Thoughtful, but sluggish to a fault–even when it's supposed to be exhilarating.

Fantastic first effort but just not enough to sustain the movie.

Just seeing one of Star Wars’ George Lucas first efforts alone is enough, but also with producer Francis Ford Coppola is a watershed moment in film making for the sci-fi genre. Part of its beauty is in its starkness, sterile humanity and the foresight in 1971 that yes, the future is not so much a green garden eutopia as a bleak existence as a worker of the masses working in a devoid robotic, sterile environment where the possibility of being critically injured is not uncommon (think Amazon or any other corporate warehouse of today). See a talented young Robert Duvall cut his teeth in an understated set design and with a sparse script that challenges and shows his talents early in his career. Hell, there’s even a car chase with Lola sports cars modified to look even more futuristic, one of which in real life James Garner finished second in the 24 hours of Daytona. If your attention span is short or you can’t comprehend that dystopian stories can be subtly understated you may be challenged here. However for me, this remains one of my favorite sci-fi films of all time. Pure in the delivery of its story, before the silliness of Star Wars took over and dominated the movie landscape. Keep an eye out for a scene slightly reminiscent of a scene in the second Blade Runner remake (holograms). It’s important to note that in 2004 in retrospect Lucas has realized the importance of this visionary seminal film that holds up well over decades and returned to make a few tweaks with CGI slightly expanding its length and a new trailer. There’s also a separate version included on the Blu Ray version minus dialogue with the interesting sound effects only. Be sure to see it Blu Ray for a crisp rendition and support the growing Blu Ray resurgence. Have a productive day and remember to consume. To consume. To consume.

The final scene has to be one of the best in cinema, all time. At the least, folks who have been in rigidly controlled societies would appreciate THX 1138.

I don't get why this is rated as high as it is. Perhaps is nostalgia vision combined with the lack of amazing cinema at time of release. It's a drama so relies a lot on the writing and acting and I just couldn't connect or care enough to enjoy this film properly. Maybe on a rewatch in a few years I'll change my mind but TL;DR VERY skipable film. You won't miss anything by missing this

This film is in the "visual" category. George Lucas is a visionary, as seen by the Star Wars films and even by his debut film, THX-1138.

A pastiche but an immensely effective one that uses dystopias and science fiction that came before to find even more ideas. Proof that Lucas was always thinking of things on a higher level.

A Sci-Fi Cult Classic. The cinematography, acting, and music is all really well done. The special effects in particular are jaw dropping and some of the best in any Sci-Fi movie I've ever seen. There honestly decades ahead of there time. This immerses you with amazing camerawork, a suspensful & creepy score, awesome set design, and costumes. This is a very visually driven affair with sparse dialouge throughout but the actors ado a really good job expressing themselves in a robotic but human way if that makes sense. While the editing and pacing are solid this is where it has some issues. This is a slow burn save for the ending the entire way and in the middle it can get bogged down in dragging certain things out and being abstract with certain scenes even though there very immersive. The execution though is so strong that your able to sit through it and make enough sense because the visuals are so strong and the special effects are amazing. Anyone who is a fan of Sci-Fi, any actors in this, Lucas, or New Hollywood films should check this out. You can see flashes of what will come especially in the special effects quality and in other Sci-Fi's like Blade Runner.

Movie is admirable, Some astounding images, Very impressive given the low budget, But plodding pace, and downbeat tone, hurts the impact,

Leading up to the ending I wasn't that interested. It was boring until THX and his prison mates broke out of the big white chamber and attempted to escape from the society they were trapped in, with the police chase through the tunnel and when he finally climbed out and escaped in the end with the beautiful music and sunset. One part was kind of silly where Donald Pleasence pushed a priest guy down and that knocked him out. Some things don't hold up too well now but one has to admire the creativity and ambition of George Lucas in the 1970s and how this film may have ended up influencing other dystopian future films that would eventually come after it. The vision behind this film was from the same mind that would give us one of the all time best cinematic creations ever just a few years later. He was and remains to this day a pure genius!

