THX 1138

It's a toss up...I can't figure out what was the better scene. Robert Duvall "walking up" the tunnel to freedom in THX 1138 or Adam West "walking up" the exterior of a skeezy bar in Batman The Movie. Both scenes look realistic enough to be actual climbing and both scenes employ crafty camera tricks to fool the audience. I think the tipping point is Burt Ward, so I'll go with Batman The Movie.

One of the most impressing things about THX 1138, and not suprisingly so, was the cinematography. George Lucas knows how to compose his shots and the movie was very visually pleasing throughout. Probably the most impressive and symbolic shot is the final shot with the sunset. What better way to end the movie than with mystery. Has he found freedom or is there really nothing up there for him? The sunset shot could represent so much, but needs to represent so little. A setting sun means the end of a day, the end of a movie. Plus it's a beautiful shot

I think one of the underlying themes of the movie is greed and the human tendency to want more and more control. This can be seen through the extreme amount of control this society exercises on its inhabitants. They cannot let any infraction, or any inhabitant, go and it takes only the thought of losing even more money, to give up on THX1138. Technology is a means to fuel their greed, and the question of who "they" are is so mind-numbingly 'out there', that I won't even address it. They are they, enough said. They use technology to gain more control over their society, use it to manage the society and use it to help feed them the drug that is "control". They are greedy alright, and THX1138 tries to take something away from them (himself, and 3 others), tries to break the rules, and They just cannot let that happen.

One last thought: those silly robots would be a lot cooler if they weren't saying things like "We don't want to hurt you" and "Please, just open the door". They look so cool, but are really pretty lame. They should use those electro-sticks more often...and maybe on kids.