Dune, Desert Planet...
 Jan 24th, 2002
Advantages:
Great film, great direction, great individual performances, gripping plot
Disadvantages:
Slightly dodgy lighting, plot not properly explained
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
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Been a few years since I last Ciao-ed - and it's all changed *again* !! Trying to get back into the ...
Member since:21.07.2000
Reviews:27
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Review rated by 39 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
*INTRODUCTION* This is a cult classic. After the book by Frank Herbert (which won both the Nebula and Hugo awards for sci-fi, I think) David Lynch created a masterpiece. He spent $44 million (back in 1984 that was a small fortune – alright then, a large fortune), and the special effects (pretty dire by today’s standards) took years to complete. The film is simply epic. Well, perhaps not that epic: the direction is excellent, although it has been claimed (with some justification) that the whole film just isn’t lit well enough, so you can’t see what’s going on. And what you can see is quite hard to get to grips with – the film is based on Herbert’s universe (he wrote an entire series of books, most of which are pretty bad, and his son continued the series. Badly.), and ultimately the film does not adequately explain the context of the universe, who everybody is, and what is generally going on. You really need to concentrate. If you’ve read the book, it’s a doddle, but if you haven’t, then it’ll just be entertainment, a nice story, and what is that story?
*PLOT SUMMARY* Basically, it’s set in the future, and in this universe there is one desert planet upon which the spice ‘melange’ grows exclusively. The spice
prolongs life, allows speedier travel through space (by folding it), lets the mentats gain inner wisdom, and is generally much coveted. It is mined on this one planet (Arrakis, also known as Dune), where it exists in the sand, but is kind of protected by giant sandworms. So that’s Dune. Right, the political system is as follows: there are leading houses, ruled by an Imperial Emperor. The two most important houses are Atreides (the goodies) and Harkonnen (the baddies). The Emperor makes a deal with the Harkonnen and gives the spice-mining contract to House Atreides, in order that the Harkonnen (who had the contract before) can come back to Dune and destroy them, as they are enemies. This basically does happen, and only Duke Atreides’ son and wife escape. Now his son is actually a perfect being – for centuries the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood (kind of witches/nuns) have been manipulating bloodlines to create this being. The Duke’s wife was supposed to bear him a daughter who was then supposed to marry a Harkonnen to create it, but she bore the Duke a son, because she loved him so much. I fear that I am deviating from the main plot. The actual storyline is far more complicated. You have to read the book to enjoy it fully. Anyway, so they escape, and find some native Arrakians (called Fremen), and befriend them. Long story short, they disrupt the Harkonnen spice production, have a huge battle against the Harkonnens and the Emperor’s guard (Saudakar), riding on sandworms and eventually destroy them. Then we finally find out that Paul Atreides is the Kwizats Haderach (the supreme being). I’ve missed out hundreds of plot strands, but that’s the essence of it. Phew.
*CAST* I am listing these in a rough order of who is more famous now – I know, sacrilege, but more interesting, I feel...
Paul Atreides: Kyle MacLachlan (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Showgirls (note the Lynch theme))
Brilliant performance – this was way before that terrible Showgirls performance. Gurney Halleck: Patrick Stewart (Start Trek TNG, Trek films, X-Men etc.)
One of my all-time favourite actors. Doesn’t have much to do, but is very Jean-Luc Picard about it!
Feyd-Rautha: Sting (the singer!)
Fantastic hair, good performance. Surprisingly. Doctor Wellington Yueh: Dean Stockwell (Al from Quantum Leap, also Blue Velvet etc.)
This guy’s very diverse – believable characterisation, totally unlike his fiddling-with-Ziggy character.
Chani: Sean Young (Rachel from Bladerunner)
Ah, the love interest. Looks pretty, recites her lines, does the job. Princess Irulan: Virginia Madsen (Highlander II, Candyman etc.)
The 80s phenomenon – where is she now? Kind of brief cameo at either end of the film, but pretty convincing.
Lady Jessica: Francesca Annis (Onegin, The Debt Collector, Deceit)
The other Brit, going out with Ralph Fiennes, I believe. Quite an impressive performance. Doctor Kynes: Max von Sydow (Judge Dredd, loads of Swedish films)
Always takes his job seriously. Good stuff.
Duke Leto Atreides: Jürgen Prochnow (Beverly Hills Cop II, Twin Peaks, The English Patient)
Is fantastic right up to his death. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen: Kenneth McMillan (guest appearances on Kojak, Starsky and Hutch, Murder She Wrote, Magnum)
Absolutely disgusting skin diseases. The less said about him, the better.
*CREW* Director: David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks etc.)
Good direction, shame about the lighting.
Producer: Raffaella de Laurentiis. Writer: Frank Herbert (can’t think of anything else he’s written, except the Dune series)
Music: Brian Eno (Castaway)
Marty Paitch (Pretty Woman, My Girl, The Fugitive) etc. *DVD EXTRAS*
1. Slide Show – stills from the film, and a couple of collages. Nice. 2. Theatrical Trailer (that deep voice-over man must be so rich by now…)
3. DVD Credits – really not that exciting. *CONCLUSION*
I love this film. The whole universe is spun around such great sci-fi themes; the plot is infinitely complicated and interwoven, but the whole thing’s just about greed, and the conflict between good and evil. It’s brilliant. As much as I said how dark and incomprehensible this film is, it *is* an epic, and it’s definitely worth seeing. Apparently there’s a director’s cut that’s three hours long, or something, but not worth seeing. Anyway, if you get the chance, watch this film. Then get a little confused and buy the book...
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Dune [DVD] [1984]
David Lynch'sDuneis the brilliant but fatally flawed would-be epic feature film ...
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26.05.2003 00:54
As a fan of this film I was wondering if it was worth getting the DVD, seeing as I have it on video. Thanks to you I won't be wasting me money just yet.. extra's don't seem much, so until my video wears out, you have saved me some money. thanks :o)
07.03.2002 00:08
Wierd film but very watchable. I believe they have just made a less gory, tammer version. I haven't seen it yet and without Virginia Madsen how can it compete! LOL Oh well you might want to keep a look out for it, I think it may just come out on video over here!
05.03.2002 19:49
Great review, full of detail. Thanks for the op. :o)