THX 1138 "preservations" + the 'THX 1138 Italian Cut' project (Released) — Page 87

SilverWook said:

 When has bad child acting ever made George cut a scene? ;)

I believe the scene humanizes SEN a bit more than George may have wanted. Without it, SEN is more of a selfish person who wants THX for his new roommate, (his old roomate's death might even be a tad suspicious) and has the computer skills to get what he wants.

Either version suggests this society pretty much raises kids via machines, and adults don't interact with them much.

I was under the assumption that SEN was trying to press THX into bunking up partially using the fact that his roommate died due to THX's negligence/error. I figured he was that pile of waste being carted out of the disaster area on the monitor. 

I have yet to actually watch the bluray version of the long SEN/THX conversation about roommates. It looks to be quite different.

Molly said:

There's better fan editors here, I just was considering reconstructing the 1971 cut in color (as far as possible) from the resources we have.

 Mine is on the spleen if you'd like to take a look, but I'm sure you're capable of better!

edit: speaking of not being a great faneditor, I've made a little attempt of patching over the missing video. Turns out there's not as much material to work with as I'd hoped for. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2svm9s

Version with 16mm used: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k4cpwXc8rzChE9boeTa

I don't really care much about how the scenes are ordered, as long as there aren't the CGI enhancements. Just give us the original untouched stuff and I'm good. :)

All these great prints are hard to find, Myspleen doesn't seem to be open for registration. Could anyone give me an invite to it so I can download and seed it to my friends? They will probably have to register as well, it's up to them though, one wants to get involved with Star Wars prints.

Private trackers are definitely a life saver, breaks my heart when a nice transfer dies on TPB or whatnot.

I am not sure if this has been addressed before but will this preservation include a clip from "Things to Come" (1936)? I know this clip has been mentioned in regards to its replacement of the Buck Rogers segment, but I can't recall if any efforts were made to get a clip and include it.

Molly said:

The 1971 print we have has the Buck Rodgers clip in it...

I understand that, I am talking about the original theatrical release which supposedly had a 1-minute clip from "Things to Come" (1936) before the opening credits; instead of the Buck Rogers segment we currently have.

Yeah, I am curious where this information regarding the Things to Come originated from. For example, TCM's site states:

"In the original release the movie includes a one minute clip from "Things to Come" (1936) before the opening creadits. When re-released in the 1990's this clip was replaced by a clip form "Buck Rogers" (1940)."

This is clearly wrong because the Buck Rogers clip existed before the 90s, so I am wondering if this was just a rumor that some person started or if it came from an actual reputable source.

THX11384EB said:

This is clearly wrong because the Buck Rogers clip existed before the 90s, so I am wondering if this was just a rumor that some person started or if it came from an actual reputable source.

 Yep, there are probably a few pages of speculation in this thread if you read back a bit. 

At this point it is certainly not verified that it was ever anything but Buck Rogers.

Molly said:

THX11384EB said:

Molly said:

The 1971 print we have has the Buck Rodgers clip in it...

I understand that, I am talking about the original theatrical release which supposedly had a 1-minute clip from "Things to Come" (1936) before the opening credits; instead of the Buck Rogers segment we currently have.

As I said the print we have is from 1971 and would therefore reflect the original theatrical release...and it has the Buck Rodgers clip.

Right, and like I said I understand that. Maybe I should have been as specific as possible... I was asking if this preservation would include the clip as a bonus feature not as a replacement for the Buck Rogers segment. But I guess confirming whether it actually existed in any version would be the more important inquiry/task. Unfortunately neither Lucas or Murch have a Twitter, so asking them is out of the question; although Murch does have a fanmail address.

It's hard to imagine why the studio would have replaced one anachronistic movie clip with another, unless rights issues were involved at the time.

If Warner execs didn't appreciate Lucas' (utterly beautiful) irony, they would have simply cut the sequence altogether.

Jonno said:

It's hard to imagine why the studio would have replaced one anachronistic movie clip with another, unless rights issues were involved at the time.

If Warner execs didn't appreciate Lucas' (utterly beautiful) irony, they would have simply cut the sequence altogether.

Good points. However, Things to Come was public domain when THX 1138 was in production, so I don't think it was copyright issues; it could have simply been a creative decision to go with something more inline with the THX's theme, whereas Things to Come weighs heavily on war.

Buck Rogers does a better job contrasting our outlook of the future as an adventurous journey with THX's bleak dystopian world, e.g. "... in the wonderful world of the future. A world that sees a lot of our scientific and mechanical dreams come true." It is an ominous introduction, and works extremely well in my opinion. Additionally, we know Lucas was a big fan of the serials from the 30s and 40s.

Just for fun, here is an episode guide to the first Buck Roger's serial/chapter "Tomorrow's World," as well as "Tragedy on Saturn" seen at the end of the clip in the intro:

http://buckrogersguide.blogspot.com/2014/03/ep-101-tomorrows-world-april-11-1939.html

http://buckrogersguide.blogspot.com/2014/03/chapter-two-tragedy-on-saturn-april-18.html

An interesting note from the first chapter: Killer Kane is the result of the 20th Century's failure to eliminate crime. Racketeer, now controls the government.

And

Killer Kane interrogates the Pilot for the information to the location of the Hidden City. As a tactic to get the Pilot to talk, Kane shows the Pilot a room full of Pilots that have been captured and turned into slaves with the use of a helmet that turns the men into mindless robots.