Wow.. finally... how did that happen? Did David Lynch greenlit this?:

The Dune: Extended Edition will be released in a metal snap case (SRP $27.98). 2 versions of the film will be included... a 137-minute theatrical version, and the 177-minute extended edition. 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. Extras will include never before seen "behind-the-scenes" footage, documentaries on the special effects, visual design and costumes, deleted scenes, original photographs and artwork from the set (newly resurrected from personal collections) and more.

In Germany there are so many version of this extended cut available already, bot non in Widescreen and all in pretty poor quality with senseless extras... it seems as if nobody hold the rights in Germany for it, so every little shitty label was allowed to put out their own release own DUNE... I didn't buy any of those, so Im looking forward to a legitimate release of it!.

Any comments on this?

I'll be interested if the 2.35 framing is legitimate and not just the TV version hacked off on the top and bottom. VERY interesting news Roman -- I didn't think the TV version was available in widescreen since it was produced for TV in the first place.

Obviously, if this pans out, we'll have to work out some more trades my friend

I think it will get the release in the US!!!!

just check www.joblo.com or sites like that!

I think www.dvdtimes.co.uk ran something about it, too!

yupp, just checked it.. that DUNE SE will be released in the US as RC1.. no announcement for Europe so far, at leastnot Germany, as I guess the rights are quite up in the air...

sorry, that I didn't make that clear in the first post

Wow, an AMERICAN release of this?? That's pretty exciting. I would wait to confirm whether or not the TV version will be in 2.35 Widescreen, however -- that is very strange, considering that the movie was formatted for TV to begin with.

I have to admit, though, this sounds like a really good release. I don't believe the U.S. DVD of DUNE (the theatrical cut) is even in 16:9 Widescreen, so Universal is doing a nice job here covering all the bases by rectifying their older catalog release, and issuing the TV cut (with additional deleted scenes as well? awesome!) at the same time.

As far as all the "auteur" theory goes, Lynch has stated over and over that he doesn't want to re-edit the movie. Thus, I have no problem with Universal making the TV cut available at last in a workable presentation. Yes, the editing is clumsy at times, but since we'll apparently never see an officially "restored" presentation of this movie, I think it's a great idea.

This is from Thedigitalbits.com, a very trustworthy source -- says it's coming out on 5/10 as well!

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The Dune: Extended Edition will be released in a metal snap case (SRP $27.9Cool. 2 versions of the film will be included... a 137-minute theatrical version, and the 177-minute extended edition. 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. Extras will include never before seen "behind-the-scenes" footage, documentaries on the special effects, visual design and costumes, deleted scenes, original photographs and artwork from the set (newly resurrected from personal collections) and more.
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Sounds like a must-buy to me, even if you run hot and cold on the movie.

BTW, my favorite part of the TV version is something my pal Trevor Willsmer pointed out to me in the past. At one point, one of the extras who flies the Dune planet shuttle actually shifts from a dubbed American accent to his actual MEXICAN dialect since they added footage during the scene, and that added footage didn't have his line looped!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

romanD you are a God among men for being the person to make me aware of this. I've always loved this movie (as well as its soundtrack) in its extended form and it's great to finally see an official release of it in the US!

I've always been a huge fan of the first six Dune novels, this movie, the games (well, maybe that the latest one Cryo did ), and the mini-series. It's great to see this movie getting an official release in this form in the US.

For anyone who hasn't seen it, this is a movie all people should own. Because even if you don't like it (and even if you hate it), it's visually unforgettable and I would say is one of the best curiosities to come out of the eighties.

This doesn't exactly warrant a new thread, just thought it interesting to point out that it seems there's a Japanese cut on the movie on bootleg DVDs that's 182 minutes. Though the quality is supposedly very bad, the extra bits of footage are practically outtakes.

Random trivia: Frank Herbert himself approved all the name pronounciations in this movie (and they're consistent with how Herbert himself narrates the books on tape). It's rumored that Herbert is the one that does the voiceover narration that's in some cuts of the movie as well.

I thought Herbert is long dead?

Well, I always liked th emovie a lot. I guess, the failure of it came mainly because people were expecting another simple Star Wars... the story may be, but the way the story is told probably puts off quite a lot of people. Personally I don't like that you can hear what the person are thinking, but it fits to the overall style and mood... also I like the music a lot, which is very bold, considering again that people were expecting Star Wars music.

It's definitely one of my favorite SF-movies and always will be. Looking really forward to this release.

He died not too long after the movie was released (February 1986). He personally gave his approval to the visual style of the film. I forget but he actually said that the movie's costumes/etc. were in some ways superior to what he came up with in the original books. Interesting because in either Heretics of Dune or Chapterhouse: Dune (can't remember offhand) he uses a training robot that's about identical in its design to the one seen early on in the movie.

