David Lynch’s Dune: The Third Stage Edition

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There are many, many Dune edits out there, and this is a very good one. My thoughts on the film and the fanedit in a more general, thematic way are here: https://boxd.it/3d7HvB

In technical terms, this fanedit shows its age and age of the source material. The added footage has supposedly been cleaned up and had special effects added/completed, but I caught a number of shots without that. The footage shows a huge difference between sources at times. The audio work is much stronger though, with reworked themes from both major cuts to produce a smooth soundscape here.

Much of the added material comes in the beginning, which can make the earlier part of this feel slow and then make the ending seem rushed. That said, it's not ALL character development; there are some more action shots and that great knife fight scene in the desert. If you can get over the difference in video quality, this is a version I'd recommend over the theatrical version or the 'official' extended version.

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8.6
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Dune is a literary science fiction masterpiece whose definitive cinematic portrayal is still elusive. Much can be said about the aborted attempts made at bringing the first novel to the screen, and while the Sci-Fi Channel’s 2000 miniseries may have been a bit more accurate in the events depicted within its runtime, David Lynch’s 1984 theatrical effort is still a fascinating piece of work.

Unfortunately, even a definitive version of this film doesn’t truly exist. Lynch’s theatrical version was about 2 hours long, which meant that the meat of its narrative was severely trundcated by studio demands for a more commercial picture. When an extended cut was commissioned for television, the resultant mess of bad pacing, repeated special effects shots, and rough shape of the restored footage led to Lynch disowning that version, leaving it to be credited to the dreaded ‘Alan Smithee.’

Enter fan editor PhineasBG. While there are several other Dune fan edits out there, most attempt to bring the film more in line with the novel, while one attempts to recreate what the pre-release workprint might have been like. The Third Stage Edition is something else entirely. Working from a widely-available shooting script and utilizing footage from both cuts and the selection of deleted scenes from the Special Edition DVD released in 2006, Third Stage aims to restore what is presumed to be Lynch’s actual director’s cut.

Being the first fan edit I ever got my hands on, I was plenty excited to experience it, and I was not disappointed. The story now feels complete and epic, coming in just under 3 hours but suffering none of the repetition of the extended edition. Most of the deleted scenes restored are incredibly welcome, most especially the extended bits of the climax, for example the death of Thufir Hawat and Paul claiming Irulan as his wife. There are still problems inherent to Lynch’s version, which include the incredibly short amount of time Paul and Chani fall in love, and the pacing around Jessica’s taking of the Water of Life, but with no surviving examples of that footage, PhineasBG did his best, and his best is still wonderful.

Even only being available on DVD, the picture and sound quality are surprisingly good for its age. Black levels are inconsistent, but the picture retains its color and has pretty good resolution for the format, having been sourced from 720p. The extended edition footage, long missing the blue-within-blue eye FX, has been restored digitally. No more Fremen continuity errors. Deleted scenes are still a bit rough and scratchy compared to the rest of the picture, but again, this is the way it is when the source footage is unrestored. I can’t expect everyone to be Harmy.

The sound mix is deep and bassy, enough to shake the house when turned up. Some people aren’t a fan of this, but I love hearing the speakers rumble. Another big thing to note is that whenever possible, the theatrical cut audio is used on the sountrack, as the extended edition made some rather nonsense changes to the audio that frankly left me scratching my head. Bravo, PhineasBG.

In short, my highest recommendation (if you can find it)

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Top 1000 Reviewer 4 reviews
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9.2
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i love dune and had been after this version for a while.
so after getting my hands on this i watched it that night.
i love this edit but i loved the alternative redux more.
i love how this cut is closer to Davids version of dune more than the studios.
the only real problem i have with this edit is the quality is a little rough but you can only use what ever you have to work with.
this is a real solid edit and really improves the movie greatly, it defiantly taking a spot next to the alternative redux and kicking the theatrical cut off the DVD shelf.

thank you to PhineasBG for giving us the version of dune so meny people have waited for for so long and this edit was worth hunting down. tops job i loved it

highly recomended

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Owner's reply September 18, 2014

Thanks so much! I also love Alternative Redux, which came long after this edit. If people like this edit, they will LOVE Alternative Redux!

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I just made an account to THANK YOU SO MUCH for making this...! I haven't seen Dune in a long time. I love the book so much, so I just downloaded your version and at the same time, the 1080p theatrical cut. I watched the first ten minutes of both and instantly knew yours was going to be the more wonderful experience... even at the 480 resolution (I assume?). Thanks again for putting so much time and care into this edit. Really feels like I'm watching the intended version, flaws and pacing issues are no matter, because it's what the book feels like... a true edit for the fans! THANK YOU!

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9.2
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9.0
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10.0
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9.0
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9.0
A great edit of Dune. The deleted scenes were cleaned up as much as could be expected, and integrated well enough. You could tell where they were, but there's only so much that could be done and it's not jarring. The audio was excellent, no issues there at all.

My only real quibble is it seems something was missing from the Paul meets the Fremen scene. It felt a bit jarring & quick. I swear I recall a bit more to it in other versions. Other than that, it all flowed smoothly.

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