Dune (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
'Dune' (based on a complex, cult sci-fi novel, & written/directed by the enticingly strange David Lynch) takes place in the year - wait for it - 10,191. The universe is governed through a system of feudal rule, led by Padishah Emperor Shaddam (Jose Ferrer); who takes orders from an enormous 'thing' that resembles the female nether regions. Within this galactic kingdom are 2 rival houses - the House of Atreides & the malevolent House of Harkonnen. Each house is trying to gain control over the universe, but that dominion can only be achieved by the house that controls - wait for it - a Spice called Melange. What's Melange, you ask? It's a special substance that is essential for space travel {got that??}. Melange is only available on the mysterious & desolate desert world of Arrakis, or 'Dune'.
Shaddam, exhausted from feuding with the 2 houses, allows Atreides to run Spice production on Dune, while secretly working with the evil Harkonnens to launch a sneak attack, destroy them, & attain control of the Melange mining operations. The leader of Atreides is Duke Leto (Jurgen Prochnow, of Das Boot), who rules with his concubine Jessica (Francesca Annis) & son Paul (a young Kyle MacLachlan). The Harkonnens are led by a disgusting, wart & pus-oozing slime bucket, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Kenneth McMillan, in a wonderfully maniacal performance), & his 2 nephews, the deplorable Rabban (Paul L. Smith) & the unsavory Feyd (Sting ... yes, that Sting). When his father is assassinated by the Harkonnens, Paul escapes to Dune, where he is welcomed by the Fremen (native desert dwellers who prepare the Spice) as the future-seeing Messiah foretold in Fremen legend {haha, gettin' all of this?}. Paul accepts the position of Messiah & leads the Fremen in a vengeful holy war against Baron Harkonnen & the corrupt Emperor for control of power in the universe. IS Paul the prophet that this long-suffering galaxy has been waiting for? Can he fulfill his destiny? Much chaos & murky narrative structure ensues. And boy, am I not exaggerating.
I must give 'Dune' some credit. From its confounding opening monologue (narrated by a young Virginia Madsen) to around the 40 min. mark ... I was very into this movie -- I was following it. I understood who the plethora of bizarre characters were. I typically gravitate towards nifty sci-fi action flicks such as this (heroes, villains, interesting space craft, creepy creatures, planets). I LOVE the over-the-top sets & costumes. The make-up work on the outer spatial characters is cool-looking. The sound design is interesting. And some of the early special effects piqued my curiosity of where this film was going to go visually. Plainly put, this film can be a confusing, if entertaining mess for many -- I wholly understand its camp classic status.
But yeah, things do go south a bit after that 40 min. mark. Basically, you'd have to be a huge fan of the novel from which this film is based to understand much of what's going on; the narrative is near incomprehensible. I tried to go with the flow, but little the characters were saying/doing made much sense after a while. Weird outer space mythology & terminology was being thrown around left & right. Crazy characters with complicated names litter the screen. And the sprawling nature of the story becomes more unwieldy as it goes. You know, I like the bizarre. I appreciated the strange, gross-out scenes involving pus, blood, semen (possibly), worms, etc. But Lynch struggles a bit in managing this expansive material. You get the idea – or hope - that the source material could have had been executed more smoothly. As is, it is a mess, but not without entertainment factor & ambition.
Shaddam, exhausted from feuding with the 2 houses, allows Atreides to run Spice production on Dune, while secretly working with the evil Harkonnens to launch a sneak attack, destroy them, & attain control of the Melange mining operations. The leader of Atreides is Duke Leto (Jurgen Prochnow, of Das Boot), who rules with his concubine Jessica (Francesca Annis) & son Paul (a young Kyle MacLachlan). The Harkonnens are led by a disgusting, wart & pus-oozing slime bucket, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Kenneth McMillan, in a wonderfully maniacal performance), & his 2 nephews, the deplorable Rabban (Paul L. Smith) & the unsavory Feyd (Sting ... yes, that Sting). When his father is assassinated by the Harkonnens, Paul escapes to Dune, where he is welcomed by the Fremen (native desert dwellers who prepare the Spice) as the future-seeing Messiah foretold in Fremen legend {haha, gettin' all of this?}. Paul accepts the position of Messiah & leads the Fremen in a vengeful holy war against Baron Harkonnen & the corrupt Emperor for control of power in the universe. IS Paul the prophet that this long-suffering galaxy has been waiting for? Can he fulfill his destiny? Much chaos & murky narrative structure ensues. And boy, am I not exaggerating.
I must give 'Dune' some credit. From its confounding opening monologue (narrated by a young Virginia Madsen) to around the 40 min. mark ... I was very into this movie -- I was following it. I understood who the plethora of bizarre characters were. I typically gravitate towards nifty sci-fi action flicks such as this (heroes, villains, interesting space craft, creepy creatures, planets). I LOVE the over-the-top sets & costumes. The make-up work on the outer spatial characters is cool-looking. The sound design is interesting. And some of the early special effects piqued my curiosity of where this film was going to go visually. Plainly put, this film can be a confusing, if entertaining mess for many -- I wholly understand its camp classic status.
But yeah, things do go south a bit after that 40 min. mark. Basically, you'd have to be a huge fan of the novel from which this film is based to understand much of what's going on; the narrative is near incomprehensible. I tried to go with the flow, but little the characters were saying/doing made much sense after a while. Weird outer space mythology & terminology was being thrown around left & right. Crazy characters with complicated names litter the screen. And the sprawling nature of the story becomes more unwieldy as it goes. You know, I like the bizarre. I appreciated the strange, gross-out scenes involving pus, blood, semen (possibly), worms, etc. But Lynch struggles a bit in managing this expansive material. You get the idea – or hope - that the source material could have had been executed more smoothly. As is, it is a mess, but not without entertainment factor & ambition.