When David Lynch’s Dune was released in 1984 it was generally received poorly by both critics and movie-goers, however over the following four decades it has gained many fans. So, for the 40th Anniversary of this movie, I asked some well-known members of the Dune community to pick something from the film that they love (or, at least, like).
Paul Takes the Water of Life
As originally scripted and filmed, this scene would have more closely followed the novel; with Paul taking the Water of Life in the Maker room within Sietch Tabr. However, in an early assembly of the film, the producers realized that it would be too long, so Lynch wrote a new scene that replaced several others. This shortened the movie and also allowed for the removal of an earlier scene that established the baby worm.
The scene was designed in such a way that one scene could replace 6 or 7, I don’t remember exactly how many, but a big chunk of the movie.
Raffaella de Laurentiis, Deleted Scenes Introduction on the 2005 DVD
The new sequence has great music, sound design, some of the best looking worm effects in the movie, and a very Lynchian dream/vision sequence. While it may be a massive deviation from the book (with the sandworms surrounding Paul in the desert and seemingly paying homage to him) it somehow feels very Dune-y to me, and highlights the challenges and opportunities of adapting a novel to film.
Oh yes, I forgot to tell you, the scene also ends with the very quotable “Father, the Sleeper has Awakened!”
The original Water of Life scene can be read in Lynch’s sixth draft script, available from the DuneInfo Script Archive.
Mark / @DuneInfo
Alia Attacks Harah
This deleted scene holds a special place in my heart, because Matt Caron and myself helped to restore it and release it wide to the public this year. Most of Molly Wryn’s filmed material as Harah was eliminated from the movie’s final cut, and I have heard varied reasons as to why, but I do know that it was an early decision to excise most of the plot about Jamis (who has even less screentime, about 3 seconds of being punched by Paul!), Harah, and their children. It’s telling that Denis Villeneuve didn’t even bother with Harah or the kids at all, as it doesn’t do much to drive the story forward.
However, one of the cut scenes featuring Harah is not about her so much as Alia her effect on the Fremen population as an accelerated growth psychic freak. The scene opens with Wryn’s Harah explaining to Francesca Annis’ Jessica that the people are terrified of Alia, and then – as if to prove the point – a psychically eavesdropping Alia immediately arrives down some stairs and mentally attacks Harah with her voice. It’s a very cool, almost Village of the Damned-esque scene with an eerie mood.
Matt Caron did an amazing job restoring the scene from a new 4K scan we commissioned off a VHS of the scratchy workprint, even adding the blue-in-blue eyes, but if I’d picked the Toto track to accompany it I would have chosen something a bit more eerie. After all, almost of all of David Lynch’s films have a horror element. Adding things to someone else’s film is a slippery slope, though, so perhaps the more majestic track was a nice neutral compromise. I think we could have also gone hog wild with adding atmospheric sound effects or trademark Lynch droning, but at the end of the day we’re not the filmmakers, and we’re certainly no Alan Splet, so we left the production audio mostly intact.
When I got to screen the theatrical cut in a theater with an audience for the first time in Dallas, Texas earlier this year it struck me that Alicia Witt’s Alia got laughs, cheers, and applause in almost every scene she’s in. Perhaps a little Alia went a long way for the ultimate theatrical cut of Dune, but I’m glad this cut scene of her attacking Harah exists now. I just hope someday we can get Witt to overdub her own voice. That would be a cool reclaiming of the character for her, after not being told they were changing her vocals for the theatrical.
I also have to thank Molly Wryn for hanging onto her VHS of the scene for 40 years, and allowing us to share it along with an excellent new intro she recorded. She is a very sweet human being and I believe she really appreciated this scene being seen by tens of thousands of new fans. It also gave her an opportunity to reconnect with Alicia Witt, who still had a hand-knit frog that Wryn had made for her while they were both in Mexico City all those years ago…
Max Evry, author of A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch’s Dune. An Oral History
LJN Dune Toys and Pugs!
In 1984, I was six years old and residing in Normandy, France, where my parents operated a business selling various electronics, toys, groceries, etc. A notable success in selling Return of the Jedi toys that year, prompted their wholesaler to advise investing in action figures from the upcoming film Dune.
