Dune (Extended Edition)
|
Our Price: $37.44 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $22.99 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Dune (Extended Edition)
Movie Review: Dune Special Edition
Summary: 5 Stars
Well I saw this extended edition when it first aired on Fox years ago as a Universal Theater Special Presentation. It has also been aired on the Sci-Fi channel several times as well. The opening dialogue was not delivered by Princess Irulan, and was longer, giving you more of the history of the universe including the Butlerian Jihad against the machines. The narrator was male, and some say delivered by David Lynch himself, I cannot confirm nor deny this rumor. Another reviewer wrote that the "cut" scenes were cutting room floor junk. That is not true. They are rougher than the theatrical footage but were intended to be part of a 6 hour version with a planned intermission. After several screenings, the 6 hour version was cut to 137 minutes (2 hours 17 minutes) loosing much of Lynch's planned vision of Dune. The 6 hour version was only test screened a few times and never fully re-mastered as it would have been if, sent to the theaters. This is why that added footage appears rougher, as only the film was given the proper processing, the dialogue would have been re-processed if the 6 hour movie had been approved to hit theaters. It was not, and only the 2 hour and 17 minutes of theatrical release footage was properly processed for theater sound. If we were able to see the 6 hour version, I'm sure it would be a great ride, but since the time on this edition is 177 minutes (2 hours 57 minutes) it is likely the same version aired on Fox years ago, where they advertised it as having 50 minutes of extra footage (actually only 40). The opening dialogue is delivered with still paintings of scenes from the past where the machines took over and enslaved the human race. There are some storyboard scenes also in the opening narrative, as the narrator comments on current events. I did like this version and I hope they were able to re-master the additional footage so it better matches the theatrical footage. Some of the sound on the Fox airing was muted and mono, so I hope they were able to fix this as well. It is because of the roughness of the added footage that David Lynch pulled his name off the TV version. Alan Smithee is the Director, in Hollywood, when any director pulls their name off a project he is billed as Alan Smithee. Several other people pulled their names of the TV project also, including the writer and the editor I believe and perhaps a few others as well. They also have names in Hollywood for writers and editors who pull their names from movies, but I forget what they are. On my edition of the Theatrical Release DVD there are some places where the color has faded on the film, particularly when Paul addresses the 100 fremen he will teach the Weirding Way too. In the upper left hand part of my screen (near Paul's head) the film has faded, and was not on the first DVD I had, nor on the VHS tape edition. I hope universal was able to address this problem as I understand that the extended version will offer both the theatrical release and the extended versions. I hope they are on separate discs also as I hate those slight pauses on dual layered DVDs. There is also an alternative ending and other deleted scenes. Of the alternative ending I do hope they show where Thufir passes away as he forgot to milk his cat for the antidote, this is how the book ended. I can't wait to see the other deleted scenes, and I can only imagine what they may contain. All in all you won't be disappointed with this edition, the movie offers more insight into the Dune universe as first imagined by Frank Herbert. The only thing you'll find in the movie that is NOT in the book are the Weirding Modules. Now the Weirding Way IS in the book, and it is this method of fighting that Paul and Jessica pledge to teach the Fremen in order to gain their protection from the Harkonnen who are once again in control of Dune. The Weirding Modules that work through the Weirding Way using thought, sound and motion are an update, and I think they work well in the movie. Paul, after destroying an obsidian obelisk with the Weirding Module-- "This is part of the Weirding Way that we will teach you. Some thoughts have a certain sound, that being the equivalent to a form. Through sound and motion...you will be able to paralyze nerves, shatter bones, set fires, suffocate an enemy or burst his organs. We will kill until no Harkonnen breathes Arakeen air." It is an afterthought yes, but when I read the book, I found it hard to believe that the fremen with simple maula pistols and crysknives could overthrow the Emperor and kill 10 legions of Sardaukar Terror Troops. The Weirding Modules along with the Weirding Way give the Fremen the available power to defeat the Sardaukar and the Emperor, and I find it to be a more believable ending than the book version. Otherwise David Lynch did very well to bring the book (almost word for word) to the big screen. Even the italicized thoughts in the book are realized in the film, giving you the reader/watcher insight into what that character is thinking. Someday hopefully Dino will release the actual 6 hour cut that was the intended vision for us to see. I am sure he's holding onto it, in Hollywood now a days, you don't throw anything away, otherwise you'll have no extras for your movie's DVD release. I hope this review helped you, and please feel free to leave your own comments on top.Movie Review: Worthwhile, if only to illustrate some tragic movie studio decisions.
