DUNE 7 BLOG

Sunday, June 4, 2006

David Lynch's Dune

Many fans ask what Frank Herbert thought of the original 1984 movie "Dune," directed by David Lynch. The movie was released to mixed reviews in 1984. In the United States, the initial reactions were not good, but there were complex reasons for that, as I described in detail in DREAMER OF DUNE. Overseas -- in Europe, Japan, and Australia -- the movie set box office records, with fans lined up around the block to see it. In the last two decades, the film has become a popular video and DVD. It has been re-released in expanded formats, and has been shown many times on television.

Frank Herbert had his own mixed feelings about the production. He was pleased to see it released, after so many failed earlier attempts. In his opinion the cinematography, casting, and many of the scenes were excellent. The major failings in his eyes, and in the eyes of many fans, had to do with the fact that the movie did not always follow the plot of the novel, and a couple of the characters (such as the Baron Harkonnen) were not presented well. There were also things made up unnecessarily (such as the sonic weapons, the "weirding modules") and the short original length of the film didn't allow for adequate character development.

In 1984, there were two world premieres of Lynch's "Dune," one at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the other in Seattle. Frank Herbert attended both events. In Washington, D.C., President and Mrs. Reagan attended, and spoke with my father. For the Seattle event, I helped my father stage the premiere as a benefit for The Group Health Cooperative, in recognition of their medical service for my mother Beverly, who had terminal lung cancer. Sadly, she died shortly before the premiere (but before that she had survived lung cancer for a miraculous ten years, at a time when the life expectancy for persons suffering from the disease was much lower than that). Just before the benefit showing in Seattle, Frank Herbert stood on the stage of the Cinerama theater and said, his voice choking with emotion, "This is for Bev."

For fans who prefer films that are more faithful to the original books, be sure to watch "Frank Herbert's Dune" and "Frank Herbert's Children of Dune" -- the two excellent television miniseries produced by Richard P. Rubinstein, written by John Harrison and directed, respectively, by Harrison and Greg Yaitanes. It is extremely rare to find a film producer or director who honors the original material so much, and we are grateful to him for his attention to detail. We are currently working with Mr. Rubinstein in a joint effort to have other Dune-series novels brought to film or TV.

-- BH