Nov 23 | Chuckreturns to NBC with a special two-hour show on Sunday, Jan 10, 2010, before returning to its regular time slot, Mondays at 8pm on the following night. It's return to prime time television can be attributed to a successful fan renewnal campaign last year. CHUCK is a one-hour, action-comedy series that follows Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi, "Less Than Perfect") -- a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government's most vital secret agent. This upcoming season will include some special guest stars, including Brandon Routh of "Superman Returns" who will play CIA agent Daniel Shaw in an episode, and the addition of SUBWAY restaurant as a major advertiser to the show. Chuck averaged a 4.0/6 rating last season, about eight percent better than the recently cancelled "Trauma". Ratings-challenged Heroes moves back an hour when Chuck returns on Monday nights. STAR TREK VOYAGER's Robert Duncan McNeill serves Chuckas a supervising producer and director.
Nov 17 | Originally hired as co-executive producer to help with the second half of the show's first season, Kevin Murphy has now taken the reins of Caprica, the Battlestar Galactica prequel on Syfy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He now serves as an executive producer along with Ronald D. Moore, David Eick and Jane Espenson and oversees the day-to-day functions of the show.
Nov 12 | Star Trek star Zachary Quinto is loosely attached to star in the romantic dramedy Whirligig, reports Risky Business.Quinto would play the lead role in the independent Canadian film, which is aiming to shoot early next year. The movie centers on a man who, in a misguided attempt to woo an older woman, befriends the woman's adopted son.Chaz Thorne is directing the pic, based on a screenplay by Michael Amo, creator of the Canadian supernatural series "The Listener."
Nov 11 | The CNS Foundation, is hosting an on-line charity auction at www.charitybuzz.com. One of the items they are auctioning is a signed movie poster of the new Star Trek movie which has all the cast members and writers. The president of our organization is Carol Abrams, JJ's mother, and she arranged for the donation from Bad Robot Production Company. J.J. Abrams is also a major donor to their organization. The funds raised will go to help find a cure to neurological disorders in children. The auction link is here.
Nov 10 | Candice Bergen, Charles Lisanby, Don Pardo, Gene Roddenberry, Tom and Dick Smothers and Bob Stewart have been selected as the next inductees into the Television Academy's Hall of Fame. They will be honored at a Jan. 20 ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel. "This year's inductees have challenged and shaped popular culture, changed television for the better and entertained us royally while doing so," TV Academy Chairman-CEO John Shaffner said. More info at the Hollywood Reporter
Both the original 137-minute theatrical edition and a 177-minute extended version of DUNE have been issued on a single DVD-18 disc, with the theatrical cut and the disc's extras on Side A and the extended version on Side B. Both versions of DUNE are presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen format with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and English, Spanish, and French subtitles. The previous widescreen transfer of the theatrical cut had some transferal problems, with a third of the film incorrectly reversed. Fortunately, the transfer is presented as originally shot. Images and colors are crisp and detailed in both versions, and the 5.1 track is really smooth and rich in both versions. (Universal had erroneously reported in early promotional releases that the extended cut would be in a 1.85:1 transfer; thankfully, this is not the case.) In addition, the theatrical cut also boasts a French Dolby Digital 2.0 track.
The problem, however, is with the extended version. In some cases the images are not framed appropriately. This is especially the case with the prologue, as image material has obviously been cropped from the top and bottom of the screen. This is most noticeable when all of the planets are shown on screen at the same time. In the original broadcast all four planets can be clearly seen; on the DVD, however, only three, or sometimes two, planets can be seen. Also, at times the sound does not synchronize up with the images, as there is a two-or three-second delay, as opposed to the TV broadcast, with sound and picture perfectly synced. Compare the DVD to the TV broadcast, and you will notice the differences.
Furthermore, this extended version is slightly different from the original extended broadcast. Midway through the film, once the Harkonnens attack the Atreides' fortress, the scene of the destruction of the weirding modules is cut from this version on the DVD, though it was seen at the end of Part 1 of the 1988 television broadcast. With other regions seeing a 190-minute extended cut issued on DVD, you'd have thought this would be case with the Region 1 disc, but it isn't.