My parents took a calculated risk, following his advice, and uncovered a hidden passion. As these action figures went through a sales slump, their decision to hand them to me ignited my excitement. I was drawn away from Star Wars and He-Man, captivated by these new Dune figures and eager to delve deeper. Their thoughtful gift inspired deep gratitude, showcasing the impact of exploration and development.
As years progressed I uncovered the source of those intriguing figures, a book called Dune written by Frank Herbert. Reading it in junior high ignited a passion that stayed with me through my cancer battle, reminding me to conquer fear. Dune opened the doors to politics, cultures, religion, and other possibilities, profoundly influencing my life. Decades later, my wife gifted me those figures again for Christmas, marking our first year together.
I’ve formed global connections from England to Turkey and France, all converging in Washington state, Frank Herbert’s birthplace. The Muad’Dib tattoo on my hand symbolizes my triumph, like the desert mouse. Those six Dune figures sparked a transformative journey that continues to inspire me, shaping my life’s path. And of course, there’s my love of pugs, especially my little Macy, May, and my little boy named Duncan the pug Idaho—who I always say is a clone of my previous pug Yogi. He is definitely more of a Gurney than Duncan. My parents are no longer with me, but I wish I could say “thank you” for introducing me to the amazing world of Dune.
Simon Daoudi, instagram.com/sdaoudi
Third Stage Guild Navigator
Freddie Jones’s eyebrows. Dean Stockwell’s moustache. The line “ye Gods, what a monster!” The amount of things I love about David Lynch’s Dune movie could fill a Heighliner. But topping the list has to be the single most Lynchian element in the film, the one thing that this desperately compromised, out-of-his-depth director was able to take total charge of, and make his own: the Guild Navigator.
Working with creature designer – and E.T. creator – Carlo Rambaldi, Lynch envisioned the Navigator as a kind of “fleshy grasshopper.” But there’s so much more to it than that: drawing on his own experiences crafting the mutant baby for his debut feature Eraserhead —and clearly inspired by the make-up effects in his previous film, The Elephant Man —Lynch was able to produce something truly weird and inhuman, a malformed product of extreme bodily transformation and one of the most eerie, beautiful, and totally convincing creatures in all of cinema.
Tom Huddleston, author of The Worlds of Dune: The Places and Cultures that Inspired Frank Herbert
“A Beginning is a Very Delicate Time”
The opening narration in the 1984 Dune movie, as performed by Virginia Madsen, is pure magic. And the reason why it’s so good is that it’s faithful to the book and slyly divergent at the same time. Yes, the navigators now “fold space,” rather than just navigate, but overall the ethos of this scene conveys the enormity of Dune but manages to pack it into what you think is going to be a somewhat straightforward 1980s action epic. I love the touch of David Lynch’s humor here with the totally unnecessary moment where Irulan says “Oh yes, I forgot to tell you.” It’s almost like this opening narration is channeling the opening narration of Zardoz, and I mean that as a compliment.
The basic narrative layering of Dune creates the potential of interpreting the book as just one version of a truer, hidden story. This opening narration in the 1984 film leans into that sense of unreliability and of self-myth-making. And it doesn’t get any more Dune than that.
Ryan Britt, author of The Spice Must Flow
Inner Voices
Getting inside a character’s head, to hear directly what they’re thinking, means we feel closer to them and better understand their motivations. Lynch’s Dune movie remains the only adaptation to attempt this feature of the book through the technique of voiceovers. Although it can be a bit clunky on screen, it was a brave try at replicating this special aspect of Herbert’s story.
This adds a layer to the film that emphasizes the concept of the conscious mind and continually reminds us that these characters are thinking creatures like us, but on a whole other level. The earnestness and penetrating glances from characters like Paul force the drama unfolding to slow down, to breathe. Thinking is important in that world, rather than just action. These voiceovers clearly signal Herbert’s hand in this story, so I’m all for having them.
Dr. Kara Kennedy, dunescholar.com
Ventures Into the Subconscious
Whenever I read Dune, my mind immediately pictures the world of David Lynch’s film. My first copy of the book was the 1984 paperback edition with the movie tie-in cover, the one with the red hazy sky and the two blue moons. The book shocked my 10-year-old mind the first time I tried reading it – I knew it was science fiction, but the first page talked about a castle and a witch! But it’s in space too!? The only images to help guide me into this wonderful strange new world were the cover and the six small frames on the back. I would hold the book extremely close to my face so I could look at all the little details in those tiny windows into the world of Dune.
