Dune (Movie ver.) vs. Dune (mini-series) (1 Viewer)

[todd s]

I just watched the directors cut of the Dune mini-series and have seen both the Smithee & Lynch versions of the movie. I have pros & cons about both. I do like some of the actor portrayals in the movie version better. I was wondering if any fans could answer my question though. In the movie they use the weirding device as a weapon and eventually Paul doesn't need the modulator. In the miniseries is is just mentioned, but never seen. Is this more accurate to the book or not? Also, I liked in the movie how after killing Fayd(sp?) Paul used it on him. But, it the miniseries it was not used. I was disappointed.
The only other thing I can say. Is that in both versions Chayni(sp?) is pretty hot.
Just curious to all of your opinions.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Read the book.

Neither filmed version is very good, though there are short moments of brilliance in Lynch's version. The TV miniseries is bland, beige, and so formally respectful of source that it might as well have library mold all over it.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

In the movie they use the weirding device as a weapon and eventually Paul doesn't need the modulator.

That’s something they added to the movie. The mini-series is more faithful to the book of course. Also here’s my opinion, I didn’t like the mini-series, everybody seemed miscast! I love David Lynch’s movie, a movie with real mood, real actors and great acting!

 

[Rich Malloy]

I probably sold my opinion of Lynch's version a bit short - although I can't say it's very good on the whole, it's nonetheless one of my dearest and most guilty pleasures! And those short moments of brilliance I spoke of? Better than the sum total of everything in the miniseries.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The extended version of Lynch's Dune is probably the best overall (I know a bunch of you hate it), it includes more of the book, If only we could go and film a 6 hour miniseries with his cast at that time with those sets :frowning:
LYNCH
PROS
Great casting, great costuming (well, except for the Sardukar, what was he thinking?) Great acting, the characters are captured very well with a few exceptions (Baron Harkonnen)
CONS
Unnecessary additions (heart plugs, weirding modules etc). Some dodgy FX, needless gross-out parts, too short, too many important things glossed over,
SCI-FI
PROS
Faithful to the book for the most part. A better more accurate Baron, lots of the scenes missing from the Lynch version, long enough to capture the scope of the novel
CONS
Scenes of fullscale invention (Irulan) that shouldn't have been in there, bad acting, bad costumes (Where the Reverend Mothra and the pastry-chef Sardukar came from I have no idea) cheap sets (shot the whole thing on stage with cheesy backdrops that you can actually see waving occasionally), colored lighting that while it may work on a play looks very very silly on film, bad CG, ummm, I can keep going
But read the book and decide for yourself

 

[Kami]

I could never get into Lynch's version, so I prefer the mini-series despite the bad acting, bad costumes, bad special effects, etc...

 

[Jefferson Morris]

Neither filmed version is very good, though there are short moments of brilliance in Lynch's version. The TV miniseries is bland, beige, and so formally respectful of source that it might as well have library mold all over it.

Ditto to this. Lynch's version is problematic in a whole host of ways, but is still one of the best designed sci-fi epics ever filmed, and there's a kinky edge to it that I always enjoy.

"Bland and beige" is all that needs to be said about the miniseries. Curiosity barely sustained me through it.

What is arguably the greatest science fiction novel ever written still has not seen anything close to its ideal adaptation, and probably won't for many years yet. Where's Peter Jackson (or his sci-fi equivalent) when you need him?

--Jefferson Morris

 

[Randall Dorr]

great costuming (well, except for the Sardukar, what was he thinking?)

The Sardaukar were wearing Harkonnen uniforms so no one would know the Emperor was assisting the Baron.
And I agree with everyone else:
Lynch's version has brilliant moments (especially the folding space scene) and the atmosphere throughout is perfect: In twenty-four thousand years, Man has become a completely different creature, with minds that can think at lightening speeds, bodies that operate with hyper developed nervous systems.
Numerous worlds have been filled, but they're all surrounded by the infinite emptiness of space.
Before Columbus sailed to the New World, there were still uncharted territories, voids that had not been filled by civilization. In Dune, Man (while still confined to planets the majority of the time) lives in space, a void that will never be charted, never fully explored. He will never know all that is out there.
Another curious point about the Dune universe: there are no aliens. All the self conscious creatures are human. The Empire is spread out over how many millions of light years, and Man finds he is still alone.
The miniseries hit the major plot points of the novel, but it never once gave the impression that it was anything other than television. And the cinematography was f*cked up. (I don't blame Vittorio Storaro. I'm sure he was just following Harrison's clueless direction.)
But even for all it's faults, I'm glad the miniseries is out there and I look forward to Children of Dune in March.

