I love Dune. Both the original novel and the film. Both are fascinating to me. Frank Herbert's immortal novel was a milestone in science fiction novels. A pioneer in many aspects, she told us an apparently simple story of confrontations between families and revenge; but it was more, much more, the way of telling us this story, with plots within plots, conspiracies, betrayals, plans within plans, nobility, revenge and everything that reminds us of those palatial conspiracies typical of Roman history, of the Italian Renaissance and that has influenced sagas such as A Song of Ice and Fire.
Likewise, Herbert surprised us with a Universe that was based neither on computer science nor a magical world, and yet had concepts of both extremes; in his genius Herbert defines a world of human computers with a great mystical charge; in fact the novel explores the limits of human consciousness and what it is capable of achieving, using training and drugs, defining brotherhoods such as the Bene Gesserit, and drugs such as sappho juice and above all, the power of the melange spice, capable of to allow space and time to bend and the object of desire of all machinations.
We are in 1965, in the years of experimentation with drugs, of LSD, in the years of remote viewing, of mental manipulation, of the use of the human brain as an explorer and as a weapon; but also of genetic manipulation to create Nietzsche's superman. But this higher being transcends to be something mystical, and the novel also runs through the study of the faith that moves religions and the creation of a religious myth. And, to a lesser extent, but no less important, we witness a son's devotion to his father.
The fascination and fame of the novel transcended the literary genre and tempted the world of cinema. Jodorowsky, a Chilean surrealist filmmaker, a kind of shaman, tried to adapt it, although he really vampirized the novel, taking its characters and the starting situation to write a story that had nothing to do with Dune. After Lynch's film, a television adaptation was made, faithful to the novel but tremendously cold and without spirit.
But let's go back to the Lynch film. In 1983, at the height of his talent and his fame both critically and publicly, Lynch, produced by De Laurentiis, embarks on the adaptation of the work. And he was able to prepare a script that captured all that essence of the novel. Lynch's film is an excellent adaptation of the novel, it manages to show us the fascinating universe created by Herbert. Although he sins in some of the divo stupidities that Lynch has (such as the cat scene or the little scene of the heart valve and the ephebus), he adds some aspects not included in the work, such as supernatural weapons, which are a great success and an improvement of the original text.
Everything is magnificent in the film. The setting is specific to each of the worlds, so wood is used for the Atreides, metal and fire for an industrial world of its enemies the Harkonnen, the mosaic, the rammed earth and the tiles, as well as the troglodyte dwellings for the desert Arrakis.
An excellent soundtrack, symphonic rock courtesy of Toto but with new age songs like those composed by Brian Eno, and an excellent cast. Jurgen Prochnow, the captain of "Das Boot" shows us in an unbeatable way the nobility of Count Leto Atreides, Kyle MacLachlan perfectly embodies that boy-man that is Paul Atreides, Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck, represents absolute fidelity and Loyalty of a soldier to his lord, typical of the Japanese world, Francesca Annis is fascinating as Lady Jessica, Dean Stockwell shows us a character devoured by remorse, Everett Mc Gill, who plays the Fremen chief Stilgar, a rude and noble being, we reminds his character from "In Search of Fire"; together, all the actors, main and secondary, give us magnificent performances, imbued with a magnificent script that preserves the great dialogues of the novel.
Battle scenes are not Lynch's strong suit. The scene of the taking of Arrakeen, the capital of Arrakis leaves much to be desired. And another weak point is the design of the fearsome Sardaurkar troops, a mixture of Aviator Dro and a firefighter, with plastic skirts down to the feet that are certainly not intimidating and grotesque. But its special effects, although improvable, are not so bad either. And the worms are certainly spectacular.
Film and novel merge in a magical way, resulting in an overwhelming and epic experience, far from the canons of usual science fiction, to immerse ourselves in a different universe in all aspects, enigmatic and fascinating, about which we need to know more and a planet like Dune, created to test the faithful. Know it. Be believers. Wake up.
I just hope that the version they are going to release raises the bar higher than the current one, we'll see.