THX 1138 (1971) (***1/2)

Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope was supposed to be a haven for young San Francisco filmmakers. But Warner Bros. backed away from its deal with the company before it really got started. However, this wasn't before a young George Lucas had the chance to do a feature length version of his short from USC. This low-budget sci-fi film set the groundwork for Lucas to get the funding for STAR WARS. Yet this film is a starkly different kind of sci-fi than the Flash Gordon serial adventure that came in 1977.

In the 25th century, humans live in a highly controlled underground society. They are feed drugs to dampen their emotions. Physical sex is outlawed and roommates are simply assigned. One deity called OMM 0910 has been approved to worship. (He looks a lot like Hans Memling's Christ.) Androids police the human population.

THX 1138 (Robert Duvall, APOCALYPSE NOW) works on constructing new androids, while his roommate LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie) monitors human activity. He believes something is amiss with her, but can't put his finger on it. Turns out she has stopped taking some of her drugs and has begun to feel lust. Eventually, the regimented world leads to sadness and she begins to switch out THX's drugs as well. Soon he begins to feel again and the two roommates realize they are in love.

When they consummate their love, SEN 5241 (Donald Pleasence, HALLOWEEN) is watching. He is a higher ranked human and instead of reporting the unlawful carnal knowledge, he tries to blackmail THX. Later THX, LUH and SEN are arrested and put in a seemingly endless white room where they are tortured by the robots. As a result, THX becomes determined to escape from the world.

Where STAR WARS took its inspiration from serials, THX 1138 is straight out of Orwell. The Big Brother-like government versus humanity is nothing revolutionary, but the handling of the tone of this world is remarkable. From the emotionless giant robots to the sterile white rooms, the film has an eerie empty look. Combining this with the unsettling computerized voices overheard on the soundtrack, the viewer gets the overwhelming feeling of being watched.

While this isn't a performance film, Duvall brings intensity to his part. Now that he is Robert Duvall the screen legend, his presence adds a distinguished feel as well. McOmie has a vulnerability that fits her lost character's soul. Pleasence is the petty middle management weakling who you love to hate. Don Pedro Colley plays SRT, a black man who believes that he is only a hologram. It is hinted that blacks have been segregated from the whites and made to be performers only. Just another fascinating detail of the world.

The film didn't do well upon its initial release or even its post-STAR WARS re-release. In the subsequent years, it has garnered a cult following. Its inclusion of drugs as a form of control was ahead of its time but has been develop more fully in later sci-fi dystopian tales. The theme is no more than love and freedom conquer all. And yet the imagery and world has a strange pull. There is no doubt that Lucas is a master of creating worlds.