The music is really something else. The Desert Theme especially is great. I dislike the overuse of the characters "thinking out loud" as well. This is a trademark of Herbert's writing in the books themselves, and I think it was a miscalculation to think it would work equally well on the screen. Especially with such a fantastic cast, a lot of the thoughts could have been inferred through their acting rather than through their thoughts.

yeah... that's what a movie is about, isn't it? To show onscreen what's going on inside the people, not let them stand there and say it...

buit still, it makes the movie different to others...

I have a rare audio tape interview that was sold at Waldenbooks back in '84 with Lynch and Herbert being interviewed simultaneously. The first 20 minutes, they talk about making DUNE, how Lynch was already working on DUNE II, and how wonderful the movie was (the rest of the 45-minute tape is Herbert talking about his theories and values).

Funny how fast and furiously that movie tanked (you could find action figures around for years and years in toy shop bargain bins) -- and to me at least, deservedly so. The narrative is a mess, some of the performances are unintentionally hilarious (I especially like Everett McGill and Kenneth Macmillan), and none if it really works *as intended*.

I agree with Neo, though, that the movie is well worth watching regardless of how you feel about it and savoring as a product of its time. I think the movie's popularity isn't due to it being a good movie (at least I can't see any revisionist history going on even now that it's a good film), but rather due to it being so whacked and totally '80s. And visually it's interesting throughout.

Did anyone else notice the striking similarity between the main theme and Elfman's BATMAN? (Though I still think Williams' THE FURY had as much of an influence as Elfman's BAT theme as DUNE).

I wonder if any remnants of that sequel exist? Supposedly Lynch was about halfway through the script of Dune Messiah at the time of Dune's bombing in theaters.

The biggest flaw with the narrative is that while liberties are taken with the book, it gets so many things right. Despite this t doesn't give any REAL exposition. You get a background of the world itself, and you see a lot of the major scenes from the book happen on film, but there's no way to know why or what the significance is without having read the book first. This is fixed somewhat in a few of the extended versions but the theatrical cut is horrible with it.

I think the overall acting is great despite a few major missteps. The Baron is such a total charicature espcially.

Now that you point out the Dune/Batman score similarities I do see it. Though not with the Batman theme so much as with some of the other tracks of that score. I always thought of the Batman soundtrack as a classic noir gangster movie score on steroids.

If this sells well in North America, I wonder if Lynch will relent and we'll see a fully restored version of the movie at some point? Supposedly something like five hours of footage was filmed, and Lynch's inital cut was 240 minutes.

Makes me wonder if the narrative was good at some point.

here's the cover art:

http://www.digitalbits.com/#bla

get this (according to digitalbits.com):

Oh man... have we got some GREAT news for you Dune fans today! We've done some digging with our sources at Universal, and we've learned the real reason behind their delay of the Dune: Extended Edition (previously announced for 5/10, but then pulled "indefinitely" with no explanation given). Those of you who are familiar with the film know that there's a longer version that's been shown on TV, credited to director Alan Smithee (a pseudonym used by directors when they want to distance themselves from a project for whatever reason). Well get this... after years of saying he would never revisit Dune, at the 11th hour director David Lynch decided that he wanted to be involved in the new DVD after all. Which means that when it's eventually released, not only is the DVD going to include the original theatrical version of the film... it will include a brand new "director's extended cut" edited by Lynch himself! No kidding.



Cool isn't it?

romanD wrote:get this (according to digitalbits.com):

Oh man... have we got some GREAT news for you Dune fans today! We've done some digging with our sources at Universal, and we've learned the real reason behind their delay of the Dune: Extended Edition (previously announced for 5/10, but then pulled "indefinitely" with no explanation given). Those of you who are familiar with the film know that there's a longer version that's been shown on TV, credited to director Alan Smithee (a pseudonym used by directors when they want to distance themselves from a project for whatever reason). Well get this... after years of saying he would never revisit Dune, at the 11th hour director David Lynch decided that he wanted to be involved in the new DVD after all. Which means that when it's eventually released, not only is the DVD going to include the original theatrical version of the film... it will include a brand new "director's extended cut" edited by Lynch himself! No kidding.



Cool isn't it?

NOW I am interested in buying this!

Damn! Eric's right, NOW we're talking!!

This is really good news. I think Lynch at this point in his career probably figures "why not?" Really, why not try and salvage the movie -- if anyone CAN make semblance out of it, it's definitely him.

I'm guessing this may not happen now until 2006, but it'll be worth the wait if it goes through.