Naive Mind wrote: Lynch Dune was a failure, and today it is mostly forgotten; people watch it either to laugh at it, or to specifically enjoy the parts that were good, or because they love the novel.
I myself watched it because my parents had recorded the Alan Smithee cut which was shown on TV sometime (we ended up recording over it, sadly). It took me years to find that cut again from a distributor called Revok, and then many years later to get in on the official DVD. In between that time, I had to settle on the theatrical cut VHS, which was far shorter than what I remembered. Admittedly, it wasn't until the theatrical cut when I was older that I understood the characters. When I was younger, I was fascinated by how the characters were behaving towards each other, how they changed, and the whole experience felt like some epic dream haunted by the imagery of the giant worms. It took me eons to understand why Paul was obsessed with the worms, and why they figured into the story. The Lynch version may be far from perfect, but God damn it all, I owe it lot for getting me interested, and encouraging me to read the book. I haven't watched it in awhile, but I still count it as one of those films which had an impact on me. The only other person I know who finds it awesome is my neighbor, who is also a huge 2001: A Space Odyssey fan.
Naive Mind wrote: De Laurentiis also paid Frank Herbert a million bucks (I think) just to try to write a screenplay (Frank admitted that he wasn't able to) then kept him on as a sort of consultant. Maybe that was just to prevent him from denouncing the movie outright, but I don't think so. DeLaurentiis' sci-fi movies got a lot of crap in the 80s and 90s for having shitty special effects, and not taking themselves too seriously. In retrospect, their movies seem daring and quirky.
Herbert did a write a screenplay, and De Laurentis hated it. He probably wrote a short one, without much dramatic umph to it. He didn't need to write the screenplay: he should of just highlighted all the essential scenes and dialogue, and give it to the screenwriter like James Clavell did with Shogun. Or, they could just have used the book as a guide while filming, like Kubrick did with A Clockwork Orange or Barry Lyndon.
As for Laurentis' films themselves: his taste in what he thinks counts as great filmmaking is admittedly confusing. My brother and I used to joke that the reason that he thinks Flash Gordon is better than Star Wars is because it's got more Italian pizazz to it. In fact, here's an article which discusses many of his weird decisions for that film.
http://io9.com/the-weirdest-things-you- ... 1571016187
Naive Mind wrote: Oh, Jodorowsky read the novel alright, that much is clear. His understanding of the characters' personalities is spot-on, for example. He just chose to ignore much of the narrative.
I sensed that too from the script summary and from his articles. I just wonder whether Chani was supposed to be in Jodorowsky's vision at all, despite Jodo having both Count and Lady Fenring and every other character in it.
Naive Mind wrote: The big Elephant in the room in this documentary is the De Laurentiis family. Two of their movies are singled out as 'stealing' ideas from Jodorowsky's storyboards, and, of course, they produced the 1984 Dune movie, helmed by David Lynch, who at the time was just about as controversial as Jodorowsky was in the 1970s...
I wonder why that was the case, because De Laurentis's films are nothing like what Jodorowsky envisioned. But Jodo has gotten off kilter before in his suppositions, like when he thought Star Wars resembled his style.
Freakzilla wrote:Look, as founder of this site I must say...
* I am glad that someone wanted to make a Dune movie.
* I thank the Maker every day that it wasn't Jodorowsky.
I appreciate his effort but he's from all sources read the book at least 100% LESS THAN ME, or at most once less than you.
It may have been a fanciful folly if made but it would have had nothing to do with DUNE.
I will commission you to write a Dune screenplay, my Emperor Freakzilla! The Dune fans are in need of your leadership!
'...all those who took part in the rise and fall of the Dune project learned how to fall one and one thousand times with savage obstinacy until learning how to stand. I remember my old father who, while dying happy, said to me: "My son, in my life, I triumphed because I learned how to fail."' -Alejandro Jodorowsky