Dune (Widescreen)

Dune (Widescreen)
by David Lynch

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Movie Reviews of Dune (Widescreen)

Movie Review: A Timeless Triumph
Summary: 5 Stars

Look & Listen:

The video transfer of the movie is quite good. Although not an anamorphic transfer, the quality of the picture is great. The unbelievable sets used are a wonder to behold. This movie has some very good looking shots in it. There are very few artifacts noticeable on the screen. Even though the movie is full of the color black and tan, the blue of the eyes of the Fremen stands out and looks beautiful. Certain reds jump off the screen. The special effects change the color of the sky from its usual light blue to the omnipresent tan.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound of this movie is absolutely wonderful. The voices are easily understandable and the music has a good ambient feel. When Paul uses "the Voice," the echo is very clear and understandable. In the battle scenes, the sound really is fantastic and engulfs the listener. You almost feel as if you are one of the Fremen following Paul Atreides in his quest to become the Kwisatz Haderach. The surround sound is fabulous and gave my home theater system a good workout.

Extras & Highlights:

The special features on the DVD are limited. There is the original motion picture trailer for the movie. The production notes are very complete and are ten menus in length, with different still photos in the background. There are cast and crew biographies and filmographies of certain characters in the movie.

Menus & Interface:

The menus are static pictures. The scene selection menus are very easy to use. With only 16 chapters on the DVD, it's quite difficult to find a specific spot in the movie without using your remote. Still, they are very functional and easy to navigate. There are different still photos from the movie used on the menus.

Storyline & Syllabus:

Be forewarned! It is the year 10191 A.D. This is the story of Paul Atreides (McLachlan), son of Duke Leto Atreides (Proctnow) and Lady Jessica (Annis), a former Bene Gesserit nun. The Padashah Emperor Shaddam IV (Ferrer) has ordered House Atreides to go to the planet Arrakis. The planet Arrakis is also known as Dune. This is where House Atreides fights their mortal enemies, the House Harkonnen. House Harkonnen is led by the Vladimir Harkonnen (Williams), Feyd Rautha (Sting), and Piter DeVries (Dourif), the Mentat. House Atreides are also on Arrakis to mine spice, the life blood of the universe. Paul falls in love with Chani (Young), the daughter of Dr. Kynes (Von Sydow), the Imperial Biologist. This is Paul's story, mainly. You will enjoy as the transformation from the young man Paul Atreides into the honored Paul Muad'dib, eventually maturing into the Kwisatz Haderach, which is the hand of God.

Cast & Crew:

The movie Dune stars Kyle McLachlan, Jose Ferrer, Max Von Sydow, Linda Hunt, Francesca Annis, Sting, Dean Stockwell, Sean Young, Jürgen Proctnow, Kenneth Williams and Patrick Stewart. The movie was directed by David Lynch. The movie was produced by Raffaella DeLaurentiis. The screenplay was written by David Lynch based on the novel Dune, written by Frank Herbert. Most of the movie Dune is effects laden and is very enjoyable. There are some great creatures created by Carlo Rambaldi and the director of photography is Freddy Francis. The musical score was written by Toto and the Prophecy Theme was written by Brian Eno.

Conclusions & Afterthoughts:

A movie of such magnitude is very tough to follow. Based on the novel by Frank Herbert, it's not necessary to read the book but it certainly helps. There is a lot of the story line that you may lose in the movie, unless you already know the story. Certain characters aren't as well developed as others, making it tough to follow certain characters. Reading the book allows you to also learn the terminology of the movie, too. Director David Lynch does his best to explain the back story, which is very large. Most of the movie could roll along at a slow pace for the person who isn't familiar to the surroundings of Dune. For those who are familiar with the book, the movie may be a disappointment.

Dune was always considered a tough movie to make. Aside from the multifaceted plot to the gigantic sets, the movie also looks brilliant on the small screen. This DVD sounds wonderful and the picture isn't that bad of a transfer. This movie is an aural and visual delight. Made in 1984, this movie has some brilliant special effects for that time period. This is before most computer generated effects, too, and that makes the movie even more stunning. If you like the look of special effects in the mid-1980's, this movie is definitely for you.

The movie Dune was re-edited and released as a four hour television special. Director Lynch asked that his name be removed from that version. This is not that version. The additional length helped character development and the story, but Lynch and Universal had creative differences. This problem and others resulted in that version credited to Director Alan Smithee. Certain people prefer that version, but it's not available on DVD. The original is, and I'm very pleased that I watched it. Bring on the pastry!

Summary of Dune (Widescreen)