The sleeper awakens! The definitive Dune opens on December 14, 1984


It's epic! It's divisive! It's controversial! And it's also the definitive and superior film adaptation of the novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Yes, I'm talking about David Lynch's Dune, which opened in theaters on December 14, 1984. The later reboots simply don't hold a glowglobe to Lynch's lavish treatment of one of the greatest works in Western literature.

You see, Dune is the rare genre novel that achieves escape velocity from the mere science fiction orbit to legitimate comparison with Great Expectations or The Great Gatsby. A true desert island book, it can be reread endlessly. And not simply because Herbert creates a universe the reader is sucked into, but because his writing is so damn good. I will occasionally pick up my copy - a mass market paperback released with the 1984 flick - and, some time later, regain consciousness to realize I'm already 100 pages into the story once again. It's that good.

So, theoretically, I should be one of those purists raging against the Lynch version. The abridgements! The compromises! The Baron!

And yet, one must conclude that the 1984 Dune is, so far, the best film adaptation on three grounds: First and foremost, it would be a mistake and impossibility to truly replicate the scope and immersive experience of the novel in a two-dimensional film medium. Second, the casting. And third, the audiovisual style.

Why try to turn a thick book into "The Hobbit, Part VI" when a faster-paced, space opera romp can convey the same essence, while sacrificing none of the intellectual argument and sophistication of Herbert's original? This is what Lynch does, masterfully.

The synchronicity with the zeitgeist was right. Who needs Tales from Topographic Oceans, when Trevor Rabin can do it in 6:21 with earworm melodies, a killer guitar solo, and still keep the crazy time signatures? The former is gathering dust in your grandfather's attic, while the latter was a brilliant song and hit single ("Changes"). Yes and Asia were doing it in 1982 and 83. Lynch would do it in cinema in 1984. Going for commercial success while retaining the integrity of the art is no sin.

Few movies come with as jam-packed a cast as the Dune of 1984. Kyle MacLachlan looks like the Muad'Dib. When he gets up and gives that dictator-style speech in the film, you're ready to follow him into battle. Timothee Chalamet? Not so much. Sure, Chalamet might better fit the novel's description of Paul Atreides at the start of the saga, but he will not grow into the stature of Kyle MacLachlan over time, no matter how many sequels. TC as the Dune Messiah? I'm not buying it.

Where Lynch cast those who could best translate each role from page to screen, the Denis Villeneuve Dune of 2021 is trying too hard to be provocative, diverse, and contemporary. From Zendaya and Javier Bardem to Oscar Issac and Jason Momoa, they are all the tired marquee names you expect to see on the poster for any major studio release of its era. Heck, I'm just shocked John Goodman didn't show up! In contrast, nobody expected Sting to play Feyd. Kyle MacLachlan? A nobody in 1984. 

Then Lynch rounds out the cast with Shakespearean heavyweights like Patrick Stewart, Dean Stockwell, and Richard Jordan. When Duncan Idaho dies, or Gurney reunites with Paul, you feel it. You're invested as much as you were in the book. The book was about stories, big ideas, and these compelling characters, and Lynch delivers on all three of those counts.

Finally, the Lynch vision reigns supreme. Okay, the Baron is absolutely and unnecessarily revolting. But otherwise - the costumes, the cinematography, Lynch's novel solution for putting "The Weirding Way" on screen...all incredibly inspired, and direct and punchy in execution and effect. Yes, the special effects were momentarily shaky when Paul mounted the worm, but the sights, sounds, and choreography of the worm scenes were far more thrilling on the big screen in the 1984 film. The look of the movie was cutting edge and refreshingly new in 1984, while the 2021 version looks like something we've all seen before. Toto's soundtrack is simply the icing on the cake. "It's a symphonic score. Wait, is that Steve Lukather?"

Forty-one years ago today, David Lynch took one small step in his storied directorial career that was one giant leap for Dune and sci-fi fans around the globe. I'm not even that fond of any of his other work, but I got his Dune. A relative few of us did, based on the box office results. Are you one of them? Long live the fighters!

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