I love this goddamned weird-ass, much-maligned sci-fi epic from that mad genius David Lynch. I first discovered it on TV as a kid & it quickly became one of my favourites, up there with Star Wars & Indy. Yes, it was long & weird & didn’t completely make sense but Paul Atreide’s journey from young Prince to rebel leader & ultimately saviour is a clear through-line to follow through the murky labyrinth of warring dynasties, space witches, blue eyed nomads, the mystical spice & big fuck off sandworms.
Watching it again today it feels 100% like a Lynch film, with its dreamlike passages, odd voiceover & inner thoughts - all of which shouldn’t work (& don’t for many) but do for me. The cast is pretty great all round (as it is for the new Dune) with a young Kyle Maclachlan cementing his lifelong association with Lynch. Plus Patrick Stewart, Max Von Sydow, Virginia Madsen, Jurgen Prochnow, Sting(!), Sean Young, Everett McGill + Brad Dourif among many more.
The huge ornate sets are astounding, as are the practical FX work. Toto’s score is epic, bombastic & moving in parts. When the guitar kicks in during the final battle, it feels like an acid soaked rock opera with sandworms crushing the Harkonnen army while the Fremen blast them with sound wave guns.
The Denis Villeneuve version is easily my most anticipated film of the year & I’ve been blasting the Hans Zimmer score almost daily in the buildup. But I will always have Lynch’s epic, cosmic version of Frank Herbert’s novel (which I still haven’t read) to come back to, particularly now I have finally got my hands on this stunning new boxset from @arrowvideo.
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