Dune [Blu-ray] [1984] [Region Free] [US Import]

This is a great, but flawed, film. As is often said, for fans of the books, too much is left out or changed, and for those unfamiliar with the book, trying to fit the political complexities of the books into a single film has necessarily left a lot of gaps which can make the film confusing.The film has some great performances - not always exactly true to the books, but memorable nonetheless. Sting as a wry and slightly sinister prince Feyd, and Max von Sydow and Patrick Stewart in minor but well executed roles (as the planetologist-gone native Lyet Keynes and the troubadour-arms master Gurney Halleck respectively) are highlights but all of the supporting cast are excellent. The ever-present (in David Lynch movies) Kyle MacLachlan would not have been my first choice as Paul Atreides, but the "Mentat Bene-Gesserit-trained proto-superhuman" nature of the character from the books will always be a struggle to bring to the screen.The scenes, costumes and set design are extravagant and have a rich "space-Victoriana" steampunk aesthetic which is an interesting interpretation of Herbert's universe. An attempt is made to translate the themes of prescience, destiny and fate from the books (difficult to bring to the screen) into a mystical atmosphere and somewhat hallucinogenic scenes which, while dated in terms of special effects, are artistic and give the movie a distinctive character of it's own.As for the problems - lack of time is the biggest, with swathes of the story being missed entirely or touched on only briefly. Much of the story is necessarily back-filled through 'thought narration', a clumsy device. A score which I personally found overly bombastic, your mileage on this one may vary. Pseudo-religious overtones to the ending, with a unnecessary 'miracle' in the final scene which very is out of keeping with the books, where 'magic' was really confined to relatively scientific realms, rather than an ability to control the weather - those familiar with the books can perhaps find some context for the religious overtones (Paul uses religion as a tool of statecraft) but to those unfamiliar with this, it likely ends up just being a hodge-podge of ideas making a confusing rushed ending even more confusing.I am a fan of all of the books (the Frank Herbert originals, not the cash-ins from his son + collaborators which followed) and enjoyed the film in it's own right. It's one of those films which every fan of sci-fi in general, or of the novels particularly, should watch and make their own call on. Some will love it, some will hate it, it's definitely a 'marmite' film. Personally I could have given it a 5/5 purely from my own fondness for it, despite it's many sins, but objectively it's numerous flaws make that hard to justify, hence 4/5 on the grounds that it's an important film in the genre, and the positives outweigh the negatives to me at least.

Despite some undisclosed issues surrounding the lack of the feature length documentary on the making of the film, this set yet again shows why Arrow are market leaders in the special edition. The film has truly never looked or sounded better, an amazing remaster has given the film colour, depth and clarity: I spotted details in this version I'd never seen, and I've seen it a few times. Whilst the film itself is far from perfection, the box set shows off the depth of creativity and artistry that went into crafting it. The extras are spread across the two discs, and I'm still working my way through them. The beauty of an Arrow release is the astounding amount of care and adoration for film in every little detail. The menus are their usual clean and concise selves and the extras range from a lot of material you may have seen (sourced from a 2005 release) to new material made for this release. The book includes in the limited edition is a wonderful read and it also comes with reproductions of lobby cards and a poster. As always, Arrow have outdone themselves.

I read the original novel back in the seventies, specifically, the copy which my father had bought for himself.The additional introductory text, which includes additional material background, aids both the non-reader and reader of the novel in understanding what is going on. Also, the additional scenes [such as the extended backgroound with Shadout Mapes (The Fremen Housekeeper), the Water Bond, the fight with Jamis, his subsequent funeral & water recovery, and the drowning of a miniature Sandworm in order to provide the poisonous Water of Life for a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother to transform into a safe-to-drink Water of Life, are all useful.Bene Gesserit = Latin "Those who will do well".Mentat = Latin "He thinks" or "she thinks". Also, "One who thinks".

Hideously edited into a nigh incomprehensible mess, Dune has hints of the magnificence which could have been achieved with more confidence from the producers. Visually stunning despite the way characterisation and narrative have been destroyed by brutal editing for set length. It's a worthy experience to watch, like visiting the ruin of something grand.

David Lynch's take on the film is absolutely awful. Aside from a few decent scenes, it basically takes all the salient points from the books, waters them down, and throws in some awful acting. I felt sorry for Patrick Stewart being involved in this, he deserved to be in a much better movie. The second half of the movie was thrown together so quickly that it was painful to watch. So much of the detail of the books were missed and translated extremely poorly on film. Lynch must have breezed through the book, cobbled a script together, and just shot the scenes with absolutely no heart. Considering that Star Wars was made seven years prior to this one, there is no excuse for it.The trailer for the next Dune film in 2021 looks very promising. I hope that one does the book some justice.