* Terrible * * Below Par * * * Not Bad * * * * Good * * * * * Brilliant
WARNING *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
The year is 10191 and the known universe is reliant on the precious spice melange.It is this spice that makes it possible for the most powerful rulers and their people to fold space.That is to travel to any part of the galaxy in an instant.The spice however only exists on one planet in the cosmos.The desert planet of Arrakis which is other wise known as 'Dune'.The natives of the planet called the Fremen have long held a prophecy that one day a man from the outer world, a messiah will come to Arrakis and rid them of the rulers of the planet,the insidious inhabitants of House Harkonnen.For a long period of time a feud has raged between the head of house Harkonnen,the Baron Vladamier Harkonnen(Kenneth McMillan) and the head of House Atredies on the planet Caladan.The head of House Atredies is none other than Duke Leto(Jurgen Prochnow).
The baron and his family are ordered by the emperor of the universe,Shaddam IV(Jose Ferrer) to leave Arrakis so that the Atredies may rule over the desert world and take control of spice production.Leto and his partner, the former Bene Gesserit witch Lady Jessica(Francesca Annis and they're teenage son Paul(Kyle Maclachlan) move to Arrakis,little knowing that the emperor's order is part of a vile plot between the emperor and the Harkonnen to wipe out the Atredies.For too long the feud between the Atredies and the Harkonnen a family's have held up spice production.When the Atredies are wiped out it will put an end to the feud and production may continue unhindered.Little do the emperor or the Harkonnen know is that Leto's son Paul is the messiah of the Fremen prophecy and that he will spell doom for the Harkonnen.Not only that but after his father's death he will vow revenge on the emperor and take his throne to become ruler of the universe.
What was David Lynch thinking?That is quite clearly the first sentence that springs in to my head when I think of how much of an expensive,costly disaster his adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic novel was.With amazing sets and brilliantly designed planetary backgrounds to bring the story to life,Lynch to his merit had a an astonishing grip on how the universe from Frank Herbert's imagination should look.Not only that but the costumes adorned by the huge cast are a credit to the costume designers who created them and a testament to Lynch's visual genius.Other than the fact that most of the cast is of a high calibre this is an other wise embarassing attempt to bring the classic science fiction novel to the big screen.
In trying to take Herbert's gargantuan epic story and condense it in to a movie with a running time of just over two hours,Lynch missed much of what was important in the movies plot.Great amounts of important issues that are raised in the book are erased from the movie completely and as such what we get is an unintelligible,confusing mess of a movie that makes little sense.We never fully under stand the politics of Arrakis and why the emperor takes the side of the brutal Harkonnen rather than the noble Atredies.Why in the end,Paul never has the emperor killed when he takes over Arrakis and the universe and how the likes of Paul's former tutor in the ways of combat Gurney Halleck(Patrick Stewart)survives the Harkonnen and Sardukaar onslaught of the Atredies. The performances as well like I have stated above are mostly good but there are exceptions.Most notably of course being Sting who is hopelessly miscast as Baron Harkonnens nephew Feyd-Rautha.He looks far too old in the role as he is supposed to be closer to Paul's age in the novel.As for his performance.The less said about that the better.I could commend the actors and go in to more depth at how they coped admirably with what is a terrible script.But what would be the point.
In the end 'Dune' while visually impressive and admittedly decent enough direction from Lynch is possibly the worst movie of his career.It was a movie that should never have been attempted to be made.I hear there is a director's cut of the movie which is three hours in length.While longer I'm sure it will offer little in the way of coherence.Personally I would recommend that you read the book.That or watch the Sci-fi channels five hour mini-series version.Although not great it is certainly superior to this incoherent garbage.
Robs Rating: *
WARNING *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
The year is 10191 and the known universe is reliant on the precious spice melange.It is this spice that makes it possible for the most powerful rulers and their people to fold space.That is to travel to any part of the galaxy in an instant.The spice however only exists on one planet in the cosmos.The desert planet of Arrakis which is other wise known as 'Dune'.The natives of the planet called the Fremen have long held a prophecy that one day a man from the outer world, a messiah will come to Arrakis and rid them of the rulers of the planet,the insidious inhabitants of House Harkonnen.For a long period of time a feud has raged between the head of house Harkonnen,the Baron Vladamier Harkonnen(Kenneth McMillan) and the head of House Atredies on the planet Caladan.The head of House Atredies is none other than Duke Leto(Jurgen Prochnow).
The baron and his family are ordered by the emperor of the universe,Shaddam IV(Jose Ferrer) to leave Arrakis so that the Atredies may rule over the desert world and take control of spice production.Leto and his partner, the former Bene Gesserit witch Lady Jessica(Francesca Annis and they're teenage son Paul(Kyle Maclachlan) move to Arrakis,little knowing that the emperor's order is part of a vile plot between the emperor and the Harkonnen to wipe out the Atredies.For too long the feud between the Atredies and the Harkonnen a family's have held up spice production.When the Atredies are wiped out it will put an end to the feud and production may continue unhindered.Little do the emperor or the Harkonnen know is that Leto's son Paul is the messiah of the Fremen prophecy and that he will spell doom for the Harkonnen.Not only that but after his father's death he will vow revenge on the emperor and take his throne to become ruler of the universe.
What was David Lynch thinking?That is quite clearly the first sentence that springs in to my head when I think of how much of an expensive,costly disaster his adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic novel was.With amazing sets and brilliantly designed planetary backgrounds to bring the story to life,Lynch to his merit had a an astonishing grip on how the universe from Frank Herbert's imagination should look.Not only that but the costumes adorned by the huge cast are a credit to the costume designers who created them and a testament to Lynch's visual genius.Other than the fact that most of the cast is of a high calibre this is an other wise embarassing attempt to bring the classic science fiction novel to the big screen.
In trying to take Herbert's gargantuan epic story and condense it in to a movie with a running time of just over two hours,Lynch missed much of what was important in the movies plot.Great amounts of important issues that are raised in the book are erased from the movie completely and as such what we get is an unintelligible,confusing mess of a movie that makes little sense.We never fully under stand the politics of Arrakis and why the emperor takes the side of the brutal Harkonnen rather than the noble Atredies.Why in the end,Paul never has the emperor killed when he takes over Arrakis and the universe and how the likes of Paul's former tutor in the ways of combat Gurney Halleck(Patrick Stewart)survives the Harkonnen and Sardukaar onslaught of the Atredies. The performances as well like I have stated above are mostly good but there are exceptions.Most notably of course being Sting who is hopelessly miscast as Baron Harkonnens nephew Feyd-Rautha.He looks far too old in the role as he is supposed to be closer to Paul's age in the novel.As for his performance.The less said about that the better.I could commend the actors and go in to more depth at how they coped admirably with what is a terrible script.But what would be the point.
In the end 'Dune' while visually impressive and admittedly decent enough direction from Lynch is possibly the worst movie of his career.It was a movie that should never have been attempted to be made.I hear there is a director's cut of the movie which is three hours in length.While longer I'm sure it will offer little in the way of coherence.Personally I would recommend that you read the book.That or watch the Sci-fi channels five hour mini-series version.Although not great it is certainly superior to this incoherent garbage.
Robs Rating: *