THX-1138 (1971)

This was the first pro film directed by George Lucas, a far cry from his later Star Wars films. It's an expanded version of a student film he did in the late sixties. THX-1138 (the 'name' of the main character) is like 1984-squared and ultra Big Brother: future humanity in this lives in an underground city and has lost almost all of its humanity - everyone is shaved, bald and dressed in white; all the citizens are emotionless and also behave like they're somnambulant, probably due to the mandatory drugs that everyone takes.  

In the plot, spare as it is, Robert Duvall plays a typical citizen, one of the worker drones; he works in some kind of lab, but in automated fashion, like everything else, in assembly-line fashion. His wife or partner (Maggie McOmie) surreptitiously changes his drug intake, allowing him to experience some emotion for the first time; this results in her pregnancy and, of course, trouble for the couple from the state. The enforcers in this society are these faceless robots, resembling the police of our time. Duvall is soon imprisoned - mostly in some kind of white, featureless room - and he eventually finds out that his wife and child have been disposed of. He goes on the run, briefly partnered with another troublesome citizen (Donald Pleasence) and a self-described hologram man (Don Pedro Colley), one of the figures used in video entertainment in this society.
Though Duvall plays the main character, he hardly has any dialog; in fact, there's very little dialog overall - most of the vocals are background noise, technicians and other operatives behind-the-scenes, voices coming in over the intercoms. Pleasence, though in a smaller role, has more of the dialog, usually entreating Duvall's character with his needs and opinions. Colley also talks more than the usual citizens and it's unclear as to what he is - an employee of what passes for the entertainment business in this society or an actual artificial lifeform of some sort, abruptly and unreasonably given the semblance of real life for some reason. These three make their way among the environs of this cold, sterile civilization; mostly, it all resembles underground parking garages and colorless corridors & hallways. We don't know where they are going, though Duvall finally reveals his destination at the very end. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10

John Muir wrote:Visually, THX-1138 is undeniably stunning. Late in the film, Lucas imagines a prison with no walls. It is just an endless vision of white... nothing. This is a canny image that again undercuts convention and buttresses the movie's theme. If a person is trapped in a jail cell with walls and bars, he knows that there is an outside; an escape. If a person is trapped in a jail cell that seems infinite -- with no end and no beginning - - there is no hope of escape; no possibility of a way out. In microcosm, the prison thus symbolizes the State: it is so all-encompassing in the lives of its citizenry that nothing else is visible. There is no hope on the horizon. There is nothing else. Even if the narrative resembles, in some way, Orwell's 1984, Lucas's visualization of this dystopia grants the material a unique aura. This really is a one-of-a-kind sort of science fiction movie, and one that continues to have resonance today.

Muir, John Kenneth (2013-10-25). Science Fiction and Fantasy Films of the 1970s (p. 99). The Lulu Show LLC. Kindle Edition.

THX Trivia: as with his Star Wars films, Lucas presented an updated version of this film with new FX for video release...

John Muir wrote:So the once austere, low-budget, and wholly impressive THX-1138 now bizarrely features computer-generated critters , CGI landscapes, and other digital flourishes that not only seem unnecessary; but actually detract from the movie's abundant raw power and sense of unfettered ingenuity. A film that Lucas once aptly described as a critique of "unbridled consumer culture" is now merely a product itself, seeking a slice of the market with the very latest in digital wizardry. Oddly, Lucas's continued insistence on attempting to paint away the decades in his films -- the cinematic equivalent of the Peter Pan Syndrome -- makes ignoring his changes virtually impossible . The result is that THX-1138 is a great science fiction film that has been compromised by its own creator, at least in its latest incarnation.

But here is the real problem: These special effects "upgrades" make THX-1138 neither fish nor fowl. Those viewers who would find THX-1138 a fascinating enterprise are likely not in it for the monsters or creatures; not in it for the chases or special effects. And those looking explicitly for such superficial qualities won't have the patience for the rest of the film anyway, which is a thoughtful meditation on freedom and love, not a fantasy cartoon set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. There was simply no need to update THX-1138 in this fashion, and indeed, to do so violates the text of the film in some crucial way . The new cut is re-packaged in a way that the film's Big Brother would heartily approve of; making the sublime obvious and unnecessarily removing the austerity of the piece. Our imagination once did the heavy lifting in THX-1138, augmented by a director's powerful artistic choices; now it's just ILM flexing its imaginative chops with a big budget.

Muir, John Kenneth (2013-10-25). Science Fiction and Fantasy Films of the 1970s (p. 97). The Lulu Show LLC. Kindle Edition.