Dune: Difference between revisions

The entire series is steeped in Arabic language and culture; it is implied that, in the distant future in which the books are set, Western and Eastern culture and religion have blended together into a pseudo-homogeneous whole. Religions such as "Mahayana Christianity" and "Zensunni" are referred to though not explicitly described, and many Arabic words have found their way into the standard language spoken by the people of the Galactic Empire, especially after the Fremen crusade spreads aspects of their culture to thousands of worlds. (An extensive glossary is included in the first novel, without which many readers might find it incomprehensible) The Bene Gesserit sisterhood, an order of philosopher-nuns that considers itself the guardian of human civilization, extensively manipulate various religions over a scale of thousands of years in order to protect their agenda. Paul Atreides, through his actions in the first novel, effectively creates a religion of his own, with effects that reverberate throughout the millennia.

 

 

* From the early 1970's on, attempts were made to produce a theatrical film. Cult director [[Alejandro Jodorowsky]] (known for incredibly bizarre films such as ''[[El Topo]]'' and ''[[The Holy Mountain]]'' and equally strange or stranger comic books) came to the project after having a bizarre dream almost identical to the broader plot of the first novel and then hearing about a book of almost exactly the same story. Convinced that there was something more here he resolved to make '''a movie based on his dream,''' with bits of the book itself thrown in (that's not hyperbole, that's his stated agenda). Comic artist Moebius and fellow [[Heavy Metal]] writer/artist Dan O'Bannon (also responsible for the concept art and a decent chunk of the screenplay for ''[[Alien]]'') worked on concept art and designs, as well as ''[[Aliens]]'' designer [[H. R. Giger]], whose work actually ended up in the final film in small doses. Salvador Dali was cast as the Emperor (which is not nearly as ridiculous as it sounds to non-''Dune'' fans) and [[Pink Floyd]] had agreed to provide the score. [[What Could Have Been|Sadly, and inevitably, it fell apart.]]

* The producers turned to a hot new director who had been considered for ''[[Star Wars|Return of the Jedi]],'' mostly because of George Lucas' [[What Could Have Been|still-intense passion for experimental film]], mostly on the strength of his classic [[Eraserhead|first film]] and a critically and commercially successful [[The Elephant Man|biopic]] that made him a true commodity in the industry. That man's name: [[David Lynch]], who took the project and made it his own to only a slightly lesser extent than Jodorowsky would have. Due to his alien style and the sheer scale of the book, the already-complex narrative became nearly incomprehensible to some viewers; many theaters handed out [[All There in the Manual|printed plot summaries]] to patrons. Ironically, the altered cut made more understandable to be commercially viable for television was ''even longer'' than the existing film, running about '''four hours''' with commercials, and included, among other things, altered narration and a lengthier prologue. Lynch was incensed that the studio had [[Executive Meddling|recut his movie]] behind his back; he had himself credited for director as [[Alan Smithee]] and as ''[[Meaningful Name|Judas Booth]]''<ref>(as in John Wilkes; a name he has signed at least once as an autograph at the request of a fan)</ref> for his screenwriting credit. The 1984 Lynch version of ''Dune'' is the most memorable and notorious for its [[Scenery Porn|elaborate and immersive set design]], and carried some holdovers from the Jodorowsky version, including Giger's designs. Subsequent recut and extended versions have inspired [[Broken Base|varying]] degrees of critical [[Love It or Hate It|reappraisal]]. It was a complete flop at the box office and has become both a [[Cult Classic]], and an example of how ''not'' to make a blockbuster.

* In 2000, the [[Syfy]] produced a three-part miniseries adaptation of the novel. This version followed the plot of the book much more closely, but had a ridiculously small budget, [[Ascended Extra|and gave several characters expanded roles]] while paring others down to bare bones or removing them entirely. The Sci-Fi Channel also adapted ''Messiah'' and ''Children'' into a second three-part miniseries in 2003, which was substantially better in some people's opinion (though its ending was much more ambiguous than that of the novel and doesn't provide a suitable lead-in to ''God Emperor''.)

 

''Dune'' also served as the inspiration for several popular video games, most notably ''[[Dune II]]: The Building of A Dynasty'' which is the [[Ur Example]] of the modern [[Real Time Strategy]] game.