Dr. DVD

FWIW, Welles was supposed to play Baron Harkonnen, which was stated in both a clip from the documentary and on wikipedia(if that holds any cred for you). Also in one of the clips, Jodorowsky claims that he was going to lease out a restaurant for Welles' favorite gourmet chef to prepare his meals, which was part of his conditions for accepting the role.

Solid Snake

The trailer mentions that. Was he THAT much of a fatass? Jesus. I remember the commentary for TF: The Movie that they mention he was pretty damn big. Massive.

Supermallet

I'm not saying that Fincher's Alien 3 is a masterpiece, but the wooden planet thing always sounded awful to me.

hanshotfirst1138

I suppose we'll never know. To be honest, I think one of the problems with the film is that it tried to fold its stories together. It wanted to do the monks and temptation, the prison planet, and wound up folding them together. I've seen both cuts of Alien 3, and to be honest, I don't think either one works. Apparently it started out with William Gibson writing, but that got jettisoned completely. At least the Vincent Ward stuff would have been one single idea and maybe would've lent direction to a film which is at best scattershot.

Solid Snake

Yeah. Wooden planet sounds horrible from what the documentary showed.

Supermallet

I've read the William Gibson Alien 3 script. It would have definitely taken the series in new directions, but all of those directions would have been terrible (although not as terrible as Prometheus).

hanshotfirst1138

You really hate Prometheus, don't you?

Solid Snake

Prometheus really fucked you over, didn't it?

Giantrobo

As a long time DUNE fan I want to see this doc.

I'm also thinking I would love to see this version of DUNE in a long form Motion Comic format. I think it would be awesome.

Josh-da-man

The William Gibson Alien III script actually sort of acts as a bridge between Aliens and the first run of Dark Horse's Aliens comics (Aliens Volume 1, Aliens Volume 2, Aliens: Earth War), which were actually better sequels than Alien^3 and Alien Resurrection.

The William Gibson script is kind of an odd thing; it was obviously written for a sequel that Sigourney Weaver wasn't going to appear in.

Supermallet

Yeah, it shifts the focus from Ripley to Hicks and Newt, but it also turns the xenomorphs into a spore-based species, and it's really silly.

hanshotfirst1138

Didn't the stuff about the creatures being worshiped as gods and the religious elements original in some of the old Dark Horse Comics stories?

Supermallet

This documentary is wonderful. They got a lot of contributors to talk about the film, and everyone speaks incredibly highly of Jodorowsky. Jodo himself is very talkative, very entertaining. It makes you sad that the film didn't get made, but it has a bit of a happy ending, especially if you're familiar with Jodorowsky's philosophy of life and the collective unconscious. Highly recommended.

Also, Robo mentioned that someone should do this version of Dune as a motion comic. I don't know if you've read The Incal, but Jodorowsky and Moebius adapted a lot of their ideas intended for Dune and turned it into that comic. Very much worth reading.

stvn1974

Jodorowsky would have made a really strange Dune. Can you imagine how strange a David Lynch Dune would have been?

Supermallet

Jodorowsky's reaction to Lynch's Dune is worth the price of admission alone.

Why So Blu?

Shit! Can't wait!

creekdipper

Mall's still upset about the intimate scenes between Idris Elba & Charlize Theron being left on the cutting room floor.

Surprised to learn that Jodo hasn't made a film since 1990. The reviews of the doc sound really positive...hope EPIX picks it up.

What other auteur filmmakers would you like to see take a shot at Dune? (I'm surprised David Lynch survived the experience after reading the book about the problems involved). If another big-screen attempt were made, would you want to see any of the sequels made? And would you prefer a theater project or a big-budget miniseries (as opposed to the small-budget Dune & Children of Dune miniseries)?

Josh-da-man

Yeah, Metabarons, Incal and Technopriests. All three of those take place in the same Dune-inspired universe. They also benefit from some really great art by the likes of Moebius and Juan Giménez.

Why So Blu?

His latest feature is do out this year called: La Danza de la Realidad aka The Dance of Reality.

There's a thread for it. I eagerly await its release.

Dr. DVD

I wouldn't want to see another version of Dune per se, but I wouldn't mind seeing an animated incarnation of Jodorwosky's . Using all of the Giger stuff of course.

hanshotfirst1138

I'd like to see Dune get the proper big-budget treatment the same way that Jackson did for LOTR, but I'm not sure who I'd pick as director to be honest.

Solid Snake

I've never seen Dune but was Lynch appropriate for it? Visually?

hanshotfirst1138

Somewhat. It's a very complicated story, talk to 5 people and you'll get 6 answers.

Dr. Mantle

Lynch got the feel of the novel, but the plot was a mess. If you're a fan of the book, it's annoying because so much was left out, and if you haven't read it, it's hard to know who's who and why they do what they do.

Much later, after I saw Mulholland Dr., I realized that Lynch's film makes sense as a Science Fiction dream. It has incredible images and ideas and you can feel the weight of tens of thousands of years in Mankind's progress.

For all it's flaws, David Lynch's Dune makes a connection with my brain that is unique among all the cinema experiences I've ever had.

But I think I would trade it away in a second for what might have been the most experimental film in history.

Supermallet

I don't think Dune can really be done on film without deviating significantly from the original novel, which is why I was so interested in Jodorowsky's take. While other epic books have been successfully translated to film, Dune really takes advantage of the strengths of literature in a way that something like The Lord of the Rings doesn't IMO. The amount of internal monologue probably overshadows the amount of external dialogue, and as we saw from the Lynch version, long shots with voiceovers make for a really bland movie.

The only director I can think of who might be able to pull it off is Kiyoshi Kurosawa. But I'd rather just see an animated version of Jodorowsky's attempt as opposed to a new live action film. And while we're at it, I'd also love to see an animated version of The Incal.