Lynch's Dune

[trekgeezer]

When Paul does "take over", his real undoing is the fact that he can see the future but can't change it. He comes to the conclusion that the future he sees is the one he makes through the actions he takes to change it. He finds himself caught in box from which he can't escape.

[Diablo44]

Smithee - I went to see the movie at just about the same age with my younger brother and my dad while my mother had a tupperware party. I remember him thinking it would be a "Star Wars"-like Sci-Fi romp to bring his young boys to. When Sting showed up in a pewter codpiece, I think all 3 of us were completely flummoxed. Floating obese bad guys. I remember thinking the "name activated guns" were cool and pretending to do that the day after. I remember Dad distinctly saying, "What the hell was that?!" on the way out. I've never gotten into the books or the games associated with the stories, but the movie definitely made it's mark on me.

[Ed]

HA... My dad took me to see Dune once and it was the same thing.  He had no idea what was going on, I had read the book before so had more idea.  But when you are 12, you can't explain it to your father.  I also thought the sonic guns were nifty.
-Ed

[Alan Smithee]

I think my dad slept through the movie.

It might've been Arthur C. Clarke that initially compared the DUNE to LOTR.

One thing I "like" about the movie was how sadistic Lynch made the Harkonnens:
the heart plugs
the warts all over the Baron's face
The shaved cat,,, etc.

Unfaithful to the book but the movie left quite an impression on me at the time.

[Archivist]

I cannot remember which I saw/read first - the books or the movie.  I do remember reading the original Dune book when I was really quite young, maybe nine or ten, and it had a great impact on me.

When Dad and I watched the movie together, I remember him saying that the weapons training scene was rather like in a Hong Kong movie (Dad was a big HK action movie buff).

I have read all of the original books several times but none of the newer books.  I love the older books as they create an entire world based around the manipulation and presentation of perceptions, and a central theme is the use of religion as a tool of mass scale influence.  The members of that religion make no bones about the fact that they do this.  Then there are the themes of supernormal skill development based on training, trainee selection and selective breeding...

I still have to get the movie on DVD.  That would fill a void in my collection.

~Archivist~

[BoyScoutKevin]

By Jove, I think Ed has got it,.

For me, the best of both worlds would be a television miniseries using the cast and crew from the film. Of course, the cost of such would most likely be prohibitive.

[The Burgomaster]

This may be the worst main-stream movie I have ever seen.

[Cheecky-Monkey]

Can't say I really liked this one. Some nice special effects but it just felt like another one of the many 80's space-themed, Star Wars inspired films. Not really worth watching.

[Zapranoth]

Bleh.  The movie was so bad it was darned watchable.  Soooooo bad.  So frickin' bad that the one-liners were fodder for me and my best friend for years.

Some of the more gratuitously obnoxious and unintentionally hilarious moments:

Yueh hissing, "the tooth!  the tooth! the tooth!" with that Unnecessary Zoom closeup.

Sting braying:  "I WILL KILL HIM!"  'nuff said.

Piter's little monotone nursery rhyme about the spice setting his mind in motion.

Paul:  "they tried and failed?"   Mohiam, flatly: "They tried and died."

And that Harkonnen who says that priceless line, "Put the pick in, Pete.  And spin it round, real neat" or however that one went.

And that's just what I can remember right now.

Bloody!   Awful!