ziondog

Is the Dune 3 Disc Set Director's Cut (2000) worth picking up?
I can get it for about $8 used.

This version is the SciFi Channel one.

Also, what are your opinions of Children of the Dune? I heard it's better than Dune.

Thanks in Advance.

flmfreakcentral

Only $8? Go for it, Rocky. It's a pretty good package (anamorphic widescreen, DTS audio, supplements aplenty) for a faithful, if deadeningly literalminded, adaptation. Here's our full review of the set if you're interested -

http://filmfreakcentral.net/dvdreviews/dune2000.htm

"Children of Dune" is not so much better as breezier. I imagine if you haven't read the books that it won't make much sense without seeing "Dune" first.

Me, I like David Lynch's DUNE best, even though just about every criticism ever levelled against it is a valid one. For all its idiosyncrasies, I find it more accessible.

Bill C

Richard Malloy

Bland, beige and boring... "Dune" is a nutty book, outright kooky and surreal, and here it's been given a somber, middlebrow "great adaptations" treatment. Not as embarrassingly wrong-headed ("deadeningly literalminded", but utterly failing to get the subtext or the true meaning of the words) as Adrian Lynn's "Lolita", but I wouldn't recommend it on any basis.

In the unlikely event that you haven't read the novel, do that instead. I'm sure you can get it in paperback for that price.

bboisvert

The 3-disc DUNE set is great... very good picture/sound quality, fantastic extras. For $8, you should definitely pick it up.

As far as the quality of the show... the miniseries has strengths and weaknesses. I think the first 2-hour segment is pretty awful. I realize there is a *ton* of plot, character, and background to present... but this version makes a mess of it even moreso than Lynch's movie. Characters are onscreen for all of 30 seconds, and then people are supposed to remember/care when they do something major 60 minutes later?

Anyway, if you can get past the first part, the remaining 2 are much better. And I thought the adaptation of CHILDREN OF DUNE was actually very, very good. You should probably pick that one up too if you enjoy the first one. That set is pretty cheap even new.


And, yes, I'd definitely recommend reading the novel. I try to do that every year or two... it's a great piece of work.