THX 1138
Encyclopedia
THX 1138 is a 1971 science fiction
film directed by George Lucas
in his directorial debut. The film is based on a screenplay by Lucas and Walter Murch
. It stars Robert Duvall
and Donald Pleasence
and depicts a dystopian future in which the populace is controlled through android police officers and mandatory use of drugs that suppress emotion
, including sexual desire.
THX 1138 was the first feature-length film directed by Lucas, developed from his 1967 student film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, which he made in 1967 while attending the University of Southern California
. This short film was itself based on a one and a quarter page treatment of an idea by Matthew Robbins
. The feature film was produced in a joint venture between Warner Brothers and Francis Ford Coppola's
new production company, American Zoetrope
. A novelization
by Ben Bova
was published in 1971.
-like areas known as "Unichapels". At their jobs, SEN 5241 (Donald Pleasence
) and LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie
) keep surveillance on the city and field questions (mostly about proper drug intake).
THX 1138 (Robert Duvall
) works in a factory producing androids that function as police officers. The work is hazardous as it requires handling explosive and radioactive material. THX's female roommate, LUH, becomes disillusioned and makes a conscious decision to break the law and stop taking her drugs. She subsequently 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.
At first conflicted and nauseated, he eventually connects with LUH. Knowing that their relationship is illegal, THX must decide whether to return to using the prescribed drugs, or escape with LUH. He knows that he will not be able to function without his drugs while at his demanding job, but he does not want to lose what he has created with LUH. They consider an escape to the "superstructure," where they hope to be able to live in freedom.
THX is confronted by SEN. Using his position as LUH's superior, he changes her shift. SEN admits that he wants THX as his new roommate. THX files a complaint against SEN for the illegal shift change. Without drugs in his system, THX falters during critical and hazardous phases of his job. The city's authorities discover THX's and LUH's crimes of sexual intercourse and drug evasion (Because of a bureaucratic error, THX is briefly "mind-locked" while at a critical juncture of android construction—this almost leads to disaster.) THX and LUH are arrested.
THX is imprisoned in a white limbo
world. He enjoys a brief reunion with LUH—one disrupted by the enforcer robots. THX is consigned to another region of limbo, this one populated by a collection of other prisoners, including SEN. Knowing that THX filed the complaint against him, SEN nevertheless rallies him to join his undescribed cause (some of SEN's dialogue is taken from speeches by Richard Nixon
.).
Most of the prisoners seem uninterested in escape, but eventually THX and SEN decide to find an exit. They encounter SRT (Don Pedro Colley
), who starred in the holograms broadcast citywide. SRT has become disenchanted with his role in the society and is making an attempt to escape.
Exiting their prison, THX and SRT are separated from SEN. Controllers in the city learn of the escape and allot a strict budget (14,000 credits) for their recapture. Chased by the robots, THX and SRT find a computer center, from which THX learns that LUH has been "consumed", possibly for organ reclamation (since bodies were discovered earlier, of which, as SRT put it "the insides are gone") and her name reassigned to fetus
66691 in a growth chamber. This suggests that she has been declared "incurable" and killed.
Alone and hunted, SEN makes a tentative exploration of the limits of the city's underground network. Cowed by what he sees, he finds his way to an area reserved for the monks of OMM. Alone, SEN prays directly to OMM before being confronted by a lone monk who notices that SEN has no identification badge. SEN attacks before the monk can report him. Returning to the city, SEN strikes up a conversation with children before police androids apprehend him.
THX and SRT steal two cars, but SRT crashes into a concrete pillar, disabling it (it is uncertain whether SRT survives the impact, although the film's script indicates he does not). Pursued by two police androids on motorcycles, THX flees to the limits of the city's underground road network.
Eventually THX locates a route to the surface. The police pursue THX up an escape ladder, but are ordered by central command to cease pursuit, mere steps away from capturing him, as the expense of his capture exceeds their pre-determined budget. It is then revealed that the entirety of the city whence THX came is all underground as he stands before a large setting sun in a red sky, while birds intermittently fly overhead, indicating that life is possible on the surface.
. 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 at the scenic Palace of Fine Arts
in San Francisco
. Another actor, Marshall Efron
, 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 controversial addiction recovery program Synanon
, most of whose members had shaved heads.
