hey all, my dad REALLY wants the extended version of Dune on DVD. As many of you prolly know there is the theatrical version (140 mins), japanese LD version (188 mins) and a 194-minute version that is floating around on ebay (doesnt look like its original to me). Does anyone know if there is gonna be another dvd release of this film? Some kinda directors cut? I did a www search and got swamped with news about the 2000 dune mini series dvds. ANY info would be appreciated!

j

"Does anyone know if there is gonna be another dvd release of this film?"

NO. Not officially anyway. Your best bet is to try this link:

http://www.revok.com/searchall.php?c...&type=category

I am not familiar with this site so buy at your own risk.

C_Fletch

The longer cut is NOT Lynch's and therefore there is no 'Directors Cut' of this film per se. If I recall correctly, the Producers added the additional footage and a longer intro with extended narration to help explain more of the basic outline for the audience. The extended versions are labeled as being Directed by 'Alan Smithee' as Lynch petitioned the Academy to use this monikor since he has disavowed these longer versions. The only way to view the extended versions in the US without a region-free player to my knowledge is via a boot.

Yes, and Colleen Benn from Universal is on record stating that Universal will never release that bastardized "TV cut" on home video in the U.S.

You are going to have to import one from another region to get a legal copy. The only way those scenes will see the light of day in the U.S. (either in the film or as a supplement) is if Universal revisits the title to create a special edition. And with Lynch not participating, that isn't bloody likely.

I'm not 100% positive, but there might be a legal VCD floating around. It's not DVD, but you can play it on your computer. You could also do the LDs, but that's a bit of an investment.

Dude, I got my copy from www.blackstar.co.uk... it's excellent quality, and 100% legit... you just need a region-free DVD!

Yet another reason that Dave needs to be locked in a small room.

The man got shafted by the studio when making the film and saw 4 years of his life flushed down the toilet due to their mishandling of it. Can you blame him for wanting to wash his hands of the movie?

Yes. He sould extract an ironclad agreement from them to let him recut and reintegrate the scens into the longer cut. Walking away from it is rather irresponsible, to my mind.

Actually, I've read a lot of confusing info about this. I once read an article online (and I've been unable to relocate it, in spite of long and dilligent searching) that claimed that Lynch turned in a 3 hour+ Director's Cut, and Universal balked, wanting to increase the number of showings by having a shorter movie. This led to the predictable results.

A few years later, when the TV version was assembled, is where Universal compounded the mistake by clumsily reintroducing the scenes and (especially) that awful voiceover and those dreadful paintings. I don't blame Lynch for disowning it.

Having said that, the longer version, warts and all, is a more compelling and fuller version of the story. The obvious thing to do is to get Lynch involved and have him recut a definitive longer version and make it available. It wouldn't outsell Sweet Home Alabama, but there is a solid market for it.

Here's where the problem emerges, and once again, Lynch is the problem. I have also read that Lynch claims that the version he turned in, that's available now, IS his Director's Cut, and he's uninterested in adding anything to it.

As usual in all things Lynchian, I have no idea what or who to believe.

i was doing some www searching as well... one www site said that lynch originally cut the film at around 5 (yikes!) hours and from there had to cut it down, obviously, even more for theatrical release. Man, I'd sure like to see a Lynch-approved super-long version of this movie. Maybe with remastered 5.1 or something. :-) in any case, the Lynch guy seems to frustrate more dvd fans than george lucas (who isnt still waiting for the SE versions of ep 4-6 on DVD?!).... :-(

j

Nobody frustrates more than Lucas. After all the man has clearly gone on record as stating that he isn't even going to release the original cuts of 4-6, only the enhanced versions. Other than a little blurring on Mulholland at least Lynch sticks to his original intent however artistically solipsistic it may be.

