Rating PG
Length 2h17
Release 14.12.1984
Director David Lynch
About Paul, a duke’s son, leads an army of the indigenous population called the Fremen on the desert planet of Arrakis as they get ready to defend their land from the evil Harkonnens.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Trailer:
The Good
For the time I think this is a most excellent attempt. Yes the graphics are shoddy, but it’s 1984. I’m going to give it a pass for that. The story is told, and it is mostly easy to follow. There’s parts that are unintensionally funny, but it only adds to the charm.
The acting is not winning awards, but that goes both ways. It’s not Razzie worthy either. The biggest indicator would be that even Sting gives a decent performance as one of many music stars throughout history who have taken to film.
The biggest win for the film is of course Kyle MacLachlan who is able to lead the film as Paul. Being a fated saviour is a hard task to bring to screen and MacLachlan is able to show a developed arc and growth for the character.
The Bad
That opening monologue is terrible, overly expositional and visually off-tone. The moment she fades out, to only fade back in when she remembers another point is something that you would expect to see from Holly in Red Dwarf.
The music, while is much better than the most recent version of this story, I was pulled out of the film because of how similar it sounded to a section of Scrooged’s score. Yes, this came first, but I’m more familiar with with the Bill Murray Christmas Carol offering.
The Ugly
The voice over narration. I’d say 9 times out of 10, I’d already figured out what then was whispered as a voice over “thought” so I get the feeling this was added after filming. It was too intrusive, too distracting and, on the most part, pointless.
The Baron killing the servant was stomach churning. The murder and assault are rather visceral and adding to it the audience and the repulsively of the Baron himself just leaves the whole thing nightmarish.
Final Thoughts
It is of its time and not something I’d rush to watch again. If you’re not a fan of Sci-fi, I would say clear of this as you will not survive the runtime.
The Queens of Geekdom 