Filming began on September 22, 1969 with the car chase sequence in the then unfinished tunnels of the BART Subway System in San Francisco. Other locations in the San Francisco area included the Marin County Civic Center
in San Rafael
, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
; Lawrence Hall of Science
, Berkeley
; the San Francisco International Airport
; and at a remote manipulator
for a hot cell
, among other various locations which Lucas and Coppola considered futuristic. Scenes are cleverly edited to produce a sterile and claustrophobic environment without clearly revealing that the entire 'city' is underground. Production wrapped in mid-November 1969 and the film was edited by Lucas. Walter Murch compiled and synched the sound montage, which includes all the "overhead" voices heard throughout the film (radio chatter, announcements, etc.). The bulk of the editing was finished by mid-1970.
The chase scene featured Lola T70
Mk.IIIs with dummy turbine engines racing against Yamaha
TA125/250cc 2-stroke race replica motorcycles 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 actors using exposed reinforcing bars as a ladder. In the end scene, writer Matthew Robbins
plays THX as he climbs from the shaft and stands before the sunset.
This film is very notable for one of the most spectacular motorcycle stunts ever filmed. Stuntman Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton, billed as Duffy Hamilton in the credits, somehow gathered up the fortitude to ride his police bike full speed into a fallen paint stand, flew over the handlebars, was hit by the airborne bike, landed in the street on his back, and slammed into the crashed car that Duvall's character had escaped in. It is a full-on shot---evidently the subject of a comment by Lucas detailing a "motorcycle disaster" during the filming.
Walter Murch
claims in the audio commentary that he always believed Lucas intended THX to be “sex”, for LUH to be “love”, and for SEN to be “sin”.
in 1977, but still did not gain popularity.
(in letterbox format) and VHS
, but was not immediately available on DVD
. Although this was in part the result of Lucas's early skepticism of the DVD format, it was also because of his desire to rework parts of the film before it was released on DVD.
In 2004, Lucas finally set about getting a DVD version of the film together. Like he did with Star Wars, Lucas put 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 reshoot 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. More recently, a Blu-ray edition was released on September 7, 2010.
Neither of the theatrical versions of the film have been released on DVD or Blu-ray.
Player
to run site)
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
film directed by George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
in his directorial debut. The film is based on a screenplay by Lucas and Walter Murch
Walter Murch
Walter Scott Murch is an American film editor and sound designer.-Early life:Murch was born in New York City, New York, the son of Katharine and Canadian-born Walter Tandy Murch , a painter. He went to The Collegiate School, a private preparatory school in Manhattan, from 1949 to 1961...
. It stars Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
and Donald Pleasence
Donald Pleasence
Sir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
and depicts a dystopian future in which the populace is controlled through android police officers and mandatory use of drugs that suppress emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
, including sexual desire.
THX 1138 was the first feature-length film directed by Lucas, developed from his 1967 student film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, which he made in 1967 while attending the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. This short film was itself based on a one and a quarter page treatment of an idea by Matthew Robbins
Matthew Robbins (screenwriter)
Matthew Robbins is an American screenwriter, film producer and director. He is good friends with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Guillermo Del Toro and Walter Murch and has had cameo appearances in THX 1138 and Close Encounters of the Third Kind...
. The feature film was produced in a joint venture between Warner Brothers and Francis Ford Coppola's
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
new production company, American Zoetrope
American Zoetrope
American Zoetrope is a studio founded by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. Founded on December 12, 1969, American Zoetrope was an early adopter of digital filmmaking, including some of the earliest uses of HDTV...
. A novelization
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
by Ben Bova
Ben Bova
Benjamin William Bova is an American science-fiction author and editor. He is the recipient of six Hugo Awards for Best Professional Editor for his work at Analog Science Fiction in the 1970's.-Personal life:...
was published in 1971.
Plot
In a city of the future, sexual intercourse is outlawed and use of mind-altering drugs is mandatory. Narcotics are critical both in maintaining compliance among the city's residents and also for ensuring their ability to conduct dangerous and demanding tasks for long periods of time. The inhabitants worship a godlike being known as "OMM 0910", with whom they commune in telephone boothTelephone booth
A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box or telephone box is a small structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience. In the USA, Canada and Australia, "telephone booth" is used, while in the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth it is a "telephone...
-like areas known as "Unichapels". At their jobs, SEN 5241 (Donald Pleasence
Donald Pleasence
Sir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
) and LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie
Maggie McOmie
Maggie McOmie is an American stage and film actress, best known for co-starring with Robert Duvall in the 1971 film THX 1138. For the film, she was required to shave her head, an event that was featured in a tongue-in-cheek behind-the-scenes featurette titled Bald...