All of this is compounded by the fact that over the years, fans had repeatedly asked for a longer cut of DUNE to appear on DVD. A few years ago, David Lynch was asked which film he would want to see restored for a special edition DVD, and Lynch replied, 'I'd restore DUNE, but I don't know if I could or not.' Reportedly, Universal offered Lynch a princely sum to get involved in reediting DUNE for a special edition DVD, but Lynch declined the offer, preferring to remain fully committed to his current project, INLAND EMPIRE. With as much extra material that was shot and cut from the film, just getting the extended TV broadcast is far from the desired goal some fans like me had waited for, while others will be happy in getting the TV version finally on DVD.
Packaging and Menus:
The new DVD release of DUNE has been issued in an embossed Amaray-style tin case, but a pretty metal case doesn't always make for an excellent DVD presentation. The DVD packaging contains a four-page insert which contains a listing of the DVD's features (repeating what is listed on the outer packaging sleeve) and a collection of DUNE terminology for those unfamiliar with Frank Herbert's novels.
Both versions of the film present the same menu introduction, with an animated collection of images from the film leading into the disc's main menu. Selecting the play, chapter selection, language options, or special features (the latter on Side A only) will lead into a nice sandstorm-like dissolve to the next menu or the start of the film. The chapter selection menu presents the film divided into 14 chapters for the theatrical version and 18 for the extended cut.
The Extras:
For this new DVD presentation of DUNE, Universal has included several new features, running just under 44 minutes altogether that look into some of the aspects of the film's production. The most interesting of these bonus features are a collection of deleted scenes (17:17) assembled from the film's original 260-minute cut and presented in widescreen format, in context with the film's story, with production audio in most cases, and divided into separate chapters. Introduced by producer Raffaella de Laurentiis, she provides a brief narrative of how David Lynch prepared a 260-minute cut of the film then had to edit half of the film down for theatrical release. She also mentions how Lynch scrapped several scenes in favor of the scene of Paul taking the water of life, which served a narrative bridge for the film's development. Some of the widely rumored scenes believed cut are presented for the first time, including an extended narration of Princess Irulan discussing the background story; a scene between Thufir Howat and Duke Leto discussing the Fremen prophecy; an alternate monologue spoken by the Fremen's Reverend Mother; Paul's sadness at Jamis' death; Rabban's men taking Dr. Kynes to his death in the desert; an extended clip between Lady Jessica and the Shadout Mapes; an alternate clip of Paul and Jessica in the desert in which Paul calls out to his dead father; Paul's dream about the coming jihad; an extended clip of Jessica and Alia during Paul's journey with the water of life; Thufir Howat's suicide at the end of the film; and Paul's declaration to marry Princess Irulan, much to her and Emperor Shaddam's dismay. There are even a couple of outtakes of Lynch and the cast, as well as a raw bluescreen shot of Kyle Maclachlan on the sand worm. The visual quality of these deleted scenes and outtakes are fair at best, but still it's better than some recent DVD offerings with deleted scenes, especially the STAR TREK films. The only thing is, where are the rest of the deleted scenes and outtakes? Some fans may feel shortchanged by this small amount of deleted scenes, as there is still over an hour of footage left unaccounted. Other snippets of outtakes and alternate footage crop up in most of the other featurettes.
DESIGNING DUNE (8:53) offers a look at the film's production design. New interviews with illustrator Ron Miller; set designers Kevin Phipps, Giles Masters, and Steve Cooper; and art director Benjamin Fernandez are presented along with rare paintings, photos, and production sketches of many of the film's sets, ships, props, and aliens. All of the artists interviewed talk about how Lynch would sketch quick abstract concepts on restaurant napkins, seeing how they would translate to life. According to the artists, Lynch did not want to create a typical science fiction film; he made sure everything had an authentic look and function to it.
