Dune

Rating:
Summary: Frank Herbert's True legacy
Review: Dune is the open door to fall in love with the whole Frank Herbert work. I was just a child when the dark and tragic vision of David Lynch made an impact in my life showing me a new whole concept of science fiction far beyond Star wars, more complex, deep and adult.
This time the good special effects wasn't the most important thing, not even the action, It' was the drama, the tragedy of Paul Atreides in his way to became a future messiah.
The best thing of David Lynch is the understanding of the whole universe of Frank Herbert making a movie that you can watch once and again finding new things.
The cast is the best they can found, far better acting than this trash for TV bad called Frank Herbert's Dune (is anything less a faithfully adaptation of Frank herbert work) and the soundtrack is amazing specially the love themes.
Forget the John Harrison brainless adaptation, the David Lynch version it's far beyond the common science fiction movie.

Rating:
Summary: Oh crap, it's a classic - Part One
Review: it must be said...Oh crap, it's a classic. Have to make this short as just about to watch a katey hepburn classic on tv - this is a film I've seen several times, twice at cinema, several times on tv and video also 1/2 times on dvd.

This time I will deal with te accusation of weak blacks in the dvd transfer (no, not a racial issue).

In the "making of dune" by ed naha, the DOP stated that it was his intention that there be no true blacks in his film....always browny blacks. If you've ever seen this at the cinema you'll realise this was so.

Will continue soon, must get back to kate.

Doc

Rating:
Summary: Lynch's Dune leaves lasting impressions
Review: Oil planets, rubber suits, flying Buicks and lots of industrial images and soot...
Who else could come up with a vision like this for the Frank Herbert novel other than David Lynch?
This so-called box office disaster has to be one of the most controversial sci-fi films to ever grace the silver screen, and though it has been repeatedly bashed by sci-fi buffs and Dune purists, the two-hour-plus feature always manages to surface either on television (in a hastily- and carelessly-edited extended cut), in conversations among admirers of sci-fi or cinema, as well as in personal movie collections worldwide.
So why was it scorned during its initial release?
Expectations of the film adaptation were high. The film hardly captured every facet of the novel. But how could it?
Also, many theatergoers and sci-fi fans were expecting, well, more of a futuristic approach to Dune as opposed to Lynch's industrial vision. A spaceship with plush leather interior lacking any flashy computers just didn't do it for the Star Trek/Star Wars crowd.
However, Lynch's script remains faithful to the story and its characters. The first-rate casting, combined with (undeniably) Lynch direction, pack enough flair to make the film more than worthwhile viewing and certainly worthy to own on DVD.
The entire cast give first-rate performances, most notably Kenneth McMillan, Jose Ferrer, Sian Phillips, Francessca Annis and, of course, Patrick Stewart.
Toto, the 80s rock band that proved to everyone that musicianship isn't everything, contribute a worthy score, though it steers toward a Flash Gordon-esque style in the film's finale.
In sum, Lynch - like a true visionary - leaves us with more fantastic impressions of the enigmatic Dune world than he does comprehensive storytelling. The impressions, however, are lasting. They are the key to why this sci-fi flop survived the relentless criticism and has proved, repeatedly, to be in demand among consumers.
Note: Lynch withdrew his screenwriting and director's credit from the extended TV version of the film, and for good reason.

Rating:
Summary: A Glorious Failure
Review: As any film version of Dune, this 1984 release can hardly do justice to the epic novel that inspired it. So in terms of living up to the title of "Dune" I do consider this movie something of a failure, but how well David Lynch tried! His effort is obvious, and in some aspects he does indeed pull it off.

