Rating: 
Summary: (a) movie? or (b) book? Correct answer: (b)
Review: Unfortunately a gem of a book like Frank Herbert's Dune has so many layers of complexity that a movie will never reach the high levels that the book has achieved. A movie can never capture the grandeur and epic scope of such a brilliant work of fiction. The 1984 production of "Dune" is no exception. Even the complexity of Frank Herbert's award winning novel is difficult to convey in a movie. In short, the plot revolves around the house of Atreides being sent by the Emperor of the Universe to the desolate planet of Arrakis (Dune) to take over rule from the house of Harkonnen. But rather than this leading to the destruction of the house of Atreides as originally planned, the Messianic figure of Paul Atreides leads the native Fremen to victory over the evil emperor and the Baron Harkonnen. Viewers not familiar with the book will find the plot complex and confusing, but fans of the book will find the movie an excellent summary of the book's plot. This is probably the movie's greatest strength.For the rest, the movie fails to live up to the epic grandeur of the book. The scenery is hardly stunning, featuring many brown and ugly wooden sets in true 80s style. The Harkonnens are depicted as ugly - the baron being the worst of the lot. The movie conveys a strong sense of horrifying evil whenever the Harkonnens make an appearance - they are led by the passions of greed for sex and money and they look it too. These men are just plain evil and sadist, resulting in some very frightening scenes and ideas. There are not that many special effects, aside from some breath-taking pyrotechnics in the final scenes of battle. Some special effects are certainly effective in lending authenticity to Herbert's science fiction creation, such as the blue eyes of the Fremen. But mostly this movie isn't about special effects. In the end, the complexity will likely make viewers entirely unfamiliar to the novel Dune find this to be an incomprehensible and unsatisfying movie that may even turn them away from the book. Please no! Viewers would be well warned not to watch the movie before reading the book. Not only will that enable you to make sense of the plot, but it will expose you to the real reason why Frank Herbert's Dune is so famous, because of its depth of philosophical themes revolving around ecology, politics and religion. Any movie cannot possibly do these themes justice, and this is far from a good effort to do so (Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring was far more successful in bringing the complexity of Tolkien's fantasy world to the silver screen). It should be noted that the 1984 theatrical version was apparently 50 minutes shorter than the version originally intended by the director (137 instead of 189 minutes), so the extended version released in 1988 may be the version to watch if you have a choice between the two. As a stand-alone, the movie is a failure. But fans of the book will want to watch it at least once, if only for a helpful reminder of the plot. As a companion to a great book, it's well worth a look.
Rating: 
Summary: Still the best
Review: It's still the best Dune. The look and feel of the movie are just right on the money. Jessica is perfect. This was also the last movie Sean Young made before she decided to become a flake, remember when she used to play sophisticated adult-type women, gang? Remember Blade Runner? The way they made futuristic technology look ancient really worked great. This is a feudal system, these oppulent items pass on for generations and it looks it. The sets and constuming sort of remind you of footage of the last Tsar of Russia. And when you want to film desert, nothing beats actually going out and filming some desert. Contrary to some of the reviewers on the New SCI-Fi miniseries, I thought the spaceship scenes were far better in this old version. They looked like the kind of spaceships super rich, royal dudes would have. That scene in the begining when the spaceships are docking with the guild transport is superbly done. You get the idea that they really are moving an entire planet's goods. Trivia: Jurgen Prochnow (Duke Leto) was almost killed in the making of this film. The book about the making of the movie is kind of interesting, too.
