While George Lucas will always be best known for creating adventures set in a galaxy far far away, fans of his work are going to be thrilled to know that his first film ever, ‘Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138’, is getting a digital release!
Lucas created the short film back in 1967, and now we’ll be able to stream it through Facebook’s content channel Dust for a look into the original style of this filmmaker that we all love or hate (or love to hate). While most of us will be forever grateful for the birth of the Skywalker clan, there are many who will of course never be thrilled with later edits and the Anakin trilogy which was his swan song for Lucasfilm.
Far before the fame and birth of a science fiction franchise powerhouse that eventually Disney would end up buying, a young USC film student had the vision to make a science fiction short film. No one could have imagined that ‘Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138‘ would be the beginning of one of the most impactful Hollywood careers that the world has seen.
As Gunpowder & Sky’s channel Dust is known for bringing shorts from up and coming filmmakers, this is an event that they are celebrating in style. Not only will the December 11th release of the film come just shy of the release of ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ but the channel is putting out a new short daily from other USC School of Cinematic Arts students. Who knows, one of these might end up being the same kind of driving force that Lucas has been all these years.
For those unfamiliar with the story, it is about a man who is trying to escape a dystopian society and is chased after by authorities. His name, much like the film, is THX 1138 4EB. When it was initially released, it took in the top prize at the National Student Film Festival. Steven Spielberg was in the audience that day and loved what he saw, and Lucas never gave up on the idea as it would eventually grow into his feature-length debut of ‘THX 1138’.
Of the film, Robert Ebert once wrote that:
“The dialogue seems half-heard, half-forgotten; people talk in a bemused way, as if the drugs had made them indifferent. Their words are suspended in a muted, echoing atmosphere in which only the computer-programmed recorded announcements seem confident. And the featureless whiteness of this universe stretches away into infinity, especially in the effective scene involving a prison with no walls: How can you escape from a prison that is simply an empty void?”
If you’re looking forward to checking out the film on ‘Dust’ you can follow along at their Facebook page where new content will be made available daily coming up to the December 11th release which is less than a week away!
Are you looking forward to checking out the short film which would launch the career of George Lucas? Do you feel that this is a great way to add exposure to the current students at the school he once attended? Share your thoughts below!
Source: The Wrap
