"What the hell is wrong with you, Lynch?" I take it you've never seen Eraserhead. You hire Lynch to direct a movie, you get lynch directing your movie...
There is one thing to note. Frank Herbert liked the film. And he got to see his magnum opus brought to life just before he died. This is his direct quote: “The story is there. They saved the story. It's all there. That's what the author worries about,” Herbert said. “It's a different language on that screen and if they’re adroit, and sensitive about picking their visual metaphors, the story comes off the screen.”
I feel like a moron now, because I have spent all these years believing every character in Dune was actually telepathic, and they'd been speaking to each other with their minds when all that monologuing was happening.
@Dallas John, Schachter Factor, & Master Markus: Aw, shit! You are morons. Lynch and others involved in the 1984 _Dune_ film drew that directly from Herbert's source-material novel, even though Fuckity-Fuck Boy in the video above didn't mention that, somehow didn't know it, but said that he read the book. Telepathy!? Where in the fuck did you get that from!? Because I don't think you got it from the film! Ahh, this review sucks, despite that The Dom has done at least a couple of very good reviews other than this one!
Code Optimization Ware No, it's a fair thought, especially when you are dealing with characters that can manipulate others verbally, see their future, somehow psychologically eavesdrop in conversations, predict the future, and other psycic aspects. I watched this with subtitles/captions and it honestly was the only way I was able to keep up with the internal monologues. At first I thought it was some form of thought projection as well. Perhaps if the first characters used for this application were not the psychically inclined characters it wouldn't lead people to that level of confusion. It certainly seems like they are having a conversation in the introductory scene with the emperor, that sets the experience for the rest of the film where the audience is asking themselves, "Are mother and son communicating telepathically? This must be because of their species." Honestly, it wasn't until the doctor came onscreen that I realized all of the thoughts were strictly internal.
I've just sat and watched the majority of your videos and can now safely say I have literally no idea why you aren't swimming up to your neck in subscribers. Your production quality is absurdly high, and your humour's spot on. Just a little note to say keep on keeping on, your work is outstanding.
An H.P.Lovecraft re-imagining of Peter Pan? I'd pay to see that. While we're at it, who wants to read a fan fic called Harry Potter and the Call of Cthulhu?
+Redfeild RE Given that the real Peter Pan from the book is a complete psychopath and possible murderer, a Lovecraft-inspired reimagining wouldn't be that difficult.
I have read a HP/Cthulhu cross, it was short piece where a vengeful Harry got hold of a copy of the Necronomicon and was using it drink people mad. He recalled a mention of some octopus creature and wondered if the Giant Squid wanted a buddy. Several weeks later the army comes to look around the crater where Hogwarts used to be.
Redfeild RE I read a great remake where Harry and Voldemort are best friends. Premise is Harry’s into space travel and science, so they bond over how bullshit the wizard if world is.
I can't believe you missed a major change. In the movie, they implicitly state that guild navigators fold space by using their spice evolved brains. In the book it is shown that Holtzman Engines fold the space, the navigators plot a safe course.
9:39 heart plugs are also cannon, although the example in this movie is wrong, the baron got pleasure from suffering. pulling a heart plug results in nearly immediate almost painless death especially when considering what the baron was really in to. he didn't like meaningless death, but he could put a meaning on any death, frequently with torture as part of the message.
Well, the *soliloquy* is an accepted convention in Shakespeare, and THOSE aren’t even voiceovers. The actor is literally telling the audience what the character is thinking.
But that's the point, soliloquies are _not_ inner monologue. They're just the character thinking out loud (the word even means "talking to oneself"). There's a difference. Soliloquies can work just fine because of how they're _framed,_ but the voiceover just comes off as awkward and confusing. Which is weird, when you think about it, considering it works fine in animation.
To be fair, Lynch's way of portraying the various internal monologues is pretty much the same approach as the one used by the Deathnote anime. And it worked pretty well for Light and L
FYI; The spoken-in-loud thoughts is a very common trope in anime. I'm not saying Dune can be excussed because of this, but i've seen good use made with this trope over the years, so i would'nt say it's "dumb". Just missused.
yeah, specifically in anime it tends to be more dynamic, in high octane, or stressful scenes. to represent this, the voices used for thoughts HAVE FUCKING EMOTION AND ARENT WHISPERING
The problem with its use in Dune is that it never shuts up and it's often used in really silly moments (cue Paul with a pug inner monologuing about the room he's in). Inner monologue narration is an artform that Lynch clearly didn't know how to use.
It is also sad that the film concentrated so much on the "Messiah" angle that it overlooked all the forshadowing to later books about how much he abuses this role for his personal revenge at the cost of sterilizing whole planet with the Jihad that eventually follows it. A book (made clearer in the later books though) that so much lampshaded and deconstructed "The heros journey" and "The One".
I believe Paul and his son discuss the various visions and debate which is best. Paul says he saw that even if he had died, by the time he had ridden the great sandworm, that the jihad would have happen anyways. So he chose the future with the fewest deaths, via jihad and then chose to become the old wandering man in the desert.
Actually if you want to add more nightmare fuel to the whole "Lynch could've directed Return Of The Jedi", Jabba The Hutt wasn't originally revealed until that film, imagine what Lynch would've come up with for the design. Considering what the Guild and The Baron were designed as in Dune, I'm only imagining what he would've come up with.
Just finished watching the new amazing Dune movie and I thought it would be fun to rewatch your review again. I love your random break downs of confusion 😂
I just watched it too, it was great. The only things I didn't like were that they cut the Baron's intro scene from the book (the one with the globe where he's in the shadows), and that they didn't change the voice into something more subtle.
Regardless of any point you make, or any argument for or against it - it is a failed adaptation. It's core point is the exact opposite of the core point of Dune Proper. Dune is the Story of how Heores and Godheads lie to us; and even they can not save us from the harm they cause. This film says Paul leaves Dune in Peace and Love and saves the day I also suspect it is impossible to do the film without internal monologue. Also, not to be rude bud, but the plot to kill the Duke was well known. It was never secret to anyone. It was about how everyone tried to level out of it, not they they knew of it.
Sadly, Hollywood will never make that. One of the things I liked the most about Dune is that Paul and his son are very cuestionable heroes, this and the mini-series are Disney-like versions of the story
The plot was well known yes, but the Guild involvement wasn't well known, that was known only after Paul had become (or had proven he was) the Kwisatz Haderach. The fremen thought that the Guild was on their side (kind of, sort of).
No, the navigators were described in the second book as fish-like appearance with webbed hands and feet, the second book came out in 1969,there wasn't anything close to baby people, they could even swim in their tanks
The navigators never folded the space themselves, they simply plotted the safest course through prescience. It was Holtzmann engine that folded the space.