The cast, special affects, and soundtrack to this movie were all superb. Sting plays an excellent Feyd Rautha, and it's a shame his character didn't get more screen time. Same with Patrick Stewart's rendition of the troubadour Gurney Halleck. Kyle MacLachlan plays a passable Paul Atreides, and Sean Young is wonderful as Chani. For 1984 the special affects were quite good as far as the sandworms were concerned, and they were brought to life very convincingly. (the guild and the spaceships... well... not so good) It isn't Star Wars of course, but a solid effort nonetheless. Lastly, the music to the movie was surprisingly well done, and Toto (yes, remember them?) turns in a great performance.

Now for a few criticisms . . . to begin with, this should probably have been released as a trilogy, as the story is simply too long, involved, and convoluted to make it possible to cram into a single episode. For that reason, the plot moved erratically and sometimes inexplicably, and relied too much on semi-cheesy "thought" dialogue, where you could simply hear what was on a characters mind. Key scenes were deleted (the knife fight with Jamis, Count Hasimir Fenring, to name a few) and several other bizarre and unnecessary changes were made (those silly sound-based weirding modules, the rain at the end?). The erratic plot progression makes the movie rather difficult to watch, especially if one hasn't already enjoyed the novel.

So overall I would rate this movie as a glorious failure, a picture that tries hard, has a few wonderful features, but just can't quite manage to pull it all together. Flaws aside though, it's still an engaging film and a visual treat for any fans of Frank Herbert's universe of Dune.

Rating:
Summary: not as bad as everyone makes it out to be
Review: You will either love or hate "Dune". If you have read the book, then it is likely you will enjoy the film - the actors are fabulous, the special effects are fine for 1984 and the imagery is accurate. If you have not read the book, then you will probably find the film confusing as the novel is quite complex.

I always enjoy watching David Lynch's "Dune" but have never seen the 'Smithee' version, so I can't compare them. I would, however, love to see Lynch edit this movie again. I'm sure there is quite a lot of film on the cutting-room floor that could be inserted into the original. Fans would love to see it. I also believe Lynch's version is far superior to the mini-series starring William Hurt - for many reasons, least of all faithfulness to the novel.

Despite its poor reviews, "Dune" is a classic. One must understand the complexity of the novel and the difficulty in translating it across media. Take this into account and enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Forever Lynch!
Review: Man, I can't believe the complaints this classy
film gets from all the pansy Uber-Dune "fans" -
and it is very disappointing to hear that Lynch himself
wishes he hadn't made the movie (!?). I feel bad when an
artist looses faith in his great own work...especially when
Herbert was himself present to be part of the FIRST
realization of his books on the screen! A presence
sorely lacking and obvious in the more recent efforts.

Lynch's movie always held a grand vision
of the series for me. To gripe about how it
missed all the details (as if the movie adaptation
wouldn't have to be days long to convey on screen!!)
is to simply fail to enjoy what was delivered.
The movie should be given top marks for what it
did accomplish, which was a lot!
The later Dune stories - which I admit I "enjoy" -
lack the atmosphere and superior acting/actors which
graced Lynch's film. He used REAL desert scenes
and provided a visual feel which made me feel like
I was in Herbert's book! I give props to anyone
who wishes to continue to get their own vision of the
books on screen - but I feel that all the whiners who
pooh-pooh Lynch have simply missed his movie's qualities,
all in favor of these later 'extended' but under-budgeted
attempts. What do the newer versions lack??? SPICE!!!
The "spice" you had in spades from the contributions of Sting,
Kyle MacLachlan etc etc. You guys just wish someone as
dynamic and captivating as Sting had graced these new movies;

instead there is no tension, no sense of maniacal evil that
put the edge on Lynch's version. Watching the new movies
is 'nice' but the blood never gets going.
The problems with die-hard "fans" is that they dissect and niddle over
details until all the blood is gone from something and it's just kind of
pathetic.

Rating:
Summary: Skip This Embarrassing Mess
Review: Having just read the book, I decided to rent the DVD. What a complete and total disaster.

The only two things I actually enjoyed about this were the designs of the stillsuits and the casting of Max von Sydow as Kynes.

