Early review of new DUNE DVD, deleted scenes included!

http://andyfilm.com/

As advertised, but thought by some as misleading or wrong info, next weeks new DUNE release does indeed have deleted scenes, though they appear to be in workprint form. Plus, the TV version is indeed "widescreen", but no mention that it's anamorphic. Hopefully it is.

Marty, from that review:

"Next week Universal releases the first-ever "Extended Edition" of DUNE (**˝, 137 mins., PG-13) on video in North America, featuring 16:9 transfers of both Lynch’s 137-minute theatrical cut and Universal’s own, 177-minute “Extended” TV Version that was initially broadcast in syndication in the early ‘90s."

So indeed, it does look like the TV version is in anamorphic widescreen!

What I really wish they'd done is cut the "legitimate" additional scenes from the TV version into the theatrical cut, somewhat akin to the ALIEN 3 "special edition", but I suppose now that those scenes are anamorphic widescreen, some enterprising soul could do such a thing on their own

Vincent

You know, I wouldn't care if the four hour cut didn't have completed special effects, music, etc... it would have been interesting just to see none the less and it should have been included. I hope the photo gallery includes many of the original artwork done by Giger, but what I'd really go for is bringing Alejandro Jodowosky aboard to let the world know all about his plans for Dune, with original script (and his commentary on it, maybe with a read through) and that book he still has of storyboards for his version of Dune shown in its entirely (he briefly reveals the book in a documentary on the 2 disc set of Santa Sangre).

That's what would make for an ultimate Dune set, that and what's already there. Great to hear about this set, though, and I'll pick it up eventually. But I'm still waiting for the truly ultimate edition.

This post has been edited by Jon Norris on Jan 23 2006, 04:19 PM

I've been under the impression that a completed 4 hour version was never finished and that Lynch himself disassembled and recut that rough assembly to get the theatrical version. Still, a composite of both prints would probably be best. I wonder if the television version on this dvd contains the footage edited out for television as being too graphic?


BUT...at last! Thufir Hawat's last act! What bugged me about BOTH versions if Dune is we never see his last great moment. In the miniseries, he just goes up in a ball of flame, whereas in Lynch's version, we see a shot of him in the palace crowd at the end, but that's it. And it's good to see that the setup for Paul and Irulan's wedding is included, if only in rough form.

It's a shame that Lynch never got to make the DUNE sequels, though it's just as well, as we'd never have gotten BLUE VELVET. The miniseries are quite good, but Lynch's version has a quality that, more money aside, still captivates.

And man, Sting made a GREAT Feyd Rautha.

Great news, but also not so great. The Digital Bits has just posted that the extended version is indeed 16x9, but also cropped from 2.35:1 to 1.85:1. I was really expecting one extreme or the other - fully cropped 1.33 or fully enhanced 2.35 - who is Universal hoping to appease with this particular compromise? At least the theatrical version is properly presented.

I've been avoiding the UniversalHD broadcast because it was cropped to HD full screen. Oh well...

This post has been edited by Andrew Fitzpatrick on Jan 25 2006, 12:12 AM

This was posted at the Home Theater Forum by a user named "Jo_C".

And also on HTF Mike Richardson has posted:

"Also, I am not sure where the 1.85 came from, but the whole "Extended TV Cut" on my DVD is quite clearly in 2.35 for the entire duration of the film."

WTF.....?????

Okay, this review has screen captures, the extended cut is definitely 2.35:1:

http://www.duneinfo.com/giedi_prime/dvd_compare/us_tv.asp

Maybe the guy from The Digital Bits should set up his DVD-player correctly before reviewing a DVD.

Good news - but I'll miss my righteous indignation.

Just for the heck of it, I visited Digital Bits again, and I see that the writer has revised his copy (though, with no apology or mention of a mistake being made).

I received my copy today as a late Christmas present from my mother (no word on how she got hers early) and am too blown away by the supplements to be fully disappointed by what this disc could've been.

The first supplement is the, yes, 2.35:1 transfer of the Judas Boothe version of the film. Wow. Just wow. For years, a widescreen transfer of the theatrical cut was a kind of holy grail item for me. The vhs version came out the week I was scouting out my new home in San Francisco and yet I couldn't get my mind off of it.

I love DUNE. I think it's a great looking movie and is more haunting than even its director gives it credit for.

I honestly prefer the theatrical cut to the extended version.

Certain scenes that are exclusive to the extended version have greater emotional impact such as Paul's final conversation with his father and an earlier scene where Leto sees that Paul is down in the dumps so gets Gurney to do his melodramatic thing to share a laugh with his son. It reminds us of how rare it is to see someone actually smile or laugh in this film. Be that as it may, the shorter version is tighter and makes better use of sound versus music.

The narration in the extended cut kills the pacing. Once you know the information, there's no need to hear it again. Plus, the nature of the narration versus the somewhat awkward use of coverage and camera tests to fill in gaps makes the extended version seem even more unintentionally campy than Lynch's cut. I especially like how Dean Stockwell cocks his eyebrow as the narrator introduces him as if he knows he is being talked about.

It's still wonderful to see the shot compositions for the extended version exclusives in their proper aspect ratio. DUNE is such a beautiful movie to look at that pan-&-scan should've never been done. I feel the same away about Polanski's TESS and MACBETH.

