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Frank Herbert's Dune (TV Miniseries) (Director's Cut Special Edition) Customer Reviews (10 - 12 of 75 Reviews)

A Novel Attempt at Production
At this point, I believe this is the best production of the Frank Herbert SciFi classic. Obviously the book is much more comprehensive and rewarding, but this production certainly attempts to address some of the depth intended by the author. The problem with any of these sophisticated novels is how to translate it into an abridged film production, keep the narrative moving, and satisfy all of those bookworm SciFi gurus who expect every detail to be in order. There's also the problem of creating a production that only the book readers will understand. There are some parts of this film where I feel this is true, but in general, I enjoyed this offering. The "worm" and general settings are somewhat realistic and the special effects are adequate. I highly recommend the Director's Cut version with the additional footage. I found the extra 30 minutes or so to be relevant, and the special features give a credible insight into the production of the film, director's vision, and treatment. There's also an interesting short discussion on the "messiah complex," which makes things relevant to spiritual issues today.

Nice attempt betrayed by poor script
I wanted to like this movie. Dune has yet to receive good treatment in film. Alas! ...it is still waiting.

The sets & CGI were decent, on par for the time of the release of the mini-series. The acting was at about the same level, when you ignore William Hurt on quaaludes. The script, however was atrocious.

Rule #1 in film-making: DON'T TELL ME. SHOW ME! The lines were so bad in the beginning, it may as well be marked "Introduction." The characters tell each other facts that each would know a hundred times over. Baron Harkonnen tells of his nefarious plans in a way seen in B-movies & cartoons. Your viewers are science fiction fans; they are accustomed to thinking: Let the viewers figure a few things out.

The script is also run-over with cliches. The knife-fight scene started out ok. But then dialogue lines of how the student was now better than the master... they were groaning with age. And capped off with another cliche, where Paul ends the fight with a knife held at the master's face, only to have the camera pan down, showing the master with a knife poised at Paul's gut. How many times have you seen that in film?

Another cliche: The scene where the Duke & Paul rescue the spice miners. The worm is approaching. Everybody stands around staring at it, even one guy still standing there after everybody has boarded. Finally, he gets on board. The ornithopter takes off, with an extended climactic scene barely escaping the maw of a worm. The viewer is just left thinking: "The heroes survived through luck; they're not particularly bright." Very poorly written.

Dune still awaits good film treatment, starting with a talented script-writer.

Good job...
It's funny because my girlfriend bought me this 2000
version of the Sci-Fi dune AFTER I had seen the "better"
2003 version. Between the two, I would choose this one.
The "improvements" they made were not really that
favorable to me. Like I always say, no one can really
capture the ssence of Dune in a movie, but this is
probably the best attempt I've seen. I still LOVE
Lynch's version, because I am a huge David Lynch
fan anyways and he can add an element of magic,
psychadelia, and darkness that I feel is absolutely
mandatory in a Dune movie-- and somewhat lacking in the
Sci-Fi versions. Still, I have to credit the Sci-Fi
version for pulling things -directly- from the book,
the transfer from book to screenplay was excellent.

Basically Lynch's has: Magic, morbid curiousity,
psychadelic visions and the best depiction ever of
capturing the spice trances. Basically, Ambiance.

The Sci versions: more directly taken from the novels,
more "true to the story", but some overall average
acting took away from this a bit. Strangely enough
even though this version and the 2003 version aren't
supposed to be that different, I think they are,
and I prefer this one by far.

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