Dune

Rating:
Summary: Also frustrated
Review: I'm with Judd from Roswell--you can't review this movie properly without seeing the director's cut, which I also have searched for IN VAIN. It seems the best release of this movie is completely unavailable. Without seeing the entire movie, it just seems too muddled and hard to understand. Sting has a great part, however.

Rating:
Summary: Now I remember seeing the U.S. TV special...
Review: Now I remember actually seeing this version in the late 80's. I didn't know there was a big difference since I was largely bored and scared seeing the original movie in the theater while still in grade school. I do recall that the TV ads mentioned it was an "extended" version and I first thought the storyboard drawings used in the intro was also in the theater movie which now I find out 15 years later it was much different.

Not a real big fan of Lynch's movie, I have to give kudos to the art and conceptual design which is still superior to most sci-fi today including the new mini-series. From the glory days of Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica up to 1985, the old-school model effects filmmakers used still outperformed CGI modelling until our current day of the LOTR movies. The set pieces , especially Emperor Shaddam's court is still one of the most magnificent of sci-fi. Unfortunately the movie turned me off mainly because of its initial incomprehensibility, dystopian feel, and gross-out horror scenes. It was almost like watching brutal Conan the Barbarian hack-and-slash scenes in space and one wonders how the Harkonnen could have been civilized enough to control a whole planet.

Now I do recall this TV-special edition seemed to have cut out the worst gory sections i.e. Jurgen Prochnows cheeks being torn out by the Baron, extended gore of the "heart-plug" scene, etc. and other garbage from Lynch from an otherwise decent looking sci-fi epic that failed to impress far beyond its potential despite its blockbuster production value. I have by now read the ingenious first novel and therefore did not have much of a problem with the extended narrations and look forward to Lynch's coming up with a LOTR type 3+ hr length Director's Cut(hopefully official worldwide edition including U.S.) cleaned up edition as many great sci-fi/epic actors make great appearances: Kyle McLachlan, Patrick Stewart(better role than Picard), Jurgen Prochnow, Max Von Sydow, Brad Dourif( Grima Wormtongue in LOTR:TTT in an earlier still creepily effective performance), Sting(one of his most.."interesting" movie roles), and among others.

Rating:
Summary: don't be misled
Review: Sorry to all those who are eagerly awaiting the 4 hour version of Dune, but having a copy of both versions I can say without reservation that the theatrical version is vastly superior.
I disagree with those who say it strays from Frank Herbert's vision of Dune: it is suitably dark and full of atmosphere.
Yes, it is complex and, being so ambitious, it is at times difficult to understand (for those not familair with Dune), but not impossible (and for me it was reason to read the book in the first place).
The production and sound qualities are first rate. If you have a good surround sound system then the DTS sound is sure to impress (or even a good stereo system will do the trick) - to me it is what makes this movie so powerful.
The extended version (here in Australia at least) is not in DTS and has very inferior sound. In addition it is an "Allan Smithee" production, meaning that David Lynch wanted nothing to do with the butchered end product. It is not, repeat, NOT a Director's Cut, and boy does it show. Stock scenes are used again and again, and very crudely inserted in an attempt to add more detailed story telling. Even the Guild Navigator's voice has been redubbed, and lacks the threatening undertones which make it so ominous in the theatrical release.
The extended version was crudely put together to satsify a television audience, and relies on an overkill of exposition.
So...if you want a good movie with high quality sound and picture, then buy the theatrical version!!
(PS Do not be misled - the miniseries is equally enjoyable - just a different interpretation of a complex story).

Rating:
Summary: Good Book, Good Movie, But Lacking Something
Review: To those that have read the Dune series of books and seen the 4-hour Alan Smithee version of this film as well as the Theatrical Length release, you will probably know what I am talking about without reading any further. But for the rest of you, here it is!

The 2 hour Theatrical version is a very good movie, don't get me wrong about that at all. In my humble opinion, this movie has held true to the visualizations I got as I read the books by Frank Herbert (by far more so than the remake POS released in 2000). The whole setting is a little dark and everything is very interconnected.

The problem I have with it is that there are some elements in the books - which I thought to be very important to the continuity and understanding of the series - that are left out in the shortened movie. For example, the shortened version does not elaborate on Aliah's (Paul's little sister) role in the rise of the Fremen and the fall of the Emporer (because she really did play a large part in that). The shortned version also does not tell you why technology is, while not shunned, it is not as prevalent in everyday life as you would think it would be in the year 10,191. It also does not explain in adequate detail the role of the Bengeserite Sisterhood in the civilization of the Empire. But these are trivial matters compared to the movie as a whole. If you are looking for a movie that will entertain and make you think a little at the same time, this is the one for you!

As to those people (like myself) who are searching out the 4-hour Alan Smithee version of the film, complete with editing and effects (such as the blue eyes of the Fremen), a lot of luck is going to be needed! I have done some research into finding it and this is what I have found:
1) Your best bet for getting the 4-hour version is to record it off of the Sci-Fi channel. They usually show it about once a year.
2) The 4-hour version has never been officially released on video or any other format in the US. The only place I have heard of it being released (and this information is not entirely confirmed either) is in Japan on the old 18-inch Laser Disk platters.
3) Anyone attempting to sell you or purporting to have a copy of the extended version is more than likely trying to pawn off a "recorded from TV" version of the movie.