+Stephen5000 I must agree that the soundtrack and score for the Lynch production was superior. However, neither the movie nor the mini did justice to the novel and a truly faithful adaptation would need to be at least 10 hours long.
Thank you so much for this show, Dom. To be honest, I don't think this novel should be adapted in a movie, it may be more successful as a TV series. Let's just hope that someone up there on HBO is willing to adapt Dune as a TV series GoT style. With all the novels, they could have enough material to work with. Heck, I would love to see them adapting Jodorowsky's version of Dune.
I rather like the Sci-Fi miniseries. Yes it was made with $2 and a bottle of scotch, but it managed to actually get it all in accurately. Even though Denis Villeneuve's version is awesome but the Sci-Fi version is still my favorite version
Lmao when Paul caved in the floor with his voice. God the voice in the movie pisses me off. The book specifically said it was supposed to be extremely compelling and it was different for every person. Making them want to perform an action not microwaved radio voice filter. The book took so much into consideration, the Las guns and the shields specifically. Like I love how when the book finally fires the Las guns it was so intense because there was so much set up (the shield generators, the whole point of Yule’s betrayal was to set up the Las gun attack), and something that almost never happens again. And I actually really respected and liked the Baron because the Baron wasn’t just some evil villain. He respected Duke Leto and wished they didn’t have to be enemies. He never wanted to torture the Duke because the Baron held royalty to such high esteem. Like, when you read about the Baron, besides his grotesque size, he was as mighty and graceful as you would expect from nobility.
There's a 2 disc set of this movie that includes an extended cut and several deleted scenes. I'd recommend that fans of the book check that out if they were disappointed by the theatrical cut.
I really wonder how anime makes inner monologues being spoken work almost across the board while western media sometimes does a good job (I'm looking at you, The End of the F***ing World) and other times... does Dune
You make a lot of fair points! To be honest, though, the movie's still a guilty pleasure of mine and possibly always will be. I'm well aware of the inconsistencies between the book and the movie as well as the many blatant flaws, but for some reason, I can't not love this adaptation. I can't really explain it. It's not even a so-bad-it's-good kind of enjoyment. It might be the music, the costumes, some of the effects and visual choices, the mood, certain scenes and dialogue, and, to be honest, I actually liked that weird inner-monologue thing. It was just weird enough to make sense to me. Perhaps if I'd watched the movie immediately after reading the book, I would have felt different, but by the time I got around to seeing the movie, three years had passed since I last read Dune.
***** For sure, the project changed hands very often and by the time it go into David Lynch's hands, there was so much going on that things had to be added or changed last minute to suite various audiences, please the employers, etc. etc. and it almost didn't happen at all. I guess that's part of the fun in it for me, LOL: seeing what they managed to come up with despite the many obstacles. It was all very real though, obviously, regardless of the circumstances surrounding it... I guess I'm not sure really what you mean by that.
***** Well, it's not, really, considering they started several years before with a concept based very much off the book. In fact, one of the main concerns throughout the project was how they would ever be able to adapt such a complex and multi-layered story into a reasonable run time and still get people in the seats. The events shared between the book and the film have a clear causal connection, being that the movie was always intended to be an adaption of some kind, therefore not a coincidence.
I like the movie also. First time I saw it I was a bit upset as a book reader, but it grew on me. I usually say that it was too confusing for those that did not read the books and too different from the book for the fans of the book to like it. It does have it's bad parts and good parts, but I think the good parts outweigh the bad. Stellar cast, excellent music, some really good scenes like the spice mining. It compares very favorably to the miniseries, but the miniseries continuation is also good.
ChrisisisB I haven't watched the miniseries, to be honest. I guess I'm just so used to Syfy's productions ranging from mediocre to brainless that I didn't really have a lot of hope for it. If so many people who read the book say it's good, though, I might have to check it out.
I actually love the movie. Saw it as a lad, so it has nostalgia. And I became quite the devoted Lynch fan later, and while I am aware of his thoughts on the movie now, I still can't help but be sucked into this adaptation. The atmosphere is unrivaled. But, you know, to each his own.
I've just watched the movie for the first time on Netflix....my first thought was "what the fuck am I watching?", The second thought was " I'm sure there's a lost in adaptation episode on this one. Must watch it!"
"You have to suffer for your art". I think in THIS case, David Lynch was having a Hellraiseresque pain>pleasure high and viewers (especially Dom in both character and physically) suffered from it.
I saw this in the theater when I was 12, and then countless times on a VHS tape recorded off TV before I ever read the book, so I was much more forgiving of the changes and weirdness. I have read the book several times now and still enjoy the crazy movie!
Haven't seen the film but it seems like Lynch was going for some kind of pollution theme with the Harkonnens. The diseases, the HAZMAT suits, the appearance of their homeworld and even the fake flowers in the Baron's office all sort of play into that.
If you think the rain ending is weird, Jodorowsky was going to have Paul die, his soul inhabiting all the Fremen and the planet itself, Arakkis becoming sentient and green and then flying off as a messiah planet to save the other planets in the universe.
The worms not attacking Paul when he was in a Water of Life trance was I think a homage to Children of Dune, in which Leto II could control the worms. The way I interpret this scene is that the worms understood Paul's significance, and were worshiping him. I know it's not in the book, but it was a damn awesome scene, and I will still defend it.
You made an ERROR, ... Dogs were actually mentioned in the HERBERT books, albeit a genetically, tampered with, version , in the future, called CHAIRDOGS....OK so you get a pass on that one.
Chairdogs first appeared in Heretics of Dune (the fifth book of the original series), which came out the same year as the Lynch film premiered in and well after principal photography finished, so it's still an adaptation fail (not to mention the fact that chairdogs are described as looking more like furry armchairs than actual dogs) and in no way an error on Dominic's part.
Okay, after finishing the video, he admitted it was apple juice so that's good, but I would agree that drinking that much of anything all at once would really not feel good..... my sympathies.
This movie is so hard to talk about. David Lynch didn't think he'd do a good job. As you stated, he had a ton of studio interference. He originally made a 3:00 hour film, but Dino di Laurentiis demanded he cut it to under 100 minutes. What it ended up with was an absolute mess. There's a 2:30 hour version that is available on Blu-Ray and DVD that is much, much better. However, that edit was not overseen by Lynch, and upon its creation, he disowned the film. It still has every issue you point out, especially the Baron, the Voice, and the internal monologue.
***** I would suggest watching it at least. Personally I love Lynch's Dune, even with how weird it is, and how much stuff they change. I understand how some people can watch it and go "WTF was that!?" but personally, I still love it. xD The Sci Fi version was a much better adaptation, but still changed some stuff. Still, overall, it's a good watch, as well as the follow-up Children of Dune they did.
