"For readers of dystopian science fiction classics - like Aldous Huxley's Brave New World - aspects of THX 1138 will feel very familiar, but remixed with a brilliant minimalist arthouse flair. This is the kind of science fiction film Terry Gilliam wishes he could have made at some point, or, to put it another way, a non-campy version of 1976's Logan's Run."
"In an unspecified future, humans are heavily medicated and live tightly controlled lives. Duvall's titular character, only given the designation THX 1138, works on an assembly line, ostensibly creating robots of some kind. Early in the film, 1138 is picked up for not taking his pills because he and his "mate," LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie), are trying to free themselves of an oppressive day-to-day life."
"He is probably best remembered for his film roles in The Godfather and Lonesome Dove, as well as Apocalypse Now, a Francis Ford Coppola film that George Lucas initially wanted to direct. But, in 1971, before Star Wars and before what we now think of as a kind of modern age of sci-fi cinema, Robert Duvall led George Lucas's first masterpiece."
Robert Duvall's lead performance in THX 1138 helped launch George Lucas's film career and shaped modern cinematic science fiction. THX 1138 (1971) depicts an unspecified future in which humans are heavily medicated and live tightly controlled lives. Duvall plays THX 1138, an assembly-line worker who stops taking his pills and, with his mate LUH 3417, seeks to escape an oppressive daily existence. The film combines dystopian themes familiar from Brave New World with a minimalist arthouse aesthetic, predating and influencing later mainstream sci-fi. Duvall died on February 15, 2026, at age 95, and remains celebrated for this and other landmark roles.
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