THX-1138

PG

Released Mar 11, 1971

1 hr. 28 min.

Sci-Fi

List

86%

66 Reviews

Tomatometer

73%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the future, mankind lives in vast underground cities and free will is outlawed by means of mandatory medication that controls human emotion. But when THX 1138 (Robert Duvall) and LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie) stop taking their meds, they wake up to the bleak reality of their own existence and fall in love with each other in the process. But love is also illegal in this Orwellian dystopia, and the act of making love has made both of them outlaws on the run from an army of robotic police.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered May 14

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent THX-1138 on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Critics Consensus

George Lucas' feature debut presents a spare, bleak, dystopian future, and features evocatively minimal set design and creepy sound effects.

Read Critics Reviews

Sahooon C

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

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

11/21/23

Full Review

Rami A

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.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/27/23

Full Review

Alec B

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.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/13/23

Full Review

Red T

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.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

09/15/23

Full Review

TWMax65

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!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/20/23

Full Review

Tim R

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

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

06/05/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

George Lucas

Director

Robert Duvall

THX 1138

Donald Pleasence

SEN 5241

Don Pedro Colley

SRT

Maggie McOmie

LUH 3417

Ian Wolfe

PTO

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

73%

71%

1984

65%

53%

The Omega Man

84%

70%

Westworld

TRAILER

for Westworld

89%

76%

Colossus: The Forbin Project

82%

68%

Slaughterhouse Five

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Stefan Kanfer

TIME Magazine

Despite his scenes of bland horror, Lucas offers the 25th century as a arch, campy place, a conception not satiric enough to be accepted as comedy and not quite insightful enough to be taken seriously.

Feb 8, 2018

Full Review

William Paul

Village Voice

The empty space surrounding the vulnerable man emphasizes the exertion involved rather than the goal of escape: like the hologram who came to life because he wanted to, THX finally achieves his humanity by an assertion of will.

Jan 18, 2013

Full Review

A.D. Murphy

Variety

With political paternalism rampant at both extremes of the spectrum, Lucas is onto something. In any case, we'll know for sure in about a generation.

Jun 5, 2007

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Lucas borrows from George Orwell’s novel '1984' and Fritz Lang’s... 'Metropolis' but it’s the vivid low-budget texture that makes the film so memorable, both visual and aural. The sound design by Walter Murch is something to hear.

Oct 28, 2023

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

The movie drags at times and the stark white interiors are wearying, but this is generally more involving than most entries in the genre.

Rated: B

Nov 29, 2022

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...devoid of even the most basic exposition designed to draw the viewer into its oddball futuristic landscape...

Rated: 1/4

Dec 7, 2019

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

In the future, mankind lives in vast underground cities and free will is outlawed by means of mandatory medication that controls human emotion. But when THX 1138 (Robert Duvall) and LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie) stop taking their meds, they wake up to the bleak reality of their own existence and fall in love with each other in the process. But love is also illegal in this Orwellian dystopia, and the act of making love has made both of them outlaws on the run from an army of robotic police.

Director: George Lucas
Executive Producer: Francis Ford Coppola
Screenwriter: George Lucas, Walter Murch
Distributor: Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Brothers, Zoetrope Studios
Rating: PG (Some Sexuality|Some Nudity)
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 11, 1971, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2008

Most Popular at Home Now