The film"THX 138".I 've not seen it. Quite the thing, the title showing up on the 5 window's licence plate Paul LeMat drove in American Grafitti. Getting curious to check it out when I get the chance. I expect it'd be void of car-culture. Or is it?
George Lucas created or had a hand in the THX sound system that you used to see in theaters in the 90's, it would come up on the screen and play a bunch of different sounds that "surrounded" you. I guess it was the precursor to surround sound. I read somewhere that, it was named THX partly because of the Plate on the 32 in American Graffiti.
The sci fi movie is THX 1138, the tag on the car in the American Graffiti movie is THX 138 The movies are quite unrelated, aside from that almost same number, and the guy who made them. edit: clarified which movie is which
Jim is correct, the movie is THX 1138 and it is a sci fi movie. HRP THX 1138 is a 1971 American science fiction film set in a dystopian future in which the populace is controlled through android police and mandatory use of drugs that suppress emotions. It was directed by George Lucas in his feature film directorial debut in 1971. Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and written by Lucas and Walter Murch, it stars Robert Duvall and Donald Pleasence.
THX 1138 is the first movie by George Lucas. It is a dystopian science fiction movie. The only cars in it are Lola T70's driven by robot police. The star is a young Robert Duvall. It is a 1971 movie and AG is a 1973 film
'THX 1138' was George Lucas' first feature-length film (he had done only short films up until this one) and put him on the map. He did American Graffiti next and the plate number on Milner's car was a reference to his prior film, minus one number because Cal plates only had three numbers at that historical time.
I had heard this movie THX 138 was a real turkey and the licence plate was in some sort of homage to it.
George Lucas apparently named the film after his San Francisco telephone number, 849-1138, the letters THX correspond to letters found on the buttons 8, 4, and 9.
an interesting side note... two modern movies share similar plots to THX1138 Equilibrium 2002 Equals 2015 Chappy
Here’s a discussion from 2011, https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/thx-138-plate-from-john-milners-coupe.573238/
wonder what the original pair of THX 138 plates would sell for if they still exist somewhere... has anyone ever seen a THX plate?