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Why is the Original THX 1138 Still Forbidden?

Golden Flicker

357,175 views

UPDATE: Due to the absolutely massive number of requests from you lot, the side-by-side comparison video is finally here! We put the 1971 original and the 2004 Director's Cut frames apart to track every single change, CGI addition, and color grading shift.

Watch the full comparison breakdown right here:
Every Change George Lucas Made to THX 1138...

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You might be shocked to discover the truth behind George Lucas's first feature film, THX 1138. In this video, we unearth the production secrets and the "lost" version that almost prevented the existence of Star Wars and The Godfather.

Before the lightsabres and the Force, George Lucas was a young director fighting the Hollywood system. Join us at Golden Flicker as we descend into the subterranean world of THX 1138. We explore how a U.S. Navy loophole funded the film, the chilling involvement of the Synanon cult, and the tragic reason why the original 1971 theatrical cut has been hidden away by Lucas himself for over twenty years.

Timestamps
00:00 The Wookiee Ad-Lib
01:32 The Navy Loophole
02:46 American Zoetrope
05:01 Casting a Cult: The Synanon Extras
06:43 Stuntman Fury & Lola Race Cars
08:08 Murch's Sonic Revolution
10:01 Alien Exodus: The Lost Star Wars Link
10:58 The 2004 Digital Changes
11:54 The Golden Flicker Moment: The Memory Hole
12:52 The Sunset Legacy

Hashtags:
#GoldenFlicker #THX1138 #GeorgeLucas #StarWarsOrigins #CinemaHistory

20 Comments

@GoldenFlicker Creator 4 months ago Pinned

You asked, we delivered! Because so many of you requested a proper, frame-by-frame look at the differences between the original 1971 theatrical release and the 2004 digital overhaul, I've spent the last few weeks piecing it all together. It was a massive job, but the comparison video is officially live.

Grab a brew and check it out here:
https://youtu.be/3b8q7RcVoLg

Whenever you are ready to jump back into the new video's comment section or need anything else, just let me know!

@thomassecurename3152 5 months ago

Yes, yes for PART 2! I’ve been waiting a long time hoping for a re-release. Make your Part 2 happen. I’m eager and waiting. Regards Tom.

@Crayma800 5 months ago

One of the most underrated sci fi movies ever

@tech.junkie 5 months ago

1971 vs 2004 versions compared? YES, YES, YES! Very promising for a fascinating discussion!

@giri.goyo_yt 5 months ago

As a boy I walked past the poster for THX-1138 that included the head-shaved couple in the narrative and sterile background. My vivid imagination gave me nightmares for a week. Later, I finally got to view the film and still regard it as one of my faves from Georgie.

@donaldfinch1411 5 months ago

My high school bestie's father had a GENIUS for knowing when something was going go be "important": an art piece, an author, a film. It was he who told us to go see THX, so we did...and it blew our minds. A completely new way to tell a story! Fabulous.

@jamesplotkin4674 5 months ago

I saw thx the first time in junior high. The instructor got his hands on a 16mm film of it. Fascinated me at 13-years old.

@thebuddhachris 5 months ago

THX-1138 Strikes Back

Yes to a part 2!

@kboldin 5 months ago

My Dad took me to see THX 1138 when I was five years old, my first adult movie in a theater. It left an indelible mark on me. Catapulting me to a different time and place, what great movie making should be. While I didn’t fully understand it then, watching it years later, along with many other dystopian movies, sci-fi etc., I know where the passion began, my brother and I sat in that theater and were amazed, spellbound.

@101Moses 5 months ago

So Lucas took his original film and "updated" with cgi then banned any further releases of the original. I'm shocked, he's never done that before sarcasm overload So he wanted the film to feel like a documentary rather than a polished Hollywood production but then when he uses the cgi he creates that polished production he was trying to originally avoid. Yet again young Lucas would hate old Lucas.

@patrickcancilla1231 5 months ago

I was in this movie... Parts filmed in the yet to open BART tunnels under San Francisco..

@obsoletebutneat 5 months ago

Still holding on to my VHS copy. No CGI for me.

@CaptainDPRK 5 months ago

7:06 That particular scene was in the Director's Cut version. In the original version there is one worker on scaffolding at the time it is struck and the worker is seen falling. Later, when the car is shown resuming, all the debris is gone. Too bad there is footage that will probably never be found that the studio cut. This is uncharacteristically one of my all-time favorite movies.

@rikp 5 months ago

I saw it on TV ca. 1980 and thought it was strange. Obviously it was pan-and-scan and interrupted by commercials. A decade later I went to an art house playing a double feature of 2001 and THX and intended only to see 2001, but either they printed the times wrong or I read the schedule wrong and when I showed up THX started. I was in my customary seat up close and ... it blew me away. Suddenly those vast expanses of white nothingness made complete sense on the big wide screen in front of me. The effect was palpable.

@nathanwildthorn6919 1 month ago (edited)

The first time that I heard of THX 1138 was when I was a kid living in NYC i n 1971. Our entire school, P.S. 100 , went on a field trip to a Midtown (Manhattan) movie theater to watch "The Andromeda Strain." As we all got settled in our seats a movie preview materialized on the huge screen in front of us and it showed a bald guy driving a super-cool futuristic car down a tunnel, super fast!😮 Then an ominous voice over says, "The Future is Coming..!" Then there's a montage of various scenes showing bald-headed men and women all dressed in white uniforms, walking through a futuristic mall, a bald woman wearing a headset, silver-faced cops wearing helmets and dressed in black, then the bald futuristic car driver's point of view as he tries to evade two motorcycle cops. "The Future... is Here. THX1138. Starts Friday. Rated GP." Okay, this was taken from a memory of my 4th grade years, so it's a spotty memory retelling, but if anyone was around and saw the THX1138 preview back then, they'll (hopefully) suddenly remember it, and their minds will play a visual recollection for them. When I finally saw the movie, my young brain was fascinated by it, but wasn't mature enough to completely understand it. As an adult, I think it is a Masterpiece of futuristic Dystopia.

@anthonyg638 5 months ago

The first time I saw the THX letters were on Millner’s Number Plate in American Graffiti, which was THX138.

@ntx5953 3 months ago

Back in the late 70's, my father took me to see THX-1138 at our local public library.

@dalastar3 5 months ago

I was lucky enough to find an anamorphic blu-ray rip of the original laserdisc. Much preferred over the 2004 version.

@requiemcollectiblesgaming 5 months ago

Sounds like people forget Star Wars take place in the past

@nickbandouveris474 5 months ago (edited)

Such a beautiful movie. As most of Lucas, way ahead of its time. The central metaphor of "the value of the individual in society" is still breathtakingly depressing, astonishing, and way deeper than it initially seems. I'll add, Lucas showed his penchant early for brilliant casting. Robert Duvall (RIP), a year before he'd completely impress everyone in "The Godfather," illustrates this.