An interesting comparison between George Lucas's debut as director and his latest effort can shed some insight into the evolution of this gifted individual and his wonderful films throughout the years. Obviously George Lucas still sees THX-1138 in a light similar to a parent looking at their firstborn child, and rightly so. THX-1138 is a landmark accomplishment and a must-see for sci-fi (as well as Star Wars) fans of all ages.
Robert Duvall as THX-1138		1. THX-1138, THE LEGACY Prior to 1971 no one had ever heard the name George Lucas. Then, a very bold, adventurous futuristic film was released that same year and became an almost instant sci-fi cult-classic.
Quite unlike previous science-fiction films, THX-1138 did not present a world of outer-space travel and a more glamorous vision of futuristic technologies, but rather, focused instead on the darker side of computerization and the dehumanization of mankind through his own technology. Humanity as envisioned in THX-1138 is reduced to little more than unfeeling operators of their own mechanizations, going through the routine without emotional interpretation. Indeed mankind had evolved into a sort of biological-machine that is stabilized by regular drug administration and indoctrination. How unique this concept was in 1971, is somewhat difficult to imagine today. In the later 1960's it was imagined (by some), that drug use (taken in the proper context and in the proper amount) would "enlighten" men and women the way 18th Century philosophers believed reason would enlighten the whole of humankind. THX-1138 dares to deny this, claiming that perhaps drugs are the cause of, (rather than the escape from), a seemingly "inhuman", "robotic", "clockwork" society.

2. MATURE THEMES Unlike Lucas's latest film "The Phantom Menace", THX-1138 deals very openly with 'adult-themes' such as sexual bonding and intimacy. In the time of THX-1138, love and sexuality are forbidden for reasons that we are never told. THX and his 'roommate' LUH-3417 (Maggie McOmie) tamper with their daily drug dosage and heighten their sensitivity towards one-another. Somehow, it is the female (LUH) who discovers the "secret crime" of desire and consequently initiates their demise (shades of Eve in Genesis 3:6); thus eventually barring both THX and LUH from 'paradise'.

THX and LUH illegally sharing a passionate moment

A baton-wielding police officer interrogates THX

3. A NIGHTMARISH FUTURE While the world of Phantom Menace is peopled with princesses and cute, sidekick aliens, the world of THX-1138 is based far more on realism. Phantom Menace's world and characters exist merely to entertain us, while THX-1138 seems to be warning us, conjuring a nightmarish glimpse into a possible future if we don't collectively stop and remember what it means to be human. For as the hologram explains to THX, their world evolved so slowly that most men weren't even aware of the changes.

4. THE AVANT-GARDE Like the times in which it was conceived and produced, THX-1138 is something of an eclectic, experimental film, much different from the bland, unoriginal "formula" films of today. The fine line between "Art Films" and popular theater was breaking down and becoming blurred, (beginning in the late 1950's and increasing well into the early 70's), and THX-1138 is no exception. Seen in the same light as one would abstractly look at a painting by Mondrian or listen to a serial work by Arnold Schoenberg would give a much better understanding of the modernism and somewhat minimalist feel to this unique film. Indeed, the visuals of THX-1138 are stunning to say the least! Almost every single cast member of the film shaved his or her heads completely bald to create the look of a very sterile and dehumanized society where individualism is persecuted. Renaissance icon prints of Christ ("Ohm") are worshipped in convenient phone booths as mechanically as we might use an ATM machine in our world.

Almost the entire cast shaved their heads completely bald for the film

5. A GREAT STORY VS. EFFECTS
Opening to the ominous chants of the Yardbirds' "Still I'm Sad", George Lucas's award-winning school project called "Electric Labyrinth" begins a panoramic fast-edited chase through futuristic corridors of terror and anxiety. This is the humble, yet promising begining of a brilliant career.

It is the storyline and the captivating theme behind the plot that makes THX-1138 a great piece of cinema. Whereas Phantom Menace tries very hard to thrill us with a new digital special effect every scene, THX-1138 captures our interest, (as well as our imaginations), with a very clever scenario and unimaginable situation as we try and ponder this strange Brave New World as confusedly as George Washington might fumble his way through a late 20th Century shopping mall.

An explanation of the brilliance of THX-1138 over Phantom Menace is the simple fact that a given film does not exist on the screen. No. When you watch a movie, the story is actually taking place in your mind. Special effects and digital enhancements can help illustrate a particular story that you may be watching and help the motion-picture become more believable, but the danger is that these same 'tools' can just as quickly become 'crutches' that hamper our imaginations and limit the mind's job of "filling in the blank spots" as it were.

SEN-5241 and THX-1138 A very odd pair indeed

6. CHARACTER DEPTH The bizarre characters that we come to become acquainted-with in THX-1138 are very colorful and quite in contrast to the empty, spiritless surroundings that they inhabit. Donald Pleasence's portrayal of the wily and cowardly SEN is among the best performances of his career.

None of the characters in THX-1138 are too romanticized from reality. They all have their share of doubts in the structured environment in which they exist, but each deals with his or her feelings of fear in different ways. For beings that live in an age when emotions are considered harmful (if not just plain distasteful), this bunch is all too human indeed!

A subtle reflective moment by THX while in the holding cell. His desperation is apparent.

7. HOW DOES THE FILM REALLY END? ...YOU DECIDE
One of the things I really love about THX-1138 is the climactic-ending. The main character does not succeed and gain his freedom by being overtly crafty, lucky, or courageous (although he is all of the above); no, he gains his freedom by lieu of the fact that the pursuit of him by the robot-cops is 'over-budget' and the police are recalled while THX is left to his own escape or demise. (What a characteristic way to end a hot criminal pursuit by a culture that is far too practical for its own good)!

Which leaves the viewer to ponder...what will become of THX-1138 on the planet's surface? Is the surface of the planet inhabitable? Is it radioactive and toxic? Or has THX-1138 found a new 'Garden of Eden' to make his own and his children's forever? The beauty is that we will never know. That answer is left to your imagination entirely. That THX-1138 has escaped and been 'transformed' into a new world is the whole point. Just like the Star Child at the close of Stanley Kubrick's epic "2001: A Space Odyssey", mankind has made a fateful transmission from a former state into a completely new "phase" of evolution. Perhaps this is what Lucas is trying to say all along, that man eventually has to "unlearn" his dependence on tools and tool-making and re-learn his animalistic nature in order to grow. Or perhaps Lucas means to imply that the 'inner-beast', the passionate, romantic side of our natures (our wild, untamable, emotional dark side) is what is most essential to our development and enlightenment. Without this we are as dull and spiritless as the machines we invent.