Dune
Year: 1984
Director: David Lynch
Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Kenneth McMillan & Sting
Runtime: 137 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 08/09/21
Director: David Lynch
Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Kenneth McMillan & Sting
Runtime: 137 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 08/09/21
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune has been one of my most highly anticipated films for some time now. For the longest time I knew nothing about the story, or the book on which the film is based. But I love all of Villeneuve previous works with Enemy, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049 being among my all-time favourite films. In my eyes, Villeneuve could go toe to toe with David Fincher for my all-time favourite director. So, with Dune releasing in just a few days, I thought I should do a little background research and watch the 1984 film adaptation by David Lynch. Regarded as one of the most ambitious sci-fi films ever made, I had high expectations. Unfortunately, it seems as though Lynch’s Dune missed the mark so hard that it's even lowered my expectations for Villeneuve’s adaptation.
In the far future the universe is ruled by Emperor Shaddam IV ((Jose Ferrer) and the most valuable substance in existence is the drug Spice Melange which is only found on one planet in the universe, Arrakis, where it must be mined from the extremely hazardous deserts.
When fears begin to circulate about someone planning to disrupt Spice mining operations, the Emperor is advised to destroy their allies House Atreides, and kill Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan), the Duke’s son, with the help of the Harkonnens, enemies of the Atriedes.
When the plan goes awry and Paul escapes, he discovers that he is the prophesised leader of the indigenous people of Arrakis, the Fremen, and that he is destined to help them claim back their home from the Empire.
In the far future the universe is ruled by Emperor Shaddam IV ((Jose Ferrer) and the most valuable substance in existence is the drug Spice Melange which is only found on one planet in the universe, Arrakis, where it must be mined from the extremely hazardous deserts.
When fears begin to circulate about someone planning to disrupt Spice mining operations, the Emperor is advised to destroy their allies House Atreides, and kill Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan), the Duke’s son, with the help of the Harkonnens, enemies of the Atriedes.
When the plan goes awry and Paul escapes, he discovers that he is the prophesised leader of the indigenous people of Arrakis, the Fremen, and that he is destined to help them claim back their home from the Empire.
That is a very rough synopsis of the story that I’m sure doesn’t adequately convey what the story is actually about and that’s mostly because Dune’s story is totally incoherent. David Lynch’s Dune is a collection of concepts and ideas cobbled together by complicated and nonsensical dialogue that’s probably been taken verbatim from the book. It makes no attempt to explain what’s happening, and throughout the two hour and twenty-minute runtime there is a constant barrage of new characters and concepts introduced with none of them having any sort of explanation as to why they’re relevant.
I can’t remember the names of over half of the characters Dune introduces, and mostly because the only characters that seem to have a direct influence on the story (from what I could tell) are Paul and the main antagonist Vladimir Harkonnen (Kenneth McMillan). Everyone else is just there, and they speak in such cryptic riddles that I could rarely tell what was actually happening.
The pacing is awful as well which really didn’t help. I felt like I was wading through tar whilst watching this film. I hadn’t even noticed that the film had a traditional second act as it went from setting up the story for almost two hours and then jumping directly into the final battle.
This slog of a film was made even worse by all the horrendous acting performances. Everyone was so over the top it could probably be mistaken for a pantomime, everyone other than MacLachlan that is who delivered his lines with all the charisma of soggy bread. There were also a lot of times where characters inner monologues would be voiced to the audience, and it was always hilariously bad because the camera would usually just focus on their stoic face as some useless exposition that makes little to no sense is voiced.
I think the actor that takes the crown for the worst performance in the film though is Sting who plays Vladimir’s nephew. Most of the time he’s on screen it seems as though he’s having a seizure and can hardly get a word out without jumping around or pulling a stupid face.
I can’t remember the names of over half of the characters Dune introduces, and mostly because the only characters that seem to have a direct influence on the story (from what I could tell) are Paul and the main antagonist Vladimir Harkonnen (Kenneth McMillan). Everyone else is just there, and they speak in such cryptic riddles that I could rarely tell what was actually happening.
The pacing is awful as well which really didn’t help. I felt like I was wading through tar whilst watching this film. I hadn’t even noticed that the film had a traditional second act as it went from setting up the story for almost two hours and then jumping directly into the final battle.
This slog of a film was made even worse by all the horrendous acting performances. Everyone was so over the top it could probably be mistaken for a pantomime, everyone other than MacLachlan that is who delivered his lines with all the charisma of soggy bread. There were also a lot of times where characters inner monologues would be voiced to the audience, and it was always hilariously bad because the camera would usually just focus on their stoic face as some useless exposition that makes little to no sense is voiced.
I think the actor that takes the crown for the worst performance in the film though is Sting who plays Vladimir’s nephew. Most of the time he’s on screen it seems as though he’s having a seizure and can hardly get a word out without jumping around or pulling a stupid face.
The only saving grace of Dune is that the cinematography and score are both very good. A lot of the films wider shots are gorgeous, and the special effects used are also good for the time. This combined with a really awesome score composed by Toto (yes, the same one who performed the iconic Africa) made Dune somewhat bearable for the duration. But it’s not worth enduring for these two components alone.
David Lynch’s Dune is a monumental mess of a film. How you take one of the most highly regarded directors of his time and then pair it with one of the most beloved sci-fi novels ever written to then produce such a dumpster fire of a film I will never be able to comprehend. Avoid this film at all costs, I wish I could get those 137 minutes back, but unfortunately the knowledge that I have wasted my life watching this rubbish will follow me to the grave.
Maybe I’m missing the point, maybe there’s some punchline I’m just not seeing. But as to how anyone could possibly think that this version of Dune is good entertainment is beyond me. I have now heavily adjusted my hype for Villeneuve’s attempt at adapting this story, but one can only hope that he’ll learn from Lynch’s mistakes and create a film that’s even remotely enjoyable.
David Lynch’s Dune is a monumental mess of a film. How you take one of the most highly regarded directors of his time and then pair it with one of the most beloved sci-fi novels ever written to then produce such a dumpster fire of a film I will never be able to comprehend. Avoid this film at all costs, I wish I could get those 137 minutes back, but unfortunately the knowledge that I have wasted my life watching this rubbish will follow me to the grave.
Maybe I’m missing the point, maybe there’s some punchline I’m just not seeing. But as to how anyone could possibly think that this version of Dune is good entertainment is beyond me. I have now heavily adjusted my hype for Villeneuve’s attempt at adapting this story, but one can only hope that he’ll learn from Lynch’s mistakes and create a film that’s even remotely enjoyable.