After having watched the second film in this updated Dune triology that has taken cinema by storm, I decided to watch the original Dune by David Lynch from 1984 in a retro showing at a local cinema. It was packed out, so clearly there was quite an interest to watch this for a similar curiosity as mine.
What we have is one dreadfully bad movie. Even for the time it likely looked dated and out of touch, especially as it came 15 years after 2001, 8 years after Star Wars and a couple of years after Blade Runner. If anything, this film has more in common with TV show standards for special effects like the old BBC Doctor Who series. In some ways, the film owes a debt to Flash Gordon which is curious as that film was a box office flop, and its 'succcess' owes more to video & TV re-runs for kids. Whatever the case, Dune (1984) is simply a dud and it's hard to believe that the brilliant David Lynch was behind it.
The only positive note I have to state on this film is that the exposition is far better and easier to follow than the modern trilogy in progress. I finally got to understand the point of much that was going on and why.
Back to the negative notes, the dialogue is cringey, there are jumps in the story that makes no sense, it's rushed at points especially in the last third, and the villains are so unconvincing they are laughable. Got to add that the villains look like they were stepped out of Monty Python movie.
Then there is Sting the singer. What was he thinking, and his cameo is embarrassing to watch. Very camp, very strange and an unconvincing bad-ass!
Despite saying all that, the truth is that it's so bad yet still watchable! You can still sit & watch it, in a kind of Tommy Wiseau style. I'd say it's worth a viewing for curiosity.
What we have is one dreadfully bad movie. Even for the time it likely looked dated and out of touch, especially as it came 15 years after 2001, 8 years after Star Wars and a couple of years after Blade Runner. If anything, this film has more in common with TV show standards for special effects like the old BBC Doctor Who series. In some ways, the film owes a debt to Flash Gordon which is curious as that film was a box office flop, and its 'succcess' owes more to video & TV re-runs for kids. Whatever the case, Dune (1984) is simply a dud and it's hard to believe that the brilliant David Lynch was behind it.
The only positive note I have to state on this film is that the exposition is far better and easier to follow than the modern trilogy in progress. I finally got to understand the point of much that was going on and why.
Back to the negative notes, the dialogue is cringey, there are jumps in the story that makes no sense, it's rushed at points especially in the last third, and the villains are so unconvincing they are laughable. Got to add that the villains look like they were stepped out of Monty Python movie.
Then there is Sting the singer. What was he thinking, and his cameo is embarrassing to watch. Very camp, very strange and an unconvincing bad-ass!
Despite saying all that, the truth is that it's so bad yet still watchable! You can still sit & watch it, in a kind of Tommy Wiseau style. I'd say it's worth a viewing for curiosity.