Dune: Deluxe Edition

Dune is a great book. Herbert really nailed it (the later books in the series not so much).
Dune is a great movie. Lynch got the world building and atmosphere gorgeously right, and filled them with beautiful actors and mesmerizing music.
Sadly, the movie of Dune is also a mess on multiple fronts. The many dvd and blu-ray editions have visual and audio flaws. The Theatrical cut leaves out too much, the Extended cut is notorious for being thrown together by, seemingly, a Universal first-year intern. Lynch's unique style adds a love-it-or-hate-it weirdness.

In comes this Deluxe Edition, and it looks and sounds deluxe indeed.
The narrative is improved compared to both the Theatrical and Extended version. The pace is more balanced and the added shots and scenes increase our immersion in the world of Dune (without the weak bits that were added into the Extended).
Visuals are cleaner and more enjoyable across the board.
Audio is nicely improved in the richness of sounds and music.

15MaF's edit differs from my personal dream edit in only a few spots.
For the narrative, I would've left in Stilgar's line that Liet was Chani's father and trimmed his explanation of how to ride a worm (that's a tough monologue!).
For the audio I found three short transitions distracting, though the worst of that is native to the film. That's much better than either the Theatrical or the Extended versions, but falls short of complete perfection.

The minutiae of my criticism shows you that, yes, this is now my go-to version of Dune on any big screen and good stereo. My previous go-to, Spicediver's edit, is hereby relegated to small screen only.

(Full disclosure: I made English subtitles for this edit, so I am biased in its favor but also extra critical).

I was intrigued just by reading the work 15MaF put into this, and it's nothing short of professional.

Whether one enjoys Dune or not, Dune Deluxe Edition is spellbinding. Everything from the intro cards to the work done to the film itself makes it feel like popping in a brand new disc, with the plastic smell of the case and all.

Thank you 15MaF for sharing and thank you lapis-molari for the subs included.

This edit is a really impressive work. Reading the 'changes' section made me realize just how much love was put into fixing many of the inherent technical issues I had never even noticed in the theatrical cut or my personal favorite edit (Spicediver's Alternative Edition Redux). For that alone this edit almost got perfect 10s all around.
Almost. I deducted one point off of visual editing because of two or three glaring visual skips - two of which were in the TC but I think should have been fixed, especially given the amount of work already put in this edit. The third one (at 2:22:53) was also an audio editing glitch, but I couldn't deduct any points in this category after the beautiful fix to the Paul/Feyd fight. Wow. A total restructuring of the audio in that scene, and a nice workaround to circumvent Thufir Hawat's death.
Which brings us to the narrative in this edit. As others mentioned, the TC is clunky and not much can be done about it, but the extended editions added some context which I felt was missing from this edit.

So to summarize - a beautiful and loving treatment to a classic. Highly recommended,

There’s no way I could write an unbiased review of this movie at this point. I’m fairly certain the movie fails as a stand-alone work as it spends too much time on clunky exposition without actually making things make sense for the non-initiates. Having read the book, I know what is going on. And, strangely, I feel the book is both required reading for that purpose, but also you have to forget about the book entirely and enjoy the movie on its own merits. A tough thing to do. And that is what this movie is: a movie of contradictions. It’s too long and yet feels rushed in crucial places. It’s got some amazing aesthetics, but the effects are dodgy and seem afterthoughts.

Lynch, predictably, leans in on the weird and I think that is the movie’s greatest strength. But it does also get too cartoonish. As I said, I have no trouble following the movie but I can easily see why many would. In my opinion, the exposition heavy first half is much better than the rushed second half. Unfortunately, it’s the second half—once Paul and Jessica are in the desert—where the most interesting story developments exist. But the events happen so quickly without much development at all. Paul and Chani love each other... because they are supposed to because of a dream, I guess. I can’t imagine how all of that plays to someone who hasn’t read the book. In general, I have a soft spot for the movie. I love the aesthetic and the weirdness. But I think it’s reputation as a glorious mess is well earned as well. But I honestly feel sorry for those who only see the mess and don’t see its gloriousness.

There are many versions that circulate. I highly recommend the longer versions, which is what I’ve talked about here. I don’t even remember what the theatrical is like, but I have to imagine it amps up all of the flaws I’ve talked about here. I honestly wish someone could get the money to interest Lynch in restoring this to a four hour version. I know much necessary footage was probably never shot, but a man can dream.

For the edit, I think it’s very well done. There’s so many different versions floating around I can’t keep it all straight. The look is noticeably improved, even to eyes that hadn’t seen any version in quite some time. I tried to follow along with the published cut list and nothing really felt off. It still retains the flaws mentioned above, too exposition heavy in the first half; too rushed in the second half. The effects are still very wonky but dare I say they look less dated here. As is often cited for fan edits, there’s only so much an editor can do given the source material. But I can’t say I disagreed with any decision made here. The one caveat is I’m unsure what footage wasn’t used. I know there are longer versions, but I can’t remember what made them longer. This definitely does feel like the best version I’ve seen. And if you can allow yourself to experience it on its own merits and not as a book adaptation, I think there’s a lot to enjoy. I really want to see that second half feel more organic. Here’s hoping Villeneuve gets his shot at it.

- Absolutely great video/audio quality.
- Excellent color correction
- New re-arrangement of some scenes are very good

+ I would suggest that the rain finale could be removed. I know Lynch's version is very unique but Paul is not a God and the rain would kill all the Worms of Arrakis.

This edit has joined my other favorite fan edit, Dune Alternative Edition Redux.

Excellent work.