) keep surveillance on the city and field questions (mostly about proper drug intake).
THX 1138 (Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
) works in a factory producing androids that function as police officers. The work is hazardous as it requires handling explosive and radioactive material. THX's female roommate, LUH, becomes disillusioned and makes a conscious decision to break the law and stop taking her drugs. She subsequently 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.
At first conflicted and nauseated, he eventually connects with LUH. Knowing that their relationship is illegal, THX must decide whether to return to using the prescribed drugs, or escape with LUH. He knows that he will not be able to function without his drugs while at his demanding job, but he does not want to lose what he has created with LUH. They consider an escape to the "superstructure," where they hope to be able to live in freedom.
THX is confronted by SEN. Using his position as LUH's superior, he changes her shift. SEN admits that he wants THX as his new roommate. THX files a complaint against SEN for the illegal shift change. Without drugs in his system, THX falters during critical and hazardous phases of his job. The city's authorities discover THX's and LUH's crimes of sexual intercourse and drug evasion (Because of a bureaucratic error, THX is briefly "mind-locked" while at a critical juncture of android construction—this almost leads to disaster.) THX and LUH are arrested.
THX is imprisoned in a white limbo
Limbo
In the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the damned. Limbo is not an official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church or any other...
world. He enjoys a brief reunion with LUH—one disrupted by the enforcer robots. THX is consigned to another region of limbo, this one populated by a collection of other prisoners, including SEN. Knowing that THX filed the complaint against him, SEN nevertheless rallies him to join his undescribed cause (some of SEN's dialogue is taken from speeches by Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
.).
Most of the prisoners seem uninterested in escape, but eventually THX and SEN decide to find an exit. They encounter SRT (Don Pedro Colley
Don Pedro Colley
Don Pedro Colley is an American actor.Colley was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon to Muriel and Pete Colley. He attended Klamath Union High School and actively played American football and athletics, which led to an unsuccessful try-out for the 1960 Summer Olympics...
), who starred in the holograms broadcast citywide. SRT has become disenchanted with his role in the society and is making an attempt to escape.
Exiting their prison, THX and SRT are separated from SEN. Controllers in the city learn of the escape and allot a strict budget (14,000 credits) for their recapture. Chased by the robots, THX and SRT find a computer center, from which THX learns that LUH has been "consumed", possibly for organ reclamation (since bodies were discovered earlier, of which, as SRT put it "the insides are gone") and her name reassigned to fetus
Fetus
A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
66691 in a growth chamber. This suggests that she has been declared "incurable" and killed.
Alone and hunted, SEN makes a tentative exploration of the limits of the city's underground network. Cowed by what he sees, he finds his way to an area reserved for the monks of OMM. Alone, SEN prays directly to OMM before being confronted by a lone monk who notices that SEN has no identification badge. SEN attacks before the monk can report him. Returning to the city, SEN strikes up a conversation with children before police androids apprehend him.
THX and SRT steal two cars, but SRT crashes into a concrete pillar, disabling it (it is uncertain whether SRT survives the impact, although the film's script indicates he does not). Pursued by two police androids on motorcycles, THX flees to the limits of the city's underground road network.
Eventually THX locates a route to the surface. The police pursue THX up an escape ladder, but are ordered by central command to cease pursuit, mere steps away from capturing him, as the expense of his capture exceeds their pre-determined budget. It is then revealed that the entirety of the city whence THX came is all underground as he stands before a large setting sun in a red sky, while birds intermittently fly overhead, indicating that life is possible on the surface.
Cast
- Robert DuvallRobert DuvallRobert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
as THX 1138 - Donald PleasenceDonald PleasenceSir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
as SEN 5241 - Don Pedro ColleyDon Pedro ColleyDon Pedro Colley is an American actor.Colley was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon to Muriel and Pete Colley. He attended Klamath Union High School and actively played American football and athletics, which led to an unsuccessful try-out for the 1960 Summer Olympics...
as SRT, Hologram - Maggie McOmieMaggie McOmieMaggie McOmie is an American stage and film actress, best known for co-starring with Robert Duvall in the 1971 film THX 1138. For the film, she was required to shave her head, an event that was featured in a tongue-in-cheek behind-the-scenes featurette titled Bald...
as LUH 3417 - Ian WolfeIan WolfeIan Wolfe was an American actor whose films date from 1934 to 1990. Until 1934, he worked as a theatre actor. Wolfe mostly found work as a character actor, appearing in over 270 films...
