Dune versus Dune

I enjoyed talking with my grandfather on many occasions prior to his death and, not surprisingly, our conversations often strayed into the realm of his greatest creation - Dune - and its marketing to the general public. There were many times when Grandpa laughed about this, because he saw Dune as something unique and far removed from the marketable world. Later he began to realize Dune wasn't just unique but was a parable of human life that would endure thanks to the very things the book preached against. The making of the 1984 movie (directed by David Lynch) seemed the epitome of one of Dune's no-no messages [that of creating a cult following of one man or his vision - Editor]. So if you chuckle a few times while reading this, rest assured that Frank Herbert would probably be laughing right along with you.

Humble Beginnings?

"They'll probably want to retitle it How to Repair Your Ornithopter." That was Grandpa's first impression when Chilton Books - previously only a publisher of how-to books - decided to market Dune in 1963. Being a relatively new author at this point in his life, Frank Herbert simply wanted to get his work published and out to readers. Hell, he probably would have let them title it Dude, Where's My Sandworm? if it got the book into the hands of the literary world. Thank God that didn't happen. Dune became popular and so did Grandpa thanks to what was actually in the book (Is that a Maker on the cover, or are you just happy to see me?).

There are many Dune fans that would undoubtedly like to know what Frank Herbert would think of the new miniseries (broadcast in late 2000 by the Sci Fi Channel) versus the Lynch movie. I can't tell you for certain - but I can give a few insights into what I know of this complex human being that was my grandfather, and how he might have perceived the two films.

"You don't create a world of dirt and wind without getting a little sand in your eyes." That's what he told me one day when I asked Grandpa how Dune could possibly get translated onto the movie screen. Much of what he told me can be read in a book entitled (ironically enough) Eye, which is a collection of short stories by Frank Herbert. You can bet that I cracked a smile when I saw that title, then opened it up and read his introduction. Perhaps he was trying to tell me it's the overly-analytical 'eye' that can destroy a work of literary art when it gets moved to film. In Eye he mentions what he did and didn't like about the making of the Lynch movie (he enjoyed the Italian Renaissance feel but didn't care for the brutal slimming down of characters and plot).

From these comments we can obviously surmise that Grandpa wanted more for the fans; more characters, more focus on water, more development of plots and more bronco riding o f a worm with Paul yippin' and yee-hawin'! Well . . . maybe not that much more.

There is the 3-4 hour Allen Smithee version floating around in the VHS and Laserdisk worlds [Note: "Allen Smithee" is the pseudonym used by a director who wishes to disassociate himself from a particular film - Editor]. But if you're looking for more coherency than the shorter original theatrical release, I don't think looking there will give you much satisfaction. For the sake of simplicity, I'll stick to comparisons of the original 1984 release and the 2000 miniseries.

So without further ado, let's jump into the films and wade through the erg together. I hope you brought your stillsuit!