International Arrow Video Press Release: DUNE (1984) (4K UHD) (1 Viewer)

[lark144]

I never read the book, but was looking forward to seeing the movie, then found it utterly incomprehensible.

I read--and loved--the book, and the movie was still utterly incomprehensible. It makes no sense. So much is left out or scrambled or wrong or just plain ludicrous, they might as well have called it "Dino" instead of "Dune".

 

[Detour (1945)]

I remember seeing this in 1984 and just knew this movie was doomed when they had to pass out a handout to moviegoers in the theater.

 

[Christian D66]

I remember seeing this in 1984 and just knew this movie was doomed when they had to pass out a handout to moviegoers in the theater.

My friend went to go see it at the mall opening night during high school -- I had no desire -- and came out with this glossary and I laughed out loud at the thought of my school peers who cheered at RED DAWN trying to read this before the film. He loved the book but the film...

 

[Richard Kaufman]

In some small sense, it's like what happened to The Magnificent Ambersons: A third of the film is missing. At least with Ambersons it was the last third. But with Dune material is missing all the way through.
You can find a fan edit on YouTube that is said to be 95% Lynch's version.

 

[Mark_TB]

I first saw it during its theatrical release in 1984. I had just reread the book, and was totally disappointed in the movie.

I had a chance to see it again a few months later, and this time something clicked, and it completely worked for me. It's definitely a David Lynch movie, so you need to take it on its own terms, and not in comparison to the novel. I still love it.

 

[Blimpoy06]

I'm one of those perverts that read the book AND liked the movie. Saw it in the theater and own every version of it on home video. Really looking forward to this new Arrow release. If you just think of the film as Dynasty in space, it's great fun. Politics, commerce , religion and war. Well dressed characters constantly scheming and betraying each other for power. What's not to like?

 

[B-ROLL]

I'm one of those perverts that read the book AND liked the movie. Saw it in the theater and own every version of it on home video. Really looking forward to this new Arrow release. If you just think of the film as Dynasty in space, it's great fun. Politics, commerce , religion and war. Well dressed characters constantly scheming and betraying each other for power. What's not to like?
l

yeah I see it !

 

[David Wilkins]

Can’t wait. Day one. I don’t care if it’s a “mess”, I love it. And I have a feeling it’s going to look damn good.

 

[titch]

Can’t wait. Day one. I don’t care if it’s a “mess”, I love it. And I have a feeling it’s going to look damn good.

All those people saying how terrible Dune looked theatrically should check out Arrow Video's 4K UHD titles. Most of their cult titles never looked particularly good during theatrical exhibition - Oldboy, Battle Royale, King Of New York, Crash, Tremors (Django probably looked pretty grotty in grindhouse cinemas too, although I never saw that theatrically). I did see Dune when it was first released, but really can't recall at all how it looked. If Arrow Video have got David Mackenzie involved then it will most definitely not look bad.

 

[Noel Aguirre]

Whatever is streaming on HBO Max right now looks incredible. I am looking forward to this for the cast of actors, the sets, and its breakthrough use of CGI. An underrated film IMO.

 

[Lord Dalek]

All those people saying how terrible Dune looked theatrically should check out Arrow Video's 4K UHD titles.

My opinion IS informed and it stands. Crappy Japanese lenses.

 

[OliverK]

All those people saying how terrible Dune looked theatrically should check out Arrow Video's 4K UHD titles. Most of their cult titles never looked particularly good during theatrical exhibition - Oldboy, Battle Royale, King Of New York, Crash, Tremors (Django probably looked pretty grotty in grindhouse cinemas too, although I never saw that theatrically). I did see Dune when it was first released, but really can't recall at all how it looked. If Arrow Video have got David Mackenzie involved then it will most definitely not look bad.

Even if it looks as good as it possibly can it may not be as good as many of us hope. Flash Gordon is a good example of a movie that does not really look great even with a UHD release.

I think David Mackenzie will be very helpful as Dune is a really difficult movie. At best I'd expect Dune to look substantially improved but only with some scenes looking really good, most of it will still look less than great due to how it was shot and produced.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

There is an even more deluxe set from Koch in Germany, but it’s apparently exclusive to their website, which doesn’t ship to the U.S.

@David Norman any ideas on that?

 

[David Norman]

There is an even more deluxe set from Koch in Germany, but it’s apparently exclusive to their website, which doesn’t ship to the U.S.

@David Norman any ideas on that?

I haven't found a way to really order from KOCH. The 100EUR super deluxe package is more than intriguing, but if the 2 Extended Items really are SD then interest dissolves fast -- unless it ends up like teh ALAMO Extended and is actually not SD

cede.com (Swiss) had a brief listing for the ALAMO but at nearly $70.
Reshippers are possible, but a large add-on fee
Rarewaves is very good with some std German releases, but I've never seen them sell Koch Exclusives

It would be great if one of our German friends would act as the front end of a group buy to ship one package to the US and have a point person here repack and ship within the US, but at $120+ per item (with having to pay the 20% VAT), that's a large financial burden not counting the time, and there is a potential import limit on this side once you hit 700-800 package

 

[JoshZ]

I think David Mackenzie will be very helpful as Dune is a really difficult movie. At best I'd expect Dune to look substantially improved but only with some scenes looking really good, most of it will still look less than great due to how it was shot and produced.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Mackenzie is just a compressionist, yes?

 

[titch]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Mackenzie is just a compressionist, yes?

Yes - his company doesn't actually scan the negatives or perform any restoration of damage. But I wouldn't say he is "just a compressionist". He is probably one of the best.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I think David Mackenzie will be very helpful as Dune is a really difficult movie. At best I'd expect Dune to look substantially improved but only with some scenes looking really good, most of it will still look less than great due to how it was shot and produced.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Mackenzie is just a compressionist, yes?

Yes - his company doesn't actually scan the negatives or perform any restoration of damage. But I wouldn't say he is "just a compressionist". He is probably one of the best.

Compression often makes the difference between a well executed master and one that is riddled with aliasing, banding and other compression artefacts that can make a film unwatchable.

 

[JoshZ]

Compression often makes the difference between a well executed master and one that is riddled with aliasing, banding and other compression artefacts that can make a film unwatchable.

So, competence is better than incompetence? Yes, I think we can all agree with that.

I have no qualm with Mackenzie or his work, but the fact that a compressionist would have a fan club is baffling to me. Good compression should be invisible to the viewer. As titch stated, Mackenzie's company does no scanning or restoration work. The whole point of his job is to take work that other people do and not degrade it noticeably. If that prior work was poor, there's nothing a compressionist can do to fix it.

 

[Lord Dalek]

This is starting to trend into "magic UHD button makes everything look like IMAX" territory again.

 

[David Norman]

So, competence is better than incompetence? Yes, I think we can all agree with that.

I have no qualm with Mackenzie or his work, but the fact that a compressionist would have a fan club is baffling to me. Good compression should be invisible to the viewer. As titch stated, Mackenzie's company does no scanning or restoration work. The whole point of his job is to take work that other people do and not degrade it noticeably. If that prior work was poor, there's nothing a compressionist can do to fix it.

Possibly or that maybe tells you that there are very few people who seems to be able to become invisible and make 100 equal 100 after their work is done -- the perfect MLB Umpire that nobody should ever even know exists.

Especially since the prevailing idea of most people's job these days to show off their Value-Added Accomplishment "Look what I did and the improvement I made"