A couple of weeks ago, director Denis Villeneuve’s long-awaited adaptation of the Frank Herbet sci-fi novel Dune (or the first half of it, at least) was finally released in theaters here in the US, and as of this writing, I finally had a chance to see it over the weekend. In the days leading up to the screening, I decided to immerse myself into Dune lore by watching all of the previous adaptations, as well as the 2013 documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune, about a canceled film adaptation of the story from the 1970’s that would’ve been made by Chile’s favorite surrealist, Alejandro Jodorowsky. I had also wanted to read the book, but didn’t find the time (been busy lately), so instead I looked up some notes and talked to several people I know who happened to have read it in the past.
So now that I’ve done my homework (or as much of it as I can, up until this point), I thought it would be fun to compare all the different cinematic adaptations of the book that we’ve had thus far, and explain which version I think is the ideal one, and why.
With that being said, let’s go ride some sandworms…
David Lynch’s Dune (1984)
Background: When experimental filmmaker and cult hero David Lynch was first approached to adapt Dune, he hadn’t even read it. The fact that he even agreed to do it is a bit of a shock, since he had just turned down directing Return of the Jedi because George Lucas showed him a picture of Chewbacca and it “gave him a headache.” What won him over was the fact that the studio promised to fund his next film, Blue Velvet, once Dune was complete. After working his way through the book, Lynch wrote the screenplay all on his own, which itself is pretty impressive, since he wasn’t even familiar with the source material beforehand. Once filming had wrapped, Lynch put together a rough cut that was about four or five hours long, and proposed splitting all the footage into two separate movies. Since this wasn’t the norm at the time, the studio rejected his proposal, and instead trimmed all of his footage down to a single two-hour film that ended up bombing both critically and financially upon release. Needless to say, Lynch didn’t take this well, and says he still regrets ever getting involved with Dune to this very day.
Greatest Strength: As flawed as it may be, it’s nice to have a version of this entire story that can be digested in just two hours. It’s extremely hard to follow if you’re a newbie to the Dune lore, of course, but for “seasoned veterans,” it’s a convenient way of reliving the tale without having to invest too much time into it (again).
Greatest Weakness: This isn’t really a true Dune adaptation, per se, but rather David Lynch’s “reimagining” of it. If you’re a fan of his unique style in general, that may not be too bothersome for you, but those looking for something more “in-line” with the book can expect to be disappointed. Personally, I’m someone who considers themes to be the most important aspect of any story, and what I find fascinating about the original Dune novel (what I understand from it, at least) is that it deconstructs the theme of “what it means to be a messiah.” In other words, it critiques “the hero’s journey,” before Star Wars even made “the hero’s journey” cool. That’s why that book was so ahead of its time, and why it still holds up now. None of those things are anywhere to be found in this film version, though. Did Lynch overlook these details? Or did he omit them intentionally due to external constraints? We’ll likely never know. That said, if you treat this film as its own thing, and if you’re able to get past how rushed it all feels, it’s actually not that bad. While I’m slowly becoming a fan of the source material, I’m also a fan of Lynch as a director, and can appreciate his unique “taste” that he put into this project (weirding modules and all!). Hell, even Herbert himself said he liked the movie and didn’t mind the artistic liberties that it took.
Alan Smithee’s Dune: Extended Edition (1988)
Background: This is actually just a three-hour version of the Lynch film, with about an hour’s worth of deleted scenes added back in, first broadcasted on television in two parts. By this point, however, Lynch himself had long since disowned the project, and therefore asked for this new cut to give the directorial credit to “Alan Smithee” (a name often used by filmmakers who are ashamed of their own work). For the writing credit, Lynch used “Judas Booth” (a combination of Judas Iscariot and John Wilkes Booth).
Greatest Strength: Obviously, it’s a lot less rushed and more coherent than the theatrical version, meaning certain plot holes are now resolved, while Lynch’s sense of charming zaniness is still maintained. That said, the movie still fails to emulate many of the unique themes from the book.