TheRezro Heh, it's not even a guilty pleasure for me. I have no guilt for loving that movie. I am a proud Dune-Lynch fan. xD I liked the miniseries too, as it got a few of the characters more accurately, while also messing up a few of them that the Lynch movie didn't. Overall though, they were good attempts at tackling a pretty tough source material and making it a film. I own all of them.
happyninja42 Mmmmm. I would not say it´s a good movie but it has really interesting visuals. The worms are fantastic. The stillsuits are almost exactly as I imagined them and a lot of the designs of ships and technology was pretty awesome and unique. But even if you didn't read the books, it´s a total mess. The constant internal monologue makes the passing eternal and most of the plot is not well explained or even suggested Besides, the action scenes have no impact and a ton of characters are there just because they were in the book. They lose their main role and act as a watered version of themselves that makes little to no sense.
A lot of people feel that way about everything David does, and does embraces the "You Decide" mantra. He won't explain anything, what you take away is for your mind to decide.
New Dune trailer made me want to watch this again.
4 года назад
I saw news on imdb, and the only thing hoping with is not turning out as a woke agenda movie, going from repulsive to stupid wouldn't be much of an improvement.
just came here after watching villenueve's dune. its interesting to see, how he kept some of the decisions from this version: lots of bald dudes and vladimir flying for example but the freemen are black now, huray also really liked how denis solved the problem with showing how mentats work in a show dont tell kind of way but imho linch version has better worm design
Congratulations ! I didn't think a Dune review would come so soon, but I'm happy to see you did an amazing job on it. Very funny, very good video. :) I love all of the Dune Books, the third (in my opinion) is the best, because Pauls sister is a vastly more interesting character than he is. And we finally get some ideas of what the "golden path" is (i hope it's called golden path in english - only read german). But I don't remember whether Herbert introduced the golden path in the first or second book ... hmmmm.... too long ago. Mhhhhhh .... where was I? Oh yes, you are right "The Dom": We love your Lost in Adaption series, as it is the most interesting format of reviewing films I've seen in a long, long time and you execute it better every time. The Spice tells me you are on a great path. At least I hope that was spice. Ohhhh .... I can see Noises ...
Check out 'Waterloo' (1970). That also makes use of the whispered internal monologue. I wonder if Lynch got the idea there. Admittedly, only the thoughts of Napoleon and Wellington (to a lesser extent) are shown rather than the entire cast.
***** Awesome would be a cartoon version of Jodorowsky's version based directly on his production book. The images are stunning and beautiful, psychedelic, freakin' bad ass. It needs to be made. The book as lovingly and exuberantly expressed in those pages must be faithfully realized. It's a sin against humanity to not complete it.
realeala For what i´ve seen in the Documentary it would be awesome but i´d still be pissed off by the fact that it deviates so much from the source material. I mean....the duke letto gets amputated from every limb,paul is born from a blood drop,arrakis gets all watered up... What´s the point?....why are you gonna take this work of art to put your own thoughts in to it? i really like the book and the suspense and everything but i´m still waiting for a good adaptation. The series are Ok but they still look and feel like crap
realeala Go read Jodowsky's comic book, The Metabarons. A lot of elements that were in his adaptation of Dune are in that and it's probably the closest thing we'll ever get
tripdefect87 We'd get an even closer alternative if Jodorowsky ever got around to publishing his production pitch book, with all the concept art and storyboards in it. I honestly don't understand why Jodorowsky never had that book published. Yeah, I know he's fiercely against money and capitalism, but he also wants the world to enjoy his story. Publishing the pitch book would be the best way for him to achieve that!
I've loved both the books and the film for decades now... thank you for showing me how bleeding wrong i was on the second part of that equation. yes, the film is cutely camp and fun as hell, but can you imagine being Herbert and seeing THAT THING on the BIG SCREEN >???
Personally, I think forcing Thufir to milk a cat that has a rat taped to it was the best part of the movie and I remain convinced to this day that it had nothing to do with the poison, the Baron was just fucking with him.
Dune Producers: David Lynch! We have a problem! David Lynch: What is it? Dune Producers: This movie is shit! David Lynch: Hmmm... you're right... quick! Throw some dogs in there! That'll save this movie like a new baby will save their parents' marriage! (At least that's what I think happened behind the scenes to explain the unnatural inclusion of the dogs 🤷🏼♀️)
i think in one of the versions of the film they did mention that Paul's son was killed in the raid.. he wakes beside his wife and says "our son is dead".. and then begins his big battle with this knowledge ..
@ 9:47 I'm pretty sure that Rabban is juicing a sandtrout, which is the larval stage of the sandworms of Dune. In the third Dune book, Children of Dune, it is said that the Fremen would squeeze the sandtrout and drink the spice rich fluid that came out of them, which would give them a great rush of energy. So it's basically like drinking a Red Bull.
Sandtrout are shown in the film, they're much larger than that. EDIT: it's been a long time since I read Children of Dune, but I don't remember anything like that.
It's not a secret... It's called a 'Squood' Native vermin/snack on Geidi Prime That they would crush a living thing to immediately consume its fluids was just another little visual demonstration of the Harkonens callousness & brutality. :^) There were tales of some issues with the Squoods on set actually as in: "We have a dry squood over here!" ..not every day is perfection lol.
I'm really loving your videos , I've only recently stumbled upon your channel and have been marathoning your videos all weekend , keep up the good work !
I remember the 'Heart Plugs' from the Dune movie, creeped me out as a kid. Dunno why my parents let me see this movie as a kid, or maybe they didn't realise, I dunno.
You should look at SyFy Channels adaption of Dune -- it stayed closer to the important concepts, such as the still suits; a cunning, morbidly obese man needing antigrav to walk; etc. It also was a miniseries over 3 nights, adding up to approximately 4 1/2 + hours of intricate story.
It has flaws but it is still one of the best SF films out there. Novels and films are different media and require different solutions. Worth pointing out Herbert liked the film and the spice navigator design.
the baron floated in the movie because once they put the fat suit on the actor he was unable to walk, so they strung him up via harness and found that that was easier than trying to replicate what was in the book.
you can say whatever the hell you want about the movie but i love it! I know lots of people who love it! i think it looks stunning and i love the fact that it looks weird and definitely not mainstream! It's very theatrical and onirical. I simply love it!
There is simple way of knowing who is thinking at any given time. First off, the actor is shown on the screen by themselves; and second, its their voice. I know this is tricky to unravel that enigma, but it is rather easy.
