Dune 198411/6/2022 ![]() There’s also some grain present, as you’d expect from a movie of this vintage.Īrrow also went above and beyond with this set, commissioning new bonus features and throwing in a set of cards with film stills, a poster, and a 58-page perfect-bound book packed with new and old interviews and essays. It has a more muted color palette, so there aren’t a lot of vibrant colors that can pop off the screen, like Arrow’s Flash Gordon 4K, but the contrast is stunning, with deep black levels and no evidence of edge enhancement or other computerized processing. ![]() While Lynch has stayed away from the movie and thus didn’t sign off on the restoration, the film looks beautiful here. It may be worth tracking down, if you really want to see it, but this version is clumsy, with pre-production artwork used during its opening prologue and deleted footage reinserted with little regard – for example, the same shots are repeated multiple times during House Harkonnen’s attack on House Atreides.Īrrow made an investment in restoring the theatrical version of Dune in 4K from the camera negative. Universal put it out on DVD in 2005, but I’m not sure if there are any other home video releases of it. (I know a lot of people worked long and hard on those effects, but they really pale in comparison to other science-fiction movies of that time period.)Ī longer version of the film exists, but it’s not a true Director’s Cut, since Lynch has disowned it and insisted that his credit be changed to “Alan Smithee,” which is common among directors who take their names off movies. ![]() Like one of its contemporary sci-fi flops, 1980’s Flash Gordon, Dune has been remembered for the audacity of what it set out to accomplish, even if it produced mixed results.įor my money, Dune is a movie with a really solid setup that’s done in by a second half that feels rushed in many ways, between the Cliff’s Notes feeling of the storytelling and the mediocre special effects that probably didn’t make anyone at ILM envious. The 1984 version of Dune was a box office failure, but it became something of a novelty during the years since. Scott's print review in the Globe and Mail was equally blistering. "When Dune is not inept, confusing, ridiculous or unpleasant, it's boring," he wrote.As for Lynch’s version, well, it’s very likely you’ve made up your mind about this film at some point during the last 37 years since its release. "It's kind of endless pretentiousness, and a real obsession with bodies opening up and emitting various kinds of noxious fluids. I found it not only not fun to watch, but repulsive." "I think this is probably the worst thing that is being released this Christmas," he said. Scott had a low opinion of Dune, however. "It's very intense from the beginning to the end." "Impressed by the visual effects, impressed by the soundtrack also." "I'm not a science-fiction buff myself, but I have to admit I was impressed by the film," he said. Gay had more positive things to say while appearing on The Journal. In a roundup of some much-anticipated movies playing the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021, writer March Mercanti called the 1984 version of Dune "a trainwreck of an adaptation which critics absolutely hated," though Mercanti was careful to clarify that "no shade" was meant for "applauded director David Lynch." The Globe and Mail's Jay Scott, on the other hand, found the film "repulsive." Richard Gay, a critic who wrote for Montreal's Le Devoir newspaper, said he was "impressed" by the visual effects and the music in Dune. (Film excerpt from Universal Pictures/Dino Di Laurentiis Productions) 2:35 Critic Jay Scott says he decidedly didn't. 2:35 In 1984, film reveiwer Richard Gay tells the CBC's Bill Cameron he liked the movie Dune. ![]()
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