Dune (1984) is bad. Like truly bad. It's a mix of 80s corniness and Lynchian weirdness, with inexplicable, awkward decisions abound and on-the-nose, cheesy dialog that beguiles understanding. The pace at which this movie moves is absolutely bizarre; for example, Paul is accepted by the Fremen for seemingly no reason and falls in love with Chani just because.
People wouldn't accept a lot of the things that happen in this movie if it were from a film today. I firmly believe that a lot of the positive reviews here are solely because of nostalgia goggles. We're harsher on new movies. In short, Dune (1984) can come off as pretty lame; I can't imagine a 1980s boy taking a 1980s girl to this movie and having that be a successful date, you know?
It's the kind of movie that makes you realize why people were picked on for liking sci fi back in the day; you see, Denis Villeneuve's Dune films are objectively cool. They exude coolness. David Lynch's take on Dune exudes lameness. It's cheesy, it's strange, it's lame.
And yet...as a genre film geek myself, I can't deny there is some undeniable charm, mostly in the "so bad it's good" territory. Seeing the Harkonnens cackle like moustache twirling villains was absolutely hilarious. Seeing Stilgar immediately trust Paul and Jessica after a simple incapacitating self defense move, was also, absolutely hilarious.
A lot of the performances are just so terrible in this movie. I haven't read Dune, and maybe the awkward, stilted dialog is accurate. But the overly theatrical way everyone speaks makes it hard to take anything seriously.
There are some genuinely good things about this movie. For the time, it did a great job with the sets and much of the costuming. Yes, it's dated, but it's ambitious and i have to give it credit for that. The practical effects are also quite impressive, especially the sandworms and the um...big space baby? I don't know. I also can't deny at times, Lynch's sense of weirdness just works. His style is so esoteric and strange, it almost feels like an alien made this movie. For a sprawling, cosmic epic, it's a unique take.
But I also can't deny there's a lot of nonsense here too. I'm happy to say while I respect this movie, we have better on screen Dunes now.
People wouldn't accept a lot of the things that happen in this movie if it were from a film today. I firmly believe that a lot of the positive reviews here are solely because of nostalgia goggles. We're harsher on new movies. In short, Dune (1984) can come off as pretty lame; I can't imagine a 1980s boy taking a 1980s girl to this movie and having that be a successful date, you know?
It's the kind of movie that makes you realize why people were picked on for liking sci fi back in the day; you see, Denis Villeneuve's Dune films are objectively cool. They exude coolness. David Lynch's take on Dune exudes lameness. It's cheesy, it's strange, it's lame.
And yet...as a genre film geek myself, I can't deny there is some undeniable charm, mostly in the "so bad it's good" territory. Seeing the Harkonnens cackle like moustache twirling villains was absolutely hilarious. Seeing Stilgar immediately trust Paul and Jessica after a simple incapacitating self defense move, was also, absolutely hilarious.
A lot of the performances are just so terrible in this movie. I haven't read Dune, and maybe the awkward, stilted dialog is accurate. But the overly theatrical way everyone speaks makes it hard to take anything seriously.
There are some genuinely good things about this movie. For the time, it did a great job with the sets and much of the costuming. Yes, it's dated, but it's ambitious and i have to give it credit for that. The practical effects are also quite impressive, especially the sandworms and the um...big space baby? I don't know. I also can't deny at times, Lynch's sense of weirdness just works. His style is so esoteric and strange, it almost feels like an alien made this movie. For a sprawling, cosmic epic, it's a unique take.
But I also can't deny there's a lot of nonsense here too. I'm happy to say while I respect this movie, we have better on screen Dunes now.