Dune
Dune | ||
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Director: | David Lynch | Actors: | Francesca Annis (as Lady Jessica), Leonardo Cimino (as The Baron's Doctor), Brad Dourif (as Piter De Vries), José Ferrer (as Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV), Linda Hunt (as Shadout Mapes), Freddie Jones (as Thufir Hawat), Richard Jordan (I) (as Duncan Idaho), Kyle MacLachlan (as Paul Atreides/Usul Muad'Dib), Virginia Madsen (as Princess Irulan), Silvana Mangano (as Reverend Mother Ramallo), Everett McGill (as Stilgar), Kenneth McMillan (as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen), Jack Nance (as Nefud), Siân Phillips (as Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam), Jürgen Prochnow (as Duke Leto Atreides) | Country: | USA | Category: | Science-Fiction | Year: | 1984 | Personal Rating: | |
| Description: | *** DVD Rip: Yes - Quality: High *** The desert planet Arrakis - we enter the year 10191 and the whole universe depends on the spice Melange which exists only on this dry and desolate planet. The natives of this planet await the arrival of their Messiah who will lead them into a holy war against the evil Harkonnen empire. This is the film adaptation based on Frank Herbert`s cult novel. | Imported Comments: | There is so much to love about David Lynch's Dune, that it is a real shame that it doesn't come together in the end. This is one of those movies that walked up to the line of brilliance, but didn't bother to cross it. As it stands, Dune is one of the most amazing missed opportunities in sci-fi cinema. The good; the production design is simply sumptuous. Lynch had a $44 million budget (in 1984, inflation adjusted that's in the neighborhood of $100 million in today's dollars) and it shows. Each house/cultures has a distinct visual look, from the almost fetishistic leather of the Harkkonnens, to the opulence of the Corrinos, to the stillsuits of the Fremen. The casting is as close to perfect as you can get with actors that are all alive at the same time. The special effects, are great for the most part, though some of the opticals don't hold up today. The bad, and this is a big bad, is the script. It is an amazing juxtaposition; at once extremely faithful to novel, while at the same time failing to convey it's themes adequately. The dialogue is almost pulled verbatim from the book, but even with the device of narration and inner monologues, the film still fails to convey what is going on and who everybody is. This is not really a problem for someone who has read the book (though many were upset with the abridgement of the book). However, I have spent many viewings pausing the film and explaining the onscreen action and the relationships between characters to friends. That is not the sign of a good film. I hear that during the film's theatrical run, small dictionaries were handed out to patrons to help them understand the plot of the film. I doubt they were very successful. I feel that only a complete reading of the novel will help shed light on what is happening onscreen. Lynch's Dune is an "almost" film. However, it's the bottom line that counts. Dune is failure. A noble failure, but a failure nevertheless. NOTE: The extended "director's cut" does very little to correct the problems with this film. I enjoyed it as a fan of the Dune universe, but the uninitiated will find little other than more confusion. |
Languages: | English | Subtitles: | None | Length: | 137 | Video format: | DivX 3.11 Low Motion | Audio format: | MPEG Layer 3 (MP3) | Resolution: | 720x272 | Files sizes (Mb): | 699 |