I watched the directors cut of THX1138 about a year ago and was actually blown away by the picture quality and enhancements over the original...
Some people may prefer the original although I saw it on an old VHS tape.
Although Star wars corrections at times are totally questionable do you feel the same way about THX1138... I think Lucas actually improved this one.
Thoughts?
It's pretty much the same deal as the Star Wars SEs.
Some of the new elements do work well, some of them not so well and some of them are bizarrely incongruous and obtrusively whimsical.
And the colours are all over the shop.
The real problem though is George insisting that THX-1138:SE is the only version we are allowed to see.
Oh yeah I forgot that the original has disappeared out of sight...
I do favour the re-release though for some reason
He did the same with American Graffiti.
The monkey-men are so bad. Otherwise, fine.
Really?... I still have yet to see that one
what the hell could be done to overhaul american graffiti? was it just an edit or cuts?
The rat made more sense than the mutant scorpion thing and sometimes the effects are too showy and detract from the claustrophobia of the original version.
The masturbation robot was silly too.
I thought the car chase was a lot better.... and it looked pretty good better than the PT
Some of the additions were great and very tastefully done.
That's the problem though he needs someone to tell him when he has gone too far and he needs to care about listening for these things to work.
He also needs to author the originals with the same care and stick them in the same box set.
More of an SE than a director's cut. (Only the fact it's been radically altered has been obscured.) He got his DC in '78. Follow the THX preservation thread if you'd like to know more.
Pan and scan VHS is no way to watch the original version.
Where were you in '77?
I think the new version of the scene with Donald pleasance and the roommate switch is genuinely better now. But overall, the "director's cut" is too disneyland. The city should just be gross and unpleasant and not cool to look at.
The original version feels like a community built in the remains of tunnels designed for another purpose (bunkers, underground trains etc). Like a few survivors of a catastrophe buried themselves with the remains of their civilisation and the computers and robots are a communal survival mechanism.
The new one feels like a purpose built underground city, like a lost planet in the Star Wars universe. Where Darth Moleman lives.
No, I don't prefer the SE (and that IS what it is) over the original version. It worked fine as it was; we didn't need to see mutant animals, CG car chases, or masturbation machines.
I was crushed Lucas didn't explain on the commentary how he couldn't build a physical prop to whack Robert Duvall off in 1970, and thus achieve his original vision for that scene. ;)
Where were you in '77?
Actual LOL!
Like the Star Wars SEs I think there are some interesting changes in there.
I would just like to see a hybrid cut with some of the sillier changes removed and again the original restored and on blu-ray.
I bought it at a close-out store a few years ago, eventually worked up enough nerve to actully watch it. Didn't make it past the masterbation machine. :-/
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If you bought the two disc edition, watch the documentary, and see if you spot the moment that blew my mind.
Where were you in '77?
I'm not sure I had the two-disc. Does Lucas contradict himself?SilverWook said:
If you bought the two disc edition, watch the documentary, and see if you spot the moment that blew my mind.
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I do, the worst changes being the "mutant monkeys" are barely noticeable to me. Lots of people bitch and moan about it, but they're not onscreen that long and sure aren't up in your face like the CGI Jabba and Jedi Rocks sequence.
The story and characters are more important than a few cosmetic changes and rearrangements.
SilverWook said:
If you bought the two disc edition, watch the documentary, and see if you spot the moment that blew my mind.
I really liked the whole Presentation and the extras especially the original student film of THX1138
Basically I think this is a really cool DVD
Some of you seem to be missing the point. Unless you dig dead video formats, there is no easy legal way to see the original 1971 feature film. It's been buried. Even TCM only shows the 2004 cut.
As for the doc, as Lucas expounds on how he used real life locations to realize his underground dystopia in 1970, there is a cut to a CGI cityscape. By accident or design, it's implied this is what he achieved with 1970's ingenuity. Unlike the Star Wars SE's, the changes are never touted or talked about. Not even once. There are no revised credits to tell you of the restoration, or who did the new scenes.
There are already people who think Jabba was in Star Wars in 1977. This is how film history gets rewritten and the facts get forgotten.
Where were you in '77?
SilverWook said:
There are already people who think Jabba was in Star Wars in 1977.
But Jabba was in Star Wars in 1977. And we've always been at war with EastAsia.
Trekkie313 said:
the worst changes being the "mutant monkeys" are barely noticeable to me. Lots of people bitch and moan about it, but they're not onscreen that long and sure aren't up in your face like the CGI Jabba and Jedi Rocks sequence.