 

[Peter Mazur]

Lynch's version was ridiculously horrible. The ending was blasphemy. Stupid hi-lights include: Harkonen flying into the worms mouth, Stil-suits that are black on a planet of sand, good camouflage there. Heart plug scene. None of the casting was even close.

Terrible, terrible film.

The TV version at least followed the book quite closely, and didn't turn the Baron into this grotesque freak.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The Sardaukar were wearing Harkonnen uniforms so no one would know the Emperor was assisting the Baron

Not in the Lynch version. The Sardukar were wearing the trashbags with the radioactive gas inside.

The Harkonnens had those blue metal ringy type outfits

 

[Bryant Trew]

I watched the mini-series for less than 15 minutes. NO KIDDING! From Go I thought it was so pathetic compared to the movie.

 

[Steve Christou]

David Lynch's Dune is my ultimate guilty pleasure movie, I've seen it at least 100 times since it came out, and would rather take this to a desert island than Star Wars I or II, I also have the 3-hour Alan Smithee cut which I still watch now and than even though horror of horrors its not widescreen and has Japanese subtitles.
I have the recent tv mini-series on DVD too, a decent stab I thought at getting more of the book onto the screen, good tv effects, interesting design, but I thought every single actor in it was miscast, William Hurt sleepwalked thru his role as Leto Atreides.
Lynch's movie had a superb cast, I just can't imagine anyone else playing those parts, even Toto's music was just right.

 

[Terry St]

On Topic: The wierding device in Lynch's movie was a fabrication. The wierding way, as in the book and the mini-series, is a mysterious and at times mystical discipline. Lynch must have thought that Sci-Fi geeks wouldn't buy anything they couldn't begin to explain with grade-school physics or biology and dumbed it down. Others have fallen into this same trap. (cough... Midichlorians... cough)

Off Topic: I have to agree that neither the mini-series or Lynch's adaptation were particularily good. Make no mistake, while Lynch's Dune has some good bits it is overwhelmingly a bad movie. I would say that Lynch's greatest crime was to cast Patrick Stewart as Gurney and then give him all of 15 seconds of dialogue. The miniseries, on the other hand, is above average television, but not superb. If you're looking to kill 4 hours alone, watch the mini-series. If you want to mock a campy sci-fi flick with some drinking buddies then Lynch's version should provide oodles of material.

Bottom Line: Read the book.

 

[Adam_S]

Where the miniseries lost me was when the Fremen started shooting up out of the sand in some sort of bizarro kangaroo fashion. Where the extended theatrical cut lost me was the wierding module. I was just plain lost on Lynch's version. I've always thought that black stillsuits not only are retarded for visability but, heat as well. Lynch's film also failed in it's tillsuits left the entire surface of the face open, which should be entirely covered. Of course I'm willing to make certain allowances for film, and ideal stillsuits would be designed like Lynch's made from a reflective material as in the book; not the lawrence of arabia versions in the tv series.

Voice over does not make the film less in my opinion, I think it's extremely audacious, unfotunately overdone--especially how we're forced into an extreme closeup of a sweating face for every voice over.

I liked the rhyming couplet baron, he was one funny guy... bleck.
rhyming couplet does not a Shakespearian villian make,
or even make him seem more cunning--rather quite a fake.


curious, looking at that link, how old are Leto II and Ghanima in Children of Dune? I'd hope for nine, but will settle for no older than twelve--if they're eighteen in the tv series, it's not worth watching in my opinion--some executive has followed the 'more filmable' formula and made them significantly older, which imo has never resulted well.

