Dune 1984 special edition

The first satellite images of Earth had just been published. The Black Panthers had entered the vernacular. So all the stuff about prescient visions, mentats and mastering mind, herbally expanded consciousness as the tool to the navigation and 'folding' of space, Herbert wrote with one eye on the Jordan Belson, Beatles and Maharishi crowd - the generation between film noir and Lucas that for a brief time projected truths into constructed cosmologies.

Herbert was more erudite than most. But he was caught under the same spell - the expectation of a noble jihad of the people and wise lamas from the East coming to teach 'the way'. And you can tell that he was exposed to Eastern thought through Jungians, by his laboriously constructed mythology and now trite focus on a Chosen One's journey.

Lynch was a late bloomer in that scene. To my knowledge, he fell in with what was being marketed as 'transcendental meditation' in his AFI years, while filming Eraserhead. I don't know what they practice behind closed doors - my interest lies with the Chinese model and they seem cultish to me.

But, there's no doubt to me that he passed on the Lucas gig, thinking he was going to work on a vision of some power. The film outright fails because the scope of the book is too big to think that Hobbit is being stretched into a trilogy these days , and because he lacked the right collaborators and probably the predisposition to make an 'action' Dune.

Now Jodorowsky's Dune would have been something to see, probably as cumbersome about spirituality but much more organic. But, it's worth noting a few interesting things about this, in context of how Lynch would expand in later years.

He zeroes in on the transcendental experience of 'awakening the sleeper'. He does so in an obvious manner. Rambaldi's spiceworms as blossoming desert flowers top his visual meditation. And that all of Herbert's pomp and mythological noise work against him submerging the idea. Keep in mind the Chinese notion - from the Tao Te Ching - that the 'soft beats the hard', stressed twice in the film even though no one actually thinks or fights in the Chinese way.

Discard everything that is hard, from the crass Harkonnen to the acting style mentat Dourif! The one part that is soft is at House Atreides, the preparation for Dune. What is there? Familiar dynamics - it's soap opera if you discard the costumes. Premonitions of murder and telepathic wiring with a fabric behind reason. A woman with her box of illusory sensations. A space flight through the doors of perception. It's heady. None of it really works, because Herbert's synchretic universe is not one of internal martial arts, what we see matters.

Not a perfect film but has some beautiful moments, and that soundtrack, wow. FevreDream Well-known Member. I vaguely remember it from my younger years. Is it worth a semi blind buy? Garrett Moderator. Is this going to be listed on amazon? I can't find it yet. FevreDream said:. It's a very weird film, it is Lynch after all. One of those cult movies you'll either love or hate.

Neogorom Active Member. Neogorom said:. I agree, this is not an easy choice. The non-steelbook Limited Edition is actually very nice. I'm not sure if the steelbook version has it beat. Choices, choices. I have to get this, the first time I saw this was when I recorded it off of C4 summer 89 the year I left school. I then watched it pretty much every day over the summer as I was mesmerised by the story and then the vastness of it all. The studio should have got spicediver into re-imagine it all in 4K, it would have been epic then as Lynch was definitely on the right tracks with the story but we all know what happened during production.

I have done this as a labor of love to give fans of this under-appreciated gem an alternative version to the two flawed cuts currently available on the DVD. I only acted as a fan editor and did not originate the content of this movie. MCA Universal and its associated parent companies own all rights to this material.

Dune is not a great film. Be the first to write a review. You may also like. Special Edition Blu-ray Discs. Special Edition Blu-ray Disc. They Special Edition Blu-ray Discs. Be the first to write a review About this product.