Greatest Weakness: One of the biggest differences between the theatrical cut and this version is the beginning. Instead of the monologue from the Emperor’s daughter (which itself is already awkward if you’re not familiar with the book), we’re treated to a seven-minute long worldbuilding narration that uses concept art to try to get viewers to better understand how exactly this fictional universe works. While I admire the effort, I personally find worldbuilding of this scale to often be one of the least important aspects of telling a story (at least cinematically). When I don’t understand how a world works, I’m usually fine with just correcting things in my head using “the Star Wars excuse” (a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away a.k.a “this doesn’t need to make any sense”). The book definitely deserves praise for just how dense its own lore is, but I have yet to see worldbuilding of that magnitude done well in a cinematic format (even the new 2021 adaptation omitted some of these details).
John Harrison’s Frank Herbert’s Dune (2000)
Background: Around the turn of the millennium, the infamous Sci-Fi channel (known today as Syfy) teamed up with director John Harrison to take a crack at Dune in the form of a TV miniseries. With book fans still burned over the Lynch version(s), Sci-Fi was determined to create an on-screen take more accurate to the source material, even going as far as to name the project Frank Herbert’s Dune to emphasize this.
Greatest Strength: As of right now, this is still the most faithful adaptation of the book, though Villeneuve’s upcoming Dune: Part Two will likely render this one as mostly obsolete. Nevertheless, this take managed to finally capture the core themes of the original story accurately, among other factors (Chani is more likable and closer to her book counterpart here than in either Lynch cut, for instance). That said, I feel this adaptation might’ve been a little too faithful. It’s a common saying that not everything always translates well between mediums, and this is a solid example of that. For instance, the names “Mahdi” and “Maud’Dib” are very frequently used interchangeably for Paul, which may read well, but when having to hear the dialogue instead, I often found myself struggling to know which of those two names were actually being said. Paul also comes across as way more “flat” here, which I know was intentional for the book, but doesn’t really work on screen (the weird casting choice for him didn’t help either, no offense to that actor). That all being said, the miniseries does take a few artistic liberties that allow it to have a bit of its own “identity.” The biggest example of that being the subplot that was added for the Emperor’s daughter, which makes her a more fleshed-out character (though Lady Margot is cut, as a result). Rabban also gets a bit more to do here too, and it all works to further emphasize the “chess game structure” of the story, even if it drags a bit.
Greatest Weakness: As one would expect from a Sci-Fi Channel project, this miniseries was made on a budget of almost nothing, so it looks awful. The sets are trash, the costumes are trash, the effects are trash… I can go on. I suppose one cool feature was how all the night scenes had both blue and green lighting, since the two moons of Arrakis are supposed to be blue and green, respectively. Sadly, it’s still not enough to salvage the overall visuals. I’ve heard people say that this adaptation is best when you pretend it’s just a stage play that just so happened to have a camera in front of it. Seeing it that way definitely helped, but not by much. Thankfully, the 2003 sequel miniseries, which combined the second and third books together, is a vast improvement visually.
Frank Pavich’s Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013)
Background: As mentioned above, surrealist filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky tried to get a Dune adaptation off the ground in the 1970’s, but things fell apart. This documentary by Frank Pavich is the closest glimpse we have to what that movie would’ve been like. Things got out of hand pretty fast. Salvador Dali, who would’ve played the Emperor, demanded to be paid $100,000 an hour, while Orson Welles, who would’ve played Baron Harkonnen, demanded to have expensive gourmet dinners cooked for him every single night as part of the movie’s budget. Jodorowsky himself was guilty of some of this disaster too. He casted his own son as the lead, despite the boy only being twelve at the time, and put him through two years worth of martial arts training for six hours a day. Jodo also demanded that the studio allow him to make the final cut of the movie ten hours long. Needless to say, the project died right then and there, but it wasn’t a total waste. During the pre-production period, over three-thousand pieces of concept art were produced and put together as a hardcover book that got passed around Hollywood for the next few years, influencing many of the sci-fi and fantasy films that took the world by storm in the late 70’s and early 80’s. That very same artbook actually sold for over $42,000 at an auction just a few years ago. Jodo himself would also go on to use many of his ideas for Dune in several graphic novels about his own original characters.