Rating:
Summary: missing scenes
Review: I was disappointed in the fact that several scenes were absent from the DVD including the gom jibbar sequence early in the movie. Some of the deleted scenes contained important plot points. If the viewer has not seen the intact version of this movie he/she will be lost.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Watching Once
Review: "Dune" is a good adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel. However, rather than being just mediocre, this movie has things that are both truly astounding and very annoying. The actors in Dune are all excellent, and the sets are all gorgeous and have (except for the Harkonnen Giedi Prime world) the look of how I imagined the Dune universe to be. The special effects in this movie are great, and the mental powers (especially the Voice) are depicted in an easily understandible and powerful way. I also liked the score of the film. Many of the great scenes from the book, such as the fight with Feyd, the sandworms, the Fremen water cache, Paul's visions, are exellently portrayed. The look and impact of the film is truly awesome in spots. On the other hand, the scenes with the Baron Harkonnen are a bit **too** decadent. The director forgot that the Baron was also a shrewd fellow. (In the movie, the Baron seems pretty stupid.) This movie simplifies the story quite a bit (it has to.) and focuses almost exclusively on the story of the young Paul Atreides. That is appropriate for a movie of this length, and the film is primarily about Paul's spiritual awakening, which I liked. The drawbacks to this film are many (Let us count the ways :-) 1. There's all of the annoying voice-overs when the characters are thinking. Surely there's better ways of conveying the information in the film (especially with the excellent cast), rather than slavishly copying the book. 2. In the movie, the Atreides create "Wierding Modules" as a kind of food soldier's ultimate weapon. There is no such "Wierding Module" in the book, and its presence does diservise to the Fremen fighting ability (they needed no such module.) On the plus side, I liked the spiritual basis for the module. 3. The romance between Paul and Chani is depicted in hollywood-style sexual attraction. (and is not developed at all, but happens out of the blue.) I felt this to be a bit corny and frankly unbelievable. In the book, it's much better as you follow this pair and see their relationship develop. 4. The movie is way to brief, in that many scenes are cut short. (such as Paul's negotiation with the Emperor and the Spacer Guild) Liet Kynes' role is so insignificant, that I think they should have deleted that character altogether. (He's there, but does not really connect with the events of the story very well.) The fight and funeral of Jamis is not in the movie. This film is just too short to tell the story (even Paul's story), yet a three hour film would have sufficed.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad, Really, Really Bad
Review: I actually saw this movie when it first came out. I can't believe it made it to DVD. I have heard the book is actually good, though I haven't read it. But I have seen this movie, and it is one of only two movies I actually asked for my money back after watching; the other being Moonstruck. Dune is like watching a few hours of a desert storm while eating popcorn and waiting for something interesting to happen...No, wait a minute, it's not like that - it is that! Save your money, buy Tremors instead. It may not be as deep as Dune, but it is definitley more entertaining. See ya next review! www.therunninggirl.com
Rating:
Summary: Surely one of the worst films in English
Review: I saw Dune for the first time the other night and I think it should be given serious consideration as one of the worst films of all time. Surely only a great filmmaker could achieve results this bad; a typical filmmaker's effort might have been merely boring. And the facts that 1) the movie is now 20 years old and 2) the book on which it is based is conceptually brilliant, but sophomoric in terms of artistic quality and writing style, are no excuse! Practically every single minute of the film (well, those minutes where human actors are present) contains filmic awfulness that simply defies belief. The two or three truly gifted and experienced actors barely manage to escape with their dignity intact, while most of the others make the sensitive viewer cringe with embarassment. The timing of the actors' movements, the pacing, the voiceovers, most of the casting, and many, many other elements of this film should be extensively studied in film schools in a class called How Not To Make A Complete Ass Of Yourself As Director. The music as well seems mostly designed to destroy rather than enhance interest in the shoddy doings on-screen. This movie is bad in a way that it cannot even be enjoyed for its badness; it has no redeeming qualities WHATSOEVER and the reader is warned that it has no value even as a timewaster. Staring at a clever screensaver for two or three hours is like a university education compared to watching this sad trash. The special effects are a total bore as well, but that's hardly the director's fault -- I'm sure they were impressive in 1984.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Watching Once
