I really don't know what I think of this announcement, I agree with you that I thought the TV edit was indeed a hack job.

Ahh yes, The Brattle. I used to go there all the time. I wish we had something like that here in Hawaii.

As long as it's got the theatrical edition in Anamorphic WS, and maybe a special feature here and there, I'll be happy.

Isn't it already? I thought Warner reissued the original 1998 MGM DVD in September 2000 with an anamorphic upgrade. I haven't watched it to confirm, but it says it's anamorphic on the box (and imdb says so as well). Is it a misprint? Btw, if you're not sure which I mean, the MGM DVD has a pic of the monolith on the front cover whereas the Warner version has a pic of a baby.

joliom, you're right that Warner's packaging says "anamorphic" but, alas, 'tis not true--it's the same old 4:3 widescreen transfer found on the MGM DVD...I'd love a new 16:9 transfer to be struck, too, but I can't gripe too much because even the stinky 4:3 widescreen image is miles better than the noisy train wreck of a transfer found on the old MGM widescreen laserdisc I used to own...it looked like crap even when it first came out and we had yet to be blessed by the image quality found on DVDs and HDTVs...

yeah, that would be nice, I think I'll hold off for the anamorphic WS theatrical cut since a HD-DVD has been announced. What would be a cool extra would be a new documentary done by the writers of the Video Watchdog article that documented the scenes that never made either the theatrical or TV cut - including the extended ending.

What he said.

All in all, I'm very excited to hear that this will be coming out. :up:

If the film still exists, they could (in theory) present the deleted scenes in widescreen for the first time ever, right? I mean, they can't do the whole TV cut in widescreen, for all the reasons people said, but they could, in theory, show some scenes from it that way.

Not that it'll happen...

Just to clarify...the Special Edition Director's Cut is not anamorphic although it says it is? Or am I getting my versions confused......

What really sucks is that I had the MGM 2010 DVD with the cool Monolith cover, but I sold it and bought the WB DVD because I thought it was anamorphic. Instead, I ended up with the same thing, but with a crappier cover. -ohbfrank-

You're getting your movies confused. :)

They're talking about 2010... the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

No, you're getting the movies confused, somebody had mentioned wanting the movie 2010 in anamorphic also, because both the MGM and WB editions have been released 4x3 LBXD, and the WB package even says it's 16x9, but it's not.

One of my favs is lost highway. I havent been able to find it on dvd. At least the retailers in my area dont have it.

I'll ask again:

This set will most likely be completed without Lynch's participation. How does everybody feel about that?

Since Lynch has pretty much disowned the film I have no objection to it. Honestly all I think we are going to get is a new anamorphic transfer, and the "extended edition" that has been airing on TV since the 80s. Even if they tried to redo that edition I wouldn't object since that version of the movie doesn't even have Lynch's name in the credits. I really would love to see a cleaned up print of the movie as well...the letterboxed VHS and the DVD have that problem with washed out color one side for many scenes.

I'd rather see the rest of Lynch's stuff released on dvd in R1 before studios get around to doing special editions.....

Lost Highway DESPERATELY needs an R1 release.....

and where the hell are Hotel Room and On the Air???
does anyone even know who owns the rights to these anymore??

Every edition to date (including the pretty decent UK special edition in Region 2) has been completed without Lynch's participation. He's never been big on 'participation' on SEs of his films to begin with. And he's basically disowned this one after the whole Alan Smithee fiasco in the late 1980s.

I'm not happy about it. I'd love to see Universal and Lynch shake hands and hug. And then have Lynch put together a new 3.5 hour director's cut that blows away everything we've seen so far. But that ain't going to happen.

So, I'll eagerly await what we get. I already have the UK SE and the Japan DVD of the TV cut. So, I'm really just hoping for a high quality transfer of the theatrical edition, and maybe some new supplements. That'll make me happy enough.

not to be restating the obvious, but the whole Alan Smithee fiasco was Universal's doing. They tried to meddle in expanding the film without Lynch's involvement and made a supreme mess out of it. Even Universal Home Video's misnomer and claiming this is an expanded edition is bogus, it's their alternate TV edit of the film.

The more I've gotten into movies via DVD, the more I've come to see the shades of grey between studio product and a director's personal baby. Though Lynch did choose this over Return of the Jedi, it's still not his story. As Josh Z. has said, he has detached himself from the project, so if they can put together some sort of extended edition, maybe based on the workprint or something. As long as they don't put Lynch's name on it (though an "Inspired by David Lynch's Dune" would be neat) I'm pretty much game. The theatrical cut holds up well enough for me, so I really just want a 16x9 of that, anything else is gravy.

From the Bits:

BOTH will be available in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen (which would mark the first time the extended edition was available in widescreen). The theatrical edition will feature both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio, while the extended edition will be Dolby Digital 5.1 only.

I did not expect the EE to be in WS. Nor did I expect a metal tin, either. This will be purchased as soon as it gets on the shelves.

The only scene that would add value in my opinion is the fight between Paul and Jamus...in the regular cut...you have no idea where the hell he gets those two kids from.

Kul-Wahad!!!!

Er...I think I spelled that right...

Given that there was 0 chance of Lynch getting involved with anything related to Dune, I'm glad we will be getting both versions for curiosity' s sake.

Now I'm going to wait for the reviews ... if they crop all the shots that Universal added (the stuff prepared for fullscreen), it seems like it would make it even *more* incomprehensible.

I guarantee you that this is just based on erroneous specs provided by the studio, and they'll recant it in a couple of weeks. I'd love to eat my words on this one, but I seriously doubt it.

You know, I've always kind of liked the fact that there are just two Fremen kids hanging around during all of the training scenes without explanation. It's like an affirmation that these people are tough mo-fo's right from birth!

If there is one piece of footage that I wish would be re-inserted back into the movie, that I have never understood why it was cut, it's the Reverend Mother's line "A duke's son must know many poisons" when she is holding the Gom Jabar at Paul's neck. Without that line, the scene makes very little sense. It looks like she's threatening him with a thimble.