Frank Herbert's Dune - The Spence Edit Revised

I watched the 2000 mini series several years ago, and while I enjoyed it, it was quite long and bloated at 4-5 hours, which has made it difficult to want to revisit. So I was happy to see an version that retains the main story beats while narrowing the runtime to a brisk 3 hours. Not an easy feat I'm sure. I enjoyed a lot of this edit, it worked really well! But even with not knowing what was cut, I can feel certain things missing. Some characters may have had almost too little screentime and could use one or two more scenes restored to ground their characters a little better, Mapes for example had her introduction cut so when she gets stabbed during the ambush on Atreides, it's like who is this? Feyd Rautha could have had his fight scene with the prisoner on Geidi Prime restored for a little more screentime, these are just some examples of things I'd personally change.

So I think if some character introductions weren't cut and just a few more scenes were kept in here and there to flesh out characters a little more and add a little more weight, it'd add like 10-15 minutes so a tad longer but more rounded out. So I wouldn't recommend this as a first watch of the miniseries of course, I absolutely recommend the full mini series still. But if you've seen it already once and and want a condensed version that hits the main points while not compromising too much instead of watching all 4-5 hours again, I can recommend this, after all this is more of an experiment to reduce down to a feature length and not trying to be a new definitive edit.

Quality in HD was great, looked fine on my plasma TV. I did like the re framing to 2:40:1 aspect ratio, it worked quite well most of the time, and desaturating the colors in a lot of the scenes made them a little easier on the eyes. From a technical standpoint, the edits were seamless except for a moment around 17:11 where for 1 frame the shot was framed differently before shifting to different framing for the rest of the shot.

Thank you for making this, because I don't know if I can bring myself to find time to watch the full mini series again otherwise!

Exceptional edit that retells the original mini-series Dune story in a concise, modern and narritatively better way. Objectively, separate to reviewing this as a fanedit, this was straight up just a really good movie and was a really enjoyable watch.

Great edit! Definitely improves this miniseries a lot. Color correction is very nicely done. The shorter runtime works well, too.

Spence, well done with this edit. I was a fan of the mini-series but the effects were awful and distracting. I noticed you gave the VFX in this an 80's aesthetic which is simple and it instantly improves them . The mini-series was bloated and it looked really cheap, I thoroughly every ideation of Dune and this is one of my favorites. Thanks man

Amazing. Spence has worked wonders with what really is a neglected series in Dune lore, but one that tells the story with far more clarity and structure than Lynch, and with less hangups than Villeneuve. I have a special place in my heart for these films as well, as I do the novel, but this one will stand beside them indefinitely.

I hadn’t taken in the miniseries for reasons others neglect it - it’s a TV movie, which in the old days meant “cheap”. And yes, there are scenes Spence does what only can be done. The film has qualities of a well-blocked and rehearsed stage play, which, for some intents, it is (check those rear projection shots!) It has an almost-old fashioned feel that is, however, absolutely charming.

Lynch’s film took a lot of chances. It’s weird to think how much of what we think of the story of Dune we’re inventions of Lynch. Despite my heroic devotion to DL I never liked his Dune - it suffered mostly from his shockingly quaint decision to transfer Herbert’s character editorializing on screen, a decision made all the more surprising due to the fact he remains the supreme “show don’t tell” cinematic master (check Twin Peaks). Spicediver’s alternative redux saved that to a degree, and my love for Lynch’s Dune is really for Spicediver’s. In terms of taking what was an almost-impossible job - salvaging the narrative and story where one was sorely and initially neglected (the first 2/3rds are incredibly sustained, the last 1/3rd given over to a continual series of melting dissolves and very little else - it works in a form = content kind of way.

Villeneuve’s film also has its charms; certainly it has the luxury to tell a more intricate story, standing in Lynch’s shadow. So far, however, it is surprisingly conservative in its approach. If it is trying to avoid terminally weird pitfalls the way Lynch couldn’t help but step into, it is certainly succeeding, but it’s not terribly inventive, either. We’ll see how the second film plays out.

Now, in the middle comes this SF network effort by one John Harrison, a name which won’t ring any bells (curiously, he is an executive producer on Villeneuve’s films!) . I never had any interest in this stuff for reasons already mentioned. But being on a Dune kick this summer and having utter respect for Spence’s Hobbit edit from long ago, I wanted to see what was up here.

I have to say it really is the definitive version of the story, splitting the difference between Lynch (it’s a little weird, but not jaw-agape weird) and Villeneuve (it stays with the narrative, but dares to take chances). Somehow Spence managed to truncate 90 minutes or so from the story and still tell the tale, proving you don’t need internal monologue or exposition. You simply need a sense of narrative.

Spence has a careful sensibility to Harrison’s workhorseman, respectful narrative. Dune is an incredibly difficult novel to film in its entirety- if you’re familiar with it it’s clear how much Lynch left out. One or two scenes can go a long ways, however (check Yueh and Jessica here), and the way this is edited doesn’t at all feel rushed. 3 hours is indeed perfect, proving many things - if you know how to bring scenes out with your actors and block them appropriately (I wouldn’t be surprised if Harrison has a theater background), and are aware of one’s limitations (this one isn’t trying to be Lynch), you can create something miraculous in its alchemy.

The limitations are there for those who want to gripe about them - the obvious low budget, etc. But one really cannot complain when it comes to narrative. Spence has done what a faneditor does best - tell a story.

There are scenes here which are remarkable - we don’t have Eno’s haunting prophecy theme to work with, but the 3rd stage guild spacefold scene holds its own. Jessica’s water of life trip-out is absolutely awesome in its actualization. Many many scenes here are just so cleanly and professionally done it makes me wonder why Lynch was, again, unable (or unwilling) to pull them off. Spence’s editing to make this feel like a real film is seamless, never forced, always within the scope of believability.

This film will reside proudly alongside Spicediver’s edit and Villeneuve’s ongoing saga. It’s a curious thing to consider that, when all is said and done, this version of Dune may be, all-around, the definitive one.

Bravo, Spence. I’ll be checking out Children of Dune in it’s entirety this week.