What Exactly Did George Lucas Change? | THX 1138 Comparison

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:03]Hang on a minute.

[00:00:04]That doesn't look quite right.

[00:00:08]Right, the audio is perfectly in sync, but in the director's cut, the video has been nudged forward by a few frames.

[00:00:18]Okay, let's skip a few seconds past the Buck Rogers clip and try to sync it up using the opening credits instead.

[00:00:27]Now, it's quite interesting to note that the old W B logo itself hasn't been updated in the credits.

[00:00:34]But in the modern version, they've slapped the contemporary logo right at the very beginning.

[00:00:40]Right, I think we're properly synced up now.

[00:00:44]Everything looks spot on with the credits. The only real difference here is the resolution, right?

[00:00:50]Let's skip ahead a bit.

[00:00:53]Oh, beautiful, perfectly in sync.

[00:00:56]But let's jump forward a few more seconds to the first properly altered scene.

[00:01:01]Right, in this scene, they've added a digital monitor effect overlay, really pushing the idea that this whole situation is being actively surveilled.

[00:01:12]In the original version, without that overlay, it felt much more like a raw piece of deliberate police brutality.

[00:01:21]And here we go, the first major controversy surrounding Lucas's tinkering.

[00:01:27]Just look at the color grading. Notice how much warmer and more yellowish the original 1971 version is.

[00:01:36]Film critics and restoration purists constantly debate this.

[00:01:41]They argue that by stripping away that organic yellowish tone of the 1971 celluloid and replacing it with a 100% digital sterile white, the film loses that grimy documentary texture of the 1970s that made it such a cult classic.

[00:02:01]That slightly dirty white was crucial to the whole concept of a used future.

[00:02:08]In my opinion, it robs the scene of its atmosphere.

[00:02:12]But what do you think?

[00:02:14]And here it is, the very first entirely new shot added to the film.

[00:02:22]Oh, bloody hell. 4 minutes into the film and we're already out of sync.

[00:02:29]Welcome back to Golden Flicker.

[00:02:31]A few of you asked for this one. Well, actually, a lot of you asked for this.

[00:02:36]This is officially the very first massive content request in the history of [music] the channel. So, thank you for that. I'm absolutely thrilled to finally bring it to life.

[00:02:47]For those of you who are new here, I've already done a deep dive into the chaotic [music] production history of THX 1138.

[00:02:56]If you haven't seen it yet, [music] you can always catch up later. There's no strict order to watch them in.

[00:03:03]In this video, we're doing a proper side-by-side comparison of the two versions.

[00:03:10]Now, [music] this format is a bit different for me and mate, it was a lot of work to put together.

[00:03:17]I'll be sharing my own honest thoughts as we go through [music] it, but I really want to hear your take as well.

[00:03:24]Drop your thoughts in the comments as the scenes play out.

[00:03:27]>> [music] >> I absolutely love reading your reactions.

[00:03:31]Right then, let's get back to it.

[00:03:34]First thing we notice here is that the control room has been scaled up and there are loads more people.

[00:03:42]But there's a much bigger change here.

[00:03:44]In the original cut, the two people we're watching are SEN and LUH.

[00:03:51]Originally, it was implied that S E N had a bit of a crush on L U H, which serves as a motivation for what happens later on.

[00:04:01]In the director's cut, they actually work in completely different departments.

[00:04:07]Lucas added 29 seconds of workplace footage across the complex just to make this clear.

[00:04:15]We even see S E N actively monitoring L U H, proving they're in separate areas and that she's being watched.

[00:04:24]After that, we keep cutting between scenes of them at work and T H X.

[00:04:30]The order of these scenes is completely shuffled between the two versions, and the 2004 cut throws in some CGI.

[00:04:43]>> [music] >> Eventually, we hit the explosion scene, >> [music] >> and that's where the two versions finally sync back up.

[00:04:57]Now, the scale of T H X's sector is larger in the 2004 version.

[00:05:21]Plus, they've added this much warmer tint here, which gives it a far more dangerous, hazardous feel.

[00:05:30]T H X leaves work, and we get a few more slightly altered shots.

[00:05:42]Everything stays pretty much identical [music] until Hang on, is that a lizard with antennae and wings? Brilliant.

[00:05:54]THX gets home and in the new version they've added LUH calling out his name twice.

[00:06:01]In the 1971 original, she doesn't actually pop up on screen until about a minute later.

[00:06:09]A 13-second scene is added right here leading up to the moment where LUH is being monitored by SEN.

[00:06:23]The hologram scene has been modified and to be honest, I'm pretty sure I can't actually show you that on YouTube without getting into trouble.

[00:06:33]And THX gets a little toy to help him [music] out.

