Dune (1984)
Country: US
Technical: col/scope 140m
Director: David Lynch
Cast: Francesca Annis, José Ferrer, Kyle MacLachlan, Max von Sydow, Sting, Rachel Young, Brad Dourif, Freddie Jones, Siân Phillips, Linda Hunt
Synopsis:
The waterless planet of Arrakis is the focus of a galaxy-wide struggle for control of production of the spice melange, which gives the user second sight and the ability to bend space. As the house Atreides, one of a number of feuding dynasties, is given suzerainty over Arrakis, its heir Paul Atreides becomes dimly aware that they are walking into a trap and that his destiny is inextricably bound up with that of the desert planet, also known as Dune.
Review:
Frank Herbert's doorstop science-fiction classic, itself the founder of a veritable dynasty of novels, was so complex and sprawling that a conventional movie treatment was bound to be problematic. The film falls into one extreme, that of leaving nothing important out of the action; unfortunately the screenplay omits to join the dots and the unenlightened viewer can be left floundering for guidance amid all the political subplots and invented language. There is also evidence of a compromised production, with some actors barely given a speaking role before being despatched (Silvano Mangano, to name the most obvious), and characterisations consequently given no screen time to embed themselves. The result is that there is little empathy on offer here, especially once Paul becomes near-invincible as a messianic figure leader for good. There are, nevertheless, many compensations in this screen adaptation: the production design, with its ornate interiors and desertscapes traversed by giant worms, Lynch's eye for transcendental imagery, Freddie Francis's cinematography and Toto' music, and the lovely Francesca Annis.
Country: US
Technical: col/scope 140m
Director: David Lynch
Cast: Francesca Annis, José Ferrer, Kyle MacLachlan, Max von Sydow, Sting, Rachel Young, Brad Dourif, Freddie Jones, Siân Phillips, Linda Hunt
Synopsis:
The waterless planet of Arrakis is the focus of a galaxy-wide struggle for control of production of the spice melange, which gives the user second sight and the ability to bend space. As the house Atreides, one of a number of feuding dynasties, is given suzerainty over Arrakis, its heir Paul Atreides becomes dimly aware that they are walking into a trap and that his destiny is inextricably bound up with that of the desert planet, also known as Dune.
Review:
Frank Herbert's doorstop science-fiction classic, itself the founder of a veritable dynasty of novels, was so complex and sprawling that a conventional movie treatment was bound to be problematic. The film falls into one extreme, that of leaving nothing important out of the action; unfortunately the screenplay omits to join the dots and the unenlightened viewer can be left floundering for guidance amid all the political subplots and invented language. There is also evidence of a compromised production, with some actors barely given a speaking role before being despatched (Silvano Mangano, to name the most obvious), and characterisations consequently given no screen time to embed themselves. The result is that there is little empathy on offer here, especially once Paul becomes near-invincible as a messianic figure leader for good. There are, nevertheless, many compensations in this screen adaptation: the production design, with its ornate interiors and desertscapes traversed by giant worms, Lynch's eye for transcendental imagery, Freddie Francis's cinematography and Toto' music, and the lovely Francesca Annis.
Country: US
Technical: col/scope 140m
Director: David Lynch
Cast: Francesca Annis, José Ferrer, Kyle MacLachlan, Max von Sydow, Sting, Rachel Young, Brad Dourif, Freddie Jones, Siân Phillips, Linda Hunt
Synopsis:
The waterless planet of Arrakis is the focus of a galaxy-wide struggle for control of production of the spice melange, which gives the user second sight and the ability to bend space. As the house Atreides, one of a number of feuding dynasties, is given suzerainty over Arrakis, its heir Paul Atreides becomes dimly aware that they are walking into a trap and that his destiny is inextricably bound up with that of the desert planet, also known as Dune.
Review:
Frank Herbert's doorstop science-fiction classic, itself the founder of a veritable dynasty of novels, was so complex and sprawling that a conventional movie treatment was bound to be problematic. The film falls into one extreme, that of leaving nothing important out of the action; unfortunately the screenplay omits to join the dots and the unenlightened viewer can be left floundering for guidance amid all the political subplots and invented language. There is also evidence of a compromised production, with some actors barely given a speaking role before being despatched (Silvano Mangano, to name the most obvious), and characterisations consequently given no screen time to embed themselves. The result is that there is little empathy on offer here, especially once Paul becomes near-invincible as a messianic figure leader for good. There are, nevertheless, many compensations in this screen adaptation: the production design, with its ornate interiors and desertscapes traversed by giant worms, Lynch's eye for transcendental imagery, Freddie Francis's cinematography and Toto' music, and the lovely Francesca Annis.