Rating: PG-13
Starring:
Francesca Annis as Lady Jessica
Leonardo Cimino as The Baron’s Doctor
Brad Dourif as Piter De Vries
José Ferrer as Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV
Linda Hunt as Shadout Mapes
Freddie Jones as Thufir Hawat
Richard Jordan as Duncan Idaho
Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides
Virginia Madsen as Princess Irulan
Silvana Mangano as Reverend Mother Ramallo
Everett McGill as Stilgar
Kenneth McMillan as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
Jack Nance as Nefud
Siân Phillips as Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
Jürgen Prochnow as Duke Leto Atreides
Paul L. Smith as The Beast Rabban
Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck
Sting as Feyd Rautha
Dean Stockwell as Doctor Wellington Yueh
Max von Sydow as Doctor Kynes
Alicia Witt as Alia
Sean Young as Chani
Danny Corkill as Orlop
Honorato Magaloni as Otheym
Judd Omen as Jamis
Molly Wryn as Harah
Directed by David Lynch
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes
Designing Dune
Dune FX
Dune Models & Minatures
Dune Wardrobe Design
D-Box Motion Enabled
Other Info:
Widescreen (2.35:1)
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French Language
French and Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 137 Minutes
The Details:
The following is the official description of the film:
“Dazzling special effects, unforgettable images and powerful performances highlight David Lynch’s stunning film version of Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction epic about an intergalactic warrior’s messianic rise. Starring Kyle MacLachlan, José Ferrer, Max von Sydow, Oscar winner Linda Hunt and Sting, Dune is the ultimate adventure experience that goes beyond the imagination.”
“Dune” is rated PG-13.
The Movie:
“Dune” finally gets the Blu-ray treatment. Unfortunately, “Dune” fans probably aren’t going to be that happy with it. Rather than having the extended version, this only has the theatrical version which is 40 minutes shorter. It’s quite obvious they’re planning for some special edition Blu-ray sometime in the future. The picture has some technical problems, too. I typically don’t notice problems in picture or sound quality, but even I could see specks and scratches in the image. They’re most notable in the desert scenes. So it’s quite apparent this movie needs to be restored.
“Dune” fans will also be unhappy that there are no new bonus features. These are the same ones from the recently released extended edition DVD. If you’re looking for more, you’re out of luck. Theres no commentary and none of the actors contribute to any of the featurettes. However, what remains is decent. A few deleted scenes are introduced by Raffaella De Laurentiis who explains that there was never a 4 hour cut of the film, but they had intended to do a 6 hour version. This is followed by a few deleted scenes. One shows Paul crying for a man he has killed. Another scene shows Kyle MacLachlan as Paul offering himself as a sacrifice to the family’s traitorous assistant. This is followed by him taking on Virginia Madsen who plays Princess Irulan as his wife. The other deleted scenes are less noteworthy. The rest of the extras are featurettes discussing the design of the film, the special effects, the models and miniatures, and the wardrobe. The original artists and crew are interviewed for these pieces. It’s very interesting and you begin to really appreciate the design work that went into the film. It’s a shame it all had to get bogged down by a bad script.
Unfortunately, this Blu-ray is not the definitive edition of the film. If you’re a “Dune” fan, the Extended Edition DVD is still the version to go with. If you’re not a “Dune” fan, then I still think the SCI FI Channel mini-series is a better adaptation of the novel. It’s a lot less weird and convoluted.