It's an odd coinckidink that both you and SF debris posted a Dune review on pretty much the same day. You also joined Channel Awesome during similar times.... Is there a Superman/Clark Kent thing going on? O.e I have to second Gidiwouu, Cloud Atlas does sound like a fun thing to hear you dissect!
I absolutely loved this movie when I saw it as a kid (probably to young), the politics and worldbuilding, the mysticism, the odd production design. It's what got me into classic SF lit. I know part of that is because I couldn't see the flaws as clearly at that age but I still think some parts hold up. First the acting is first class. Prochnow, Stewart, Von Sydow and Ferrer bring in all their 80s character actor gravitas. Even MacLachlan is more watchable than the whiny YA film reject the miniseries cast as the universe's super being. Second, production design is interesting (if weird) and the music (by Toto) is great. I'll admit the script is rough around the edges (although still passable by modern Hollywood standards) and some of the adaptation decisions, whether from Lynch or DiLaurentis, were questionable at best. I'll also agree with you the Lynchian fetishistic weirdness is out of place with the tone of the story, but it's part of the overall attempt to make 8000 years in the future look familiar but alien. A failed attempt then. Overall I think it gets the tone and themes somewhat right, a controversial position I know. I maintain that the film tries to put the viewer in the place of a bystander swept up in the excitement of following a prophet into a holy war while trying at the same time to give a glimpse behind the curtain at the manipulations involved. Another failed attempt, but It worked brilliantly on a ten year old in 1986. For example I argue the movie implies (at least longer versions) that Paul had one of the Fremen's great water stockpiles injected into the storm at the end in a grand propaganda move to make in rain at just the right time and play the part of a god, not that he was one. I don't have an explanation for the shout power, sigh, an advanced form of the voice perhaps? Anyway it makes sense instead of explaining the concept of transforming to 1980s movie viewers to use the rain as a way to show his consciously embodying the Fremen's dream of transforming their home. If you think this was weird watch Jardowski's "I'm Paul" ending, which honestly, I still kind of would like to have seen. Mostly I just can't stop going back to it, even after the miniseries ran it's course for me. The miniseries I find to be dry, slow, cheap and overall a good example of what can go wrong with a slavishly faithful adaptation, like a movie written by wikipedia. The movie was going for crazy, and it got it, just maybe not exactly the right kind of crazy.
I dunno...Patrick Stewart running into battle screaming with a pug under his arm might be the most badass thing I've ever seen on film.
It's honestly probably the most enjoyable moment in the movie.
Like 👍 yes top notch
It's Patrick Stewart, he can make almost anything badass.
The Pug is there because Noble Houses of Yore used to have like a breed of dog associated with them
I dont recall dogs being in the book.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Lynch?"
I take it you've never seen Eraserhead. You hire Lynch to direct a movie, you get lynch directing your movie...
I mean.. still WAY less strange and closer to the original book than what Jodorowsky wanted...
There is one thing to note. Frank Herbert liked the film. And he got to see his magnum opus brought to life just before he died.
This is his direct quote:
“The story is there. They saved the story. It's all there. That's what the author worries about,” Herbert said. “It's a different language on that screen and if they’re adroit, and sensitive about picking their visual metaphors, the story comes off the screen.”
I feel like a moron now, because I have spent all these years believing every character in Dune was actually telepathic, and they'd been speaking to each other with their minds when all that monologuing was happening.
Dallas John I can't exactly blame you. To be fair, telepathy isn't any weirder than anything else in this movie.
Dallas John That was exactly what I thought. Movies just don't _have_ internal monologues.
@Dallas John, Schachter Factor, & Master Markus:
Aw, shit! You are morons. Lynch and others involved in the 1984 _Dune_ film drew that directly from Herbert's source-material novel, even though Fuckity-Fuck Boy in the video above didn't mention that, somehow didn't know it, but said that he read the book.
Telepathy!? Where in the fuck did you get that from!? Because I don't think you got it from the film!
Ahh, this review sucks, despite that The Dom has done at least a couple of very good reviews other than this one!
Code Optimization Ware No, it's a fair thought, especially when you are dealing with characters that can manipulate others verbally, see their future, somehow psychologically eavesdrop in conversations, predict the future, and other psycic aspects. I watched this with subtitles/captions and it honestly was the only way I was able to keep up with the internal monologues. At first I thought it was some form of thought projection as well. Perhaps if the first characters used for this application were not the psychically inclined characters it wouldn't lead people to that level of confusion. It certainly seems like they are having a conversation in the introductory scene with the emperor, that sets the experience for the rest of the film where the audience is asking themselves, "Are mother and son communicating telepathically? This must be because of their species."
Honestly, it wasn't until the doctor came onscreen that I realized all of the thoughts were strictly internal.
@@searchingfororion
The characters in the book itself wonder if The Bene Gesserit are telepathic, so I think it's a perfectly reasonable idea.
I've just sat and watched the majority of your videos and can now safely say I have literally no idea why you aren't swimming up to your neck in subscribers. Your production quality is absurdly high, and your humour's spot on. Just a little note to say keep on keeping on, your work is outstanding.
I totally agree WHY DOESNT HE HAVE MORE SUBS HES GREAT
people have bad taste, and hate taking the time to listen to someone explain smart things.
Hey, exurb1a, another outstanding British youtuber in the same place
I agree with you and there’s another reviewer that doesn’t get enough subscribers and is great his name is cinematic excremant
cat foy There's also Unusual Suspect.
An H.P.Lovecraft re-imagining of Peter Pan? I'd pay to see that. While we're at it, who wants to read a fan fic called Harry Potter and the Call of Cthulhu?
+Redfeild RE Given that the real Peter Pan from the book is a complete psychopath and possible murderer, a Lovecraft-inspired reimagining wouldn't be that difficult.
I’d pay $50 to read that
I have read a HP/Cthulhu cross, it was short piece where a vengeful Harry got hold of a copy of the Necronomicon and was using it drink people mad. He recalled a mention of some octopus creature and wondered if the Giant Squid wanted a buddy. Several weeks later the army comes to look around the crater where Hogwarts used to be.
That would be so awesome
Redfeild RE I read a great remake where Harry and Voldemort are best friends. Premise is Harry’s into space travel and science, so they bond over how bullshit the wizard if world is.
I admire your dedication to the craft in guzzling that bottle, even if it was just apple juice.
@Nathanael Unger:
AAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Good one, man! Best Comment I've read all week, or longer! WAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LMFAO
See his "Last Unicorn" review where he rapid fire drinks Red Bull
As someone who has actually drunken two or more litres of apple juice, it really does take dedication as it turns my insides to water
@@ashleightompkins3200 Eh, I prefer grape juice.
The SoCo must flow!
