Overall, no adaptation of Dune can surpass the book. Can't be done. I still recall probably being the only kid who left the theater unhappy with Jurassic Park because I had read the book first.
I think the follow-up Children of Dune miniseries they did a few years later was a lot better overall. Neither is bad, but the earlier Dune miniseries has more of the feel of a stage play being filmed instead of a tv show.
Interesting that you bring that up. I initially thought of doing a compare/contrast essay on all three versions before deciding to focus on just the 1984 adaptation. It’s been quite a while since I watched the SyFy miniseries, but one thing I recall is that I did not like how Paul was portrayed as a sullen, petulant teenager. Need to go back and watch it again with a fresh set of eyes and see if that is still my viewpoint.
that’s so interesting - Alac Newman’s Muad’Dib is my personal favorite.
although he’s not too believable as a frail teenager, I liked how he had the space to develop a character arc, going from teen to man by necessity to leader to half-crazed Kwisatz Haderach.
and they did the transitions so smoothly that it’s never really noticable. but if you do a before and after pic of first and last frames, it’s like a different person
The +3h TV cut overseen by producer De Laurentis certainly is longer is and was supposed to be more fleshed out, but sadly ended up with many flaws in the pacing and editing. Lynch disliked it so much, that apparently he demanded from De Laurentis to remove any mention of Lynch from the opening and ending credits.
There is a good middleground between the theatrical and TV cut in the form of the fancut "Dune Redux - The Spicediver Edit", which not only contains footage from both official cuts, but deleted scenes as well. Spicediver even went as far to remove most of the criticized inner dialogues, or visually corrected some of the lore inaccuracies from the movie. Recommended.
See here an interview with Spicediver about his work:
As is often the case, the book was better than the movie.
Overall, no adaptation of Dune can surpass the book. Can't be done. I still recall probably being the only kid who left the theater unhappy with Jurassic Park because I had read the book first.
All exactly how I feel about it.
I rewatch it with a new person - every 5 years or so !
Great Essay :) !
have you ever seen the SyFy miniseries from 2000? how do you think they compare to the feature films?
I think the follow-up Children of Dune miniseries they did a few years later was a lot better overall. Neither is bad, but the earlier Dune miniseries has more of the feel of a stage play being filmed instead of a tv show.
Although they omitted using the word "Beefswelling" in the CoD miniseries so it is lacking a bit.
if you enjoyed beefswelling - may I interest you in “shiptit” 😅🤣
Interesting that you bring that up. I initially thought of doing a compare/contrast essay on all three versions before deciding to focus on just the 1984 adaptation. It’s been quite a while since I watched the SyFy miniseries, but one thing I recall is that I did not like how Paul was portrayed as a sullen, petulant teenager. Need to go back and watch it again with a fresh set of eyes and see if that is still my viewpoint.
that’s so interesting - Alac Newman’s Muad’Dib is my personal favorite.
although he’s not too believable as a frail teenager, I liked how he had the space to develop a character arc, going from teen to man by necessity to leader to half-crazed Kwisatz Haderach.
and they did the transitions so smoothly that it’s never really noticable. but if you do a before and after pic of first and last frames, it’s like a different person
The +3h TV cut overseen by producer De Laurentis certainly is longer is and was supposed to be more fleshed out, but sadly ended up with many flaws in the pacing and editing. Lynch disliked it so much, that apparently he demanded from De Laurentis to remove any mention of Lynch from the opening and ending credits.
There is a good middleground between the theatrical and TV cut in the form of the fancut "Dune Redux - The Spicediver Edit", which not only contains footage from both official cuts, but deleted scenes as well. Spicediver even went as far to remove most of the criticized inner dialogues, or visually corrected some of the lore inaccuracies from the movie. Recommended.
See here an interview with Spicediver about his work:
https://vocal.media/futurism/reconstructing-lynch-s-dune-a-look-at-dune-redux