Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

• Commentary by George Lucas and Walter Murch
• Theatre of Noise Experience: isolated sound effects track
• 13 Master Sessions: Docupod gallery showcasing Murch's pioneering work (29:41 in total in SD)
• Two documentaries: A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope (1:03:35) and Artifact from the Future: The Making of THX-1138 (31:08 in SD)
• Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB: Lucas' original student film (15:10 in SD)
• Vintage production featurette: Bald: the making of THX 1138 (8:03 in SD)
• Theatrical trailers - original 1971 (2:49 in SD),  5 X 2004 re-release (11:21 in total in SD)

Bitrate:

 

Description: 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 Film:

Excerpt from Desson Thomson's review at The Washington Post located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.
 

THX 1138 on Blu-ray from Warner exports the film's incredible visual power. Credit also deservedly goes also to dual-DoP's Albert Kihn and David Myers. But this 1080P transfer seems to get the absolute most out of antiseptic aura of snow-driven, impersonal, whiteness. Despite the early 70's stock used the film is clean, precise and the HD rendering still retains the underlying depressed 'feel'. From the standpoint of visual expression the film is masterful and the Blu-ray has captured so much of what makes this a great viewing experience. It has grain and some infrequent noise. THX 1138 has a grandness of scale that is never overwhelming but I often felt like I was in a 'cinema' as I progressed through my viewing. Lucas digitally restored "THX 1138" at his own Industrial Light & Magic facility and he also included the, roughly, 5 minutes Warner removed for its brief, initial, theatrical run (hence: "Director's Cut"). While the film might only be considered 'reasonably interesting' - the appearance is one to rave about - especially in terms of the in the higher resolution now available in your home theater - so the improvement over SD-DVD feels almost... exponential.

NOTE: Dean tells us in email: "I own THX-1138 Blu-ray and I originally had problems playing it on my multi-region Panasonic DMP-BD60. It gets to the Warner Logo and then simply stops, and couldn't access the main menu or play the film. However it seemed to play perfectly fine on my PS3. It seems this particular title requires 230kb of memory in order to play (most likely due to the elaborate menu which is different to the usual Warner menus). I used an SD card on my Panasonic player and it works fine now." (thanks Dean!)

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solid lossless audio rendering with a DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 3533 kbps. One could talk quite extensively on the sound of THX 113. The unique quality of the overhead voices ("Buy more, buy now...") really benefits from the HD transfer - this is described very well by Walter Murch - who discusses it as emulating a HAM radio. Like the video, Lalo Schifrin's score with some orchestra and abundant synthesizers also adds its impact to the overall experience. This had some of its evolution in Murch fiddling with classical music and external noises - sometimes playing it backwards, slowed down etc. Any intended reverberation or echo effect is reproduced very well by the new DTS-Master. It has some buoyant range. There are some foreign language DUBs and plenty of subtitle options and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
I'd strongly agree with Roger Ebert in this case as he says about THX 1138; "The movie's strength is not in its story but in its unsettling and weirdly effective visual and sound style." Obviously, for your home theater, this can be gained to maximum efficiency on Blu-ray. What often felt like borrowed concepts the film has its own agenda and is definitely worth seeing in the newer format for both video and audio. This Blu-ray would represent far closer to what Lucas wanted and we give it a solid recommendation. 

Gary Tooze

August 31st, 2010