THX-1138: The (Digitally Enhanced) Director's Cut

StefanJ writes "This is either a marvelous Photoshop hoax or something really . . . cool? Sacreligious? Unnecessary? Reportedly, George Lucas has given his first commercially released movie, THX1138, a digital workover, enhancing backgrounds and altering scenes for more eye-appeal. Here are some comparisons of original and altered scenes. For those who haven't seen the film: Without giving too much away, it's about a working stiff living in a repressive underground bomb-shelter society. Emotion-suppressing drugs are mandatory; people shuffle from work to home, pausing to buy consumer goods along the way. (The goods aren't used for anything; you just feed them into a disposal unit after you get home. Making them keeps people busy . . .) If the drugs don't work, you can vent your spleen in a confession booth manned by a really bad A.I. It's really bleak, and sometimes ugly, but worth seeing. I hope the enhancements don't add too much color: The drab, sterile, white-on-white environment of the underground city is an important mood-setter. Consume more; be happy!"

Hey, you bum!

[moehoward]

Get back to working on Star Wars, you lazy bum. And do it right this time!

RE:THX-1138: The (Digitally Enhanced) Director's C

[Anonymous Coward]

" I must have the latest PowerBook"...

Looks exactly like the original...

[Anonymous Coward]

...with the white-on-white borderless rooms. All the actors seem to be removed in this version. And I don't think I remember the "website cannot be found" message in the original.

Famous last words

[kalpol]

Them:"Lucas is updating X movie to show his true vision which couldn't be expressed at the time due to technical limitations." Us: "Please God no."

All Comments Now Sumariezed:

[mythosaz]

All replies will be of the following:

(a) FP!
(b) GNAA
(c) How dare he change the film.
(d) How dare the DVD not have both version.
(e) Star Wars sucks now, you bastard.
(f) Proffit!

this would make lucas the...

[millahtime]

This would make Lucas the Puff Daddy of Movies. Taking existing good movies and "remixing" them to put out something not near as good as the origional.

Re: Famous last words

[Black Parrot]

> Them:"Lucas is updating X movie to show his true vision which couldn't be expressed at the time due to technical limitations." Us: "Please God no."

So, you won't be rushing out to buy Jar-Jar 3D?

You forgot one

[Cereal Box]

(g) I'll summarize all the posts: ...

New character

[Anonymous Coward]

A hilarious sidekick for THX called JRJRBNKS who adds humor to the movie with his zany hijinks!

Slashdotters won't like this film

[Anonymous Coward]

The explosions-to-thinky-bits ratio is entirely too skewed toward the thinking realm for this crowd. There are some car chases that this group might appreciate.

Re:So What?

[thelexx]

"Its just people shuffling around in bad clothes and having pointless conversations. If I want to see that I can go to the mall on weekdays and watch old people."

Heh, sounded to me like you were describing teenagers.

Good idea...

[freeze128]

Sure. Just make your first movie with all white backgrounds and sets. That way, when image manipulation technology becomes mainstream, you can color in the backgrounds and sets without re-shooting. Brilliant!

Now I'm off to shoot a movie that's all black.

Re:Greedo shoots first?!

[Anonymous Coward]

New /. poll:

Who shot first?

Han
Greedo
Cowboy Neal

Don't forget

[freeze128]

In Soviet Russia, THX-1138 changes George Lucas!

NO! SHHHHH!

[ajservo]

If he's busy working on THX, then that means people are thinking independently on what to do on Episode 3.

Everytime george wasn't in command, we got decent films.

And we'd all rather him be busy on a less liked film (sorry THX fans...) or "More American Graffiti" (Sorry, you one MAG fan...)

Re:Heh...

[SpinyManiac]

He deserved the Slashdotting for disabling right click.

Let it burn!

laserdisc version good enuf

[bobalu]

I might go back and watch it (it's been awhile) but if I recall my laserdisc version was pretty nice as it was. I mean really, is it worth it? I think a lot of this buggered-up re-release stuff is just a thin reason to get people to buy again on another type of media. Like what the heck, this is in the bank, let's diddle a few scenes and get the true believers to pop another $20.

Same for Dark Star mentioned in the first post.

Of course if anybody can get Gilligan's Island re-mastered with a nude Mary Ann, well I might re-consider.

Better

[Apreche]

He better not make it so greedo shoots first in this remake... or else.

Re:There are THX fans?

[schon]

I think that it would be a tie between "THX-1138" and "Desparate Living!" If you do not know what "Desparate Living" is, consider yourself lucky.

OK, I haven't seen "Desparate Living", but I have seen THX-1138.. and I gotta say, if you think that was the worst movie you've seen, then you've never seen "Santa Claus vs. the Martians" or "Tammy and the T-Rex"

These are two HUGE stinkers... seriously, I didn't think it was possible to make movies that bad.

Re:Lucas Art?

[hambonewilkins]

That's an awesome idea! Actually, I wouldn't mind a whole page of Spielberg characters with walkie-talkies (the beach landing from Saving Private Ryan?). Unfortunately my photoshop skills suck.

an answer

[bandy]

No, but it does have something to do with Princess Leia's cell number and the license plate in American Graffitti

Re:South park

[Siener]

My favourite bit in the Free Hat [tvtome.com] episode:

Announcer: Coming, this summer! It's the digitally enhanced re-release of the very first pilot episode of South Park! Yes, the classic, rough, hand-made first episode is getting a make-over for 2002! The simple, funny aliens are now super badass and kewl! Flying saucer? No longer cheap construction paper, but a 4.0 megapixel constructed through a masterpiece of technology! Everything's new! New is better!

Trey Parker: When we first made South Park, we didn't wanna use construction paper. We just had to because it was cheap.

Matt Stone: And now with new technology we can finally remaster South Park, make it look sharp, clean and focused.

Trey: Expensive.

Announcer: Yes, all the charm of a simple little cartoon will melt before your eyes as it is replaced by newer and more standardized animation! Trey: For instance, in the scene at the bus stop, we always meant to have Imperial walkers and giant dewback lizards in the background, but simply couldn't afford it.

Announcer: Get this special enhanced version quick, because another enhanced version will likely be coming out for 2003!

It's a very good episode, and it reflects exactly how many people feel about the "improvement" of old movies