Greatest Strength: This entire movie would’ve been very different from the book, and the ending in particular was going to be something not seen in the source material at all. Paul was going to die, and then his consciousness was going to be split into a million pieces, all of which would then be “absorbed” by everyone else on Arrakis. The idea here being that in order for Paul to fulfill the prophecy of the chosen one, he would need to sacrifice himself so that everyone else could instead be the chosen one “in his place.” So, like the book, this adaptation would have been all about deconstructing the hero’s journey on a thematic scale. It just, you know, would’ve done it in a completely different way that would’ve destroyed all possibilities for any of the sequels to ever be adapted… Funny enough, after Paul’s soul gets split up like that, Arrakis was gonna somehow magically travel all over the universe at light speed, turning all dead planets it passes into lush environments full of life, before exploding into a supernova. In other words, Arrakis was going to die so that all other planets could have life, just like how this movie project itself needed to die in order to give life to Alien, The Fifth Element, etc.
Greatest Weakness: Well, in case it wasn’t already obvious, this isn’t really Dune. I understand that it’s important to take some creative license when adapting someone else’s work, but after so many changes, you might as well just make it your own intellectual property instead. Herbert himself was actually somewhat involved with the development process of this project, and like with Lynch later on, he apparently didn’t mind any of these crazy changes that Jodo wanted to make. That being said, having the original creator’s stamp of approval isn’t really enough, in my opinion. Fans of the book initially tore Lynch’s movie apart. If they had gotten this movie instead, we probably would’ve seen riots on the streets…
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune aka Dune: Part One (2021)
Background: Originally intended to be released in 2020, but delayed an entire year due to a certain pandemic, this adaptation is something of a passion project for Villeneuve, as he had been reading the book repeatedly ever since he was 14. Like Lynch before him, Denis requested that the studio allow him to split the adaptation across two separate films. This time, they agreed, but there was a catch: Part Two would only be approved if Part One did well at the box office first. Thankfully, that proved to be the case, and Part Two is now scheduled for an October 2023 release (my gut is telling me that it’ll be delayed a bit, though), and Denis himself hopes to round off his movie trilogy with an adaptation of the second book, Dune Messiah.
Greatest Strength: So far, Villeneuve has been pretty faithful to the book and it’s themes, and I imagine that’ll continue in Part Two (I doubt we’ll get that orgy scene, though). That and the fact that this movie looks and sounds great and is well-acted pretty much makes this the definitive version, as long as Part Two is able to “round the story out” accordingly. While part of me misses the “dirtiness” of the Lynch version, I would still take this one overall. Furthermore, I’ve seen some people say that Part One doesn’t stand on its own enough, which I personally disagree with. I thought centering that film around Paul and Jessica surviving alone in the desert and culminating with their inauguration into the Fremen was a smart move (that final line from Chani was stupid though, and the fact that Gurney and Thufir both just disappear from the plot was annoying). As a side note, I also liked how this version emphasized how not all of Paul’s visions come true. That helped this film to stand on its own while still maintaining a bit of tension, in my opinion.
Greatest Weakness: So if you’ve read my blog before, you’ll know that I criticized Villeneuve for that temper tantrum he threw last year about his film having a theatrical release and a streaming release at the same time as one another. While I enjoyed this movie way more than I expected to, I still stand by everything I said in that post earlier this year. The guy was acting like people wouldn’t have the option to see it in theaters, which wasn’t the case at all. I understand his frustration with how the hybrid release almost killed his chances of getting to make Part Two, and agree that it was shitty of WB to not at least warn him in advance, but nevertheless, safety comes first. Nothing in life is a guarantee until it actually happens anyways. Hell, maybe the lowered expectations actually helped convince WB to green-light the second half! Besides, I saw the film in theaters with a friend, just to have an excuse to get out and socialize, and while I enjoyed the experience, there was nothing that made me say to myself “Oh my god, I’m so glad I saw this in theaters!!” A bigger screen and surround sound doesn’t really mean anything to me these days. If a movie is good, it’s good, regardless of where and how I see it.
And that’s about all I got! Looking forward to Dune: Part Two.
Peace!
2024 UPDATE: Just saw Dune: Part Two. It wasn’t as accurate of an adaptation as I thought it would be, but quite frankly, it’s all the better for it. Besides, people who want a nearly-book-accurate version can stick to the 2000 miniseries (as long as they don’t mind the bad acting and “no budget” look). Whereas people who want a big-budget, “modernized” version of the story now have the Denis films to embrace, and people who prioritize the “weirdness” of the source material can stick to David Lynch. Those of you who want a version that somehow does all three of those things are out of luck, but maybe in like 30 years they’ll do another miniseries version with a Game of Thrones-level budget, or maybe by that point AI will be advanced enough that everyone can just make their own versions…
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