I can't believe you missed a major change. In the movie, they implicitly state that guild navigators fold space by using their spice evolved brains. In the book it is shown that Holtzman Engines fold the space, the navigators plot a safe course.
That makes their title much more abt as well. If they where the one's who folded space, they wouldn't be navigators but more akin to sails
9:39 heart plugs are also cannon, although the example in this movie is wrong, the baron got pleasure from suffering. pulling a heart plug results in nearly immediate almost painless death especially when considering what the baron was really in to. he didn't like meaningless death, but he could put a meaning on any death, frequently with torture as part of the message.
Well, the *soliloquy* is an accepted convention in Shakespeare, and THOSE aren’t even voiceovers. The actor is literally telling the audience what the character is thinking.
But that's the point, soliloquies are _not_ inner monologue. They're just the character thinking out loud (the word even means "talking to oneself"). There's a difference. Soliloquies can work just fine because of how they're _framed,_ but the voiceover just comes off as awkward and confusing. Which is weird, when you think about it, considering it works fine in animation.
Plus soliloquy is THEATRE, if you want a soliloquy then adapt Dune as a play
@@RabblesTheBinxNo it doesn't. Unless you also think anime inner monologue voiceovers are awkward and confusing.
To be fair, Lynch's way of portraying the various internal monologues is pretty much the same approach as the one used by the Deathnote anime. And it worked pretty well for Light and L
FYI; The spoken-in-loud thoughts is a very common trope in anime. I'm not saying Dune can be excussed because of this, but i've seen good use made with this trope over the years, so i would'nt say it's "dumb". Just missused.
yeah, specifically in anime it tends to be more dynamic, in high octane, or stressful scenes. to represent this, the voices used for thoughts HAVE FUCKING EMOTION AND ARENT WHISPERING
I thought it was well executed. Fucking Millennials have zero imagination.
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 well your thoughts are fucking stupid then
Also happens in original dark crystal movie... Poorly.
The problem with its use in Dune is that it never shuts up and it's often used in really silly moments (cue Paul with a pug inner monologuing about the room he's in). Inner monologue narration is an artform that Lynch clearly didn't know how to use.
It is also sad that the film concentrated so much on the "Messiah" angle that it overlooked all the forshadowing to later books about how much he abuses this role for his personal revenge at the cost of sterilizing whole planet with the Jihad that eventually follows it.
A book (made clearer in the later books though) that so much lampshaded and deconstructed "The heros journey" and "The One".
the book was a warning AGAINST a messiah because of their danger his son Leto who became god emperor knew that and to save humanity had himself killed
I believe Paul and his son discuss the various visions and debate which is best. Paul says he saw that even if he had died, by the time he had ridden the great sandworm, that the jihad would have happen anyways. So he chose the future with the fewest deaths, via jihad and then chose to become the old wandering man in the desert.
Actually if you want to add more nightmare fuel to the whole "Lynch could've directed Return Of The Jedi", Jabba The Hutt wasn't originally revealed until that film, imagine what Lynch would've come up with for the design. Considering what the Guild and The Baron were designed as in Dune, I'm only imagining what he would've come up with.
+Morbius Fitzgerald I'm already convinced Lynch may have had a part in making Jabba's character in the star wars franchise
+Michael Lamere Jabba is meant to be a fairly normal space human in a planning sketch...
They filmed a scene with him in the original. He was just a short fat guy with a fur coat. In the special edition they placed a CG Jabba over him.
AAAAAAH
AAAAAH
AAAAAH
@@koatam well the plan was always to replace him with a creature in post they just never got around to it
I remember waking up to this in the middle of the night and it was playing automatically on cable tv. It seemed like such a fever dream
Just finished watching the new amazing Dune movie and I thought it would be fun to rewatch your review again. I love your random break downs of confusion 😂
I just watched it too, it was great. The only things I didn't like were that they cut the Baron's intro scene from the book (the one with the globe where he's in the shadows), and that they didn't change the voice into something more subtle.
Regardless of any point you make, or any argument for or against it - it is a failed adaptation. It's core point is the exact opposite of the core point of Dune Proper. Dune is the Story of how Heores and Godheads lie to us; and even they can not save us from the harm they cause. This film says Paul leaves Dune in Peace and Love and saves the day
I also suspect it is impossible to do the film without internal monologue.
Also, not to be rude bud, but the plot to kill the Duke was well known. It was never secret to anyone. It was about how everyone tried to level out of it, not they they knew of it.
Sadly, Hollywood will never make that. One of the things I liked the most about Dune is that Paul and his son are very cuestionable heroes, this and the mini-series are Disney-like versions of the story
The plot was well known yes, but the Guild involvement wasn't well known, that was known only after Paul had become (or had proven he was) the Kwisatz Haderach. The fremen thought that the Guild was on their side (kind of, sort of).
Have you seen Villeneuve's adaptation?
@@rufousthefox9766 yes we’ve all seen it and it wasn’t a good adaption.
You should do 'Holes'. That would be an interesting topic.
TDF9055 aka "Plot Holes"?
Frahamen I mean the Louis Sachar book and the film that he also wrote.
Agreed that was one of the few books I read before it's adaptation
Holes was a great book and also a great adaption! I'd love to see a video of that :D
TDF9055 I love Holes! Both the book and the film, which doesn’t get nearly the appreciation it should. Just look at that cast!
The internal monologues in this movie always made me so happy.
Who's watching this after the new movie kind of blew their minds?
The movie isn't a great adaptation, but man the soundtrack is fucking epic. Like every time I hear the music I get chills.
Thats how the Navigators were described in the sequels and prequels. Giant headed, tiny bodied,webbed fingered, space folding, drug taking baby people
No, the navigators were described in the second book as fish-like appearance with webbed hands and feet, the second book came out in 1969,there wasn't anything close to baby people, they could even swim in their tanks
The navigators never folded the space themselves, they simply plotted the safest course through prescience. It was Holtzmann engine that folded the space.
Somehow anime makes internal monologues work, I guess it's just an accepted convention of the medium.
*deadpan*
Yes, heavy drinking matches the tone to a guy drinking himself into a stooper goes *amazingly* with Ave Maria.
12:51
Just want to point out that the Fremen were multiracial as Arrakis was originally a prison colony similar to Australia.
Then why is their culture so middle eastern? Australian prison colonists were also not particularly diverse
Despite all the changes, I still found the movie highly entertaining. And the music is awesome.
Stephen5000 Toto did an amazing job on that soundtrack.
+Stephen5000 I must agree that the soundtrack and score for the Lynch production was superior. However, neither the movie nor the mini did justice to the novel and a truly faithful adaptation would need to be at least 10 hours long.
