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 1984 PG-13 / Scifi Adventure Directed by: Starring: |
- A world where the mighty, the mad and the magical will have their final battle.
Summary Capsule
- Aristocratic young man turns out to be the savior of the galaxy in general and the planet Arakkis in particular. Also there are giant worms.
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Justin's Rating: Dune or a Real World marathon? No contest. Bring on the whiney kids.
Justin's Review: Seven years after the infamous TV show Twin Peaks went off the air, my friend Lance and I discovered it for the first time and devoured all 30 episodes. We loved David Lynch's surrealistic, unpredictable, post-modern style as much as his characters Agent Cooper and Laura Palmer. Alas, while Lynch's movies hold the same qualities, they fall flatter than a pancake man walking down syrup alley on a hot summer day.
It's a confusing movie about a confusing novel, centered around the fight for a planet with this valuable "spice". Too bad they made it before a certain British pop group became popular (and then fell out of popularity); I could see the tie-ins with Spice Girls. You have Kyle MacLachlan as your standard hero who rallies some rebel people to fight some bad people. Patrick Stewart is in this, as is Sting (although both roles are awful and incomprehensible). The dialogue is about as stilted as reading most short stories from Beginning Creative Writing in college.
For a science-fiction movie, it quickly breaks down into a low-level fantasy. From starships we eventually get to large sand worms. From the exciting possibilities of futuristic cities and space stations, we're grounded on a desert planet. Yay! Duller than Tatooine! From laser guns we get to people who fight by cupping their hands, screaming, and aplifying their sound waves. For the layperson, that translates into some grunts and people mysteriously flying backward. Star Wars this ain't.
When it all comes down to is that Dune is just boring. Long, dull, and uninteresting. See it only if you are hard-core.
Shalen's Rating: One out of two freaky blue eyeballs.
Shalen's Review: The Internet Movie DataBase is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
And I say this not merely because it acts as a giant cheat sheet for those of us needing quick trivia on a particular film. No, the IMDB is wonderful for another very important reason: spelling. How on earth would I ever know how to spell "Feyd-Rautha" or that there is an apostrophe in "Maud'Dib?" Particularly since I did not read the book Dune past about page 150?
The plot. Ha ha. You might have a look at the opening title lines down at the bottom there, because it's large and complex. Basically, everyone needs this orange spice Melange for space travel, it only comes from one planet,1 and that planet is about to acquire its Chosen One Who Can Save Us All and ruin everyone's plans for galactic domination.
That Chosen One is, in this case, Paul Atreides. Dune doesn't bother with any of this "unlikely hero" nonsense. No, Paul is a highly privileged individual from a rich family who have given him every advantage. And of course there are prophecies, and of course he fulfills every single one of them. I don't know if there is one that says "The Chosen One shall have an exotic girlfriend who can shoot a laser gun," but that happens, too.
And those of you who are tired of morally ambiguous movies wherein you cannot identify the villain need look no further than Baron Harkonnen. I can just picture Frank Herbert sitting down and saying, "Now, let's see. Murderous tyrant. Hideously fat. Huge, disgusting boils. Revoltingly perverted. Did I miss anything…? Oh, yes, and he spits when he talks." It's as if Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies suddenly became a serious character. The whole movie is more or less that way. The Baron is horribly ugly; Paul has boyish good looks. The Baron is an incestuous murderer; Paul rescues his mother and unborn sister from a sandworm. The Baron hurts little kitties; Paul saves a mere housekeeper from death by floating syringe. And so on.
I understand there was a three hour version of this, and what I saw is the much-reviled two hour cut. Frankly there was exactly no point in my viewing when I looked at the screen and said, "Hey, this movie should have been a lot longer." It's a little slow to start, and Paul spends a lot of time staring off into space while voiceovers indicate his thoughts, and another hour of establishing screen time just would not help at all.
Which brings me to the voiceovers. Apparently the original novels contain a lot of internal narrative and surrealistic visions, which I recall was one of the things that caused me to stop reading them. This sort of writing style does not translate easily to film, wherein emotions generally have to be simple enough to be indicated by actors' faces and dialogue. Director David Lynch chose instead to render characters' thoughts in voiceover through the entire movie. And I'm not just talking about two or three of the main characters, I'm talking about practically everyone. I half-expected the camera to zoom in on the dog's2 unmoving lips and the soundtrack to say, "Woof!"
So there is some unintentional comedy. I imagine I am going to seriously annoy some of you Herbert fans in our reading audience, but let me remind you that, although I wasn't terribly fond of the books, I am fully accepting of the idea that this movie is a less-than-perfect screen translation of ditto.
At least, I sincerely hope it is.
I'd have to say my favorite thing about this movie, as with the books, was the sandworms. The image of this giant creature rising up out of the ground and swallowing an entire mining installation was awe-inspiring, and it's one of the few things I'd like to see again. And the electric guitar chord that suddenly appears in the soundtrack when Paul first rides a worm3 is very effective, given the typical space opera soundtrack in the film to that point. The special effects work fine when they involve models — as with the worms — and not so well when they involve surrealistic things. CGI really would not have helped the ships or worms, but it would have done a lot for the pilots and what they do.
En fin, there's a very good reason why this movie didn't do as well as Star Wars, but I'd say it merits a look. If you can sit through the slow first half, the second half is undoubtedly worth your time.
1. Okay, wait. They tell us space travel is impossible without this spice. They also do not indicate that space travel originated on Arakkis, which seems to be mostly a backwater world. Think about that one for a second.
2. The Duke has a pet pug. Sadly, it is never eaten by a sandworm.
3. I swear to Cthulhu I am not making this up.
 I'll get you, my pretty.
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- You know, the gullet of that sandworm looks a LOT like the nesting place of the ever-mighty Sarlacc.