as PTO, Old prisoner - Marshall EfronMarshall EfronMarshall Efron is an American humorist originally known for his work on the listener-sponsored Pacifica radio stations WBAI New York and KPFK Los Angeles, and later for the PBS television show The Great American Dream Machine...
as TWA, Prisoner - Sid HaigSid HaigSid Haig is a American actor. His roles have included acting in Jack Hill's blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's horror films House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects...
as NCH, Prisoner - James WheatonJames WheatonJames Wheaton , was an American motion picture and television actor. He may be best known as the voice actor "OMM" in George Lucas's THX 1138, a role for which he was chosen over Orson Welles...
- OMM 0910 (voice)
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 cutBuzz cut
A buzz cut, induction cut or wiffle is a very short haircut.The cut is usually performed using hair clippers without a comb guard. The sides are cut closely and then the top is either shaped or cut to the same short length all over. The cut takes just a few minutes to perform. A buzz cut can...
. 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
Bald: The Making of THX 1138
Bald: The Making of THX 1138 is a short film directed by George Lucas and released in 1971 to promote his first feature-length film, THX 1138, released the same year....
. Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
had his head shaved while watching a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
game, while his co-star, Maggie McOmie
Maggie McOmie
Maggie McOmie is an American stage and film actress, best known for co-starring with Robert Duvall in the 1971 film THX 1138. For the film, she was required to shave her head, an event that was featured in a tongue-in-cheek behind-the-scenes featurette titled Bald...
, had hers done at the scenic Palace of Fine Arts
Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there. One of only a few surviving structures from the Exposition, it is the only one still...
in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Another actor, Marshall Efron
Marshall Efron
Marshall Efron is an American humorist originally known for his work on the listener-sponsored Pacifica radio stations WBAI New York and KPFK Los Angeles, and later for the PBS television show The Great American Dream Machine...
, 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 controversial addiction recovery program Synanon
Synanon
The Synanon organization, initially a drug rehabilitation program, was founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich, Sr., in 1958, in Santa Monica, California, United States...
, most of whose members had shaved heads.
Filming began on September 22, 1969 with the car chase sequence in the then unfinished tunnels of the BART Subway System in San Francisco. Other locations in the San Francisco area included the Marin County Civic Center
Marin County Civic Center
Marin County Civic Center, the last commission by Frank Lloyd Wright, is located in San Rafael, California. Groundbreaking for the Civic Center Administration Building took place in 1960, after Wright's death and under the watch of Wright's protégé, Aaron Green, and was completed in 1962. The...
in San Rafael
San Rafael, California
San Rafael is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area...
, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
; Lawrence Hall of Science
Lawrence Hall of Science
The Lawrence Hall of Science is a public science center featuring hands-on exhibits and activities. Located in the hills above the University of California, Berkeley campus, LHS is also a resource center for preschool through high school science and mathematics education.Established in 1968 in...
, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
; the San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is a major international airport located south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is often referred to as SFO...
; and at a remote manipulator
Remote manipulator
A remote manipulator, also known as a telefactor, telemanipulator, or waldo , is a device which, through electronic, hydraulic, or mechanical linkages, allows a hand-like mechanism to be controlled by a human operator...
for a hot cell
Hot cell
Shielded nuclear radiation containment chambers are commonly referred to as hot cells. The word "hot" refers to radioactivity.Hot cells are used in both the nuclear-energy and the nuclear-medicines industries....
, among other various locations which Lucas and Coppola considered futuristic. Scenes are cleverly edited to produce a sterile and claustrophobic environment without clearly revealing that the entire 'city' is underground. Production wrapped in mid-November 1969 and the film was edited by Lucas. Walter Murch compiled and synched the sound montage, which includes all the "overhead" voices heard throughout the film (radio chatter, announcements, etc.). The bulk of the editing was finished by mid-1970.
The chase scene featured Lola T70
Lola T70
The Lola T70 was built for sports car racing, popular in the mid to late 1960s. Developed by Lola Cars in 1965 in Great Britain, the T70 was made for endurance racing...
Mk.IIIs with dummy turbine engines racing against Yamaha
Yamaha Motor Company
, is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized...
