Dune

Release Date: 1984 Running Time: 90 minutes Rated: PG

As we all prepare for the highly anticipated Dune, directed by Denis Villeneuve, I wanted to revisit David Lynch’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune, the first of 6 that he completed and published before his death in 1986. Dune focuses on the House Atreides, it’s patriarch being the Duke Leto Atreides, played by Jurgen Prochnow.

His son and savior of the people, Paul Atreides, is played by the great Kyle Maclachlan. The casting included greats such as Patrick Stewart, Max Von Sydow, Virginia Madsen, Sean Young, Dean Stockwell, Jose Ferrer, Richard Jordan, and there is Sting, because why not?

3 houses on 3 different planets. Planet Kaitan, home of the Emperor, Caladan, home of House Atreides and Geidi Prime, home of House Harkonnen who are archenemies. We start with an introduction of all 5 houses and then cut to a scene where the Ruler of the known universe, Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV is having a secret meeting with the Space Guild Navigator and breaks down a plot to bring down House Atreides by giving them control of the desert planet Arrakis, where an essential drug called melange or “the spice”, which can do pretty much anything.

The Emperor’s plan is to have the Harkonnens kill Duke Leto and retake the planet and weakening house Atreides, which he believes is conspiring to build a great army and is threatened by this. But the Space Guild navigator has a ‘“one more thing”: he wants the Duke’s son Paul killed as well.

Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV and the Space Guild Navigator

This begins the introduction of the Bene Gesseritt(an ancient sisterhood), the Freeman(indigenous people of Arrakis) and how they intersect with Paul Atreides and the future of the planet Arrakis and the universe. About 20 years had past since I have seen this and I remembered how insane the spectrum of bad and good it was. Let me explain. David lynch directed, wrote the screenplay, and it shows.

I understand, Dune is hard to adapt. How does Lynch attempt to solve this dilemma? Exposition. Lots of exposition. Paul at one time is looking at what looks like a video Wikipedia site of the planet Arrakis as it audibly explains the planet. I thought about playing a drinking game for every time a characters thoughts were heard out loud, unnecessarily so. Voice-over narration, multi-year time jumps, rock soundtrack, heart plugs, it has it all.

Would I recommend a watch before the 2021 Dune? Yes. But I’d recommend reading the books, if you haven’t, even more. I would also recommend reading his son, Brian Herbert and writing partner, Kevin J. Anderson. The series was continued first by using notes left by Frank Herbert.

One last thing: I can’t wait to see what Denis Villeneuve does with this great Science Fiction epic.

• In Retrospect ★★☆☆☆