Roger Ebert declared it “a real mess, an incomprehensible, ugly, unstructured, pointless excursion into the murkier realms of one of the most confusing screenplays of all time.” One of the least negative reviews called it “ hollow.” Mainstream audiences at the time seemed to agree, if they cared to try it at all, but the film has developed a fond cult following who either accept or celebrate its disastrous nature. Lynch’s Dune was widely panned in its time. Anyone invested in either should be able to find something in their combined power, even if they find the execution a touch messy. For all of its faults (more on those below), Lynch’s Dune does represent an open and thoughtful engagement between an artist with a strong singular vision and a famous text. But what they say and the story they inhabit is better grounded in the original book. Its characters-led by future Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan in his first ever role-even speak in a recognizably Lynchian rhythm.

It’s peppered with surreal touches and underscored by a sense of the uncanny. The movie firmly establishes its own world that doesn’t look or sound like anything that came before it. The exceptionally promising but still young filmmaker only had two feature films ( Eraseherhead and The Elephant Man) under his belt when he tackled Dune. Not to mention how best to balance the characters, perspectives, backstory, plot points, concepts, themes and personal touches that make the cut. The major stumbling block for everyone who has tried hasn’t been a matter of how to bring it to the screen, but how much of its almost 500 pages (not including the appendixes) they can and should include. Many of its most iconic scenes-Paul Atreides’ shield practice, his visions of a mysterious woman he feels he knows, the Reverend Mother’s test, Lady Jessica using the voice, the appearance of Baron Harkonnen-have successfully made the leap from the page multiple times now, with each variation offering its own effective mix of faithfulness to the text and artistic license.ĭune isn’t so much unfilmable as it is uncontainable. Its landscapes, its technology, its people and its fantastical creatures, from the sandworms to the guild navigator, are all primed for visual realization. There’s a great deal about Dune that is inherently cinematic, though.

The dune chronicles