David Lynch’s Dune: The Third Stage Edition

December 18, 2008
*This rating was given before reviews were required*

November 27, 2008
*This rating was given before reviews were required*

February 18, 2009

FanEdit Review by Molasar

Title/FanEditor: David Lynch's Dune: The Third Stage Edition by PhineasBg & Nighthawks

Prologue: I love Dune. Besides The Keep, being a fan of David Lynch's Dune has been tough over the years. I have read the book and watched the Sci-Fi Channel mini-series. They simply do not hold a candle to David Lynch's oft-maligned vision. The film is gorgeous to look at. Bob Ringwood's costumes are phenomenal in and of themselves. The still suits are one of the best costumes ever put on celluloid. Add to that the amazing set design, the awesome cinematography by Freddie Francis and the extraordinary effects work by Carlo Rambaldi and Albert Whitlock and you have a misunderstood masterpiece. I could care less that Lynch changed the story. I love every frame of the theatrical cut. I have seen the extended TV edition many times. It features more good things to see and hear but the cut was nonsensical. PhineasBg and Nighthawks have created something very special. Using the shooting draft of Lynch's screenplay (which I have read), they have reconstructed the film in a way that every Dune fan has to see.

The Edit: What's best about this fan edit is they rearranged the extended edition and added in the deleted scenes for a complete version of David Lynch's film. The cuts are seamless. The rearrangement of the scenes, compared to the confusing TV cut, is perfection. Everything is there. For those who want all the deleted scenes and the “painting narrated” prologue they're presented as Special Features. Nothing is lost. The only complaint I have is that the deleted scene footage is not very good, no fault of the faneditors so there are no deductions. They have done the best they could. Their inclusion is not distracting because the editing and sound syncing is so well done. Biggest and best improvement — the blue Fremen eyes added to the extended footage. Totally cool. This is my new version to watch when I give Dune a spin. Simply excellent. *****/*****

Image Quality: Besides the aforementioned deleted scene footage, everything else looks very good. Colors are rich and blacks are deep. I noticed some jaggies and moire effects on striped areas, like Feyd's chest. Given these limitations, I still think fans will be very pleased with the video quality of this presentation. ****/*****

Audio Quality: Although the audio is listed as 5.1 surround, it really isn't. The sound field is center-heavy. I did not hear anything from my rears and no LFE whatsoever during the film. The audio is loud and clear, free from pops or hiss yet I can't help but wish that the sound field was wider and more enveloping. To be fair, the DVD special edition is not a great 5.1 soundtrack. It's not one I'd use to show off my system. This one’s just fine. ***.5/*****

The DVD: Static menus. Specials Features include deleted scenes and the prologue for us completists. ****.5/*****

Overall Rating: Simply the best version of Dune out there. A must for fans. ****.5/*****

Epilogue: Whenever Dune comes up in conversation, I will recommend that its detractors see this cut. They won’t be able to deny that David Lynch’s stunning epic is not as bad as they remember.

MOLASAR HAS SPOKEN.

Reviewed using Sony 51” 16×9 RPTV with Oppo DVD player upconverting to 1080i via DVI and Onkyo 650 Watt 5.1 surround sound.

September 22, 2008

This is the best fan-edit of DUNE I have seen out of all the versions out there. The editing that was done certainly rivals all the rest. This is very close to Lynch’s original intent, as all the anomalities of the Smithee version have been removed. A fantastic job you guys! I urge you to seek this out!

September 11, 2008

*This rating was given before reviews were required*