Artifact from the Future: The Making of 'THX 1138' (2004)

the audience applauded

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

. . . in the guise of five random movie directors such as Steven Spielberg (1941) and Frank Darabont (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION), plus 16 people involved in making THX 1138 WHO WERE STILL ALIVE THREE PLUS DECADES LATER IN 2004!! Amazingly, only a couple of these ancient geezers display any Alzheimer's Symptoms here. Therefore, viewers are able to learn a lot about the Nitty Gritty aspects of filmmaking. For instance, we're informed that it's the job of the "key grip" to build take-off ramps for Evel Knievel-style motorcycle stunts, IF said Death-Defying Tricks take place in Real Life Mass Transit Tunnels. Vic Morrow and that James Bond aerial cameraman notwithstanding, why risk Life and Limb on Real Life Freeways when you can GET PAID to do it for Tinseltown's sake? Speaking of which, ARTIFACT FROM THE FUTURE informs us that the entire THX 1138 cast worked "for scale" ($30 daily, in 1971 dough), which was a step up for most of them, who were Homeless Hippie Druggies scrounging around San Francisco.

This is a 31 minute featurette on the 2-Disc DVD of THX 1138 George Lucas Director's Cut, released in 2004. It consists of interviews with cast and crew, behind the scenes footage and clips of the film(and others, at times used to great ironic effect). They talk about shaving the actors'(and extras') heads, the nudity/sexuality, the approach to the sound design, and the various troubles connected with production for numerous reasons. The three leads(not Pleasence, as he was no longer with us when this was made, R.I.P.) all appear and have something to say; in fact, everyone does, and are interesting to listen to. This is well-edited and keeps to a pretty nice pace. We get anecdotes and such as is to be expected, and there certainly are a couple of funny instances in this. It is quite informative and it doesn't overstay its welcome. Some of the most inspirational moments of this are when we hear Spielberg and Darabont share how they feel about the picture, their reaction to it. There is nothing offensive in this, though do note that this documentary potentially spoils portions of the science fiction piece that it deals with. I recommend this to any fan of the subject matter, and anyone who wants to know more about it. 7/10

Yes, this is a good documentary – until you think about what is said, and what is shown. The interviews are all interesting and entertaining, resulting in a very good retrospective, detailing the making of THX 1138 more than thirty years ago. However, it's all illustrated with clip after clip from the new, CGI-enhanced Director's Cut, without ever mentioning the fact that it has been updated in this way. So, hearing all the talk about shooting on location, with a limited budget, and at the same time being shown scenes that are totally reworked with the computer technology of 2004 (or maybe weren't even there before!) makes the experience rather sour after a while. Or hearing Don Pedro Colley talk about the limited amount of extras, while seeing a clip with thousands of CG-extras in a VASTLY expanded set. If all of this was acknowledged, then OK, but as it is... it's actually quite depressing.

This is another great documentary from Leva FilmWorks. It very much stays on topic, gives lots of good information into how THX:1138 was made from multiple perspectives, and doesn't stray too much into obscure subjects and minutia. While there are appearances by other notable filmmakers, this does not turn into a love fest. If you are a fan of THX, you'll smile quite a few times.I give it 8.5 out of 10.If you are really interested in some of the more personal aspects behind the making of THX:1138, be sure to see A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Days of American Zoetrope - found on the same bonus DVD as Artifact from the Future in the Directors Cut DVD release of THX:1138.