical trailer

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Customer Reviews

132 Reviews

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(12)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (132 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

140 of 158 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly one of a kind ... or, 1138 of a kind, or ... whatever., July 22, 2004

By	Funky Kikuchiyo (Fairfax, VT USA) - See all my reviews

The world seems to be divided between two kinds of people. The people who think George Lucas is a talented legitimate artist, and those who think he's a business man unbothered by aethetics. For those who feel Lucas has (or had) talent, THX-1138 is a testament to it that. The use of color (or lack thereof), sound and editing in this film is truly unique. Lucas is often accused of lacking in writing skills, but THX-1138 doesn't rely on complex character backstories, or inspiring dialogue. In fact, THX, SEN, and LUH are rather one-dimensional characters. (Just to settle a common argument about the film, I do not believe SEN is intended to be homosexual, as beings in this world aside from THX and LUH are asexual because of their sedations) While images and sounds typically supplement dialogue as the force that progresses a story, it seems to be backwards at times in THX-1138. The title "visual storyteller" has been applied to every director at one point or another it seems, but for this work Lucas truly earns it. The sound effects of Star Wars have been copied so many times we all are numb to how good they really were, but watching this movie gives us a fresh idea of how incredible sound can be. These days most movies just use digital catalogs for all of their sound effects - Lucas had people go out with tape recorders and find things. While the sound is crude by today's standards, it is richer and warmer.

If I had any complaints about the film, it would be that there are moments where its quite obvious that its being made by an amateur director fresh out of film school who is used to making short features. Although these aspects also supplement the film as a whole, it does detract from the watchability (and rewatchability) of this film for some people.

This was one of the first art films I ever watched as a young man, and this had a huge impact on me. To know what was happening, I had to pay attention to everything - not just words.
Without having seen this movie, I wouldn't have learned to appreciate so many other films in the way I do. Every so often we viewers have to have our artistic perspectives broadened, and this film continues to do that. I would recommend this film to anyone - Star Wars fans (be warned... it is different), young film students, anyone.

Personally, I consider it a real shame that he burned out after directing the first Star Wars (those familiar with Lucasology know that he only directed the first feature and the newer prequels), since he obviously was capable of so much. I'm not dumping on Star Wars here, but the while the world doesn't end with the Star Wars movies, unfortunately Lucas's directing career did.

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126 of 148 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Director's cut has major problems, September 11, 2004

By	Geoffrey James (Boston) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

THX 1138 has been one of my favorite movies for years. I have been awaiting a DVD copy anxiously, because the VCR version was poorly done. I just saw the Director's Cut in the theatre last night. What a disappointment. The added special effects and reedited scenes weakened the movie in every case. The computer graphics were fakey, making an obvious contrast to the gritty, ultra-realistic feel of the rest of the movie. The added distance shots destroyed the compressed, claustrophobic feel that gives the movie its character. The "edited" animals were straight out of Ewok-land. The ending scene where THX is attacked by the shell dwellers was turned from something really eerie into an outtake from Planet of the Apes. This created a major consistency problem because the shell dwellers in this scene were entirely different from the shell dweller in the prison scene. In short: Lucas has made a total mess of his best work. He took a seminal SciFi film that was way ahead of its time and stuck in a bunch of stupid, unrealistic, irrelevant special effects. What a shame.

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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What's up with the Director's Cut?, September 15, 2004

By	W. Smith - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Most fans are wondering just what tinkering Lucas did with his first film. I know when I first heard he was giving it a "special edition" style makeover, two shots immediately came to mind: the ridiculous, ordinary modern doorknob with keyhole that the robots are trying to circumvent, and a shot where the futuristic race car THX has stolen clearly sports "Firestone" brand tires.

Well, much to my surprise, both of those shots survived into this new special edition! So what got changed? There's good news and bad.

The world itself is enlarged with new backgrounds and expanded vistas, not unlike some of the tinkering we saw with Cloud City in the Empire Strikes Back Special Edition. What were once dead ends or nondescript tunnels have morphed into busy elevator shafts and shuttle buses. Overall the effect is good, although sometimes the added effects seem too busy compared to the main action.

New creatures! A pack of bizarre monkeys now attacks our hero instead of the little-people shell dwellers. It actually comes off better than it might sound. Also added are a bizarre scorpion creature that frightens SEN, and a lizard stuck in the computer works seems to have sprouted antenna and wings(?)

The robot factory where THX works is much larger and busier. Now when THX is urged to "make the correction" we see exactly what that correction entails as a new radioactive rod melts everything in its path as it rolls around on the work table. Also the danger involved is more evident as we see people engulfed in explosions.

Most shocking addition? How about what I could only describe as a "mastrubation machine" pumping away as THX is watching his hologram television. Kind of creepy but definitely a ballsy move...no pun intended.

Finally the big car chase at the end has been enhanced with a few barricades here and there. But the main change is an additional passage which has him driving like a mad man through the rush hour traffic. The segment is exciting and looks good, but it doesn't really transition well with the original footage, and the frantic action and camera movement does not match the tone of the original footage. Also, in this new footage, THX seems to be driving the car like a professional racer, as opposed to the rest of the footage where he seems like he can barely keep the thing in a straight line.

It is a jarring addition, but not a disaster.

One major misstep with this DVD release is not a single mention is made of these digital enhancements in any of the supplementary material. Its as if Lucas wants to just rewrite history and pretend this is how the movie always looked. If he wants to bury the original version, fine, that's his decision, but at least let his fans in on his decision making process in making these changes and how they were technically achieved!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Not my kind of movie
I purchased this DVD on a recommendation of a good friend. I could not get into it. To slow a pace. However; you can see many of the forthcoming special and sound effects to be... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Kim Tatman

4.0 out of 5 stars COOL!
For as long as I've been a fan of Star Wars and anything George Lucas, I never had seen THX1138. The 2 disc edition was really good and I'm glad that I finally was able to see... Read more

Published 4 months ago by johnnyboy

2.0 out of 5 stars Induces sleep
THX 1138 - a movie that I had heard much about but never had an opportunity to see. George Lucas's first real film! Read more

Published 5 months ago by the_sheep

4.0 out of 5 stars Brave Old World
After hearing about it for most of my 39 years, I finally watched THX 1138. I found it to be an interesting meditation on classic literary themes found in older works -... Read more

Published 6 months ago by Robert S. Moyer

5.0 out of 5 stars THX 1138 - The Director's Cut
This is George Lucas's first and finest film bar none. Forget Star Wars!
There are some that do not like the 2004 Director's Cut and that is their right if they so choose... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Mark Shipley

3.0 out of 5 stars Rewriting the Future
It's been a long, long time since I saw the original THX-1138 so I couldn't be sure, watching this Director's Cut, but it sure seemed like a bunch of jarringly-out-of-place CGI... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Robert Carlberg

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
THX 1138 is, if not a great film, damned close to it, and one of the greatest directorial debut films ever made. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Cosmoetica

5.0 out of 5 stars THX 1138
I watched this movie as a kid and thought it was very frightening. Re-watching it 30 years later was really interesting. Read more

Published 16 months ago by Markus Gossas

3.0 out of 5 stars Original vs. Director's Cut
Although I like the digital restoration treatment Lucas gave the film, I always felt that the extra CGI scenes are completely out of place with original movie. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Benjamin Foti

3.0 out of 5 stars Another bad "director's cut"
I hate it when they screw up great old movies by adding unwanted and inappropriate scenes. Boooo! I subtract two stars from an otherwise five-star movie to punish George Lucas for... Read more

Published 18 months ago by Winters

› See all 132 customer reviews...

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