I just read Dune by Frank Herbert and I really enjoyed it. I don’t think I’m going to bother with the sequels though. Over the years I’ve heard some fans of the book complain about David Lynch’s film version from the 80s. After reading the book I thought Lynch’s adaptation was pretty good considering the limitations of film at the time. Plus it just looked so cool. Anyone else like both the book and Lynch’s movie or am I just weird?
I loved the book, and enjoyed the movie when it came out. But I was mildly frustrated by the gaps in the movie. Having extensive knowledge of the book, I filled the gaps, but I’m sure the movie was very hard for those who weren’t so informed on the subject matter.
I should really get my hands on the extended release version and see how I like that.
I thought it was a good effort as it showed that Lynch had read the book, understood the book and tried to make a movie that respected the book. The problem is that Dune was just too long and complex to do in a single movie. (Or three)
Dune done faithfully also isn’t much of what people think of as a “sci-fi movie”. Enormous chunks of the story are poltiics, dialogue, character interaction and internal contemplation. The Sci-Fi channel’s miniseries was a lot closer to the books, but I’ve heard it frequently criticized as being too slow and dry.
I like the Lynch movie, but for different reasons than why I like the novel. It has a distinct quirky style, and pulls off the epic set pieces pretty well. It skips everything between those set pieces and takes some cinematic liberties, but IMO it does so without being an insult to the source material like so many book-to-movie conversions are.
I think the movie’s great fun, and I love the books. Lynch’s Dune introduced me to both Frank Herbert and David Lynch, so what’s not to love?
I haven’t read the books, but the version of the movie I saw (don’t know if it was the theatrical or extended release) had lots of internal dialogue voice-overs which I found annoying; it’s tricky to pull off voice-overs without them coming across as lazy storytelling. It was obviously difficult to cram the source material into a film of reasonable length. I will say that it was visually interesting, especially for the time it was made.
I saw the movie as a kid without having read the book, so it was a “cold” viewing. I liked the movie (as much as I could follow it) and Toto’s score, but I knew I’d have to read the book sometime. Both the book and movie are now favorites of mine. I don’t understand the hate for Lynch’s version I’ve seen on other sites. I found the SciFi version dry, too.
Good article and discussion on Lynch’s Dune at the AV Club:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/wtf-case-file-170-dune,44718/
I saw it years after I read the book, and all I can say is Blech!
Davey, buddy, bubbe, sweetheart, if you’re making a movie of a long book, with far more material than you can possibly film, your role as a director is to cut things out, not add them. And if you’re going to add things, they should be better than complete trash. Harkonnen Heart plugs? “Weirding Modules”? Sound guns? Nazi uniforms on the good guys?? Kyle MacLachian? Gargbage!
Lynch utterly missed the point of the Harkonnens as bad guys. They were a bit crazy, but not movie psychotics. They were smart, ambitious, violent, dangerous, subtle, cruel, sneaky and traitorous, but they weren’t stupid or crazy.
If you like the look of Lynch’s Dune, look at a series of stills from the movie, and save yourself a lot of time, bad acting, and worse directing.
I think the Dune sequels were not as good as the first book, but try them and feel free to give up if you don’t like them. I have not read the sequels by Herbert’s kid - the sequels by Herbert were enough. Life’s too short to read books you don’t like, no matter what I, or anyone else, say about them.
I’d suggest reading the first sequel, as it kinda wraps up the story from the first book (at the end of the first book, Paul hasn’t really solved anything, he’s still stuck on the path to Jyhad), and is pretty decent in and of itself. The third one is still pretty good, after that they definitely devolve into “acquired taste” territory.
I liked the movie, it was cool and different. Some stuff worked, some stuff didn’t, but at least even the bad was an interesting kinda bad, which is more then you can say for a lot of movies.
I like both, but I’d say the film was a lot stronger than the book, within their separate art forms. You could easily argue Dune as a flawed masterpiece of modern cinema, whereas the book is ‘just’ a good SF page turner. Has there ever been such a big budget film made with such an art-school approach?
Can’t really argue with this - it’s part and parcel of the whole thing but Lynch certainly went the extra mile in ‘adapting’ the book.
Last I heard Lynch was reluctant to discuss the film - creative control issues, box office flop at the time etc. It’s a shame because time has been very kind to the work IMHO.
I enjoyed the book quite a bit, and the movie was OK. I can’t imagine appreciating the movie w/o having read the book, though. I remember seeing the movie with my girlfriend, and having to explain the whole thing to her.