+Stephen5000 Best soundtrack ever
Paul the Roman Who would sit still for THAT?
@@Rgoid Perhaps the audience that were captivated by "Game of Thrones"?
I liked the inner monologues also, it added to the mystical tone.
Meanwhile, in 1985, my fifteen-year-old chums and I went to see Dune mostly because Sting was wearing leather space Speedos.
@ we were very, very confused. You can’t imagine.
@ I’m pretty creative, but not nearly weird enough to picture that, LOL.
Thank you so much for this show, Dom. To be honest, I don't think this novel should be adapted in a movie, it may be more successful as a TV series.
Let's just hope that someone up there on HBO is willing to adapt Dune as a TV series GoT style. With all the novels, they could have enough material to work with. Heck, I would love to see them adapting Jodorowsky's version of Dune.
I rather like the Sci-Fi miniseries. Yes it was made with $2 and a bottle of scotch, but it managed to actually get it all in accurately. Even though Denis Villeneuve's version is awesome but the Sci-Fi version is still my favorite version
Id love a reverse lost in adaptation. Like when a novelisation of a movie comes out with ealier, removed or changed things and how it changes things
Lmao when Paul caved in the floor with his voice. God the voice in the movie pisses me off. The book specifically said it was supposed to be extremely compelling and it was different for every person. Making them want to perform an action not microwaved radio voice filter. The book took so much into consideration, the Las guns and the shields specifically. Like I love how when the book finally fires the Las guns it was so intense because there was so much set up (the shield generators, the whole point of Yule’s betrayal was to set up the Las gun attack), and something that almost never happens again.
And I actually really respected and liked the Baron because the Baron wasn’t just some evil villain. He respected Duke Leto and wished they didn’t have to be enemies. He never wanted to torture the Duke because the Baron held royalty to such high esteem. Like, when you read about the Baron, besides his grotesque size, he was as mighty and graceful as you would expect from nobility.
It's ironic that once in the book they described his face as "cherubic"
Having not read the book, I loved this film! It has a feeling of epicness about it!
I wonder what Lynch's Return of the Jedi would've been like?
There's a 2 disc set of this movie that includes an extended cut and several deleted scenes. I'd recommend that fans of the book check that out if they were disappointed by the theatrical cut.
The inner head thing actually worked really well in one of my favourite TV shows Young Justice
I really wonder how anime makes inner monologues being spoken work almost across the board while western media sometimes does a good job (I'm looking at you, The End of the F***ing World) and other times... does Dune
You make a lot of fair points! To be honest, though, the movie's still a guilty pleasure of mine and possibly always will be. I'm well aware of the inconsistencies between the book and the movie as well as the many blatant flaws, but for some reason, I can't not love this adaptation. I can't really explain it. It's not even a so-bad-it's-good kind of enjoyment. It might be the music, the costumes, some of the effects and visual choices, the mood, certain scenes and dialogue, and, to be honest, I actually liked that weird inner-monologue thing. It was just weird enough to make sense to me. Perhaps if I'd watched the movie immediately after reading the book, I would have felt different, but by the time I got around to seeing the movie, three years had passed since I last read Dune.
*****
For sure, the project changed hands very often and by the time it go into David Lynch's hands, there was so much going on that things had to be added or changed last minute to suite various audiences, please the employers, etc. etc. and it almost didn't happen at all. I guess that's part of the fun in it for me, LOL: seeing what they managed to come up with despite the many obstacles.
It was all very real though, obviously, regardless of the circumstances surrounding it... I guess I'm not sure really what you mean by that.
*****
Well, it's not, really, considering they started several years before with a concept based very much off the book. In fact, one of the main concerns throughout the project was how they would ever be able to adapt such a complex and multi-layered story into a reasonable run time and still get people in the seats. The events shared between the book and the film have a clear causal connection, being that the movie was always intended to be an adaption of some kind, therefore not a coincidence.
I like the movie also. First time I saw it I was a bit upset as a book reader, but it grew on me. I usually say that it was too confusing for those that did not read the books and too different from the book for the fans of the book to like it. It does have it's bad parts and good parts, but I think the good parts outweigh the bad. Stellar cast, excellent music, some really good scenes like the spice mining. It compares very favorably to the miniseries, but the miniseries continuation is also good.
ChrisisisB
I haven't watched the miniseries, to be honest. I guess I'm just so used to Syfy's productions ranging from mediocre to brainless that I didn't really have a lot of hope for it. If so many people who read the book say it's good, though, I might have to check it out.
I just wish I understood what the hell happened in this movie
I actually love the movie.
Saw it as a lad, so it has nostalgia.
And I became quite the devoted Lynch fan later, and while I am aware of his thoughts on the movie now, I still can't help but be sucked into this adaptation.
The atmosphere is unrivaled.
But, you know, to each his own.
I would watch H. P. Lovecraft's reimagining of Peter Pan xD
7:40 - OH MY GOD! What's wrong with your faaaaaaaaaaaaaace?!?!
+Fozzie Droog Jar Jar is the key to everything
The David Lynch Dune adaptation is the worst thing that happened since my father.
Gotta admit though, the soundtrack by Toto is awesomely wonderful.
Yes. That was what the Navigators look like, as was revealed at the beginning of the second book.
Lynch obviously loved their grotesque appearance.
Wait, someone didn't get that Starship Troopers was satire?
Depends if the satire was good or not
The movie was. The book wasn't
+Manuelman Never hear the film called satire until the last 10 years. And it wasn't good satire.
+Manuelman Paul Verhoven's talents as a director are questionable at best but there has yet to be any adaptation of Heinleins works that are any good.
If you can find predestination on dvd, it did a good job on "all you zombies".
I've just watched the movie for the first time on Netflix....my first thought was "what the fuck am I watching?", The second thought was " I'm sure there's a lost in adaptation episode on this one. Must watch it!"
"You have to suffer for your art".
I think in THIS case, David Lynch was having a Hellraiseresque pain>pleasure high and viewers (especially Dom in both character and physically) suffered from it.
I agree with everything except the shields. They may not have looked exactly as described in the book but I really liked this "cubistic" style.
I saw this in the theater when I was 12, and then countless times on a VHS tape recorded off TV before I ever read the book, so I was much more forgiving of the changes and weirdness. I have read the book several times now and still enjoy the crazy movie!
Haven't seen the film but it seems like Lynch was going for some kind of pollution theme with the Harkonnens. The diseases, the HAZMAT suits, the appearance of their homeworld and even the fake flowers in the Baron's office all sort of play into that.
I utterly LOVE this movie, every version of it, even as a fan of the book! I'm not ashamed!
