Frank Herbert's Dune
From AwardAnnals
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| Director(s) | John Harrison |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | TV Miniseries |
| Distributor | Live / Artisan |
| Honors | |
| It’s a mixed blessing, but Frank Herbert’s Dune goes a long way toward satisfying science fiction purists who scoffed at David Lynch’s previous attempt to adapt Herbert’s epic narrative. Ironically, director John Harrison’s 288-minute TV miniseries (broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel in December 2000) offers its own share of strengths and weaknesses, which, in retrospect, emphasize the quality of Lynch’s film while treating Herbert’s novel with more comprehensive authority. Debate will continue as to which film is better; Lynch’s extensive use of internal… | |
Honors
Reviews
Amazon.com
It’s a mixed blessing, but Frank Herbert’s Dune goes a long way toward satisfying science fiction purists who scoffed at David Lynch’s previous attempt to adapt Herbert’s epic narrative. Ironically, director John Harrison’s 288-minute TV miniseries (broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel in December 2000) offers its own share of strengths and weaknesses, which, in retrospect, emphasize the quality of Lynch’s film while treating Herbert’s novel with more comprehensive authority. Debate will continue as to which film is better; Lynch’s extensive use of internal monologue now seems like a challenge well met, and Harrison’s more conventional approach is better equipped to convey the epic scope of Herbert’s interplanetary political intrigue.
This much is certain: this Dune is a sumptuous treat for the eyes, with sets and costumes that were conceived with no apparent limits of budget or creativity. In terms of architecture alone, this is one of the most impressive films in science fiction history. And although the special effects fall short of feature-film quality, writer-director Harrison (who rose from an extensive background in TV) admirably tames the sprawling narrative that pits the opposing houses of Atreides and Harkonnen in a struggle to control the lucrative market for the spice melange. This is as accurate as any Dune adaptation is likely to get (i.e., there’s no need for another attempt), and even then, it can be tricky to keep track of who’s doing what to whom. Unfortunately, the film’s biggest flaws are the casting of a nearly comatose William Hurt as Duke Leto, and a wooden Alec Newman as the messiah-to-be, Paul Atreides. These are regrettable shortcomings, but this Dune remains altogether respectable. That Frank Herbert would be impressed is perhaps the biggest compliment one can pay. —Jeff Shannon
Barnes and Noble
Frank Herbert’s 1974 novel Dune holds a special place in the modern science-fiction canon. Boasting throngs of fans and a sizeable critical following, its setting—the planet Arrakis, after the year 10,000—is the genre’s well-tread equivalent of William Faulkner’s fictional Yoknapatawpha County. Sixteen years after David Lynch first brought Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic to the big screen in 1984—to decidedly mixed results—the Sci-Fi Channel has adapted the classic novel as a 4 1/2 hour miniseries. The result is a richly satisfying vision of the distant future. Writer/director John Harrison’s (Tales From the Darkside: The Movie) adaptation is detailed enough to satisfy avid fans of Herbert’s work, and accessible enough to entrance the uninitiated. Dune follows the fate of the noble house of Duke Leto Atreides (William Hurt) who is charged to rule the desolate, sandswept desert planet Arrakis, the universes only source of Melange, a powerful spice that enhances mental performance and makes instantaneous interstellar travel possible. The Duke leaves his home world with son Paul (Alec Newman), but soon after taking control of the forbidding Arrakis, he is betrayed and Arrakis is conquered by its previous ruler, the ruthless Baron Harkonnen (Ian McNeice). Paul is left for dead in the desert, where he falls in with the Fremen, the indigenous people of Arrakis, and begins the fight to retake the planet. Despite its basic cable pedigree, the film does not skimp on production values. Dune has the look and feel of a theatrical release, and even evokes Lawrence of Arabia. Oscar-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now) renders the galaxy in a gorgeous array of color. The cast, especially newcomer Newman and the always-reliable Hurt, is roundly solid. But the real star of Dune is the well-executed story—a marvelous, engrossing tale that is finally given a chance to stretch out on-screen and breathe. Matthew Johnson
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Dune: Book 1 of the Dune Chronicles
“Unique…I know nothing comparable to it except Lord of the Rings.” —Arthur C. Clarke
Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Maud’dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family—and would bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula…
Even more than most of David Lynch’s deliberately bizarre and idiosyncratic movies, Dune is a “love-it-or-hate-it” affair. An ambitious, epic, utterly mind-boggling—and, let’s admit it, all-out weird—adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel, Dune remains one of the most controversial films in the director’s exceedingly provocative career. The story (if Dune can be said to have just one story) is complex and convoluted in the epic tradition; it has something to do with political intrigue and a planet that is home to a…