[00:06:42]In the original accusation scene, THX just steps into the room and leaves.

[00:06:49]We don't get any of the video footage on the monitors.

[00:06:54]Oh, look at this. A tiny white speck on the wall has been digitally removed.

[00:07:01]Talk about attention to detail.

[00:07:04]Right, this is where things get incredibly confusing.

[00:07:08]This is the sequence where THX visits SEN and we get the scene with THX and LUH.

[00:07:17]Over the next 5 minutes, a bunch of short scenes have been completely rearranged between.

[00:07:24]They end up in the same place structurally, but the path to get there is different.

[00:07:31]We've got this new scene here.

[00:07:35]And this one.

[00:07:40]And finally, the two versions meet back up. They've added a monitor overlay here just to clarify that the violation against SEN is actively being reported.

[00:08:02]Notice the shift in behavior here.

[00:08:09]>> [music] >> Now, [music] during this whole sequence, quite a few things were added.

[00:08:23]But unfortunately, I can't just show you five continuous minutes of the film, otherwise [music] the copyright bots will have my head.

[00:08:45]>> [music] >> Moving on, THX gets arrested [music] and the next few minutes are practically identical save for a few subtle differences in the color grading of certain shots.

[00:09:15]For some bizarre reason, this shot right here has been flipped.

[00:09:30]And in the escape sequence, over the next 44 seconds, the entire environment has been digitally expanded and a massive number of extra people have been added.

[00:09:43]Personally, the theatrical cut gives me a much more claustrophobic, cramped feeling, which fits the story.

[00:09:51]>> [music] >> What do you lot think?

[00:09:56]In the scene, this is the only spot where they made an alteration.

[00:10:02]Now, we've got a bit of added CGI.

[00:10:05]External lights have been put in to indicate movement outside.

[00:10:11]Another modified shot here.

[00:10:14]Now, during this chase, they actually kept the original shots, which I think are really nice.

[00:10:22]They've just bumped up the resolution and cleaned up the contrast.

[00:10:27]And here we go, the famous scorpion scene.

[00:10:31]If you've ever read up on the different versions of this film, you've definitely heard about this scorpion.

[00:10:39]For reasons known only to himself, George Lucas decided he needed to replace the original rat in this scene with a CGI scorpion.

[00:10:49]What do you make of that?

[00:10:52]Once again, the original scene is visibly warmer.

[00:10:57]Then we cut back to THX's escape.

[00:11:05]And here's an added shot of the railway station.

[00:11:13]We get an extra 8 second shot here before he reaches the car.

[00:11:19]Plus, they've added a few more cars to the garage and completely changed the background.

[00:11:25]>> [music] [music] >> And here's where the real fun begins.

[00:11:46]27 seconds of entirely new city footage added right here. [music] An extra 3 seconds of the car coming to a halt.

[00:12:02]The image on the monitor looks a bit different, too.

[00:12:06]Interestingly, the car moves a tiny bit in the original, but it's completely dead in the new version.

[00:12:15]Another 3-second scene added. The shot is mirrored, and they've thrown in a load of digital debris.

[00:12:28]Debris raining down, and the motorbikes have swapped positions.

[00:12:34]And we're approaching the dead end.

[00:12:37]Out of the way, lads.

[00:12:41]Now, we've reached the single most replayed moment from the previous video.

[00:12:47]I heard George talking to him saying, "Now, nothing you know, after the crash occurs and you're laying there, don't move because, you know, you'll you'll ruin the shot." The ramp had been built to this man's specifications, and it was I talked to Kenny Phelps, as a matter of fact, building it. In fact, I said to Kenny, I said, "That looks awful high to me." And he said, "That's what he wants." He came roaring in, and he hit the the ramp, and he almost hit the ceiling.

[00:13:11]>> went up in the air and landed, and I mean, everybody, Francis, myself, everybody ran. We thought he'd killed himself. And we pulled him out, and he didn't move.

[00:13:18]And he they pulled his mask off, and he's looking right at George, and he says, "Why'd you screw up the shot?"

[00:13:28]What is there even to say about this?

[00:13:45]>> [music] >> Color grading.

[00:14:05]And we've reached the end.

[00:14:09]Curiously, the grading on the new version made the sunset sky much redder, but it practically erased the bird flying [music] across the background.

[00:14:23]I'm not going to lie. Putting this video together was a massive shift and took a hell of a lot of work. So, if you enjoyed it, please do leave a like to help out with the YouTube algorithm and consider subscribing or even clicking that join button to become a channel member. It really does help keep the channel alive.

[00:14:44]And do let me know in the comments, which film would you like to see us break down next?

[00:14:53]Wait, what? The Easter eggs? No, bloody hell.