Well the cinematography was really good. It looked like a Kubrick movie. The story and dialogue was just weird and boring tho. I'm not a fan of this

Who knew Robert Duvall ever had smooth skin? I assumed he was born with wrinkles, like some sort of acting bloodhound. George Lucas really put himself out there with this debut film, taking a minimal budget and delivering some of the best value for his money that anyone could have; thanks to a few San Francisco urban development projects that hadn't yet opened, and a couple of shockingly inexpensive former racecars (two Lola T-70 Mark IIIs, one of which is tragically crashed into a concrete piling), THX 1138 was able to hang with some of the big boys trying to craft the visual aesthetic for a dystopian future. Furthermore, I really appreciate that he didn't feel the need to hold the audience's hand by explaining every detail of his worldbuilding, we're left to figure out a few things instead of characters awkwardly making their way through a bunch of exposition (and in a world of mind-numbing tedium and repressed emotion, that's a good way of getting the audience feeling the same way, sort of crushed underfoot). That said, it's not really a classic piece of sci-fi; the tedium is so successful that the sub-90 minute runtime ends up feeling surprisingly slow, and the themes - repressed emotions, love being forbidden, drugs as social control - make the film feel more like a diet version of 1984 than a scary original idea of the distant, homogeneous future. Some really cool setpieces, and an impressive acction finale that contrasts with the rest of the movie's slow pace. But THX 1138 is more a testament to Lucas's skills in worldbuilding and visual effects than as a storyteller. (3/5)

Personally I enjoyed this as a visual experience. Great art direction, very ahead of the time, something of before Star Wars.

First off, the identity of the director [Lucas] and his executive producer [Francis Ford Coppola] are irrelevant to the quality of the finished product, unless you're one of those cultists who worship certain celebrated filmmakers. This was a tough slog to watch; I had to do it in two settings. During the first forty-five minutes I was hopeful that it would go someplace and have an actual POINT, as up to the "detention center" scene it seemed to be half-decent. By the end, it's clear it was nothing but an extended "Filmmaking 101" project. I can't tell you whether this was a good performance by Robert Duvall or not 'cuz the script just sucked infected donkey balls. Maybe he had to do this in order to get the Tom Hayden part in The Godfather. If you want to conclude that "Lucas is telling us humanity is headed for a dystopian Hell-Hole where individuality will be crushed" - well, that's been done before and lots BETTER than this. Then, there are the blaring mistakes: a "hollogram" that's solid and gets hungry. The "detention center" from which our protagonist walks right out. Futuristic vehicles that overheat. Automaton cops who drive a car directly into a garage piling. Lucas or the scriptwriter saying that 3,400 and change was "six percent" of fourteen thousand - yeah, that's in there when the cost of the hunt for THX goes "over budget!" If you saw this on a big theatre screen and dropped a "tab" while standing in line for tickets, this might have been "mind-blowing" but if your brain isn't soaking in psychoactive chemicals, it's a waste of time.

Very weird very slow movie. I like the atmosphere but the dialogue is horrible and there isn't a particular character that stands out. They all pretty much act the same like robots in a sense with all the medication they take. And it's interesting to formulate in your minds imagination to see why this whole underground world exists. It takes place in the future that's for sure but does it exist because the real outside world is in ruins due to humans like climate change or nuclear warfare where humans are unable to live. And I wonder what happened to the main character after he escapes up the big ladder and into the sunlight. I will say for George Lucas's first movie he did good but the average person won't get that and call it a boring mess which it is but I would like to see a modern day remake of this or even a video game. Now that would be interesting. But for me in the end I found this movie boring and to be frank I almost fell asleep.

Anyone considering if they are in a cult should see this film. This is George Lucas' best film after the original "Star Wars" trilogy -- and nearly as good as "Return of the Jedi."

Difficult to follow and therefore not very interesting.

Interesting futuristic snapshot.

To be honest, I was remarkably bored watching this. I'd wanted to see it for a very long time. There are aspects that are interesting but it was really difficult to pay attention. Very unlikely that I'll watch this again.

6/10 it starts powerfully, but fizzles quickly