A Duke's son leads desert warriors against the galactic emperor and his father's evil nemesis to free their desert world from the emperor's rule.A Duke's son leads desert warriors against the galactic emperor and his father's evil nemesis to free their desert world from the emperor's rule.A Duke's son leads desert warriors against the galactic emperor and his father's evil nemesis to free their desert world from the emperor's rule.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 6 nominations total
Siân Phillips
- Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
- (as Sian Phillips)
Paul L. Smith
- The Beast Rabban
- (as Paul Smith)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSir Patrick Stewart's casting as Gurney Halleck was actually a mistake. Director David Lynch thought he had hired a different looking actor, as he had only seen Stewart wearing a costume and heavy makeup that made him look older in a play. This is the look the director was expecting, and when he showed up with his actual face, Lynch was disappointed at first.
- GoofsAt 1 hour 28 minutes and 40 seconds, Paul is seen standing next to Chani his eyes are blue, in the next scene Paul's eyes are normal. At this point In the movie Paul has only been on the planet Dune for a few days, it takes years of extended exposure to the spice for ones eyes to become blue, like the Fremen. Which happens to Paul later in the movie.
- Quotes
Paul: I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will let it pass over me and through me. And when it has passed I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where it has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
- Crazy creditsThe closing credits play out over shots of the Caladan ocean, and feature a montage of the main cast.
- Alternate versionsAs of 2006, the Alan Smithee version had been released in a two disk set containing both the Lynch version and the extended version. However, many scenes were edited out once again: The heart plug scene when the baron is introduced is not in the extended version anymore (it is still in the original). The scene where Thufir discovers the burning wierding modules is also missing, as well as Thufir's death scene. (Thufir's death scene is included as a deleted scene in the special features)
- ConnectionsEdited into Destination Dune (1984)
Featured review
(This movie review is for the extremely rare extended cut of Dune by 'Alan Smithee' and 'Judas Booth', which I have been lucky to have found on the Steelbook DVD)
Frank Herbert's seminal science-fiction novel of revenge and ecology has often been compared to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, only instead of a sweeping fantasy epic, it's a sci-fi epic. It's also considered to be one of the hardest books to adapt into movie format (not that people haven't tried before and after this adaptation), probably because of its dense narrative and the multitude of characters and organizations in it, not to mention that the book has also multiple sequels that greatly expand the expansive universe already established in the initial novel.
The David Lynch adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel is, as I state in the headline, perhaps one of the most divisive book adaptations ever made. Many diehard fans of Herbert's novel dislike the movie, and many of Lynch's fans consider it to be either a success or a failure. So what do I think of it?
Well, after watching the SyFy channel's miniseries adaptation, reading the actual book, and watching Denis Villeneuve's adaptation, I would say Lynch's adaptation is both a success and a failure at various points.
The casting is pretty well-done for the film, though Kyle MacLachen is kind of wooden as Paul Atreides compared to Kyle Newman's and Timothee Chalamet's performances in the other Dune productions. It's the rest of the cast that shines. Jurgen Prochnow, Max von Sydow, Kenneth McMillian, Jose Ferrer, Freddie Jones, Francesca Annis, Sian Phillips, Alicia Witt, Sean Young, Brad Dourif, and Patrick Stewart and everyone else plays their roles to the hilt, though in the final fifty minutes of the extended cut the cast kind of starts acting over-dramatically. Some of the actors are also woefully underused, like Sting as Feyd Rautha Harkonnen and Virginia Madsen as the Princess Irulan Corrino, while certain characters from the book, most notably the Fenrings, are either composited or omitted entirely.
The script to the movie is the problem. Basically, the extended cut is a three hour film that devotes about ninety percent of the story to the first third of the Novel, then speeds through the other two thirds in less than fifty minutes. The narrative is unbalanced in other words.
However, for a mostly three-hour film, it's still pretty good, despite the rushed and over-dramatic final act. While the special effects are not the best in comparison to other 80s sci-fi and the sandworms look like a mobile version of the Sarlacc monster from 'Return of the Jedi', the sets are quite impressive and the costume design is excellent. Also, the score by rock band Toto is actually just as iconic as the Star Wars theme by John Williams and is much easier to remember than Hans Zimmer's techno-thudding-and-beating for Villeneuve's Dune.
All in all, If you can find it, I recommend finding the extended cut of Lynch's Dune on DVD. It's a worthwhile addition to any sci-fi nerd's collection, despite the divided opinions of it.
Frank Herbert's seminal science-fiction novel of revenge and ecology has often been compared to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, only instead of a sweeping fantasy epic, it's a sci-fi epic. It's also considered to be one of the hardest books to adapt into movie format (not that people haven't tried before and after this adaptation), probably because of its dense narrative and the multitude of characters and organizations in it, not to mention that the book has also multiple sequels that greatly expand the expansive universe already established in the initial novel.
The David Lynch adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel is, as I state in the headline, perhaps one of the most divisive book adaptations ever made. Many diehard fans of Herbert's novel dislike the movie, and many of Lynch's fans consider it to be either a success or a failure. So what do I think of it?
Well, after watching the SyFy channel's miniseries adaptation, reading the actual book, and watching Denis Villeneuve's adaptation, I would say Lynch's adaptation is both a success and a failure at various points.
The casting is pretty well-done for the film, though Kyle MacLachen is kind of wooden as Paul Atreides compared to Kyle Newman's and Timothee Chalamet's performances in the other Dune productions. It's the rest of the cast that shines. Jurgen Prochnow, Max von Sydow, Kenneth McMillian, Jose Ferrer, Freddie Jones, Francesca Annis, Sian Phillips, Alicia Witt, Sean Young, Brad Dourif, and Patrick Stewart and everyone else plays their roles to the hilt, though in the final fifty minutes of the extended cut the cast kind of starts acting over-dramatically. Some of the actors are also woefully underused, like Sting as Feyd Rautha Harkonnen and Virginia Madsen as the Princess Irulan Corrino, while certain characters from the book, most notably the Fenrings, are either composited or omitted entirely.
The script to the movie is the problem. Basically, the extended cut is a three hour film that devotes about ninety percent of the story to the first third of the Novel, then speeds through the other two thirds in less than fifty minutes. The narrative is unbalanced in other words.
However, for a mostly three-hour film, it's still pretty good, despite the rushed and over-dramatic final act. While the special effects are not the best in comparison to other 80s sci-fi and the sandworms look like a mobile version of the Sarlacc monster from 'Return of the Jedi', the sets are quite impressive and the costume design is excellent. Also, the score by rock band Toto is actually just as iconic as the Star Wars theme by John Williams and is much easier to remember than Hans Zimmer's techno-thudding-and-beating for Villeneuve's Dune.
All in all, If you can find it, I recommend finding the extended cut of Lynch's Dune on DVD. It's a worthwhile addition to any sci-fi nerd's collection, despite the divided opinions of it.
- zanghi_james
- May 30, 2023
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $40,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $30,925,690
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,025,091
- Dec 16, 1984
- Gross worldwide
- $30,985,338
- Runtime2 hours 17 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content