Summary: 5 Stars
Ah, what COULD have been, what SHOULD have been, alas, never WILL be ...
Director David Lynch's quest to adapt Frank Herbert's seminal science fiction epic for the big screen is, in retrospect, one of the more tragic minor chapters in cinematic history. Everyone who knows this story is aware that, in the best of all possible worlds, Lynch might have truly succeeded, in the same way Peter Jackson succeeded with "The Lord of the Rings." Given true artistic control over the project, Lynch might have given us a truly brilliant, if lengthy, film. Lord knows he shot enough footage! Instead, what we are left with are both the tantalizing, albeit abridged, theatrical release, and the horrifically inept "extended version" that was cobbled together so shoddily that Lynch had no choice but to completely disassociate himself from it. Both versions are included, along with a rich selection of extras, on this DVD package. So if you're going to get David Lynch's film, you might as well spring for this.
Lynch has made it abundantly clear that his involvement with this project is not one of the most well-remembered episodes of his filmmaking career. According to the Dreamers of Dune website, "The film ... ended up at being more than three hours in length. Unwisely the decision was made to cut it down to just over 2. However this cut hurt the film's exposition, and thus made it nearly incomprehensible to anyone who hadn't read the book." Personally I loved the film when it was released in theaters. A truly faithful adaptation would have to have been at least a couple of hours longer, yet if anything I felt that David Lynch had succeeded in giving us a rich taste of the Dune mythos, dropping us into an almost incomprehensible universe ten thousand years in the future.
Years later, when the Sci-Fi Chanel scheduled a broadcast of the film for the first time, there was a great deal of anticipation over news that it would include a lot of extra footage not seen in the theatrical release, and I was psyched. As the broadcast began, my enthusiasm quickly turned to confusion. Directed by Alan Smithee? Who the hell was THAT? But it got worse. Gone was the ethereal introduction by Princess Irulan (Virginia Madsen), replaced instead with lousy illustrations and a potted history of the Galactic Empire as read by some cheesy male narrator. Gone were some key moments of Lynchian weirdness, such as Baron Harkonnen's dispatch of the meek slave boy (the famous "heart plug" scene) and the baron's spitting in Lady Jessica's face. Hmmm, I guess THAT wouldn't do for TV, now would it?
Other aspects of this "extended version" are simply wrong. The Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam is shown being escorted to Caladan by ... what, the same Harkonnen henchmen who later take Paul and Jessica out into the desert? Spacecraft are supposed to be landing on Caladan or Kaitain, yet we are shown spacecraft approaching Arrakeen? And that music! What did they do to the music? It's all punched up and melodramatic, not used sparingly and effectively as in the theatrical version. Sure, there's some extra footage here that is fascinating enough in its own right, but overall this "extended version" has been pieced together so badly that it's no wonder David Lynch disavowed it.
Well, this is all water under the bridge now. What's done is done. David Lynch has gone on with his career and learned his lessons about artistic control, giving us sublime films like "Blue Velvet," "Wild at Heart," and "Mulholland Drive." He can't be expected to return to the editing room to give us the version of "Dune" he should have given us to begin with. Meanwhile, the Sci-Fi Channel eventually went on to fund a couple of admittedly auspicious "Dune" miniseries while relegating the "Alan Smithee" version to an occasional broadcast once in a blue moon. Older DVDs of Lynch's original theatrical release gather dust on the shelves of stores, and those of us who still admire that version are left to lament what might have been. Oh well.
