I’ve long had a fascination with Science Fiction films from the 1970s, perhaps in part because I was too young to see them when they were new. Ocassionally, classics such as The Andromeda Strain, Solaris, Soylent Green, Logan’s Run, and Alien spark my interest in what I call Retro Futurism — antiquated visions of future times.

Among these is George Lucas’ first feature film, THX 1138. It was made in 1970, based on a student work he made at film school, and just re-released in an updated and enhanced George Lucas Director’s Edition DVD, ala the Star Wars Trilogy Extended Versions with digitally added scenes and backgrounds.

The story of THX 1138 is reminiscent of the dystopian worlds of George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Humans are named with a string of letters and numbers and work in tiresome, factory-like production jobs. Their every action and impulse is monitored by ubiqutous surveillance cameras. Mates are assigned rather than chosen, all unauthorized sex is forbidden, and behavior is moderated by a daily regimen of pills. Even prayer to an ambiguous, televised diety is compulsory via automated, phone-booth-like confessionals. Having feelings — let alone falling in love — is a crime. Needless to say, life is devoid of any meaning besides the constant commandments to produce and consume. When the main characters act-out in rebellion, they are subject to constant pursuit by tireless robot guards, whirlwind kangaroo courts, and imprisionment and threat of erasure.

Rather than its nightmare vision of monotony and control, I was drawn to the way Lucas chose to make THX 1138. It has an experimental edge that is both refreshing and inspiring. In the extras on the DVD, he details how the film isn’t about predicting the future, but depicting forces at work at the time it was made. Rampant consumerism and social control, over-medication, and an estrangement from nature are extended to extremes.

Lucas explains he wanted to take a ‘Japanese approach’ to making the film by creating a world and letting the story tell itself. He made a conscious decision not to explain what was going on all the time. This lends itself to an immersive experience when watching the film, where the staid camera work, ambiguous sets and lighting, collage-like sound effects and constant radio chatter are particularly effective. I, for one, found THX 11138 engrossing.