# calling all foreign/indpendent movie buffs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2000, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835 "2000-04-20T02:13:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![realm505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@realm505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/realm505)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835/1 "2000-04-20T02:13:00Z")
I saw this movie a few years ago on A&E, I believe, It kind of reminded me of the “Electric Labyrinth” but It was greater in depth. O.K. I’ll set it up; It is sometime in the future, like a utopian society, and it is underground. Everything is white; the architecture is all white and the people are wearing white Lenin robes and have shaved heads. A PA system chants positive thoughts, in a female-like voice. The hero witnesses a crime or participates in a crime by accident (I can’t remember exactly how) and he is chased throughout the city. he escapes into a Ford GT-40 (I remember that clearly) and he is chased down a long tunnel by motorcycle cops, he out runs them. but he has to stop frequently because the car overheats (or it has to recharge its batteries). finally he escapes and reaches the earth’s surface through a porthole(?) and walks off into the post apocalyptic dessert landscape with the rising sun. That is how I best remember to film but the name escapes be because I caught it after the start of the movie, but I think I got the gist of the plot. I’m no movie buff, but I really enjoyed the film greatly and I would like to see the entire film. I think the movie was made in the 80’s because the “control room” resembled the technology of the day. ---
**Author:** ![PVonAtark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a3d4f5/32.png) [@PVonAtark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PVonAtark)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835/2 "2000-04-20T02:38:00Z")
Sounds like “Logan’s Run” perhaps? * * * “All men spoke of his prowess…except for a couple of people in his home village who though he was a liar, and quite a lot of other people who had never really heard of him.” -Terry Prachett - The Light Fantastic ---
**Author:** ![esswedl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@esswedl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/esswedl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835/3 "2000-04-20T02:55:00Z")
THX 1138, George Lucas’s first effort. ---
**Author:** ![esswedl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@esswedl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/esswedl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835/4 "2000-04-20T02:58:00Z")
Here’s the [listing](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0066434) on the Internet Movie Database. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835/5 "2000-04-20T03:19:00Z")
Robert Duvall and Donald Pleasance, I remember. It started as a film-school project. Lucas always tries to toss the number 1138 into his later films. A license plate in American Graffiti, the cell block that Han and Luke claim they’re taking Chewbacca to in Star Wars. I’m sure there are others, as well. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![esswedl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@esswedl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/esswedl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835/6 "2000-04-20T03:23:00Z")
The number on the back of one of the battle droids in the final battle sequence of _The Phantom Menace_ is 1138. It’s not really visible, but Industrial Light and Magic employees have fessed up to it in magazine articles. For a list of many such “easter eggs” in _The Phantom Menace_, see the latest edition of _Star Wars Insider_ magazine. ---
**Author:** ![realm505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@realm505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/realm505)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835/7 "2000-04-20T04:16:00Z")
nope, Logan’s Run is not it, nor is it Electric Labyrinth I there is no (or little) dialogue for the hero. no one had hair, and the actors faces were a powder white. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835/8 "2000-04-20T11:40:00Z")
Read the replies again, realm. **THX 1138** is the name of the film you’re talking about. * * * [The Legend Of PigeonMan](http://www.hotkey.net.au/~guanolad/pigeonman/) - **Shadow of the Pigeon** - Weirdo of the Night ---
**Author:** ![realm505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@realm505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/realm505)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835/9 "2000-04-20T16:21:00Z")
Oh… I see. George Lucas in 1967 made “THX-1138: 4EB (Electronic Labyinth)” as a student at USC and won 1st place. he later befriended Francis Ford Coppola and formed the American Zoetrope and their first project was a full-length version of THX:1138. OK… I got it all mixed up thanks guys for putting up for my mixed up self. ---
**Author:** ![kbutcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/db5fbb/32.png) [@kbutcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbutcher)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835/10 "2000-04-21T05:36:00Z")
Can’t see it? I saw the 1138 on the droid clearly both times i saw the movie. It’s on the droid that Jar-Jar pushes over after the control ship blows up. ---
**Author:** ![esswedl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@esswedl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/esswedl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835/11 "2000-04-21T16:57:00Z")
You’ve got the right droid, kbutcher. I should have was it wasn’t visible to **me**. I missed it until after I read the article. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2000, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-foreign-indpendent-movie-buffs/10835/12 "2000-04-22T04:33:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by kbutcher: > **Can’t see it? I saw the 1138 on the droid clearly both times i saw the movie. It’s on the droid that Jar-Jar pushes over after the control ship blows up.** Since when do they use Arabic numerals in the Star Wars universe? Well, since the Phantom Menace obviously, but didn’t anyone notice the inconsistency with the artificial writing system that you can see being used in The Empire Strikes Back? One instance I can recall clearly is when Luke Skywalker is “talking” with R2-D2 as he’s flying in his X-wing fighter to Yoda’s planet. You can see a translation of R2-D2’s beeps and whistles on a screen in front of Luke, and it’s written in the “language” I mentioned. Just more evidence that George Lucas is just making it up as he goes along. For _real_ fantasy, read Tolkien. For _real_ science fiction read Clarke, Asimov, Bradbury, or Philip K. Dick. For a _real_ hybrid of both, read _Dune_ (but don’t watch the movie). I’m totally disillusioned with Star Wars. DHR