February 2006

David Lynch’s 1984 film adaptation of the bible of all sci-fi epics, Frank Herbert’s Dune, has met much criticism over the years for being incomprehensible, indulgent, untrue to the book, and just plain terrible. Love it or hate it, Dune is back in print on a DVD that features its original 2 hour and 15 minute theatrical version as well as the nearly 3 hour TV cut (in Widescreen) that has actually been known to cause some faithful sci-fi fans to Gom Jabbar their own eyes out. If you don’t know what Gom Jabbar means, don’t fret; you’ll still be able to follow my review better than your first three viewings of Dune itself.

Just for the record, I love this movie. Don’t let my sarcastic comments in the previous paragraph scare you away from reading on. Come on, what else are you gonna do for the next five minutes?

4 & 1/2 Stars

Frank Herbert’s Dune is a very detailed and complex book that has been very highly regarded over the years and has fostered a cult of devoted fans as well as several sequels that have continued well after Herbert’s death. The world that Herbert created in his books is so complex that there have been some troubles in bringing this vision to the screen, both large and small. The first film version to actually hit the big screen was David Lynch’s, and as you read in my introduction, the results were a critical and financial mess.

Having never read the book (I kinda have an aversion to works of fiction that have their own glossary), I can’t really tell you what doesn’t jive with Herbert’s original vision of the Dune universe. Honestly, I don’t really care. All I know is that while Lynch’s movies can sometimes be a little too obtuse even for my wacked-out tastes, his Dune is visually stunning and very compelling. The extended version of the movie, while flawed, helps explain things for those of us not familiar with the book, and actually makes the more perfect theatrical version make sense.

Before I get to the nuts and bolts of this DVD release, let me give you a quick overview of the plot for those of you that actually need context in your reviews. Dune is the story of warring races from different planets that all require the spice Melange for their operations, from the running of their economies to intergalactic travel. The spice can only be found on the desert planet Arrakis (also known as Dune), and the bulk of the story (at least in the movie) has to do with Paul Atreides (son of the “good guy” Duke Leto) going to the planet and becoming the messiah that brings peace to the universe. This is a highly simplified version of the plot, but I think it will do for our purposes here.

The first cut of Dune that Lynch and his cohorts assembled was reportedly about 4 1/2 hours long. Knowing that there was no way that the studio would let the film be that long, Lynch cut it down to his final version of 2 hours and 15 minutes (this, of course, is a simplified version of how that all went down). While that length is more easily digestible by the movie-going public, the epic scope of the Dune story could not be encompassed in such a running time and the result was a jumbled movie that really just seemed like a highlights reel. Therefore, audiences were generally confounded and critics gave it a predictable thumping in the press.

Somewhere along the line, a longer version was assembled for TV using the bulk of the unused footage in an attempt to recreate that initial long cut. The result was a nearly three-hour Dune that was more complete but very rough around the edges. For example, in the later scenes on Arrakis involving the Fremen and the battle scenes, not all of the effects were finished. That is why in some scenes the Fremen have glowing blue eyes and then in others their eyes appear normal. Also, in the added battle scenes no laser effects were added to their guns, so all you see is the motion of firing and then explosions. Ultimately, the movie is still so strange and confusing that this doesn’t really detract that much from it. If you didn’t know any better you might just think that Lynch was just being weird again.

As with other movies that have a longer version or “director’s cut”, the extended Dune actually is missing some scenes that the theatrical one has. Pretty much any scene having blood or any allusion to sexual perversion in it has been cut (remember, this one was initially for TV audiences). But on the positive side, the extended cut has a five minute introduction that explains what is going on a hell of a lot better than Virginia Madsen does at the beginning of the theatrical version. There are also added narrations throughout the movie, with the voice of Frank Herbert himself taking over for the original narration by Ms. Madsen in the other cut.

Did I also mention that this movie has about half the cast of Twin Peaks in it? Kyle MacLachlan, Everett McGill, and Jack Nance are all over this thing, as well as two other Lynch alumni, Brad Dourif and Dean Stockwell. Don’t forget appearances by future Star Trekker Patrick Stewart and Sting (before he started to really suck)! Yeah, the cast is as quirky as the film itself.

I love David Lynch’s version of Dune. I had to watch it a few times for it to make much sense to me, but now new details come out in every viewing. The longer cut is less perfect but explains more and actually adds to the enjoyment of watching the more polished theatrical version. The packaging is cool, with a tin case and fold-out glossary of terms for the Dune world tucked inside. Dune is not for everyone, but I am very glad to have both versions of this great sci-fi epic on DVD.