True, he just has a weird fetish for wanting to keep everything to himself, and doesn't seem to understand that a lot of people would like to see his work.

i know R4 will be releasing the 3 hours Director cut.

just my opinion... but the SE cuts of 4-6 is all I want from Lucas (now that Indy Tril is finally coming). I know purists will want the original versions of the films in all their glory... but I have them all on THX-approved LDs and have watched them 10000000000 times... the SE versions I saw once each in the theater and I liked em so I want'em on dvd. In any case, Lucas can definitely frustrate the fans of his movies... no question about that!

j

It's not a Director's Cut, regardless of what they are calling it on the packaging. When the director removes his name from a version of a movie that he had nothing to do with, that is the exact opposite of a Director's Cut.

You have to remember that this wasn't a personal project for Lynch. He was just a hired gun. They screwed him over, and he said, "Fine, do what you want with it. It's your movie, not mine."

Because of the treatment he received, he completely changed the way he works. Now he refuses to do hired-gun projects and has a clause in his contract that he always gets final cut.



There is a lot of misinformation out there about this movie, including the great myth about a 5 hour cut of the film that never actually existed.

Lynch was under contract to deliver the movie at under 2 1/2 hours. He knew this from the start. During production it was obvious that the movie was going to run long, so the producers instructed him to stop filming certain subplots that were scripted (such as the storyline about Harrah and her children, who can be seen in some shots but have no speaking parts now). These dialogue and plot scenes were never shot.

At the wrap of production, Lynch screened a rough assembly of the film that reportedly ran about 5 hours. This is where the great myth started. A rough assembly is not a "cut" of the film. The movie had not been edited at all. It was simply all of the footage shot for the movie strung together back-to-back in roughly the order it would appear when finished. This included multiple takes, action repeated from multiple angles, camera slates, headers and other filler that would never appear in a finished movie.

Lynch supervised the editing of the picture and approved the 2hr 17min cut. This is his Director's Cut. He was not 100% happy with it, but given his constraints (mandatory running-time limit, certain key scenes never filmed) it was the best compromise that he could deliver. Lynch never approved any longer cut of the film in any form. The theatrical cut was his one and only Director's Cut.

In all, there was probably enough deleted footage shot to add an extra half hour to the film. Most of this footage wound up in MCA/Universal's TV cut.



This part is correct.

That's right as well. He's washed his hands of the movie. He delivered the film that he was contractually obligated to deliver, and then he was done with it. He does not consider it his film anymore. The film belongs to Universal, and Lynch's work on it was completed in 1984.

Well, if it belongs to Universal, why don't they get some other hired gun to re-edit it and make a version that will sell to fans? They would make some money on this, so why not?

In terms of what to get your father, see if he likes the sci-fi channel mini-series, which is far superior to Lynch's work in terms of having a coherent storyline and overall faithfulness to the book IMO.

This is EXACTLY what they did do, with the infamous TV cut. They had a 'hired gun' re-edit the film and make a longer version.

The results (while interesting to die-hard fans) were disasterous. The flow of the film is changed for the worse, the effects are unfinished, they 'faked' scenes that weren't even scripted using alternate footage, the effects for scenes aren't even close to movie quality (there is one scene that literally includes a drawing instead of a model or finished effect), etc.

It's bad. And by doing this, they alienated Lynch and many others in the director's guild. Directors (hired guns or not) do not like to see their work butchered like that by the studio. And, in the end, I think it isn't worth it to Universal to release another version, whether it would "make some money" or not. A few bucks from DVD fans is not worth the bad blood this would create within the industry. (And, back near the end of the Laserdisc Age, Colleen Benn from Universal basically said as much...)

Just my 2 pennies.

yeah, he has the directors edition of the mini series on DVD already and children of dune too... i think he likes the Lynch flick better. I dunno, i guess the difference between the film and the books didnt bother him that much (he has read all of the books). To each their own I guess. Heck, he liked Starship Troopers too. That movie MIGHT have been good if they had included the power suits. A different director would have helped too...

j

so whats the deal with the Japanese LD cut? does it have all the bad special effects and drawings and poop too or...?

j

R2 - includes the extended TV version.