Movie Review: The Spice MUST FLOW!!! David Lynch's Dada-esque "DUNE" Finally Given A Respectable DVD Release
Summary: 5 Stars
The "Spice Melange" extends life and existence as people know it in the year 10191 AD. However, this precious spice is only available on one planet and that is planet Arrakis. Also known as DUNE!
There are two families who want to gain control of spice production because the one who controls the spice, will, indeed, control the whole universe! The spice is mined on Arrakis but there are HUGE sand worms that try to guard it for themselves. Be careful of WORM SIGN!
The families that war it out over the spice are: House Atreides, home of Duke Leto (Prochnow), Lady Jessica, a Bene Gesserit handmaiden & their son, Paul (MacLachlan). The Atreides reside on planet Caladan. House Harkonnen, comprised of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (McMillen), Feyd-Rautha (Sting) & The Beast Rabban, reside on planet Giedi Prime.
On planet Kaitain resides Jose Ferrer as the Emperor of the Universe, Shaddam & his daughter, Princess Irulan played by Virginia Madsen.
This story is focused on intergalactic warrior, young Paul Atreides & his messianic rise to leadership by coming into his own, so to speak. Due in part to an old prophecy regarding a man that will be above all other men.
The circa 1984 visual/special effects are STILL stunning even by today's standards, the soundtrack is by Toto, and some of the monsters created for this film, like "The Guildmaster" were by the likes of E.T.'s Carlo Rambaldi.
This film heads an all-star cast with the ones mentioned above plus - Sean Young as Chani the Fremen, Linda Hunt as Fremen Shadout Mapes, Brad Dourif as Piter De Vries, Patrick Stewart as Gurney, Max Von Sydow as Dr. Kynes, and even David Lynch makes an appearance as a Spice mining worker!
Even a 5 or 6 year old little girl by the name of Alicia Witt from "Urban Legend" & "Two Weeks Notice" gets her first big movie role, her SAG card as Paul's little sister, Alia, and one of the best lines in the film - "And how can this be? For he IS the Kwisatz Haderack!"
The alternate 2 hour 57 minute version on the flipside of the theatrical cut was the cut for television. As many fans of Dune know, this 'extended' version was disowned by Lynch, who insisted his name be replaced by that famous Hollywood pseudonym "Alan Smithee" the name used by directors whose films were taken away and recut against their wishes.
PROS: The extended version is FINALLY released in DVD widescreen format. The circa 1984 set design and special effects are still, indeed, SPECIAL!
CONS: Lynch's version of Dune is either a "love it or hate it" epic film. If viewers are expecting the mythic 4 hour "David Lynch preferred" version that is rumored to be sitting in a vault, don't get your hopes up. This version is indeed, a MYTH.
Deleted scenes include the highly debated and much removed Thufir death scene where Thufir is administered a lethal dose of poison by the Harkonnen's and has a kind of sexually orgasmic death.
Regardless, if you like Lynch, sci-fi or just weird set design and effects, I highly recommend this film to you!
Happy Watching, Unpleasant Dreams & May The Spice Be With You!!!
Movie Review: A Fistful of Spice
Summary: 5 Stars
I set my mind to reviewing David Lynch's film 'Dune.' I sat diligently, adopting my usual scrupulous technique: watch twice, jot down points, events, slivers of music, shudders, inane trivia etc - then write it all up on the WP to be sliced down to a palatable size later...
Blankness.
So, basics: Did I enjoy it? -- yes, very much. Did it have breathtaking set design and production values which left the inferior 'Bladerunner' in its dust.. comprehensively. Was I horrified and delighted in equal measure by the antics of the prime villain - Baron Harkonnen ? -- indeed I was. Was the music suggestive and grandiose..? The Sand-Worms completely awesome....? Sting bad...?
Yes, and more...