If you think the rain ending is weird, Jodorowsky was going to have Paul die, his soul inhabiting all the Fremen and the planet itself, Arakkis becoming sentient and green and then flying off as a messiah planet to save the other planets in the universe.
5:51 I felt my heart jump here, no joke.
Me when I first saw a frill shark:
Also me when I first saw that giant fetus from Resident Evil 8:
The worms not attacking Paul when he was in a Water of Life trance was I think a homage to Children of Dune, in which Leto II could control the worms. The way I interpret this scene is that the worms understood Paul's significance, and were worshiping him. I know it's not in the book, but it was a damn awesome scene, and I will still defend it.
You made an ERROR, ... Dogs were actually mentioned in the HERBERT books, albeit a genetically, tampered with, version , in the future, called CHAIRDOGS....OK so you get a pass on that one.
good...cause i love dogs
They also massaged you lol
Chairdogs first appeared in Heretics of Dune (the fifth book of the original series), which came out the same year as the Lynch film premiered in and well after principal photography finished, so it's still an adaptation fail (not to mention the fact that chairdogs are described as looking more like furry armchairs than actual dogs) and in no way an error on Dominic's part.
So . . . pugs are chairdogs.
Okay, after finishing the video, he admitted it was apple juice so that's good, but I would agree that drinking that much of anything all at once would really not feel good..... my sympathies.
Here because of the new Dune trailer
This movie is so hard to talk about. David Lynch didn't think he'd do a good job. As you stated, he had a ton of studio interference. He originally made a 3:00 hour film, but Dino di Laurentiis demanded he cut it to under 100 minutes. What it ended up with was an absolute mess. There's a 2:30 hour version that is available on Blu-Ray and DVD that is much, much better. However, that edit was not overseen by Lynch, and upon its creation, he disowned the film. It still has every issue you point out, especially the Baron, the Voice, and the internal monologue.
Are you going to do one for the Sci Fi Channel's adaptation of Dune? I've heard that's considered a bit more faithful
***** I would suggest watching it at least. Personally I love Lynch's Dune, even with how weird it is, and how much stuff they change. I understand how some people can watch it and go "WTF was that!?" but personally, I still love it. xD The Sci Fi version was a much better adaptation, but still changed some stuff. Still, overall, it's a good watch, as well as the follow-up Children of Dune they did.
TheRezro Heh, it's not even a guilty pleasure for me. I have no guilt for loving that movie. I am a proud Dune-Lynch fan. xD I liked the miniseries too, as it got a few of the characters more accurately, while also messing up a few of them that the Lynch movie didn't. Overall though, they were good attempts at tackling a pretty tough source material and making it a film. I own all of them.
happyninja42 Mmmmm. I would not say it´s a good movie but it has really interesting visuals. The worms are fantastic. The stillsuits are almost exactly as I imagined them and a lot of the designs of ships and technology was pretty awesome and unique.
But even if you didn't read the books, it´s a total mess. The constant internal monologue makes the passing eternal and most of the plot is not well explained or even suggested
Besides, the action scenes have no impact and a ton of characters are there just because they were in the book. They lose their main role and act as a watered version of themselves that makes little to no sense.
The Sci-Fi channel Dune is watchable. Their "Children of Dune" (Dune Messiah/Children of Dune), is actually quite good.
He did.
A lot of people feel that way about everything David does, and does embraces the "You Decide" mantra. He won't explain anything, what you take away is for your mind to decide.
You sir are a genius. LOL many times, especially on 'Satan gargling Listerine'. Well done and thank you.
I was going to say "take a shot every time a talented actor is underused" but you got the jist.
New Dune trailer made me want to watch this again.
I saw news on imdb, and the only thing hoping with is not turning out as a woke agenda movie, going from repulsive to stupid wouldn't be much of an improvement.
I want an animated version. At least the director can include it all. Animation lets you do a lot!
just came here after watching villenueve's dune.
its interesting to see, how he kept some of the decisions from this version: lots of bald dudes and vladimir flying for example
but the freemen are black now, huray
also really liked how denis solved the problem with showing how mentats work in a show dont tell kind of way
but imho linch version has better worm design
Im just trully happy to have a great adaptation after 3 failed attempts at bringing this story to screens
Black? I dont think so
Congratulations !
I didn't think a Dune review would come so soon, but I'm happy to see you did an amazing job on it.
Very funny, very good video. :)
I love all of the Dune Books, the third (in my opinion) is the best, because Pauls sister is a vastly more interesting character than he is. And we finally get some ideas of what the "golden path" is (i hope it's called golden path in english - only read german). But I don't remember whether Herbert introduced the golden path in the first or second book ... hmmmm.... too long ago.
Mhhhhhh .... where was I?
Oh yes, you are right "The Dom": We love your Lost in Adaption series, as it is the most interesting format of reviewing films I've seen in a long, long time and you execute it better every time.
The Spice tells me you are on a great path. At least I hope that was spice.
Ohhhh .... I can see Noises ...
Your reactions were hilarious, and made laugh in a way I hadn't in a while. Your points were valid. I still like the film, for nostalgia's sake.
As a person completely unfamiliar with Dune, this Harkonnen guy sounds like the Kingpin in space.
Have you seen the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune?
Check out 'Waterloo' (1970). That also makes use of the whispered internal monologue. I wonder if Lynch got the idea there. Admittedly, only the thoughts of Napoleon and Wellington (to a lesser extent) are shown rather than the entire cast.
I may be alone on this, but I thought the co-production TV mini series was way better.
Legend has it that even to this day the Dom's liver still hasn't fully recovered from this video
i would have liked to have seen jodorowsky's dune, instead of lynches
***** Awesome would be a cartoon version of Jodorowsky's version based directly on his production book. The images are stunning and beautiful, psychedelic, freakin' bad ass. It needs to be made. The book as lovingly and exuberantly expressed in those pages must be faithfully realized. It's a sin against humanity to not complete it.
realeala
For what i´ve seen in the Documentary it would be awesome but i´d still be pissed off by the fact that it deviates so much from the source material.
I mean....the duke letto gets amputated from every limb,paul is born from a blood drop,arrakis gets all watered up...
What´s the point?....why are you gonna take this work of art to put your own thoughts in to it?
i really like the book and the suspense and everything but i´m still waiting for a good adaptation. The series are Ok but they still look and feel like crap
realeala Go read Jodowsky's comic book, The Metabarons. A lot of elements that were in his adaptation of Dune are in that and it's probably the closest thing we'll ever get
FCKundo because he is an artist and that's what they do
tripdefect87 We'd get an even closer alternative if Jodorowsky ever got around to publishing his production pitch book, with all the concept art and storyboards in it.