- The blue eyeball effect. Sweet.
- That pilot-creature's "mouth" looks, um, nonmouthlike.
- "Good against remotes is one thing. Good against the living…" Luke has nothing on Paul, apparently.
- Women are allowed exactly one cool thing in this galaxy, and they just stomp all over that with this, don't they?
- Thufir has to live by milking a cat? Whuh? And why the heck is that rat there? It's also funny that the cat they chose is a hyperactive Sphynx and it won't hold still.
- Jurgen Prochnow as the Duke, back before he slid so far as to be in a Uwe Boll movie.
- Is there any possible way they could have made the Baron less appealing?
- Possible source of the MST3K running joke: "I WILL kill you!"
- Patrick Stewart in a rare pre-Trek role that is not Shakespeare. Oh, is it EVER not Shakespeare.
- This film has lots of ethnic diversity. You have your white people with stained lips, white people with bald heads, white people mutated into big squids, white people with blue eyeballs, etc.
Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?
No, not really. They're fairly dull.
Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]
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The movie is based on the first of four books written by Frank Herbert called the Dune Chronicles.
David Lynch turned down the chance to direct Return of the Jedi to do this movie. If you are not thankful for this, you should be.
The inspiration for the design of the stillsuits was the medical textbook Gray's Anatomy.
The tendons you see when Paul hooks a worm were made from condoms.
Some scenes were filmed in the same location and at the same time as scenes from Conan the Destroyer.
The theatrical version of this film is the only version of Dune, including the novel and the miniseries, where Thufir Hawat survives. A scene of Thufir's death was filmed, but was cut. (A/N: I guess they decided he suffered enough with the cat-milking thing.)
Alejandro Jodorowsky had originally planned on filming Dune in the early-'70s, and had enlisted the help of Jean Giraud and H.R. Giger to create the movie's visual style. Salvador Dalí was enlisted to play the part of the Emperor, and Jodorowsky also intended to cast his own son Brontis Jodorowsky as Paul, David Carradine as Duke Leto, Orson Welles as the Baron, and Gloria Swanson as the Benne Geserit Reverend Mother. The soundtrack was to be done by Pink Floyd. According to Jodorowsky, "The project was sabotaged in Hollywood. It was French and not American. Their message was 'not Hollywood enough'. There was intrigue, plunder. The storyboard was circulated among all the big studios. Later, the visual aspect of Star Wars strangely resembled our style. To make Alien, they called Moebius [Giraud], Foss, Giger, O'Bannon, etc. The project signaled to Americans the possibility of making a big show of science-fiction films, outside of the scientific rigor of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The project of Dune changed our lives." Jodorowsky also planned on making numerous changes to the source material, including making Duke Leto a eunuch and the spice a blue sponge. Author Frank Herbert openly despised these concepts.
Glenn Close turned down the role of Lady Jessica, not wanting to play "the girl who is always running and falling down behind the men". (A/N: Good for her.)
Groovy Quotes
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Gurney Halleck: Shield practice.
Paul Atreides: Shield practice? Gurney, I had practice this morning. I'm not in the mood.
Gurney Halleck: Mood? Moods are for cattle and loveplay, not fighting!
Piter De Vries: I must not let my passion interfere with my reason. That is not good. That is bad.
Gurney: Gods, a monster!
Princess Irulan: [first lines of the film] A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then, that is is the year 10191. The known universe is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam the Fourth, my father. In this time, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice Melange. The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. The spice is vital to space travel. The Spacing Guild and its navigators, who the spice has mutated over 4000 years, use the orange spice gas, which gives them the ability to fold space. That is, travel to any part of the universe without moving. Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you. The spice exists on only one planet in the entire universe. A desolate, dry planet with vast deserts. Hidden away within the rocks of these deserts are a people known as the Fremen, who have long held a prophecy that a man would come, a messiah, who would lead them to true freedom. The planet is Arrakis, also known as Dune.
Paul: I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when my fear is gone I will turn and face fear's path, and only I will remain.
Piter De Vries: It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
Chani: Tell me of your homeworld, Usul.
Paul (repeated line)(repeated a LOT): The spice!
Paul: My name is a killing word.
[repeated line]
Feyd-Rautha: ...I WILL KILL YOU!
Paul: Don't try your powers on me, witch! Try looking into that place where you dare not look. You'll find me there, staring back at you!
Repeated line Leto/Paul: The Sleeper must awaken.
Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV: Bring in that floating fat man, the Baron!
Paul: For ninety generations, you and your Bene Gesserit have labored in secret to produce a living, breathing weapon... a weapon that would enable you to overthrow both the Guild and the Emperor. Indeed. This weapon, I am; and these goals, I have achieved. But I'll *never* be *yours*.
Reverend Mother Mohiam: [using the Voice] You mustn't speak of...
Paul: [also using the Voice, which overpowers her] *Silence*! I remember your Gom Jabbar, now you remember mine. I can kill with a word.
Paul: What's in the box?
Reverend Mother Mohiam: Pain.
Alia(last line of film): And how can this be? For he is the Kwisatz Haderach!
Soundtrack Review
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There are actually two soundtracks to Dune, the 1984 official release, and the extended album released late 1997. The 1984 release has 17 tracks, all done by quintessential 80's band Toto, ("Rosanna," "Africa") except for the Prophecy Theme done by Brian Eno. The 30 track 1997 release is missing the Eno Prophecy Theme, but instead has 14 tracks of Toto score left out of the first album. The most noteworthy tracks are the Main Title Theme, the Dune "Desert" Theme, and Take My Hand, the end credits theme. All in all, both discs are rather good, but if you get only one, get the 1997 album.
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This review page was last updated on 10.6.06
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