SPECIAL EFFECTS (5:59) takes a look at the creation for the many visual effects for the film. Rare on-set outtakes of footage, mixed with interviews from effects artists Kit West, John Baker, Trevor Wood, John Hatt, and Gary Zink, reveal some of the secrets of the many effects. From explosives and gasoline to burning rubber car tires, from wire work and flying rigs for Kenneth McMillan (Baron Harkonnen) to the creation of the extremely realistic fighter robot, everything had to look convincingly real and believable.
MODELS AND MINIATURES (7:00) continues in the same vein as the SPECIAL EFFECTS feature. Scores of different sets for miniature models and full-scale models were actively employed during the film's production, as everything had to look precise. Model artist Emilio Ruiz del Rio discusses how he arranged and photographed the miniatures, coordinating at times the miniatures with the full-scale sets for live-action filming and conveying that extra sense of scope and realism, something not used as much in today's filmmaking. At least three different versions of the desert harvesters were utilized for the film, ranging from a few inches to several feet in size. Model unit supervisor Brian Smithies talks about the hands-on designing, building, and filming of many miniatures, which is accompanied by rare bluescreen footage of model flights and the Harkonnen planet, among others. The most challenging part of the shoot was filming the sand worms, and Raffaella de Laurentiis states that had DUNE been filmed in today's times, CGI would be used to create the worms as opposed to small-scale worms and life-size sets. The success of DUNE is partly due to the careful attention given to the ships' and sets' designs, making Herbert's universe seem all the more real.
Sooner or later, this one will be on my shelf. There's something entracing about failed masterpieces like David Lynches Dune. Wonderfull music, visuals and a kind of 'feel' that has the darkness of a Barroque painting. In many ways, it befit the novel well, if only in that melancholly feel.
The characters were poorly cast, however (notably Paul and Duke Leto, and the classless screaming idiot-Baron, who was imposing, subtle and clever in the novel), and the plot corrupted with that 'sound as a weapon' nonsese as opposed to the more mystical Wierding Way and Voice of the novel. The religious aspects seems simplified, and my worst gripe has to be that the Fremen are all bearded American lumberjacks in stillsuits. In they're clearly meant to be reminiscent of Arabs in the novel, and they're supposed to wear cloaks over their stillsuits. In the film, they look like a bunch of guys with bulgy leotards in the desert.
Still, it's nice to watch Dune and imagine what it could be, with a few adjustments- some minor, some a little more major.
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"Peace or…UTTER DESTRUCTION…it's up to you." — Kirk, A Taste Of Armageddon
"Alright you mutinous, disloyal, computerized half-breed, we'll see about you desserting my ship." — Kirk, This Side Of Paradise
I won't say anything one way or another about Lynch's film since it's been a very long time since I've seen it (I'm blown away that he might have done ROTJ), but the Sci-Fi Channel's mini-series really is one of the best mini-series I've ever seen.
It was visually stunning and expansive enough to really feel like you were watching a novel. I remember actually getting a little emotional when it ended. I picked up the unrated version on disc, but haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Their Children of Dune was very good, but fell just short of what the first had achieved. It's too bad they actually combined the next two books for that. I wish they had split it up to make a trilogy.
Darn. I was hoping the 260-minute cut would finally see the light of day with this set. Oh well, maybe someday...
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Growing up leads to growing old and then to dying,
And dying to me dont sound like all that much fun...
-John Mellencamp
Political tags-such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth-are never basic criteria.
The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.
-Robert A. Heinlein
I have the Extended Version on a Region 2 DVD and it is one of my favorite movies. Great cast, excellent FX and wonderful direction by David "Twin Peaks" Lynch (but he took his name off from the extended version I have - go figure). Good stuff anyway !
I've only seen the last hour or so of the DUNE film, but from what I saw the SciFi Channel miniseries kicks its arse six ways to Sunday. Not only does it look better and have better performances, but it does a flat-out better job of adapting the novel.
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