Frank Herbert's Dune

Dune is one of those franchises that has a story in society nearly as epic as the material within. Beginning as a highly praised novel by Frank Herbert way back in 1965, to many the defining moment came in 1984 when a society still caught up in the revelry of George Lucas' original Star Wars trilogy were treated to a theatrical adaptation done by the always-controversial David Lynch. Suffice it to say, the film was met with mixed reaction and by mixed reaction I mean it generally managed to offend nearly everyone: Non science fiction fans came away off put with the reliance upon monolog and sheer muddled complexity surrounding the political conflict presented. Perhaps even harsher were the criticisms coming from fans of the novel that felt as though the casting was askew, the plot structure discombobulated, and the beauty of the source material lost in translation.

I presume that had Frank Herbert's source material not been so beloved throughout the years, the live-action Dune saga could well have lived and died in Universal's motion picture effort. However, legions of fans are rarely wrong and SyFy (back then the SciFi Channel) realized that the novel deserved a more "traditional" approach in production value and, in 2000, released a three-part miniseries titled Frank Herbert's Dune. On 07/08/2005, the miniseries enjoyed a box set DVD release with footage originally cut from the US broadcast, a whole host of extra features, and a freshly remastered 16x9 widescreen version of the film. It is this DVD set that I am critiquing below.

To summarize the plot as thoroughly as a 544-page novel/ 300-minute film to a couple paragraphs can withstand, Dune tells the extensive tale of a desert wasteland planet called Arrakis; which happens to be the center of an intricate power struggle within an interstellar empire. See it turns out that Arrakis (commonly nicknamed `Dune') is the Universe's only known source of spice (called Melange in the book series, but unnamed in the film). Melange is no mere food seasoning however, and in fact is requisite for interstellar travel as well as grants psychic powers and increased lifespan to those who use it (indicated by pale glowing blue eyes).

The core of the tale centers on the political ripples put in motion when the Emperor assigns the noble House Atredides control of Arrakis. The former stewards, the Harkonnens, aren't exactly eager to hand over the rights, and through an elaborate plan of cunning and treachery, attempt to overthrow the honest Atreides clan.

The viewer essentially tags along with the Duke's teenage son Paul Atreides, who begins the story a spoiled noble, and ends up (along with his mother) stripped of everything but the clothes on their back and left to parish in the vast expanses of the desert. Fate or predetermined destiny intervene and result in their taking up refuge with the believed to be barbaric natives of Arrakis, the nomadic Fremen tribe.

A sort of antihero theme, Paul may be the end result of a centuries-long genetic experiment designed to breed the perfect human specimen; his use of spice hints toward a much more important destiny: the one who will free the Fremen people from the empire's oppression.

Perhaps my summation appears ignorantly simplistic, in which case, rest assured much of the political strife and tension between noble Houses that makes the novel(s) so enduring has been retained in this, John Harrison's definitive take on the material. In fact, much credit is due to Harrison's teleplay, which actually manages a very commendable job on delivering on the key themes of the book without falling victim to the ever-present risk of translating book dialog too directly (something Lynch's version is often criticized of). It turns out that even the most perfectly written novels rarely translate to the screen on a word for word basis.

That said, the pacing and scale of Fran Herbert's rich universe are captured here surprisingly well. The DVD set (wisely, in my opinion) retains the 3-part miniseries format; in this case each disc contains a roughly two-hour section of the film and a host of extra features (rather than say placing the film across the first two discs and devoting the third entirely to the bonus stuff).

And speaking of, the Frank Herbert's Dune Director's Cut box set contains a whole plethora of extras including: Newly remastered 16x9 widescreen print, director's cut with nearly 30 minutes of never-before-seen footage, "Willis McNelly on Dune" featurette: author of the Dune Encyclopedia gives insightful perspective on Dune and his longtime friend Frank Herbert, "The Lure of Spice" featurette: a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the film, "The Color Wheel" featurette: Lessons of Life and Light with master cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, "Walking and Talking with John Harrison": an exclusive interview with the writer-director of Frank Herbert's Dune, "Defining the Messiah" featurette: Talks with religious scholars, such as Rabbi Mordachai Finely, Elaine Pagels, Munir Shaikh, and Jungian psychologist Gabrielle Bodo, "Science Future/Science Fiction" featurette: Distinguished science fiction writers Harlan Ellison, Octavia Butler, Michael Cassutt and director John Harrison discuss with award-winning inventor Ray Kurzwell the emerging technological paradigm shift and the moral issues that surround it, moderated by Arthur Cover, "The Cinematic Ideation of Frank Herbert's Dune": essay by Vittorio Storaro, Cast & crew information, a photo gallery including stills and sketches from the film, Children of Dune sneak peek pre-production gallery. Finally there is a commentary track with John Harrison and some of the film's production staff over each of the film's three parts.

Despite much to adore in this incarnation of the franchise, it is not without it's detractors. In this case, and not unlike Lynch's version, the casting choices once again fall under scrutiny. I suspect that much of this stems from the inherent risk associated with turning any well-known book into a visual affair as finding human actors to live up to the expectations within our collective imaginations is no easy task (Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings excepted). Make no mistake; most of the cast here does an adequate job, especially considering the limitations that accompany a made-for-tv budget.

Additionally the special effects, though certainly passable, do look a bit dated when compared to today's standards. Many of the areas where one would expect to find visual flaws (like the flying "thopters" and the massive sand worms) actually hold up quite well. It is the small things like the desert mouse that inspires Paul's name that will have today's CG-addicted fans snickering. However, in all, it is actually quite a small complaint due to the fact that the story itself is so strong. This isn't a film that relies upon flashy visuals to get it's point across; in fact much of the plot's key moments take place indoors in palaces, massive dining rooms, within space craft and so on; all of which are finely portrayed. Additionally, elements like the Guild Navigators are undeniably cool in their presentation (something that the book doesn't really dwell upon).

In all, a few peccadilloes notwithstanding, Frank Herbert's Dune represents a solid weekend's worth of quality science fiction entertainment. In my opinion there is no sense in attempting to compare this incarnation to the David Lynch version in effort to establish superiority because, after all, that is a relative label. They each bring a unique perspective to the table with this, the Harrison version, more thoroughly retaining the intricacies of the original book. Fans and non-fans alike would do themselves a favor by actually picking up both versions for comparisons sake and determining which they more easily connected with for themselves. Better still, slip the novel in your cart as well and prepare to become immersed in one of the richest science fiction universes of our time.