I saw it in the theater when I was … 13? Something like that. Maybe 14. Anyway, I’d never read the books and I didn’t have any trouble following it.
It caused me to read the book - but I couldn’t get into the ones after that. Too much politicking and philosophy, not enough actually happening.
Ah! Exactly my experience. Found the movie strange and intriguing, which led me to read the book. It’s one of my favourite novels.
For my money, Lynch at least captured the feel of the book. The miniseries, on the other hand, was faithful on the details but missed the mark entirely when it came to tone.
As I was reading the book for the first time I kept thinking to myself that Lynch had pretty much captured the basics fairly well. I thought the book was better but I still think Dune was a good movie.
I liked both, and I’ve re-read the full series many, many times.
I’ve heard many people defend the book’s version of the Baron as not a cartoony supervillain (as opposed to Lynch’s) … to those people, I would have to say that they have not read the book carefully enough. The Baron is the weakest part of Herbert’s book, IMO. When you cut from the Atreides to the Harkonnens, the book suddenly turns into old-fashioned space opera. I think, sadly, Lynch captured the Baron perfectly.
I liked the movie. Not as much as a *real *Lynch movie, but well enough. However, I *hated *the book. Too slow, choppy, and it seemed to skip over the stuff I really wanted to read about. I only went to the movie because I was a Lynch fan, despite my distaste for the novel.
Loved the movie, loved the casting. Adore the books. (Well, the first 3, as noted above.) Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck, and a young Sting in leather!
The 1980s movie version is so bad it’s good! Definitely get the DVD with the extended version (which includes the original theatrical release), as it explains the book’s plot a little more fully than the theatrical version did. When we’re in the mood for it at home, it’s great fun to find appropriate moments & situations in which we quote (or paraphrase) favorite lines from the 1980s movie to each other (f.ex., “I am the Shadout Mapes, the HOUSEkeeper”).
In regard to the books, SciFi Channel was right to just do the original novel & the first two sequels in their “Dune” & “Children of Dune” miniseries. I’ve read all of Frank Herbert’s own sequels to Dune, but it became increasingly a chore after Children of Dune. I read the first couple of Brian Herbert’s sequels/prequels, but lost interest in following those.
I completely agree about Lynch capturing the feel of the book better. The SciFi version just looked too sterile and futuristic (strange to say for a movie set some 10,000 years in the future).
Frank Herbert said that it was difficult to make the movie because Star Wars essentially lifted so many of the elements from the novel. (From a short essay at the beginning of the Hardcover version of Heretics of Dune I believe.)
As others have remarked, the book is too long to do properly. Pepper Mill saw the movie before reading the book, and said it looked as if the middle chapters were missing.
Overall, I liked the film, but had a lot of reservations. Lynch changed some things to no obvious purpose (“Weirding Modules???”), overdid some touches (Barn Harkonnen is EVIL – we get that. But there’s no reason to make him a raving loon with terminal acne. And you don’t have to make all the Harkonnens red-haired. We get that they’re a family).
One thing I did love was the way the Future has its own Style – not everything is antiseptic white surfaces. Space ships have family crests. Fashion is weird.
Another problem is that The Powers That Be obviously intruded into this – some scenes were cut. I suspect they were responsible for the voiceovers in many parts. Paul’s little notepad device in the beginning is incompatible with the “No Computers” nature of Herbert’s universe.
They use John Schoenherr’s original illustrations from Analog as a guide to constructing the worms and other details, which is good.
It’s definitely better than what the other versions that had been in development would have been. Especially, from what I’ve seen, the Jodorowsky version.
When Dune was released to TV, there was a “bastard” version, with scenes re-arranged, and some of the missing footage restored. There were some drawings added to the beginning that explained more of this universe. Lynch had nothing to do with this, and had his nam taken off (the director’s credit is the ubiquitous “Allan Smithee”). But I like this version, too. It’s not done ham-handedly, but by someone who knew, understood, and loved the book. Worth watching, if you can find it. I taped mine off the TV, and I don’t know if it’s ever been released.
Finally, of course, There’s the SciFi TV version. It’s one of the best things they ever did (along with the sequel to Dune they did). A very different interpretation, but faithful, with good effects. Baron Harkonnen isn’t a flaming idiot, and there are no Weirding Modules or digital notepads. But watching it makes you appreciate Lynch’s skill as a visual artist.
Herbert;'s family had good things to say about both versions on the internet.