By BWilliams / 16:44, 31 January 2006 / Reviews - Products

Dune: Extended Edition
DVD

Price: $27.98
Pub Date: January 2006

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Introduction:

Regarded by many people as one of the great classic science fiction novels to come out of the 1960s, Frank Herbert's epic novel DUNE is rich in tapestry and steeped in our world's roots and classical history: two royal families struggle with each other over control of a desert world of pure spice known as Arrakis, also called Dune. At the heart of DUNE is young Paul Atreides, son of Duke Leto Atreides and the Lady Jessica of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, who has been prophesied to become the 'kwisatz haderach' who will rule the universe. In DUNE Herbert showed us so many complex, sometimes obvious, and sometimes subtle, allusions to politics, warfare, religion, and even terrorism. It took Herbert six years to research and write DUNE, which was rejected by 23 different publishers before it was accepted and first printed in 1965. Upon its release, critics and fans hailed DUNE as one of the greatest science fiction epics of the 20th century.

Over the next two decades Herbert would craft five more installments in the DUNE saga, continuing with DUNE MESSIAH (1969), CHILDREN OF DUNE (1976), GOD EMPEROR OF DUNE (1981), HERETICS OF DUNE (1984), and CHAPTERHOUSE: DUNE (1985). During that time Herbert had considered adapting DUNE into a stage opera, which fortunately was not pursued. Sadly, Herbert died of cancer in February 1986, abruptly bringing one of the greatest literary sagas to a premature end. But DUNE's fan popularity resulted in later non-fiction publications, including THE DUNE ENCYCLOPEDIA (1987), THE MAKER OF DUNE: INSIGHTS OF A MASTER OF SCIENCE FICTION (1987), THE NOTEBOOKS OF FRANK HERBERT'S DUNE (1988), and SONGS OF MUAD'DIB: THE POETRY OF FRANK HERBERT (1992), all of which gave fans further insight into Herbert's awesome creation. In addition, a number of prequel novels from Frank Herbert's son Brian and Kevin J. Anderson have appeared in print, further fleshing out the complex back story with a rich tapestry of events leading up to the classic saga. Just before his death in 1986, Herbert had crafted an outline for a seventh and final chapter in the saga, which is currently being fleshed into the novels HUNTERS OF DUNE and SANDWORMS OF DUNE. Hopefully, 20 years after his death, Frank Herbert's DUNE saga will come to the grand conclusion he had originally envisioned.

The film version of DUNE has a rich and interesting production history almost equal to that of its literary counterpart. In the 1970s El Topo had considered a film version of DUNE and had spent $2 million in preproduction, including recruiting the legendary Spanish painter Salvador Dali as the project's production designer. Some years later, director Ridley Scott had considered a film adaptation; both versions never saw the light of day. Enter David Lynch. The avant garde director had scored a cult hit with ERASERHEAD and was at work in bringing the real-life story of John Merrick to the big screen in THE ELEPHANT MAN. Lynch seemed to be an unusual choice to adapt Herbert's saga into a full-length feature film. But Lynch's commitment, as well as his penchant for mysterious characters and visionary imagery, made him an ideal choice to direct the $40 million Universal project (Lynch had even reportedly turned down directing the third STAR WARS installment RETURN OF THE JEDI to focus instead on DUNE). Along with producer Raffaella de Laurentiis, the film version of DUNE went into production, with six years spent in preproduction, over three of which involved Lynch.

Bringing DUNE to life also meant assembling a talented cast of actors who could fill the characters' personalities. Among the leading names were Jurgen Prochnow (DAS BOOT) as Duke Leto, Max von Sydow (FLASH GORDON) as Dr. Kynes, Sean Young (BLADE RUNNER) as Chani, Jose Ferrer as Emperor Shaddam IV, Virginia Madsen (who later appeared in an episode of STAR TREK: VOYAGER) as Princess Irulan, Oscar-winner Linda Hunt (THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY) as the Shadout Mapes, and Dean Stockwell (QUANTUM LEAP) as Dr. Wellington Yueh. Rock star Sting, lead singer of the Police, made his feature film debut as Feyd, prancing around with spiked orange hair and an infamous metal thong. For the lead role of Paul Atreides, Lynch cast Kyle Maclachlan (who would go on to work with Lynch in BLUE VELVET and the short-lived series TWIN PEAKS), an up-and-coming young actor in his feature film debut. Maclachlan, a fan of the Herbert novels since age 14, brought believability to the role of Paul. But it was the supporting actor who portrayed Gurney Halleck who would ultimately eclipse Maclachlan's star potential, elevating said actor to superstar status. Only a few short years after the film's release, the actor would find himself at a Shakespeare reading at UCLA, which led him in turn to taking the lead role in a new television version of a science fiction classic, leading to even more successful stage, film, and television productions that continue to this day. Of course, nobody knew at the time of DUNE's production what the future would hold for Patrick Stewart.

All the elements seemed right to have a hit with Lynch's adaptation of DUNE. So what went wrong? For example, abridging an epic novel into a truncated film version is no easy task. Lynch's original cut of the film ran 260 minutes in length, which would later be trimmed to a scant 137 minutes, resulting in the loss of many character and action moments crucial to the story. Filmgoers who were fans of the novel found themselves alienated by Lynch's dark imagery, which many were not used to seeing in mainstream cinema. In addition, an epic the size and scale of DUNE deserved an equally epic musical score in the style of John Williams; instead, we got a guitar-driven score from the rock band Toto ('Africa' and 'Rosanna'). When DUNE premiered in theaters on December 14, 1984, the film wound up grossing $30.9 million domestically and was considered a box-office failure. Even in the film's failure, Lynch still considered adapting DUNE MESSIAH and CHILDREN OF DUNE into feature films, neither of which materialized.

The flawed film has generated a cult following of its own, with web sites devoted to the making of the film, its cast, the film's score, and even moments that never made it to the screen. The most important addition to DUNE's fan base came in 1988 with the release of a 180-minute expanded version for syndicated television broadcast, which Universal prepared without Lynch's approval. Some 40 minutes of scenes cut from the original 260-minute edit were restored, including additional bits of dialog, exposition, and action; some of Patrick Stewart's scenes were restored as well, fleshing out Gurney Halleck's character even more and brining comparisons to Stewart's portrayal of Jean-Luc Picard in later years. All of Virginia Madsen's narration and introduction were scrapped, reducing her role to that of a brief cameo, in favor of a male narrator and a series of production paintings to form the extended version's prologue. (Did anybody spot the blooper in the narration? What year is it, really?) Dissatisfied with the end results, Lynch demanded that his name be removed from the TV version, and the infamous pseudonym 'Alan Smithee' was inserted, with the screenplay credited to 'Judas Booth'. It is this longer version of the film that has helped further DUNE's fan popularity.

Since 1988 fans have scoured the Internet for bootleg versions of the TV broadcasts, which have aired in syndication, the Disney Channel, and the Sci-Fi Channel, among others. Meanwhile, commercial releases of the extended version have surfaced to date on Japanese laserdisc and German DVD releases alongside the theatrical version. In addition, bootleg DVD auctions of a 190-minute cut, with scenes from the theatrical cut edited from the domestic TV broadcast yet retained intact on the overseas editions, have proven popular on eBay. Now, after much speculation and repeated delays, Universal Home Video has released a new special edition of DUNE, with the extended version issued for the first time in the Region 1 market in an official capacity alongside its theatrical counterpart. I wish I could say that this DVD is a home-run winner, but it's really more of a mixed bag at best.