Holy cow, blackacidevil !!!

Two questions:

1) How much does that DVD cost?

and

2) What's on the Special features DVD?

see for complete info:
http://www.duneinfo.com/giedi_prime/dvd_mf/index.asp

you can order both sets or the seperate DVD's from Amazon.de. i purchased both sets for a total of EUR 111,95 / (ca. $128.66).

DUNE - Der Wüstenplanet (Perfect Collection) (Region 2)
3 DVDs and CD in a book made of leather with a silver print on the cover. Inside the book is blue velvet and two metal cases with 3 DVDs, a CD, a booklet and an original 35mm film frame. Limited, 5000 pieces.

Disc 1 - Cinema Version
Disc 2 - Extended TV Version
Disc 3 - Bonus Material
Disc 4 - Original Soundtrack CD

DUNE LIMITED EDITION (Spice Collection)
Two DVDs in a coined shaped metal box, in a small leather book.
Double-DVD Box Set
Disc 1 - Cinema Version
Disc 2 - Extended TV Version
Special cover
Special booklet
Limited Edition: 5000

Disc 3 - Bonus Material

Timeline
Family Tree
Dune Lexicon
The Film Script

Development History
David Lynch on the Filming
Frank Herbert on the Filming
Structure of the Film
About Frank Herbert

Biography
Bibliography
Quotes
Biographies

David Lynch
Kyle MacLachlan
Francesca Annis
Jüergen Prochnow
Sting
Kenneth McMillian
Patrick Stewart
Sean Young
Dean Stockwell
Max von Sydow
The Films of David Lynch (Trailers)

The Elephant Man
Blue Velvet
Wild at Heart
Twin Peaks
Lost Highways
Straight Story
Mullholland Drive
David Lynch's NISSAN Advert

NISSAN - TV Advert (Short)
NISSAN - Cinema Advert (Long)
Making of the NISSAN Advert
Behind The Scenes
Best of Dune Comic
The Film History

Failed attempts
Planned staff & occupation
Jodorowski about the Design
H. R. Giger about Jodorowski
Christopher Foss Sketches
H. R. Giger Sketches
Jean "Moebius" Girand Sketches
Collecting Gallery
Artworks
Picture Gallery
Children of Dune Trailer
Dune Themepark
The Music to the Film

Prologue 1:47
Main Title 1:15
Robot Fight 1:18
Leto's Theme 1:43
The Box 2:37
The Floating Fat Man (The Baron) 1:24
Trip To Arrakis 2:35
First Attack 2:43
Prophecy Theme 4:19
Dune (Desert Theme) 5:30
Paul Meets Chani 3:04
Prelude (Take My Hand) 0:59
Paul Takes The Water Of Life 2:48
Big Battle 3:06
Paul Kills Feyd 1:51
Final Dream 1:25
Take My Hand 2:35
Cut Scenes (Stills)

Thufir's Death
Shadout Mapes Loyalty
Rabban takes a Bath
Rabban carries Kynes
Water of Life - Alternative
Jessica and the Water of Life
Alia's Birth
The Sound Cannon
The Bull
Production Designs
The Books
Still more Goofs

Microphone Change
Wrist Watch
Heart Plug
Difficult Name

It seems difficult for me to believe that someone couldn't manage to recut the TV version, omitting the clumsier aspects (the paintings and expository voiceover, chiefly) and still lengthening the theatrical cut by incorporating a lot of the trimmed scenes. I think the makings of a better, longer version are present in the TV cut, but they need to be sharpened up.

It still strikes me as a bit too pat and smug for Lynch to effectively tell Universal to lie in a bed of it's own making. They did make a hash of it, twice in fact. It would behoove him to assist them in geting out of the mess and he could repolish what should be a gem in his oeuvre, taking credit and looking like a magnanimous genius.

Bonnievision is showing Dave's theatrical cut this week, for those interested. I'll probably watch, because flawed or not, it's still damned interesting.