aramis-112-804880
"Dune" had one of the finest casts ever assembled. Francesca Annis, Freddie Jones, Dean Stockwell, Jose Ferrer, Brad Dourif, Sian Phillips, Patrick Stewart, Max von Sydow, Sean Young . . . why, even Sting shows up (quite a lot of himself; and, according to the special features, he might have shown off even more!) Sure, most of those actors are a bit on the "cult" side, but they're all solid talent.The source material was a little more iffy. DUNE is a BIG book, and so different it carries a glossary of terms author Frank Herbert coined (well, in lots of cases, ripped off). And adapting the book for the screen was a delicate balancing act, as Herbert fans are, in their bookish way, as fanatical as Star fans (Trek or Wars).The surprising thing was that a movie this size, costing forty million dollars in an era when a movie's price tag was part of its marketing, was entrusted to David Lynch. Until that time Lynch's most normal movie was "The Elephant Man." Lynch, who enjoys focusing on the weird and the frankly disgusting made Herbert's novel even more weird and disgusting. Whenever the Harkonnens appear onscreen, lay aside your popcorn.For all that, the streamlined story is compelling; and while the effects are purely 1984, the sets are gorgeous. It's always eye-catching. The major problem with the movie is that most of the more interesting and/or likeable characters get killed, incapacitated or go AWOL at about the half-way mark. Since this movie is nearly two and a half hours long, that means a long stretch of near-tedium before the climax.The second half of the movie is dominated by the people Paul Atreides needs to free (part of the myth popular among left-leaning artist that normal people can't do anything for themselves, they need a "strong man" or woman or government to come and break their shackles; without some outsider who is nobler and higher and richer and more educated telling them how to go it's a wonder they can feed themselves or tie their shoes).The second half of the movie has the normal people played by Everett McGill and Sean Young, and they're perfectly fine. But after the freak actors and carefully-nuanced performances of the first half, the come off unfortunately bland. It's not their fault. They're doing the best. They're parts simply aren't written in intriguing ways. Because the movie's first half is so compelling and has so many great performers doing their best to chew the scenery, it deserves more than five stars out of ten. But Lynch lets the side down in the boring second half.
sharonyovanoff
This is an incredible and above all visually stunning adaptation of what is in many science fiction lovers' opinions, including my own, the greatest SF/fantasy novel ever written.The movie is not quite as amazing as the novel, with David Lynch giving it the "David Lynch treatment" and twisting it into an even more fantastical story. What you can't say is it's not interesting. Love it or hate it your eyes will be glued to the screen and you will certainly never be "bored" by any of the visuals you will see.And what visuals they are!The effects were definitely way ahead of the game for their time and in my opinion should have earned the Academy Award that year (the movie did receive one nomination).Check it out if you haven't seen it.