TA125/250cc 2-stroke race replica motorcycles through two San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
automotive tunnels: the Caldecott Tunnel
Caldecott Tunnel
The Caldecott Tunnel is a three bore highway tunnel between Oakland, California and Contra Costa County, California. The east-west tunnel is signed as a part of State Route 24, which is also known as the William Byron Rumford...
between Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
and Orinda
Orinda, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Orinda had a population of 17,643. The population density was 1,389.5 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Orinda was 14,533 White, 149 African American, 22 Native American, 2,016 Asian, 24 Pacific Islander, 122 from other races, and...
, and the underwater Posey Tube
Posey and Webster Street Tubes
Methods Used in the Construction of TwelvePre-cast Concrete Segments for the Alameda County, California, EstuarySubway, in American Society of Civil Engineers, Proceedings, 53 :2675-2692 S. W...
between Oakland and Alameda
Alameda, California
Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
. 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
Transbay Tube
The Transbay Tube is the part of BART which runs under San Francisco Bay in California. The tube is 3.6 miles long; including approaches from the nearest stations , it totals 6 miles...
before installation of the track supports, with the actors using exposed reinforcing bars as a ladder. In the end scene, writer Matthew Robbins
Matthew Robbins (screenwriter)
Matthew Robbins is an American screenwriter, film producer and director. He is good friends with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Guillermo Del Toro and Walter Murch and has had cameo appearances in THX 1138 and Close Encounters of the Third Kind...
plays THX as he climbs from the shaft and stands before the sunset.
This film is very notable for one of the most spectacular motorcycle stunts ever filmed. Stuntman Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton, billed as Duffy Hamilton in the credits, somehow gathered up the fortitude to ride his police bike full speed into a fallen paint stand, flew over the handlebars, was hit by the airborne bike, landed in the street on his back, and slammed into the crashed car that Duvall's character had escaped in. It is a full-on shot---evidently the subject of a comment by Lucas detailing a "motorcycle disaster" during the filming.
Origin of the name
The significance of the name THX 1138 has been the subject of much speculation among fans. In an interview for the DVD compilation Reel Talent, which included Lucas's original 4EB short, Lucas stated that he chose the letters and numbers for their aesthetic qualities, especially their symmetry.Walter Murch
Walter Murch
Walter Scott Murch is an American film editor and sound designer.-Early life:Murch was born in New York City, New York, the son of Katharine and Canadian-born Walter Tandy Murch , a painter. He went to The Collegiate School, a private preparatory school in Manhattan, from 1949 to 1961...
claims in the audio commentary that he always believed Lucas intended THX to be “sex”, for LUH to be “love”, and for SEN to be “sin”.
Release
THX 1138 was released to theaters on March 11, 1971 and was commercially unsuccessful. The film was re-released with the five minutes edited back in by Lucas after the success of Star WarsStar Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
in 1977, but still did not gain popularity.
Home media
The original cut of THX 1138 had been available for several years on both laserdiscLaserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
(in letterbox format) and VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
, but was not immediately available on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. Although this was in part the result of Lucas's early skepticism of the DVD format, it was also because of his desire to rework parts of the film before it was released on DVD.
In 2004, Lucas finally set about getting a DVD version of the film together. Like he did with Star Wars, Lucas put the film through a meticulous audio/video restoration and making use of computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
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 reshoot several scenes using computer systems to insert the actors and replace existing footage. This director's cut
Director's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
was released to a limited number of digital-projection theaters on September 10, 2004 and on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in Region 1
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
on September 14. Region 2 and 4 releases came later. More recently, a Blu-ray edition was released on September 7, 2010.
Neither of the theatrical versions of the film have been released on DVD or Blu-ray.
Versions
There are three different versions of THX-1138:- Original cut: 86 minutes, released in 1977
- Theatrical cut: 81 minutes
- Director's cut: 88 minutes, released on DVD in 2004
In popular culture
- THX 1138 was first sampled in a music song by the Belgian group Front 242Front 242Front 242 is a pioneering Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. They are known for being the premier pioneer of electronic body music and as a major influence on the electronic and industrial music genres.-Formation:...
on their 1982 release GeographyGeography (album)GEOGRAPHY - VINTAGE REISSUE - LIMITED EDITION -Samples:...
the first song "Operating Tracks" uses the line "1138 What's wrong?" and many other vocal and sound parts of the film, the song "GVDT" uses the classic "What's wrong" vocal sample and the sound of the car driving off. - "Man Amplified" and "Memories of Sound" by Clock DVAClock DVAClock DVA are an industrial music, post-punk and EBM group from Sheffield, England. The group was formed in 1978, with two members, Adolphus "Adi" Newton and Steven "Judd" Turner. Along with contemporaries Heaven 17, Clock DVA's name was inspired by the Russian-influenced Nadsat of Anthony Burgess'...
contain samples. - Laibach'sLaibach (band)Laibach is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with industrial, martial, and neo-classical musical styles. Laibach formed June 1, 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia . Laibach represents the music wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst art collective, of which it was a founding member in 1984...
