HATE For Lynch's Dune

I realize I'm a late comer in the hate for this one. I just finished reading the first three Dune books, and then decided to watch the Lynch version when I saw it posted in alt.binaries.vcd the other day. I'd heard that it sucked donkeys, but I didn't expect to have to fight the URGE TO KILL while watching it. I gave up when it got to the part where the Baron and Mr. Tantric come to Thufur Hawat with a FUCKING CAT AND TELL HIM HE HAS TO MILK IT FOR THE ANTIDOTE. My gf laughed as I leaped out of bed and screamed "WHAT THE FUCK??!" at the computer, and shut it off.

Lynch is a talented director. He obviously had a huge budget for this movie. How the FUCK did he fuck it up so badly?

Is the sci-fi channel version any better?

edited cuz I'm a retard

[Edited on Jan 20, 2004 by Keith]

I would have warned you...

Haven't seen the Sci-Fi channel version, but I have heard it's good.

(offering my 2 cents before Flux comes in with the official opinion)

It's definitely a low point in film history, IMO. Lynch actually manages to impart a really nice feel to the movie, he got some great actors (including, if you look closely, Wormtongue from LoTR, as well as Sting) I thought the costumes were cool, I liked the music (in an '80's, Toto sort of way) but he completely destroyed the book, and everything that was good about it. How about having it fucking rain at the end of movie? Or the "weirding modules," whatever the fuck those things were? Having the spacing guild threaten to torture the emperor? Not to mention the countless other smaller details that were just totally screwed.

The Sci-Fi version is much truer to the book (I own it on VHS.) Unfortunately the budget was smaller and they weren't able to get much in the way of acting talent, with the exception of William Hurt, who's only in it for a few minutes anyway. But I like it nevertheless - I think the direction is quite good, the Baron was a much more convincing character, and they included most of the scenes that I liked from the books.

Has anyone seen the Sci-Fi channel's version of Children of Dune? I don't even know if that has come out yet or not.

I like Lynch's Dune a lot better than the sci-fi channel's. Never read the book, and we all know books are always better than the movie.

I liked Starship Troopers for the campy satire it was, but people who had read the book absolutely despise it. Again, not being a sci-fi fan, I hadn't read the book.

I can't say it deserves hate, but it definitely doesn't deserve an academy award.

The Lynch version is horrible. I don't think anyone involved directly with the movie actually read the book. It is teh suck.

That was Thufur Hawat rather than Gurney Halleck, but no biggie
I quite liked the Lynch version of Dune I also liked the re-make, but for various reasons. I thought Kyle McLaughlan was great as Paul and as for Lady Jessica... Moving swiftly on from my MILFish ways... There were some things about Lynch's that sucked, ie wierding modules, (milking cats) and those creepy heart plugs (Having had surgery when I was 18 months and a fuckoffhuge scar from it {reason for my tattoo}) they scared the bejesus out of me I thought Julie Cox portrayed Irulan much better than Virginia Madsen and made her a more relevant charachter.
Other bits I find ironically amusing in Lynch's Dune is when the Guild Navigator visits the Emporer at the start and says "I did not say this. I am not here." Yeah, like a 10 ft slug in a mobile fish tank can really do stealth and covert operations
Spike
PS Next time you watch it and the tank is brought into the throne room, watch the left hand side of the screen and the entourage... One of them falls over...
PPS I loved how the Universal Translator had a few seconds delay to it, and you could hear the really alien language before the translator took over.

Well, in both cases it wasn't the normal "The book is better" kind of hate, where the director simply took out scenes that nitpickers thought were crucial, or whatever. In these two cases the director added things that weren't in the books, and actually ran contrary to what the books were about.. yeah, the weird little handguns, the "technique involving sound", actually SEEING the spacing guild members, the fremen not COVERING THEIR FACES IN THE FUCKING DESERT?? The fremen having some huge meeting hall for Paul to come speek to them at?? What the fuck, Lynch.

The movie is fucking awesome (if you completley ignore the existence of the books).

Also, and this is a fact, the entire Dune saga was ripped off from the movie "Tremors"

HAHA, "Tremors" is my FAVORITE of all time constantly-shown-on-USA-network movie.

I hate Lynch's film for being the final nail in the coffin of Alejandro Jodorowsky's version. The latter wouldn't have been the least bit true to the book, but at least it would have been interesting.

If your movie has a soundtrack by Toto or Queen you're O.K. in my book.

(added Queen)

[Edited on Jan 20, 2004 by DiamondGeezer]

i dislike all video reproductions of print masterpieces...

that being said Dune was particularly terribe... and i dislike the sci fi channel one as well.

the only good decision in any of them was to make Sting Feyd Rautha... that rocked.

The bond of friendship grows deeper, as we discover our mutual beyond awesomeness

That movie sucks

Key to loving Lynch's version is watch some Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, even Wild at Heart beforehand. Like not immediately, but if you like those films at all you'll see how he brought their creepiness to Dune. Dune the book is really just a template for the "David Lynch" film.

I didn't like Twin Peaks, and I hated Blue Velvet. I guess you could say I use the words "talented director" loosely.

It is a cool piece of Sci-Fi even if it did deviate from the books. There are three or more versions of this movie (not counting the remake). The Sci-Fi channel shows two of the versions. One has the intro for Dune dummies and the other I am not sure if it is the theator version or post theator (VHS rental) version. One versino is only purchasable in Europe and has something close to thirty more minutes of film.

Sci-Fi channel version rocks. Though, Laby Jessica was a cold fish performance.

Lynch is awesome . . . Eraserhead is awesome . . . Twin Peaks is awesome. All of that makes me hate Dune even more. It's like why the fuck would he do that? It's as if he made the movie from cliff's notes instead of the book. There is nothing redeeming about that turd of a film.

I can't stand it when a director completely disregards the story and point of a book when making the movie version.
If you want to make a movie based *very loosely* on popular book, call it something else. Anybody who knows the book will recognize the similarities, anybody who doesn't know the book won't care either way. But at least you won't be ruining it for another director who want's to do the thing justice.

On another note, did anybody else notice the BLATANT similarities between the Matrix Reloaded and Dune? I couldn't believe how obvious they were making it when I saw the movie.

i liked the movie personally....and if it werent for that movie i would have never bothered with reading the books...and for whoever asked about sci-fi's children of dune....they combined heretics and children of dune and made it one movie....and its about the same quality as the first one so...take that for what its worth...

i think alot of the cheesier aspects of the film are more the fault of the production company than lynch....DEG had just had a huge hit with the cheesefest that IS flash gordon and they were hoping to get some of the same with dune...and its pretty well documented that after all was said and done lynch refuses to talk about the film because of just how much DEG meddled in what he was trying to do