When I finally watched David Lynch’s Dune, it was immediately familiar and still strange at the same time. At first, I couldn’t understand the changes in the adaptation, but that didn’t matter because I still got to see giant sandworms and desert battles. My friends were excited about the Star Wars prequels at that time and had no clue what I was talking about when I mentioned Dune, so it quickly became my own secret adventure. As I got older, however, and continued revisiting the books, the sheen of the film slowly wore off as I began recognizing its faults. Even so, it still remained a special story in my heart.
But now, as I’ve grown and developed as an editor and filmmaker, I continue learning from Dune every time I rewatch it. As I studied more of Lynch’s films, I’ve come to appreciate his ventures into the subconscious, helping me better understand how his Dune captures many of the story’s Jungian themes. As an editor, I can recognize Antony Gibb’s difficult choices in the editing bay to sculpt the entire story into its running time. And knowing the turmoil behind the scenes of the production, my mind always wanders to what the film could have been, what it wanted to be, and the endless possibilities of how the story of Dune can be told – which for me, feels like one of the most important takeaways that Frank Herbert would have wanted for fans of Dune.
Matt Caron, Director of Post Production for Nerdist
Saint Alia of the Knife
Child Alia is perhaps the most iconic visual for me from David Lynch’s Dune and still best captures the essence of child Alia to this day, in a book accurate sense. Her attire is perhaps the most intriguing thing about her to me. She wears what most women in the Middle East would consider an Aba or Abaya, a word Frank Herbert actually uses in the Dune books. The clothing is also associated with female religious iconography, but she also wears an ‘igal’ on her head which is a kind of rope ring typically worn by Bedouin men, similar to those depicted in Lawrence of Arabia. Hers is much larger though, perhaps too big for her, almost like a crown. This outwardly gives the sense that she carries too much on her shoulders, bearing the weight of her ancestors—all those female memories from the moment she was born—due to Jessica taking The Water of Life while Alia was still in the womb.
The slow motion scene of Alia holding her crysknife (which is a scene right out of the book, something I didn’t know at the time) is an image forever seared into my mind. This strange choice of attire further adds to the odd and mysterious nature of Alia, giving her the look of maturity of a Bedouin elder, with an Abaya of a religious woman and the veil enveloping a youthful cherubic face; perfect iconography for Saint Alia of the Knife.
Secrets of Dune, youtube.com/@secretsofdune
Epic Soundtrack
My first introduction to Dune was Frank Herbert’s original novel, however I also have fond memories of enjoying Lynch’s movie with (a few) close friends back in school. Diving deeper into the Dune series over the years made me more critical of this movie’s choices, especially how Lynch apparently ignored the books’ warnings against charismatic leaders and instead portrayed Paul closer to an actual messianic figure. Furthermore, some 1984 designs—thinking of non-aerodynamic “ornitopthers” or bland sardaukar hazmat-style suits—can’t compare to counterparts in later adaptations. Yet certain elements have stood the test of time and, in my view, chief among those is the music.
At its core David Lynch’s version of Dune is a fantastical journey, the tale of a hero ascending. The now legendary band Toto elevated that material, accompanying epic cinematic moments—from worm riding to battle at Arrakeen—with sweeping orchestral tracks like the “Dune (Desert Theme)” and “Big Battle”. The latter’s climax starting at 2:40 is the definition of triumph.
Quieter moments are enhanced with tracks like “Paul Meets Chani”, that one adds so much emotional depth to a relationship that barely had any time on screen. Then there’s Brian Eno’s hauntingly beautiful “Prophecy Theme” capturing the mystical nature of Paul’s transformation, an aspect that this movie adaptation leans into.
This score remains extraordinary with how many of its tracks are powerful to experience individually, while together they form a cohesive way to relive the story in ~40 minutes. You can listen to Dune (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) in below playlist from the Toto YouTube channel or various digital music services (including Amazon Music and Apple Music).
The final track, “Take My Hand” serves as a moving tribute to all the people who brought this first (completed) movie adaptation of Dune to life and captures the essence of a magical time period in our own culture’s history. It will forever be a part of my personal soundtrack.
Marcus Gabriel, Editor-in-Chief DuneNewsNet.com
What’s your most memorable scene or experience related to David Lynch’s Dune movie? Let us know in the comment section below!