1992 album Kapital includes dialogue samples of SEN's prison speech in the song "Regime of Coincidence, State of Gravity". - In 1979, the rock bandRock BandRock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
TotoToto (band)Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams , David Paich , Steve Porcaro , Steve Lukather , Mike Porcaro , and Simon Phillips . Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard...
released the single "9999 (song)"99" is a song by the American rock band Toto. The song appeared on the Hydra album in 1979. When released as a single, it reached #26 on the Billboard Charts....
", a song inspired by THX-1138s society where people were given numbers instead of names. The music video for the song features the band in an all-white room dressed in white, a set piece designed around Lucas's film. - The Atari home computerAtari 8-bit familyThe Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
video game Star RaidersStar RaidersStar Raiders is a video game for the Atari 8-bit family of computers, released in 1979 and programmed by Doug Neubauer. It was also later ported to other Atari computer and game platforms...
responds to unknown keyboard commands with the status message "WHAT'S WRONG?", which is a reference to THX 1138. - The opening sounds of "Mr. Self Destruct" on the Nine Inch NailsNine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
album The Downward SpiralThe Downward SpiralThe Downward Spiral is the second studio album by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released March 8, 1994, on Interscope Records. It is a concept album detailing the destruction of a man, from the beginning of his "downward spiral" to his climactic attempt at suicide...
is a sample from THX 1138 in which a man is being beaten by a prison guard. - The yellow Hot Rod driven by Paul Le MatPaul Le MatPaul Le Mat is an American actor who first came to prominence in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which won him the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor.-Life:...
in the 1973 George Lucas film American GraffitiAmerican GraffitiAmerican Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
shows the license plate THX 138 which is a reference to THX 1138. - Sound engineer Tomlinson HolmanTomlinson HolmanTomlinson M. Holman is an American film theorist, audio engineer, and inventor of film technologies, notably the Lucasfilm THX sound system. He developed the world's first 10.2 sound system. Earlier, Holman developed what was known as the Holman Preamplifier, for the Apt Corporation. He holds a...
named his THXTHXTHX is a trade name of a high-fidelity audio/visual reproduction standard for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, and car audio systems. The current THX was created in 2001 when it spun off from Lucasfilm Ltd...
certification system to intentionally reference both his own name (Tomlinson Holman's eXperiment) and Lucas's film. - A cover for the British musical band UnkleUNKLEUnkle are a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip-hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a variety of guest artists and producers.-First incarnation :Lavelle and Goldsworthy were joined...
's release Edit Music for a Film used artwork from the film. and their track I Need Something Stronger is almost entirely composed of THX1138 samples. - The rap group Gangstarr's 1997 music video "You Know my Steez" directed by Terry Heller, is a very faithful homage to THX-1138 -from the accurate costuming and iconic cinematography -all the way down to an upside-down miniature BART tunnel and the duplication of the famous extreme telephoto sunset ending.
- In Star WarsStar Wars Episode IV: A New HopeStar Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
, directed by George Lucas, Luke SkywalkerLuke SkywalkerLuke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...
refers to "cell block 1138". 1138 is a constant running gag found in Star Wars fandom. - The title sequence for the cartoon series Pinky and the BrainPinky and the BrainPinky and the Brain is an American animated television series.The characters Pinky and the Brain first appeared in 1993 as a recurring segment on the show Animaniacs...
at one point shows The Brain writing "THX=1138" on a blackboard. - There are references to THX 1138 in the Star ToursStar ToursStar Tours is a motion simulator attraction currently operating at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris. The ride is based on the successful Star Wars film series created by George Lucas, making it the first Disney attraction based on a non-Disney produced film.The first...
attraction at Walt Disney World in Florida.
External links
(requires FlashAdobe Flash
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Player
Adobe Flash Player
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to run site)
- DVD THX forum
- Interview with Don Pedro Colley about his experiences working on THX 1138 at a Lucas fan site
- Director's Cut changes, with screenshots
- White on White Village Voice review April 8, 1971
- THX 1138 at Rotten Tomatoes