Review: "Dune" is a good adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel. However, rather than being just mediocre, this movie has things that are both truly astounding and very annoying. The actors in Dune are all excellent, and the sets are all gorgeous and have (except for the Harkonnen Giedi Prime world) the look of how I imagined the Dune universe to be. The special effects in this movie are great, and the mental powers (especially the Voice) are depicted in an easily understandible and powerful way. I also liked the score of the film. Many of the great scenes from the book, such as the fight with Feyd, the sandworms, the Fremen water cache, Paul's visions, are exellently portrayed. The look and impact of the film is truly awesome in spots. On the other hand, the scenes with the Baron Harkonnen are a bit **too** decadent. The director forgot that the Baron was also a shrewd fellow. (In the movie, the Baron seems pretty stupid.) This movie simplifies the story quite a bit (it has to.) and focuses almost exclusively on the story of the young Paul Atreides. That is appropriate for a movie of this length, and the film is primarily about Paul's spiritual awakening, which I liked. The drawbacks to this film are many (Let us count the ways :-) 1. There's all of the annoying voice-overs when the characters are thinking. Surely there's better ways of conveying the information in the film (especially with the excellent cast), rather than slavishly copying the book. 2. In the movie, the Atreides create "Wierding Modules" as a kind of food soldier's ultimate weapon. There is no such "Wierding Module" in the book, and its presence does diservise to the Fremen fighting ability (they needed no such module.) On the plus side, I liked the spiritual basis for the module. 3. The romance between Paul and Chani is depicted in hollywood-style sexual attraction. (and is not developed at all, but happens out of the blue.) I felt this to be a bit corny and frankly unbelievable. In the book, it's much better as you follow this pair and see their relationship develop. 4. The movie is way to brief, in that many scenes are cut short. (such as Paul's negotiation with the Emperor and the Spacer Guild) Liet Kynes' role is so insignificant, that I think they should have deleted that character altogether. (He's there, but does not really connect with the events of the story very well.) The fight and funeral of Jamis is not in the movie. This film is just too short to tell the story (even Paul's story), yet a three hour film would have sufficed.
Rating:
Summary: Dune (Uncut Version)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Hi, I don't need to say anything about the film. I love it.
Want to find the uncut version? Go to www.revok.com.
Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Let's be fair: Some bad, some great
Review: Many reviewers here are bashing this movie, some of them not even giving reasons why. Here is the problem with the film, plain and simple: The book was simply too big to cram into a single movie. As a result, we get little character or story development, and the movie is probably confusing to anyone who hasn't read the book. But there are great moments too. The sandworms look great. The Harkonnens are really fun to watch (I only wish they had a lot more screen time) and the guild navigators with their microphone amplifiers look especially creepy. But I'm sure most people reading these reviews have already seen the movie many times and have their opinion already. What you really want to know is, is this DVD edition worth buying? Unfortunately, it's pretty much just the movie here. Not much in the way of special features. Basically just text notes on the making of the film and biographies of the actors. If you have the VHS version, not much reason to get this DVD. And this is unfortunate, because many people forget that this film cost 40 million to make, which back in 1984 made it the most expensive film in history. So there must be plenty of deleted scenes we could have watched. Or how about a "director's cut" version which could have clarified the story a little? Kind of a missed opportunity here. For Dune fans, I recommend buying it along with the Sci-Fi channel version, to get a more complete vision of DUNE...
Rating:
Summary: This movie is captivating
Review: NOTE WELL: As other reviewers have noted, you MUST avoid the t.v. version. It is AWFUL. Now: Dune is gorgeous, stunning, grand, ingenious, bizarre. If you wish to be transported through time and space, you can do no better. The use of the slightly silly weirding modules is perhaps the only significant drawback, serving as a convenient plot device. Brian Eno's score is compromised by Toto's "triumphant '80s guitar" (ick!) contribution. Beyond these minor points of inferiority, this movie is one of the most captivating cinematic experiences ever devised. And it is long. You must sit quietly!
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