Dune (1984) - The Alternative Edition

August 24, 2009

Hi Spice,

Sorry it has taken so long to get here. I have spent the last hour navigating this site. Very cool.

I am not a expert on quality of editing or any of the technical nik naks that interest the more techy minded. I do however know what I like to see. The origianal theatrical offering was in my opinion poor.
It left so many unanswered questions and for those people who had not read the book was probably a major turnoff. I always felt as if it was a project that was started and then rushed to completion. The acting in many cases was half hearted and often just downright bad.

It will be impossible for anyone person, I think , to make a definitive version of Dune. The sheer scope and scale of such a project is simply daunting, somewhere on the scale of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. That is the kind of money and Passion that would be required. I wonder if Peter Jackson would be interested? Probably not.

In the meantime we have Spicedivers V2. Quite frankly it is the best version I have seen. Especially considering what he has had to work with. The story is tighter and more fulfilling than either the original theatrical or the extended edition. The soundtrack is more in tune with the action. As far as I am concerned this rates a large 5 stars. If there is more than can be done to this story I don’t know what it is.

Kudos to you Spicediver and many thanks for a giving me something I can watch that matches the Herberts vision.

February 21, 2011

Sir this is a might fine piece of work and I commend you for it! Thank you so much for making this, it is spectacular!

August 28, 2008

I had some trouble in deciding on what to rate this edit. It was great fun seeing these new scenes (only have the theatrical cut on dvd) but at the samer time some of them were really bad.

I really appriciate the effort, and for several parts I found this to be a superior version. But in some parts the new scenes were badly acted (even for this movie!), and the integrated deleted scenes are clearly noticiable, the quality just is less good. I could totally understand why you wanted them in though.

One particular scene I would rather have been without was the one about Paul taking a wife in the end. Compared to what had just occured it just feels a little blah-blah to me. So I find the ending slighty less good than the theatrical version, which is a pity since it is a very powerful moment.

I’m ending up on a weak 4 out of 5 stars. For anyone who likes Dune, this will be well worth the time.

August 29, 2008
*This rating was given before reviews were required*

October 7, 2008
*This rating was given before reviews were required*