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Dune on DVD (1984)

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Average rating: 66%
12176201317411
3.0
from 2,824 members
 
Starring: Francesca Annis, Kyle MacLachlan, Sian Phillips, Max von Sydow, Jurgen Prochnow, Jose Ferrer, Dean Stockwell, Sean Young, Everett McGill, Kenneth McMillan, Sting
Director: David Lynch
Studio: PRISM LEISURE
Run time: 130 mins
Certificate: 15
User collections: films aimed to change society, Ultimate 80s Adventure!, My favourites, A Movie Masterpiece, Films that rock it for me :), The world's most prolific stuntman, Vic Armstrong, The films of David Lynch, Streakz, Replace Those Saturday Night Blues..., The Geeks top 30
Genres: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Languages: English
Subtitles: None
Released: 23/08/2004

Brief synopsis of Dune

David Lynch's baroque rendering of Frank Herbert's detailed, complex, and deliberately paced epic science-fiction novel is a muddled but visually stunning affair. It's 10991, and the desert planet Dune has been taken over by the Harkonnens, oppressive conquerors who desire the precious spice that lies beneath Dune's arid sands. The story concerns the attempts of a young warrior messiah, Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan), to lead the native inhabitants in an uprising against the evil empire--and battle the giant man-eating worms that guard the coveted spice.
Lynch shot much more footage than ended up in the finished film, but executive producer Dino De Laurentiis didn't want a three-hour-plus sci-fi epic on his hands, so he coerced Lynch into trimming it. The result is one of cinema's most infamous cases of personal vision colliding with studio politics. Nonetheless, Lynch still manages to cram in so many visual ideas and captures the tone of the book so well that these production issues can be easily set aside once the story starts rolling. Refusing to further edit the film for television, Lynch took his name off the director and screenwriter credits. As troubling as DUNE might have been for Lynch, the experience greatly inspired 1986's brilliant BLUE VELVET, for which audiences should be thankful.

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Critics Reviews

Rating of 3 stars out of 5 Radio Times

Frank Herbert's mammoth cult novel, about the competition between two warring families for control of a barren planet renowned for its mind-expanding spice, is converted by director David Lynch into a dense, swirling mass of religious symbolism and mysticism. Unwieldy and confusing, it's not as bad as it seemed on release. Lynch was, reportedly, unhappy with the final cut, but his film is visually stunning — the industrial design is truly unique — and many of the scenes are among the most memorable, and original, of the genre. Kyle MacLachlan (in his film debut) stars as the “messiah” alongside an amazing cast that includes Sean Young, Francesca Annis, Sting, Patrick Stewart and Kenneth McMillan (as the decaying, bloated Baron Harkonnen, perhaps the most repellent villain ever created).

Halliwell's Film Guide

A basically simple space fiction plot is immensely complicated by a welter of characters who are not properly introduced and who indeed are mostly irrelevant. The result, which cost nearly 50 million dollars, is inaudible, invisible (because of dim lighti

Variety

"...Imaginative....Visually unique and teeming with incident....There's just about always something going on for the senses to appreciate....[The] cast is also first-rate..."

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Members Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

Rated - 5 starsHe who controls the spice, controls the Universe

A customer from Liverpool , 20/09/2003

Dune, based on Frank Herbert?s novel of the same name is widely regarded as a flop. In terms of box office takings then this is true; however, Dune is a remarkable film of epic proportions that has a hard-core fan base around the world. And rightly so.

Dune follows the life of Paul Atreides as he makes the strange transformation of a well-educated son of Duke Atreides to Paul Muad?Dib, fearless leader of the Freeman and the man who brings water back to the arid planet of Arrakis and peace to the Universe. Paul?s task is not an easy one as he takes on the Emperor of the known Universe and the will of the Navigators - those who are able to fold space and thus allow intergalactic space travel.

Although some of the special effects look somewhat dated now, the cinematography, sets and lighting allow the viewer to suspend disbelief. There was some inspired casting with Francesca Annis playing the role of Lady Jessica and the young Alicia Witt as Alia, sister of Paul Muad?Dib.

Dune was and is a groundbreaking achievement for David Lynch to accomplish. This film is quite simply science fiction at its best ? dark; philosophical; set on many worlds and contains characters with costumes as outrageous as their names.

Look out for a great performance by a very young looking Sting!

If you liked Dune you may also like to hire [Star Wars], [Twin Peaks], [Aliens].

  22 out of 24 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 2 starsFor fans only

excaliber from Surrey , 23/12/2003

Dune is about the politics of the universe 8000 years into our future. It's an account of a possible messiah's rise on the most important planet in the universe.

It's an excellent epic of science fiction but unless you are familiar with Herbert's Dune already you will have a hard time following the plot. The cast are big names and the effects (though 20 years on) are still good.

Action scenes are well produced but the film suffers from having the characters' thoughts voiced aloud to try to explain plot and background to the uninitiated. I knew the story and loved the film; my wife has never read dune and fell asleep (twice) during the film. This probably summarises the film better than any words ever could.

  11 out of 12 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 5 starsClassic Movie

Talsar Talsar from Dunbar [Highly rated reviewer] , 22/07/2008

Has to be one of the best Sci-fi movies of all time, having owned this on tape, then bought tape, then dvd, then special edition, i have never been disappointed watching this movie over and over.

Early work of Patrick Stewart (Jean Luc Picard - Star Trek Next Generation), as well as an movie appearance from Sting.... sent this movie into instant cult classic.

You wont be disappointed!

  10 out of 10 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 2 starsCompressed Quality

tom87 from Devon , 07/11/2004

I feel writing a review like this requires reference to the book, the book "Dune" is a masterpiece of propecy, politics and classic tales of medieval honour against a Sci-fi backround.

The film is essentially all the same compressed into just a couple of hours. Amazing soundtrack, some ineteresting scenes and sting and the harkonens make this film very watchable. If you've read the book, a must see, if you haven't then I will have to say give it a miss. Except for the closing scene which through virtue of amazing camera angles and sountrack, transforms what is a very short prelude battle in the book into a showdown of epic proportions.

  10 out of 10 people found this review helpful
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Most Recent Reviews

Rated - 1 starsThe Abdul Jabar...

Lord Pie from www.drinkingsociety.com , 19/09/2005

While I am a fan of David Lynch, his production of Dune is more or less a failure. Not only do the special effects look dated (with a definite 1980s feel to the sets), the narrative lacks the spacious pacing one feels in the book. No doubt it would be impossible to make a film of Dune in 2 or 2.5 hours, but there are ways film can adapt and account for this.

Second, the changes Lynch makes (the heart plugs, the wierding modules, etc.) seem without good reason--simply David Lynch being wierd. Of course, if you like that, then you'll like his depictions of the Baron, the Guild members and how space is folded for long distance travel. Finally, the Sardaukar (the fierce troops of the Emperor) look like 1950s alien robots.

  4 out of 7 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 5 starsTremendous

A customer from London , 20/01/2006

OK, I love Sci-Fi so I would like this sort of thing anyway. I read the novel recently even though I'd seem this film when it first came out nearly 20 years ago. It is absolutely fantastic, the SFX have NOT dated that much, even though other pessimistic contributors think they have; David Lynch (who wasn't even huge at this point and had made previous rubbish like Eraserhead) did a fine job of compressing a huge novel into 2.5 hours. The sets are great, every character is faithful to the book without being some silly reinvention just to add the director's mark on the film.

It so easily beats most of the Star Wars series; this film is much more fulfilling and sensible. George L, you should have watched and learnt from this.

  4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
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