Dune (1984)

May 25, 2021

I’ve been putting off all things Dune for many, many years. The density of Herbert’s fantasy has always had me rescheduling my goosery into such. The movie, well, I heard was awful, despite being a Lynch film. But, with the 2020 remake coming, I figured now was the time to get caught up, at least with the previous cinematic offerings that came from this world.

Dune is a mess, to put it simply. David Lynch has all but disowned this movie, claiming that he lost the rights to the final cut. Lynch’s cut was supposed to be in excess of three hours (ring any bells, FWWM fans?), but the studio took back control, and much in the vein of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, produced their own 2 hour or so cut, with narration voiceovers and a tacky intro explaining the plot to you.

One can however heavily appreciate the insane world that Lynch and his co-conspirators brought to the big screen. The man at the helm may be ashamed of his work, and the film itself technically a box office failure, but the sheer scale of work here can be appreciated. The effort and attempt alone is worth watching for, as is the – admittedly plagued – SFX, not to mention the costume design and set design. If you appreciate these kinda things, give Dune a go. Otherwise I wouldn’t bother.