DUNE

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STARRING: Francesca Annis, Brad Dourif, Kyle MacLachlan, Sian Philips, Sting, Max Von Sydow

1984, 140 Minutes, Directed by: David Lynch

Description: In the far future, a duke and his family are sent by the Emperor to a sand world from which comes a spice that is essential for interstellar travel. The move is designed to destroy the duke and his family, but his son escapes and seeks revenge as he uses the world's ecology as one of his weapons. — Amazon.com

Frank Herbert's epic sci-fi novel (about a desert planet and the epic battle for the spice found on it that makes space travel possible) as film palimpsest.

Readers of the series will be disappointed (the book is always better . . .) and so will fans of director David Lynch's oddball style (the film is way too straightforward, at least compared to previous efforts like Eraserhead).

While the truly original sets and costumes are worthy of the novel, the producers seem to have made a decision halfway through that the movie is going to become too long to keep the attention of movie audiences and decided to cut away at the storyline.

The result is that the latter half of the film is too episodic to build any real tension as the two warring factions on the planet Arrakis battle it out for supremacy.

Disappointing - if only the producers decided to stick to their material and let the story progress more naturally. Instead it's like watching a Reader's Digest synopsis of the novel.
 

• Read a review of the Dune Extended Edition Region 1 DVD.
• Read an extended review of Dune.
• Read the script.
• Download the trailer.
• Read about the planned Dune remake.