Blu-Ray Reviews: Sci-Fi Catalog Releases Including ‘Matrix Reloaded,’ ‘THX 1138’

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“THX 1138: Director’s Cut”

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

This may be blasphemy to some but “THX 1138” is the best directing work of George Lucas. Before you start writing hate mail, remember that Lucas didn’t direct “The Empire Strikes Back.” Yes, I love “Star Wars” as much as the next guy but “THX” is a spectacular film, a tightly-made, expertly-conceived sci-fi movie that often falls between the cracks of adolescence for many viewers. What I mean by that is that most of us had that experience of falling in love with “Star Wars” as a young man and looking for something similar with “THX 1138” and finding a VERY different film. There are no Wookies or Ewoks in this intellectual study of control and identity.

THX 1138: Director’s Cut was released on Blu-ray on September 7th, 2010. Photo credit: Warner Bros.

The transfer of “THX 1138” is flawless. Honestly, the film plays better than I’ve ever seen it before and sci-fi fans owe it to the master to check out a film that they probably haven’t seen in ages. A spectacular selection of special features, including a commentary by Lucas himself, combined with the above-average transfer and the excellent film itself make “THX 1138: Director’s Cut” the best release of the six catalog WB sci-fi titles released in September 2010. Forty years after its release, “THX 1138” still has the power to amaze.

Synopsis: “A chilling exploration of the future is also a compelling examination of the present in George Lucas’s THX 1138, starring Robert Duvall as a man whose mind and body are controlled by the government. THX makes a harrowing attempt to escape from a world where thoughts are controlled, freedom is an impossibility and love is the ultimate crime. “The real excitement of THX 1138 is not really the message but the medium — the use of film not to tell a story so much as to convey an experience. Stunning…dazzling…chilling and terribly powerful” (Charles Champlin, Los Angeles Times).”

“THX 1138: Director’s Cut” is presented in 1080p High Definition 16x9 2.40:1 widescreen with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track.

Special Features:
o Commentary By George Lucas And Walter Murch
o Theatre Of Noise Experience: Isolated Sound Effect Track
o Docupod Gallery
o 2 Documentaries
- Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB: Lucas’s Original Student Film
- Vintage Production Featurette Bald
o Theatrical Trailer

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com