I honestly don't understand why Jodorowsky never had that book published. Yeah, I know he's fiercely against money and capitalism, but he also wants the world to enjoy his story. Publishing the pitch book would be the best way for him to achieve that!
I've loved both the books and the film for decades now... thank you for showing me how bleeding wrong i was on the second part of that equation. yes, the film is cutely camp and fun as hell, but can you imagine being Herbert and seeing THAT THING on the BIG SCREEN >???
Who else is here after watching Dom's most recent Dune video?
me
Personally, I think forcing Thufir to milk a cat that has a rat taped to it was the best part of the movie and I remain convinced to this day that it had nothing to do with the poison, the Baron was just fucking with him.
In an alternate universe, Dune is a revered classic, and Return of the Jedi destroyed the franchise.
That would be a better place to live.
Dune Producers: David Lynch! We have a problem!
David Lynch: What is it?
Dune Producers: This movie is shit!
David Lynch: Hmmm... you're right... quick! Throw some dogs in there! That'll save this movie like a new baby will save their parents' marriage!
(At least that's what I think happened behind the scenes to explain the unnatural inclusion of the dogs 🤷🏼♀️)
7:29 “I’m pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to sound like Satan gargling Listerine.”
LOL!
i think in one of the versions of the film they did mention that Paul's son was killed in the raid.. he wakes beside his wife and says "our son is dead".. and then begins his big battle with this knowledge ..
Please do the TV minisieries too!
Confession: I liked the internal monologues.
Movie may be best described as "What the fuck did I just see?" indeed, but my 12 year old self found it fascinating.
The Spice Must Flow!
@ 9:47 I'm pretty sure that Rabban is juicing a sandtrout, which is the larval stage of the sandworms of Dune. In the third Dune book, Children of Dune, it is said that the Fremen would squeeze the sandtrout and drink the spice rich fluid that came out of them, which would give them a great rush of energy. So it's basically like drinking a Red Bull.
Sandtrout are shown in the film, they're much larger than that. EDIT: it's been a long time since I read Children of Dune, but I don't remember anything like that.
It's not a secret...
It's called a 'Squood'
Native vermin/snack on Geidi Prime
That they would crush a living thing to immediately consume its fluids was just another little visual demonstration of the Harkonens callousness & brutality. :^)
There were tales of some issues with the Squoods on set actually as in:
"We have a dry squood over here!"
..not every day is perfection lol.
That actually makes sense!
They did the outloud thoughts thing in war and peace
"Did Paul just become the dragon born!?"
I died XD!
I'm really loving your videos , I've only recently stumbled upon your channel and have been marathoning your videos all weekend , keep up the good work !
When asking, "Is the kind of stuff you got off on, Lynch?" I realized that you've probably never seen his other movies. The man is a loon.
I remember the 'Heart Plugs' from the Dune movie, creeped me out as a kid. Dunno why my parents let me see this movie as a kid, or maybe they didn't realise, I dunno.
You make me want to read the book. Thank you.
You should look at SyFy Channels adaption of Dune -- it stayed closer to the important concepts, such as the still suits; a cunning, morbidly obese man needing antigrav to walk; etc. It also was a miniseries over 3 nights, adding up to approximately 4 1/2 + hours of intricate story.
It has flaws but it is still one of the best SF films out there. Novels and films are different media and require different solutions. Worth pointing out Herbert liked the film and the spice navigator design.
I think I would actually pay to have the nose line from Darth Vader in cannon
Sigh...I sometimes think I'm the only one who loved the '84 version and thought is was superior to the 2000's mini-serials. :-/
the baron floated in the movie because once they put the fat suit on the actor he was unable to walk, so they strung him up via harness and found that that was easier than trying to replicate what was in the book.
you can say whatever the hell you want about the movie but i love it! I know lots of people who love it! i think it looks stunning and i love the fact that it looks weird and definitely not mainstream! It's very theatrical and onirical. I simply love it!
It’s a terrible adaptation and film but it is worth watching I might see it for myself
There is simple way of knowing who is thinking at any given time. First off, the actor is shown on the screen by themselves; and second, its their voice. I know this is tricky to unravel that enigma, but it is rather easy.
It's an odd coinckidink that both you and SF debris posted a Dune review on pretty much the same day. You also joined Channel Awesome during similar times.... Is there a Superman/Clark Kent thing going on? O.e
I have to second Gidiwouu, Cloud Atlas does sound like a fun thing to hear you dissect!
the Baron was fat because he was poisoned for betraying the Bene gesserit. He was actually good looking way back in time.
I absolutely loved this movie when I saw it as a kid (probably to young), the politics and worldbuilding, the mysticism, the odd production design. It's what got me into classic SF lit. I know part of that is because I couldn't see the flaws as clearly at that age but I still think some parts hold up. First the acting is first class. Prochnow, Stewart, Von Sydow and Ferrer bring in all their 80s character actor gravitas. Even MacLachlan is more watchable than the whiny YA film reject the miniseries cast as the universe's super being. Second, production design is interesting (if weird) and the music (by Toto) is great.
I'll admit the script is rough around the edges (although still passable by modern Hollywood standards) and some of the adaptation decisions, whether from Lynch or DiLaurentis, were questionable at best. I'll also agree with you the Lynchian fetishistic weirdness is out of place with the tone of the story, but it's part of the overall attempt to make 8000 years in the future look familiar but alien. A failed attempt then. Overall I think it gets the tone and themes somewhat right, a controversial position I know. I maintain that the film tries to put the viewer in the place of a bystander swept up in the excitement of following a prophet into a holy war while trying at the same time to give a glimpse behind the curtain at the manipulations involved. Another failed attempt, but It worked brilliantly on a ten year old in 1986.
For example I argue the movie implies (at least longer versions) that Paul had one of the Fremen's great water stockpiles injected into the storm at the end in a grand propaganda move to make in rain at just the right time and play the part of a god, not that he was one. I don't have an explanation for the shout power, sigh, an advanced form of the voice perhaps? Anyway it makes sense instead of explaining the concept of transforming to 1980s movie viewers to use the rain as a way to show his consciously embodying the Fremen's dream of transforming their home. If you think this was weird watch Jardowski's "I'm Paul" ending, which honestly, I still kind of would like to have seen.
Mostly I just can't stop going back to it, even after the miniseries ran it's course for me. The miniseries I find to be dry, slow, cheap and overall a good example of what can go wrong with a slavishly faithful adaptation, like a movie written by wikipedia. The movie was going for crazy, and it got it, just maybe not exactly the right kind of crazy.
I've rewatched this after seeing 2021's Dune and I can't wait for a new Lost in Adaptation
Same!
I love both the book and Lynch's adaptation.
Thank you so much for doing this. How you felt about the Prisoner I've felt about Dune.