# So David Lynch's "Dune" is now a cult favorite. Does that mean it's a good movie now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2016, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442 "2016-04-17T05:15:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/1 "2016-04-17T05:15:19Z")
[From wiki.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(film)) > [@](#): > > “The extended and television versions additionally credit writer Lynch as Judas Booth. More recently, the film has received something of a cult film status.” Does that mean it was not sufficiently appreciated previously when it was considered a giant mess of a film? ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/2 "2016-04-17T05:32:51Z")
I dunno, I always kind of liked it, but even when it was new it had a reputation as being a confusing mess. Maybe I’m a member of the cult, going way back. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/3 "2016-04-17T05:36:49Z")
I don’t think cult status does now or ever has equated to a film being “good”. Good is subjective and determined by the tastes of the masses and a cult classic by definition didn’t have mass appeal … or something. It’s very late at night, but no. David Lynch’s Dune has not become a good movie. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/4 "2016-04-17T05:47:45Z")
It still has to be less of a mess than _Jodorowsky’s Dune_ would have been! Being a big fan of Dune I was initially thrilled with most of what was on the screen, it looked very much like what was in my head reading it. Less thrilled with certain changes that I understand were more or less necessary for filming (Weirding Modules? :dubious:). But the ending shall never be forgiven! :mad: CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/5 "2016-04-17T05:52:48Z")
I’ve always thought it was very good. Outside of the Baron floating around, cackling, I’ve never seen anything with it that was questionable. I’ve seen people complain that it’s hard to follow what’s going on, but I’ve never had that problem. I know that lots of movies are scorned by those who have read the book first. I hadn’t read the book when I saw it, so I didn’t have that pitfall going into it. Maybe the initial audience, when it came out, was all Dune-heads who had read the book, and their non-sci-fi minded friends who just thought the movie was too weird? I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/6 "2016-04-17T06:37:11Z")
If you’ve read the book, it’s not so bad because you can understand the entire story. Even then, they cut the hell out of it for the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/7 "2016-04-17T07:07:28Z")
I am a huge Dune fan and for me the weirding modules were the second lamest part, it was Duncan Idahos death that they rather severely botched that got on my nerves. Other than that it was pretty well done. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/8 "2016-04-17T09:55:02Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I don’t think cult status does now or ever has equated to a film being “good”. Good is subjective and determined by the tastes of the masses and a cult classic by definition didn’t have mass appeal … or something. A mainstream film is one a million people have seen ten times, a cult film is one ten people have seen a million times. Of course “Cult” doesn’t equate to good. It also doesn’t equate to bad. What it equates to is hitting a certain micro-demographic right between the eyes, such that they claim it as their own and work it into their subculture, get things out of it nobody else can see, and use it as a lodge pin to identify the like-minded in a bland, mainstream world. Cult status can preserve a film long after it would otherwise have faded into obscurity. Cult status is also orthogonal to academic interest in a film: Most arthouse films will never become cult films, and will therefore fade into obscurity like all the rest. However, _Eraserhead_, with its mix of comedy, horror, and arthouse weirdness, has become the _ne plus ultra_ of midnight movies. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/9 "2016-04-17T10:01:32Z")
Plan 9 From Outer Space is a cult film, but definitely not a good film. They’re different indices. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/10 "2016-04-17T11:51:48Z")
Let me simplify it for you. A crap film, that becomes a cult favorite, is a good film. It was unappreciated, misunderstood, to far advanced for its time, marketed badly, killed by a vengeful studio exec, choked out by opening night competition, or other factors, or some combination of those forces. However, that such films endure, means that they have a quality that makes them great. Classic example, _The Wizard of Oz_. Who wants to see that fat, flat-voiced, huge titted (strap those down harder, costuming) teen girl butcher a timeless story about a nine-year old that I have read to my child countless times? This movie will tank, and deservedly so. I’ve never read the books. Dorothy and her trip through Oz will always start with Judy Garland, in sepia, fighting herself and her fears, belting out… “Somewhere, over the rainbow …” Really, do you want to watch Shirley Temple jump around and sing the same song? 