THX 1138

THX 1138(15)

D: George Lucas

Warner Bros/American Zoetrope (Francis Ford Coppola & Lawrence Sturhahn)

US 1971

95 mins

Science Fiction

W: George Lucas

DP: David Myers & Albert Kihn

Ed: George Lucas

Mus: Lalo Schifrin

Robert Duvall (THX 1138), Donald Pleasance (SEN 5241), Maggie McOmie (LUH 3417)

Six years before Star Wars was originally released, George Lucas made his directorial debut with this Avant Garde sci-fi, based on a short film he created whilst still studying at film school.

Set in a dystopian future policed by cyborgs, humans are stripped of their identities and have their emotions suppressed by mandatory drugs. THX 1138 (Robert Duvall) begins to break these rules along with two other rebels, and they rise up against the strict society in which they live.

It's fair to say that the concept is better than the film, and although this served as an inspiration to what was to become Star Wars, it failed to find an audience when it was originally released, only garnering a cult following after George Lucas' universal success.

6/10