THX sequel in the works?

[crs1022]

Does anybody get the feeling that perhaps GL wants to revisit the THX world after Star Wars is complete? Does anyone think he should?

He put out the Special Editions prior to filming the prequels and I have heard the rumblings about this being a posibilty.

"Keep up production, and prevent accidents" :wink:

[TUX8527]

I have often thought about a sequel to THX, how does he survive in the outside world?

I'd like to think that there is a world outside, but it's a lot like the concept used in the Mad Max Films. very rough.

THX has to fight to survive and then finds a nice group of people that take him in and help him survive. It sure would make for a good film. Then THX could go back and tell others in the complex that there is another world outside and liberate them, just like in Logan's Run.[/b]

[crs1022]

I always thought that he may find who is in control up there.

Since everyone in THX 1138 seems to just go along without anyone really being in control, maybe the ones in control are on the surface? It would be interesting to see the character in a different environment. Something darker like a Metropolis.

[TUX8527]

A very interesting concept. I've never thought of it like that before.

I always thought that there were people down below that controlled the whole complex, you just never saw them, they were faceless, so to speak.

But George could expand on this and make it someone up above that has control. The whole THX Complex could be a human behavour science project, to see how the human race would deal with being totally shut off from the outside world and suppressed in this manner.

Obviously, THX himself would've made for a very interesting specimen, rebelling again'st society once the drugs have worn off. Maybe LUH was a plant in the system? She was put there to do this to THX, just to see how he would react.

So the complex is kinda like Big Brother, Camera's everywhere, with someone up above, watching their every move.

[crs1022]

That's possible. But that's kinda like The Matrix "anomaly" theory.

Have you seen Metropolis? With the workers below ground and the wealthy beautiful people above. George uses the worker drone idea from that film. Probably the idea for the chrome robots came from it too.

It would be good allegory for a THX sequel to go above ground to find who's in control. Since the ones in control are always at the top. The rich getting richer off of the mindless workers below ground.

Maybe THX could work to free others below besides himself too.

[TUX8527]

Yes, I see your point. Oh yes, I have seen Metropolis!! Another fave film of mine, along with The Matrix (just love the whole concept!), Logan's Run, Brave New World and 1984.

Yes, it would be a very good allegory to see the people above ground, feeding off of the work of the poeple in the complex, I do agree.

THX could liberate the people by helping them escape from the complex and there could be a revolution, where THX beats the oppressors and becomes in charge of that specific sector, making others in charge of other sectors.

Then the oppressors could be forced to live the way THX and the others were living, see how they like being oppressed by drugs!!

[crs1022]

I even have an idea where THX goes to the surface, attempts to free those below, but then enjoys being in control so much (since he never had any) that he actually becomes a kind of dictator.

Like, perhaps someone else from below escapes like THX did and finds the civilization on the surface, only to find that the one in control up there now is THX 1138. He could be the villain now.

It'd be a cool way to get Robert Duvall in a sequel since it's been 30 years.

[TUX8527]

THX becomes corrupted by the liberation of his soul!!

A fantastic idea!! And, like you say, with this idea, Robert Duvall could come back and play the part again, which would make it a lot more authentic.

LUH's baby could be the person to orchestrate his downfall.

[crs1022]

Yes, I like that! His son is his nemesis. Brilliant!

Call my agent!!!  

[TUX8527]

Yeah, his son is his nemesis, and this is the cliffhanger that does'nt get found out till the very end of the film, where THX is dying and his son tells him who he is.

They hug and THX becomes the way he used to be, just for a few minutes, before he passes away.

[crs1022]

I think the suprise should be that THX 1138 is who's in control. It would be a great cameo by Duvall. We won't see THX until the very end. Maybe LUH doesn't even find out that THX is his father, but THX realizes it, and allows LUH to destroy him willingly.

We could see LUH escape early in the movie, like THX did (only in a much shorter time span), and then follow him on his journey to the above ground metropolis. Maybe there's something like the chrome robots, or other machines above ground that he'll encounter on the way. That way there can be a cool chase like in the end of the original. Then when he gets to the city and fights his way through, he meets his father, the one who's in control of it all.

Start the escape quick, have a big chase in the middle and then end on a revelation. Keep the ending kinda ambiguous so we can speculate on it like we are now about the original. Where will he go? Will LUH free the drones? Will he take control now?  

[DM Corleone]

I hate to kill your Metropolis analogy, but I have always thought of THX's world and the world above in a different light.

I have thought that the underground world was an automatic world, controled by the machines.  There was reason to move underground long ago (maybe a nuclear war?).  Society was set up where the machines were there to help, but the humans began to depend on them to the point of relying on them completely.

By the time THX-1138 is born (hatched?), the world is on auto-pilot.

The above world has long ago reverted to being habitable.  I may even be devoid of people, or populated with others who have escaped, or with the descendants of other underground societies that finally relaized it was safe to go back outside.

Similar to HG Wells' "The Time Machine"?  Yeah, sort of.

THX emerges to find a new garden of Eden, where he lives free.  Maybe he would even go back down to get his child (the new LUH).

Just my view of it.

-Don

[TUX8527]

Hi crs1022 and Don,

I love both of your theories.  :idea:

crs, yes it would be great if LUH never found out who THX was, but THX knew who he was. I saw a film a while ago that had this kind of ending, but I can't remember the name of it now.  :?

Don, your "The Time Machine" concept is very good too.  

There is one thing that I have always thought, and that is that the above world is full of Cave Dwellers, a very dangerous place to live, because they are all wild. ThX has to fight them to find a sanctuary, where there are a few other people who have escaped from the complex. And in order to keep the Cave Dwellers out, they have built a domed city above ground. So once you enter, you don't dare leave, as this is the only safe haven.

[SG]

All interesting sequel concepts.  But let's keep in mind that THX 1138 was produced in a time when sequels where not built into the original vision of the film.
I don't see a seqel for THX 1138 because I see it very differently than the rest of you.
THX escapes.  But the police droids were not lying to him.  He has nowhere to go.  THX is doomed out there.  He had a "bad trip" (ironically, by lack of drugs rather than too much) and he saw his society, indeed the whole of humanity for what it is.
So he splits.  But there's nowhere to go.  He's gonna wander alone out there.  If he's lucky, there will be devices for shelter and animals for him to learn to hunt and eat. Quite the discusting existance.
He's screwed.  He was screwed back home.  All he has is his dignity.
This is what the film is about.  This is what Lucas was trying to say about our own reality.  This is all we've got.  All we have is our dignity.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's because you are a good little worker drone.
Increase production.  Buy more.  And... be happy.

[DM Corleone]

How you look at THX's future is based on how you look upon the last scene (credits) of the film.  All we see is THX standing on the lip of the shaft as the sun sets before him.  Is it good, it is bad?  :?

Does the music give a hint about what THX will experience?  It seems to me it is almost a Hallelujah chorus.  I see it that THX has made it to a better life.  He has escaped the world of supression of thought and action.

Of course the robots will tell him that he has no where to go: their programmers believe that there is no life outside of the underground city.

Would a sequal answer my questions satisfactoraly?  Probably not.  I have my idea of what the film is about.  Others have other ideas.  I like what I have heard, but I might not agree with the other opinions.

But, don't just sit back and say, "Don is right," or "Don has been smoking something."  Sit at the keyboard and say it, that is what makes this BBS great.

-Don