Adam

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Read the books. I read all six of them in junior high. Of course, that would explain why I don't remember much, except for the fact that Lynch's version, while acting-wise good, wasn't faithful. I need to read them again.

 

[DavidAC]

Well I think what sways me towards the miniseries is that Lynch screwed up probably the most important thing of Dune which is the story, I guess some people can over look that but not me. The Baron as a slobbering monster, the weirding way crap, and of course the ending. What I did like about the Lynch version was most of the acting, im probably one of the few that enjoyed Totos score, and the best thing was the dark gritty look of the Dune universe.

The miniseries I really enjoyed it stayed pretty accurate to the story, the special effects while not great better than the Lynch version at least, it was a treat to see the Sandworm blast out of the sand for the first time. Acting was not bad, William hurt was good as Leto, Alec Newman did good as Paul(though Kyle MaClachlan was better in the Lynch version) and Ian McNeice was great as the Baron. Probably the only thing I didn't like was some of the costume designs(sardaukar particulary) and some set designs other than that I had no problem killing 4 hours watching this.

 

[Yee-Ming]

funny that those referring to Toto's score seem to think that they're the only ones who liked it -- put me down as another who loved it.

heck, I :b misplaced my copy of the soundtrack, so when I was in Australia earlier this year on holiday, I spotted a copy in a department store and promptly bought it, just in case; had to pay over the odds for it though, but it is OOP after all.

still haven't found my first copy...

back on topic, I agree, the short summary is that the Harrison miniseries is more faithful to the story, but design- and casting-wise the Lynch movie does better. the Smithee version makes Lynch's version better story-wise, save for the absolutely appalling prologue explaining the back-story.

BTW, Dune is set in 10,191 (which the Smithee version got slightly wrong). assuming that's based on our calendar, that's just under 8,200 years to go...

 

[Matthew_Millheiser]

I adore Lynch's DUNE on its own, but as an adaptation of Herbert's novel it falls way short. My biggest gripe: RAIN ON ARRAKIS?! Shai-Hulud might want to have a few words with you, Muad'ib...
The first 1/3rd of the movie was good enough as setup, but the film RUSHED right through Parts II and III of the novel.
Granted, I have not seen the extended version, so that might tinge my outlook towards Lynch's film as an adaptation.
The SCIFI MINISERIES was good enough. Some patchy spots in the narrative, some weak acting, some REALLY SILLY looking sets, but it was faithful and, overall, a successful endeavor. The actress who played Chani -- Barbora Somethingoranother -- is so breathtakingly stunning, its worth picking up the Director's Cut just to sneak a peak at the boobies. Julie Cox (Irulan) is also quite the looker.
I see they are replacing the actress who played Jessica with the Borg Queen -- Alice Krieg? -- from ST:First Contact, for the sequel. Should be interesting...
Too bad Dune Messiah -- as a novel -- is such a snorer (although I do like Children). Let's hope they can ramp it up a notch for the miniseries.

 

[Dan Lindley]

I saw the Lynch version first. Loved it then, love it now. Great film. For all the reasons mentioned, plus I love the baroque sets with all the details. The movie is just plain cool, with perhaps a bit of a lull 3/5-2/3 thru.

Read the book, and love it too. Though probably since I read it second, I am not religious about whether the film followed the book or not. Both are great.

I have the series, and have never finished watching it. Perhaps that speaks for itself, or perhaps it is my compressed time...

Dan

PS: the heart plug is so weird and mean, it's fascinating. And there are aliens: the time/space folders. (or are they just trained 'pets'?)

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Umm, do not read the bookS read the BOOK

The sequels are progressively worse and by the time you get to book 4: God Awful of Dune (God Emperor) 3/4 of the book is like Grandpa Simpson

"...nd tha funny thing about Baron Buttocks is the 34 1/2 centuries ago, his ancestor chose rasberry over strawberry jam, which was an interesting choice at the time given the socio-political ramifications of supporting the Rasberry Lobbyists, who were founded several decades earlier by Rasputin Rasberrus who was born in....."