Lynch is a curious film director. His films are not like anybody else's. People go on about them - say things like: "Lynch doesn't normally do sci-fi, but you could argue that ALL his films are sci-fi..." Heavy stuff like that.
Some admit that they do/don't/can't/won't understand them - others imagine. Some can't see the point in bothering...
All his films are comedies - Kyle MacLachlan's 'Dune' voiceover for example, is as pointed a clue without being blatant - and is otherwise inexplicable.
Much like 'La Cabina,' funny/weird people start the day with just a suggestion of funny/weird, escalating into hardcore funny/weird by the final quarter.
As someone who doesn't understand film at all, I have to wonder how Lynch gets finance. Imagine taking 'Lost Highway' to a bunch of execs and hoping for some millions to make it happen... yet happen it did. Does anybody think studio money-men are sympathetic to an 'artist' ? Lynch is bankable you say...?
Lynch's 'Dune' is a surgical burrowing through the bowels of an enormous omnibus of a novel. The plot is helpfully zilch: a spice controls the universe; everyone wants it; shenanigans ensue when they all try to get it; big battle.
Cue 'Prophecy' theme.
Why everybody makes SUCH a fuss is beyond me: "Fans and critics alike, are divided in equal measure..." What? Why.....!?
Then again, why would anyone even contemplate reviewing 'Dune' ? It's a movie, it runs about 2 ¼ hours and is big and quite exciting.
It's a David Lynch film, and that means you can spout the most abstract, pompous, selfish, insanely reversed clap-trap about it - and people will still take you seriously.
(And despite the proximity of incendiary words like 'spice,' 'girl' and 'power,' I've resisted all temptation to mention Mel B's extraordinary breasts - so delightfully omnipresent in all sections of modern media. Aren't I the good boy...?)
Movie Review: Do you prefer the Bastardized Theatrical Release or the Incompetent Extended TV Version?
Summary: 5 Stars
They are both here at last, folks! Have you been waiting eagerly for years?
Lynch's original theatrical cut suffered from too many trims in order to reduce the running time. It features an intelligent script faithful to the Herbert novels (though the business about the Weirding Modules using the sound equivalent of Killing Thoughts is a pure and silly invention of Lynch himself.) The performances are (mostly) fantastic, the sets, costumes and camera work are suberb, the music by Toto and Brian Eno is breathtaking, and the special effects are pretty bad. Reviews back in 1984 stated, rightly, that it would probably be incomprehensible to anyone who had not read the book.
Then there's the ghastly, embarassing, dumbed-down version prepared by Universal TV. It includes quite a bit of extra footage that Lynch wasn't able to include in the theatrical version, longer versions of some scenes and others (like the drowning of a sand trout and the fight with Jamus) which appear only in this version. However, the chalk-drawing prologue is trash, the new narration is pure garbage (the guy sounds like he stepped out of an ADR session for a granola commercial,) the re-edit on Shaddam's dialogue with the Guild Navigator is a joke (did Universal really think that no one in America would understand the term "House Atreides?") and the Dune Muzak which plays underneath every scene (without any relation to what is happening on the screen) is also a shame. No, Lynch did not record the narration for the TV version. He does appear in both versions as the radio operator aboard the spice harvester (and has several lines, both onscreen and off.) Lynch rightfully removed his name from this complete mess. Did Universal think that "A Alan Smithee Film" is a representation of correct grammar? Did they really need to use the same shot of a flying Harkonnen ship about 6 times to represent anyone in the film travelling anywhere by ship?
One thing about Lynch is his amazing use of sound - LISTEN to his films, sometime. Amazing. The TV version sounds like two radios tuned to different stations.
Those of you with nice movie software might want to spend an afternoon doing a re-edit of both versions. The theatrical cut plays much better if you plug in the extra footage from the TV version and the new collection of deleted scenes.
Nice documentaries, and the further collection of deleted scenes includes the death of Thufir Hawat. No participation by Lynch, alas.