Dune: Extended Edition

Ever since its theatrical release in 1984, David Lynch's epic Dune has been something of an anomaly: critically reviled and widely regarded as a failure, it's been embraced and even championed by a small but loyal cadre of science fiction fans, despite widespread agreement that it's little more than a faint echo of Frank Herbert's densely detailed classic. To say the least, the film offers an embarrassment of riches in terms of sets, costumes, and special effects that were, by 1984 standards, impressive at best and cheesy at worst, but a subsequent 2000 production of a praiseworthy Dune miniseries for the Sci-Fi Channel has proven Lynch's effort to be an epic mess, overloaded with voiceover dialogue and clumsy exposition, and so convoluted in its plotting that it grows burdensome on the viewer. What remains clear, however, is that Dune was at least a masterpiece that might've been, and so it belongs in that most puzzling movie category: the fascinating flop. Fans were understandably enthusiastic when a longer version was prepared for TV broadcast, promising to clarify the film's intricate plotting and character relationships. That 177-minute version was disowned by Lynch, whose directorial credit was given to "Alan Smithee"—the name assigned to films, or re-edits of films, that have been disowned by their creators—but it's the star attraction on this double-disc set (along with a nicely remastered transfer of the original 137-minute theatrical original), newly released to satisfy collectors. To put it bluntly, Lynch's version is better. Despite a more conventional presentation, including a lengthy prologue and 40 minutes of previously unseen material, the extended version (with a dubiously telling screenplay credit for "Judas Booth," to indicate Lynch's feeling of betrayal) merely exaggerates the film's weaknesses. What remains is a stellar cast, including then-newcomer Kyle Maclachlan (as Paul Atreides, heir to his father's dukedom and prophesied savior of the desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune), Sean Young, Virginia Madsen, Patrick Stewart, Dean Stockwell, Sting, Brad Dourif, Jose Ferrer, and many others. For sci-fi fans, there's an abundance of new and vintage behind-the-scenes material, but Lynch and his esteemed cast are entirely absent, leaving producer Raffaella De Laurentiis to explain how the extended version came into being. The long and short of it is, Dune is primarily for hardcore sci-fi fans and all others should beware: the extended version of Dune is still a cure for insomnia. Optional. (J. Shannon)