The story is so compressed that all sense of scope, depth, and purpose are completely undermined. The acting alternates between wooden and melodramatic. The Harkonnens have been transformed into circus [figures]. Nearly everybody is miscast.

And worst of all, it's BORING!

This movie should have been put on a shelf and never released.

Rating:
Summary: Dune almost done
Review: Well I'm definitely "not" here to make apologies for either the David Lynch original nor the Alan Smithee after-thought.
However I "am" here to state that with all of this "extra" footage , why oh why couldn't the publishers of this DVD just include the extra footage sans that gawd-awful failed attempt at an Orson Wellsian narration. This is because one of the key features that is so very striking about this production is its "Look".
What separates out truly classic science fiction cinema is its ability to transport you into another world and Lynch's "Dune" has "always" succeeded on that front. That is why it would've been a classier choice to include the extra scene footage as just that and be done with it. All of the cut scenes are still more moments to be suspended in this world.
The "Look" and most of the performances really do help make up for one of its weakest links being the "uneven" quality of that script which "is" David Lynch's doing.
My God I see the great British actor's performances in this and yearned for what this film could've been had it been treated with BBC /Masrepiece Theatre-style writing (.
BTW: The classic Brit masterpiece mini-series "I,Claudius" comes immediately to mind in which Patrick Stewart plays a fascinating supporting role and in which Reverend Mother actress Sian Phillips played the fascinating & powerful lead role of Empress Livia .
Add in Freddie Jones' Mentat and Francesca Annis' Lady Jesisica along with the solid performances of German actor Jurgen Pruchow , of "Das Boot" fame , and always masterful Max Von Sydow ( "Minority Report" of late )and you really do have enough quality talent on screen to make the sometimes amatuerish script work its way through.
( I'd often fantasized Baron Harkonnen played by classic Brit-film actor Sidney Greenstreet_ You know ," The Fat gent" in "Casablanca"_ however I'm as convinced that Rod Stieger would've created a far more powerful and chilling performance as the Baron. I know , dream on )
Now add the masterful costumes ,"especially" the most crucial design of the stillsuits , the Jules Verne look of the technology of an empire , and the masterful craftsmanship of the worms by one Carlo Rimbaldi who made H.R.Giger's "Alien" head work and come to life and you really do have enough of the ingredients of what makes a classic work of SciFi worth owning.
The soundtrack is appropriately engaging enough , but if only Toto could've resisted that one temptation to include those oh so cheezy lead guitar licks during Paul's first ride of the great worm. Cheapens the whole effect Lynch was trying for.
Well there's plenty of Lynch's infamous "quirky" touches in this to be amusing for its own sake , but the "original" is still
the best. Again ,too bad "all" of the original footage is not included on this DVD ,but there's enough there to make the point.

Rating:
Summary: I used to hate this, but now....
Review: I used to hate the lynch version, mostly becauwse I've seen the 2000 SciFi remake, and I didn't have an open mind toward the Lynch version. When they showed the complete Lynch on the SciFi Channel I decided to watch it with an open mind, and it was better than what I used to think. The complete version was easier to understand than the 2 hour theatrical version. This is a pretty good movie once I opened my mind, except for the worms they look like puppets, but I guess having seen the worms in the 2000 remake it's a little unfair to compare. This is a good movie once I warmed up to it, but I still think the 2000 version is much more faithful to the book and better than this version, but this 1984 movie is good.

Rating:
Summary: Almost Good enough
Review: This version is adequate if you haven't read Dune. Dune is too complex a novel to portray in 137 minutes. I have seen the long version on Sci Fi (Not the TV Version) and it fills in more gaps that the Dune enthusiast is expecting to see. Even still the I find it could be expanded more. The original director refuses to be associated with the longer version; a mistake,

The TV version has filled in most of those gaps but made some "changes" for which I can still not rationalize why (Nowhere do they use his fremen name Usul?)

I recomend you buy them both, and if you are lucky enough, record the long version whenever SciFi runs it again.