Review Detail

Dune (1984) is my favorite theatrically released Dune movie, and is my "hard" sci-fi movies ever. I saw it when I was 12 and loved it BUT I did find some parts somewhat confusing. Concepts I didn't "get" I just shrugged off and just focused on the plot elements which I understood.

This edit fills in the gaps. The artistic and narrative choices that SpiceDiver has made really helps the viewer understand some of the backstory. The original theatrical release was 137 minutes.. This version adds a whopping 41 minutes to the runtime and in my humble opinion, the film is so much better for it. Whole scenes that were cut have been reinserted and they really do help explain to the viewer, especially those who haven't read the book(s), why what we are seeing is happening.

What hurts the edit is the fact that some of the footage that has been inserted is some very rough cuts, and that is putting it nicely. I commend the editor for doing the best they could with what they had to work with, and those scenes do add a lot, but I feel a lot of viewers may be a bit "put off" by the dramatic drop in video fidelity. I am personally ok with it, but I'm a bit of an extended/deleted scene junky, which makes me very biased.

This is the only version of Dune (1984) I watch. I couldn't imagine watching the theatrical cut now. I know opinions of the original Dune are very polarized and if you didn't like it to begin with, this will not change your opinion. If you loved, liked, or are on the fence about this movie than you should watch it. Fans will really enjoy this and fence-sitters may, after watching the additional footage, achieve a better understanding of Lynch's Dune, making a so-so movie for them into a film they "get" and enjoy.