Alright, so last night I settled in and watched THX 1138, George Lucas’ first movie (1971). This is one of those movies that I didn’t think I liked until the end… Spoiler alert, I will be discussing major plot points, and the ending. But then, if you haven’t seen this movie in the 37 years since its release, what are the odds that I’m really spoiling anything for you, now really?
Okay, I actually saw this movie many years ago as a kid… But even then it was still “an old classic.” It was many years after the initial Star Wars craze, and like many other folks out there I wanted to see George Lucas’ early work. I didn’t remember much of it, except a few scenes at the end involving some motorcycles. So, it was almost like watching a new movie last night.
This movie really bugged me for about the first hour (it’s only an 86 minute movie), and I found myself having to pause it and walk away several times just to keep from going crazy from what seemed to be lingering pointless scenes of bright white rooms of infinity and crazy bald people rambling about this and that.
But toward the end of the movie I started to get interested. The last 20 minutes or so are the only “action” sequences. Not that I need action sequences to be interested in a movie (after all, my favorite movie of all time is 2001: A Space Odyssey, considered by many to be the dullest movie ever made), but honestly it was really slow, dull, and confusing up to that point, and the concluding 20 minute chase was a welcome relief.
Three convicts escape from prison, and the police are after them as they run through this futuristic city. That’s basically the last 20 minutes. The first 60 minutes get you there. You have to have the patience to sit through the first 60 minutes to begin to see the significance toward the end… And still there is no real clarity until (arguably) the last scene of the movie when Robert Duvall actually escapes.
Having sat through all 86 minutes now I have decided that I really do like this movie. But I can see how many people would probably get fed up and quit watching soon after it starts. The end, I believe, makes reference to Plato’s “Allegory of the cave” which you may remember from that philosophy class you took in college your third semester when you lost interest in your major but realized that you still had several years left to go so you better take some interesting elective courses… Wow, did I just think that and write it?
Anyhow, in Plato’s allegory of the cave there are a bunch of cave men sitting in a cave around a fire, which is all they’ve ever known, and which they accept as being “real and absolute.” Long story short, one of the cavemen either wanders out of the cave, or is dragged out by an animal or something… The point is, once he gets outside he sees the sun for the first time, and realizes that there is more than just the fire in the cave. He feels compelled to enlighten his fellow cavemen, but none of them want to come out of the cave. He eventually drags one of the other cavemen out of the cave, kicking and screaming, who also becomes enlightened as to what truth actually is, and the two of them try to decide if they want to continue dragging others out of the cave or not, seeing as how none of them seem compelled to follow them out. It’s that whole “can truth be forced on somebody, or do they have to discover it for themselves” thing… You know (Melissa), that old chestnut. LOL
Well, having made it through the movie to the end, and realizing at least one of the points that I think Lucas was trying to get across, I now want to watch it again and try to get the rest of it. There seem to be several Orwellian themes thrown in there that, while obvious, I wasn’t really paying attention to the first time around. And I’m a big George Orwell fan, too.
Anybody else seen it?
Okay, I actually saw this movie many years ago as a kid… But even then it was still “an old classic.” It was many years after the initial Star Wars craze, and like many other folks out there I wanted to see George Lucas’ early work. I didn’t remember much of it, except a few scenes at the end involving some motorcycles. So, it was almost like watching a new movie last night.
This movie really bugged me for about the first hour (it’s only an 86 minute movie), and I found myself having to pause it and walk away several times just to keep from going crazy from what seemed to be lingering pointless scenes of bright white rooms of infinity and crazy bald people rambling about this and that.
But toward the end of the movie I started to get interested. The last 20 minutes or so are the only “action” sequences. Not that I need action sequences to be interested in a movie (after all, my favorite movie of all time is 2001: A Space Odyssey, considered by many to be the dullest movie ever made), but honestly it was really slow, dull, and confusing up to that point, and the concluding 20 minute chase was a welcome relief.
Three convicts escape from prison, and the police are after them as they run through this futuristic city. That’s basically the last 20 minutes. The first 60 minutes get you there. You have to have the patience to sit through the first 60 minutes to begin to see the significance toward the end… And still there is no real clarity until (arguably) the last scene of the movie when Robert Duvall actually escapes.
Having sat through all 86 minutes now I have decided that I really do like this movie. But I can see how many people would probably get fed up and quit watching soon after it starts. The end, I believe, makes reference to Plato’s “Allegory of the cave” which you may remember from that philosophy class you took in college your third semester when you lost interest in your major but realized that you still had several years left to go so you better take some interesting elective courses… Wow, did I just think that and write it?
Anyhow, in Plato’s allegory of the cave there are a bunch of cave men sitting in a cave around a fire, which is all they’ve ever known, and which they accept as being “real and absolute.” Long story short, one of the cavemen either wanders out of the cave, or is dragged out by an animal or something… The point is, once he gets outside he sees the sun for the first time, and realizes that there is more than just the fire in the cave. He feels compelled to enlighten his fellow cavemen, but none of them want to come out of the cave. He eventually drags one of the other cavemen out of the cave, kicking and screaming, who also becomes enlightened as to what truth actually is, and the two of them try to decide if they want to continue dragging others out of the cave or not, seeing as how none of them seem compelled to follow them out. It’s that whole “can truth be forced on somebody, or do they have to discover it for themselves” thing… You know (Melissa), that old chestnut. LOL
Well, having made it through the movie to the end, and realizing at least one of the points that I think Lucas was trying to get across, I now want to watch it again and try to get the rest of it. There seem to be several Orwellian themes thrown in there that, while obvious, I wasn’t really paying attention to the first time around. And I’m a big George Orwell fan, too.
Anybody else seen it?
2 comments:
No, I haven't even ever heard of it. I'll trade you for my copy of TRON :)
Please don't make me watch this Friday.
Post a Comment