Then there are the deleted scenes. These really got to me. It's amazing to me that in cutting DUNE down, the scenes which gave it heart were the ones to go.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that some of MacLachlan's best acting in the film was cut, especially the stuff from the finale. Thufir's death scene is especially strong.

I've cut together my own version twice in the past using vhs versions of both cuts and I fully intend to do it again using both versions of the film as well as the deletions. With some of them back in, the film almost rises to the level of drama that Peter Jackson pulled off with LORD OF THE RINGS.

I look forward to digging into the rest of the supplements. In a perfect world, this disc could've been more, but it's a special edition that I honestly thought I'd never see.

So, you're going to be that enterprising soul, Tom? Let us know when you've completed it, and... uh, I'd be glad to contact you and, uh... congratulate you. Do you have a Paypal account?

This post has been edited by Marty Langford on Jan 26 2006, 07:56 AM

Tsk! No money changes hands for these sorts of things ever!

Heh, but don't hold your breathe. I'm only just now getting comfortable with iMovie and once I've got a handle on that, my best friend and movie guru is going to train me on FinalCutPro.

Once I'm cozy with these programs, stay tuned for DUNE and a single, three-hour STAR WARS prequel.

Once upon a time, I did a single, 5 1/2 hour HIGHLANDER movie using the three existing films at the time and running them chronologically. In other words, after allowing the first film to begin as it usually does (wrestling and swordplay in Madison Square Garden), I arranged the flashbacks from all three films together and led them into the fine first film, the yawn-inducing third film and finally, the guilty pleasure of the second film.

Back to DUNE, I think this will really work out well. It's nice to have the extended and added scenes without that gravelly-voiced narrator grinding the film to a halt every few minutes. Plus, we always need the "heart-sucking" scene.

A young waifish fellow nervously handling blue flowers and then getting violated by a floating ball of pure id?

It's DUNE: FIRE WALK WITH ME!

Actually, Bill Hunt did issue a mea culpa on the main page, admitting the error and stating he was correcting the info in the review.

Then I will do likewise and admit my error!

Yeah, but things like that REALLY make me lose any trust in a reviewer.
I mean...writing that one version of the movie is 2.35:1 and the other is cropped to 1.85:1 when in fact both have the exact same aspect ratio...such a mistake can hardly be explained by "too much coffe" as Mr. Hunt did.

Maybe I'm just so shocked by this mistake because The Digital Bits is one of my favorite DVD related websites and I used to take everything Bill Hunt wrote as gospel.

A question to all who got an early copy of the DVD. Didn't Universal even bother to colour the eyes of the Fremen blue in the added scenes.? I remember that in the TV-version the Fremen had blue eyes only in the scenes from the theatrical cut.

Oh...and count me in as an interested party for a "Tom Kessler Cut" ;-)

I'm definitely in for the 'Tom Kessler Cut' myself, as soon as I pick up the SE.

I've been wanting to do a 2 and a half hour cut of Halloween 1 & 2 combined, since I can't watch either by themselves... and I feel Halloween 1 is a little long winded and slow, which works for Act 1 of a film, but a whole movie like that? Whereas, 2 is much faster paced, which is perfect for the 2nd half of Act 2 and in 3.

What program are you using to rip the dvd into an editable format? And, is it only for the Mac?

I'm using iMovie and I'm still just learning how to use it. The only movie I've ripped thus far is I, ROBOT and it took seven hours.

And as far as the question of whether or not the effects have been finished for the extended cut dvd, the answer seems to be no. Other than being widescreen, it is virtually identical to what you saw on television.

What's interesting is that when the widescreen vhs was released in 1997, it looked like someone took enough of an interest to tint the desert scenes a deep orange. So much in fact that it would overwhelm the blue rotoscoping of the eyes such that the reveal of Paul's blue eyes is muted.

I wonder if this type of meddling is what led to the infamous flipped reel.

I have a ripper that I used to rip my region 4 Equilibrium (because for some odd reason I couldn't get the picture to show up, but the sound worked, from my dvd-rom. Even though my region 4 Troy runs just fine. So I had to rip it onto my hard drive to get it working.), but it does a full dvd rip. I don't think it can transfer it to an editable format.

Anyway, iMovie seems like an apple only platform, so I'll just have to find another tool. As for editing, I'm quite proficiant in Adobe Premier 6.5...

There's a little snag in this project that I didn't think of:

DUNE is a dvd-18 and I'm using a laptop with a slim, snatch-&-grab disc drive. I'm going to have to find someone with a tray drive who can rip each side onto its own disc.

And while iMovie is almost certainly a Mac exclusive, I'm apparently going to be moving onto FinalCutPro if my IT guru/tutor has anything to say about it.

For the moment, all my fun is going to be had on an iBook using iMovie. It's a nice program, but the seven-hour download time for ripping a feature-length file is a drag.

The DUNE project is going to take a bit of doing, but when I have Paul witnessing the production of the Water of Life just before his mother drinks it (as I had on my jump-cut-filled vhs edit), it will suddenly all be worth it.

This post has been edited by Tom Kessler on Jan 27 2006, 09:20 AM