David Lynch's Dune 1984 - that beautiful glorious diasaster

[TonyJZX]

the fairly recent discussions around part 1 and 2 of villeneuve's new Dune has done the same thing as Blade Runner 2049

i remember when 2049 came out and everyone thought it was great, as it is. But I remember re-watching the 1982 version first... taking a day to consider and then going the 2049 version.

And the 2049 was good but it didnt linger on your mind for a few days unlike the 1982 version

and so this is how I feel about Dune 1984

its one of those movies i absolutely love but its a a combination for me... I came out of that era with 'Twin Peaks' and it was always a treat to see certain Twin Peaks actors in Dune... further I think a lot of the acting is rampant overacting in Dune but that's a part of the charm.

I cant say anything about the cast of Dune except to say that its... an ensemble... you cannot get such a multinational crew today. You will recognise just about every actor here as they all ended up becoming a part of the zeitgeist.

The music is one of kind. Toto, Brian Eco and Daniel Lanois.

And then the drama where Lynch hates this movie. And how there's at least three different versions.

There's the standard 2'15" cut which Lynch would say its a De Laurentis forced edit. This has the best video and SQ.

There's the Alan Smithee 3hr cut which I think is a real abomination. They somehow extended it by 45 mins but managed to cut huge slabs of footage.

There's also one 3rd party cut at 3hrs but I think this one is the most coherent with all the relevant footage and it really ties up a lot of loose plot threads.

Here it is:

ages ago I also went thru all the Dune miniseries on the strength of William Hurt alone... playing the Leto character.

and then I went thru the Children of Dune miniseries... these are an acquired taste and i do not recommened them unless you are a Dune tragic

but on a musical note one of the best things about the 1984 movie is that its is bookended by one of the best intro and end credit sequences of any movie

and then Princess Irulan... as told by David Lynch to Virginia Madsen to 'act like a princess'

FIN

 

[Ken1951]

Disaster might be an understatement. I hated it at the time and recently suffered through watching it again and doing so only reinforced my original opinion.

 

[Ian Wendt]

Similarly to Starship Troopers, Dune 1984 is best viewed as not having anything at all to do with the book, except a loose association with the title.

 

[Multicore]

I don't really see it as David Lynch's Dune. It's a meh Hollywood adaptation of a too-long book that Lynch was hired to direct. It has its moments but these are cancelled out when Sting shows up. It's not David Lynch as auteur in the same was as Eraserhead or Inland Empire (my favorite). It's more like Elephant Man in that it's Lynch working as a subordinate to someone else's art.

 

[krabapple]

Similarly to Starship Troopers, Dune 1984 is best viewed as not having anything at all to do with the book, except a loose association with the title.

The 'similarity' stops there. Starship Troopers is a brilliant satire, Dune is an inadvertent comedy.

 

[Ian Wendt]

The 'similarity' stops there. Starship Troopers is a brilliant satire, Dune is an inadvertent comedy.

I nonetheless still enjoy both, Dune mostly for it's campy insanity. Neither should be considered a remotely faithful adaptation.

 

[Berwhale]

Dune is one of my favourite movies. I watched it every night for a month in my late 20's and I still watch it 2 or 3 times a year, 25 years later. This may be partly explained by my given name being 'Paul' (and yes, I could be known as Paul Muad'dib and no, I no longer need the weirding module ).

 

[Mart68]

I've never read the book but luckily I first saw the film with someone who had, and they explained what was going on. Otherwise I would not have had a clue.

I like it- it's not a great film but it is entertaining and visually interesting.

 

[Sharpi31]

I’ve read 4 of the books, and am a fan of David Lynch (Inland Empire, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive & Twin Peaks are my favourites). I have a love/hate relationship with the 1984 Dune. It has a certain strangeness and lack of the typical Hollywood veneer that does work, but at the same time the questionable acting and lack of visual scale damage the end result. At the end of the day, I think it’s an impossible task to translate Dune into a 2-3hr move (or two of them). Since watching the new movie I’ve been wondering if a TV epic format might have worked better - 12x 60min episodes. But the fragmentation would probably break the immersion.

 

[Sharpi31]

I found this quite amusing…

 

[Zensō]

I’m a Frank Herbert and David Lynch fan, but the 1984 version of Dune is such a horrible movie. It’s the only movie I ever walked out on in a theater. An utter disappointment that is only now being rectified with the Villeneuve films.

 

[krabapple]

I nonetheless still enjoy both, Dune mostly for it's campy insanity. Neither should be considered a remotely faithful adaptation.

I'd have no interest in a faithful adaptation of the Heinlein book.

 

[Berwhale]

I'd have no interest in a faithful adaptation of the Heinlein book.

Yes, Heinlein's Dune was terrible

 

[krabapple]

I'm sure it would be.

Herbert's Starship Troopers, though, could be wonderful.

 

[Ian Wendt]

I'd have no interest in a faithful adaptation of the Heinlein book.

*Shrug*
I would. It's one of my favorite classic Sci-Fi novels.

 

[Berwhale]

Here's another one waiting to happen... https://www.abaa.org/book/631353799

 

[DJBonoBobo]

I have seen 1984 Dune as a kid and liked it. Read the 6 books in german translation afterwards and they became my favourite books in my youth and i read them a few times. I am just now reading through the novels in English for the first time. With quite some distance now i appreciate how the movie took a lot of liberties to adapt certain aspects of the books. I think the movie is like a marimba cover of a Death Metal song - it is a true interpretation of some aspects of the original, but very "untrue" to others.
It is the only Lynch movie i can tolerate, hated every other Lynch production i've seen. (If you don't know how to safe a horrible, pointless movie, just cut a dancing dwarf into it so people think they have seen an art).

 

[Chrispy]

Must admit I'll watch the 1984 version if it pops up on one of my streaming services, not the greatest but I still enjoy it. Will have to check out that alternate version....

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

I read Dune more or less when it came out and read a couple of the sequels. I've never reread them. I thought they were SF versions of historical novel tropes combined with The Chosen One. That's not bad per se, but other than the great names for things, I found Dune kind of predictable and weak on characterization. The mysticism left me cold. I didn't see the Lynch version but I did see the recent one. I watched it all the way through, but only because it was on TV for free and I got to sit in my favorite chair. The beige color theme kind of summarized the movie.

I've been reading science fiction since I was 7. I started with Heinlein juveniles and was reading the stuff in the adult section of the library by the time I was 10. I still read it nearly 70 years later. By high school I had become reasonably selective although earlier I read everything I could get my hands on. I still enjoy it and am always looking for new authors. I've also been around long enough to know that lots of people disagree with me on matters of taste. It's OK to like what you like whether I like it or not.

 

[MRC01]

When Dune came out in 1984 I had read and enjoyed the books but did not like the movie. Many of my nerdy friends liked both, so whatever.
I did like the recent remake better, looking forward to the sequel and hoping it follows the books.