As some of you my know, this is George Lucas's first feature film. It's about a guy named THX 1138 (played by Robert Duvall) who lives in a future distopian society where all the people have to take sedatives to keep them in order. The children learn intravenusly and they all worship the Great Painting of Albrecht Durer which speaks to them through a tape recording. So, THX refuses to take his sedatives and becomes, well, a normal human. He also has a roommate/girlfriend who he sleeps with. Well, there really wasn't much in the way of sleeping. Anyway, she switches his sedatives with stimulants. He goes on trial for refusing to take his drugs and for sexual perversion (meanig he was interested in sex to the extent that all people are), and he is judged incurable. Being human is a crime, I guess. It works, though. So, he gets imprisoned and is forced to stay in a giant blindingly bright room. He and another guy meet a hologram who wants to become human, and they all escape. Now in this society, they have a policy. If something goes more that 0.5% over budget, they have to stop it immediately. So, they evil robot cops chase THX through this tunnel (at high speeds in typical Lucas fashion) and THX finally escapes when they cops go over budget.
The first time I saw this movie, I wasn't all that impressed. I also wasn't paying much attention. After actually watching it, though, I have to say it was pretty damn good.
Things to watch (and listen) for:
THX 1138:
In the chase scene, you can hear someone over the radio say, "I think I ran over a wookiee back there on the expressway."
When THX 1138 is flipping through channels, he starts watching a robot beat a man. The sound from that part was used as the opening noise for Nine Inch Nails' song, Mr. Self Destruct.
American Graffiti:
The license plate on one of the cars reads THX-138
Star Wars:
In ANH, when Luke and Han infiltrate the detention level, Luke say, "Prisoner transfer from cell block 1138"
In the ANH novel, the stormtrooper whose uniform Luke steals is THX 1138. (It was changed to TK 421 for the movie.)
In ESB, General Rieekan says, "Send Rogues 10 and 11 to sector 38."
In TPM, the droid whose head falls off after the battle with the Gungans is numbered 1138.
The Matrix:
When Morpheus shows Neo what the world really became, the room is very similar to the one in which THX was imprisoned.
So it's not a terribly funny review.