'Cause that’s what it was supposed to be. But I don’t think that would have been timeless. On the other hand, … > [@Mangetout](#): > > Plan 9 From Outer Space is a cult film, but definitely not a good film. They’re different indices. Yeah, and stoners love watching _Reefer Madness_, to point out logical flaws in between hits. So yeah, we’re going to need some qualifiers here. But exactly what, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/11 "2016-04-17T11:53:01Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Plan 9 From Outer Space is a cult film, but definitely not a good film. They’re different indices. _Plan 9_ is unintentionally good. It’s bad, but it’s _watchably_ bad. Which is why it’s a cult film: It’s something you’re willing to see in a midnight movie showing along with a bunch of like-minded geeks to make fun of it. Which is why MST3K never did: They knew it had been done to death among their target demographic. It was, in short, _too mainstream_ among the micro-demographic they were going for. Compare that to _Manos: The Hands of Fate_, which was shown very briefly around the time of its premier and then buried so deep in the back catalog it had become utterly forgotten by the time the MST3K people grabbed it and built and episode around it. _Manos_ was not cult. The MST3K episode using _Manos_ is cult. The reason is simple: You can stand to watch the _Manos_ MST3K episode, whereas the film itself, entire and uncut, is actively unpleasant. Anyway, a _good_ cult film is _Galaxy Quest_. It’s an intentional comedy that’s funny, a drama with some good, earned pathos, and it even intended to be a cult film. It succeeded at everything it attempted. It is a good movie, in a fairly objective sense. The Monty Python films fit in nicely here as well. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/12 "2016-04-17T12:03:24Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > If you’ve read the book, it’s not so bad because you can understand the entire story. Even then, they cut the hell out of it for the movie. Yep - I don’t like it as a movie, but I have read the book so many times, I just use it to fuel my own imagination with different scenes. It doesn’t provide clarity or continuity, but I don’t need it for that 😉 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/13 "2016-04-17T12:21:21Z")
I saw it when it came out, and haven’t since. But I’d read the book, and my take was that it wasn’t a good stand-alone movie, but was an excellent cinematic illustration of the book. So it doesn’t surprise me that it’s succeeded as a cult classic among fans of the book, which is also a cult classic, or maybe just a classic. I think a cult classic has to have some virtues, or no one would want to watch it over and over. But it doesn’t need to have all the virtues that a popular classic (or “good movie”) needs to have. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/14 "2016-04-17T12:39:59Z")
I like it. There are parts that are pretty good, and parts that are amusingly bad, and it’s full of actors I’m fond of. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/15 "2016-04-17T12:41:48Z")
do they still have the part at the start where they explain 3 different times which group lives on which planet? I think one time was plenty. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/16 "2016-04-17T13:10:43Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > A mainstream film is one a million people have seen ten times, a cult film is one ten people have seen a million times. > > Of course “Cult” doesn’t equate to good. It also doesn’t equate to bad. What it equates to is hitting a certain micro-demographic right between the eyes, such that they claim it as their own and work it into their subculture, get things out of it nobody else can see, and use it as a lodge pin to identify the like-minded in a bland, mainstream world. Cult status can preserve a film long after it would otherwise have faded into obscurity. > > Cult status is also orthogonal to academic interest in a film: Most arthouse films will never become cult films, and will therefore fade into obscurity like all the rest. However, _Eraserhead_, with its mix of comedy, horror, and arthouse weirdness, has become the _ne plus ultra_ of midnight movies. Eraserhead doesn’t even begin to compare to Rocky Horror, even though it’s slightly less tongue-in-cheek. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/17 "2016-04-17T13:15:28Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I saw it when it came out, and haven’t since. But I’d read the book, and my take was that it wasn’t a good stand-alone movie, but was an excellent cinematic illustration of the book. > > So it doesn’t surprise me that it’s succeeded as a cult classic among fans of the book, which is also a cult classic, or maybe just a classic. > > I think a cult classic has to have some virtues, or no one would want to watch it over and over. But it doesn’t need to have all the virtues that a popular classic (or “good movie”) needs to have. Yeah, Dune (the book) is a classic. It’s on the top 10 of nearly every sf aficionado. Btw, Rocky Horror’s prime virtues are the soundtrack and the new level of audience participation. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/18 "2016-04-17T13:20:49Z")
I always liked it. But I completely understand why someone wouldn’t. There are many parts of it that are, objectively, not very well done at all. It certainly doesn’t follow the expected style of a conventional movie. But more specifically, there is there is no relationship between quality and achieving “cult” status. The entire premise of a “cult” film is that it is only appreciated by a small group. If it was an objectively great film, it would be popular in the mainstream and would have no need to be designated as “cult.” ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/19 "2016-04-17T14:17:27Z")
Sting! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442/20 "2016-04-17T14:27:45Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I saw it when it came out, and haven’t since. But I’d read the book, and my take was that it wasn’t a good stand-alone movie, but was an excellent cinematic illustration of the book. Even when it was new, I called it a “video for the book”. If you knew the book, you could follow along. But I also made a comment that the film reduced entire chapters into one line of dialog. That perhaps a bit too much compression! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-david-lynchs-dune-is-now-a-cult-favorite-does-that-mean-its-a-good-movie-now/752442.md?page=2)