Dune (1984) – The Alternative Edition v2
by SpicediverDirector David Lynch’s strange and visionary sci-fi epic is given a new lease of life with this unique fan-edit by Spicediver. Dune The Alternative Edition is a painstakingly created new cut that draws on the Theatrical Version (1984), the Extended Version (1988), various deleted scenes, and two versions of the original soundtrack album. Presented in 2.35 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound.
The Revised Version 2 replaces V1 and features additional changes and technical improvements.
member ratings: 
(25 votes, average: 8.76 out of 10, rated)
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ORIGINAL RUNTIME: 137/177 minutes (NTSC)
NEW RUNTIME: 183 minutes (NTSC)
TIME TAKEN FOR PROJECT: 12 months of planning, editing and revisions including V.2
FORMATS: AVI (Xvid) and DVD.
FANEDIT WAS RELEASED ON FE: v1: Sep 2008, v2: April 2009
INTENTIONS FOR THIS FANEDIT:
Both of the officially released versions of David Lynch’s visually amazing ‘Dune’ have substantial problems. The Theatrical Version was gutted to the point of incomprehension by executive producer Dino De Laurentiis in his quest to make it a two hour movie instead of three. The easier-to-follow Extended Version assembled for cable TV, with much restored footage, was so incompetently put together by Universal’s MCA TV division that Lynch ordered his name removed from the writing and directing credits.
Broadly, my intention with the Alternative Edition is to improve storytelling and flow by preserving the best elements from both official versions of the film while also integrating some newly available deleted scenes.
The Alternative Edition does not claim to be a director’s cut. It is also based more on the Extended Version of Dune than several other fanedits doing the rounds. In this and many other respects the Alternative Edition is a significantly different take on the film. I have used Herbert’s novel and the 6th and 7th drafts of Lynch’s original script as a guide but have also taken my own liberties with the material.
CHANGES/CUTS/ADDITIONS (including V.2):
1) MISTAKES. Many of the mistakes exclusive to the Extended Edition have been removed or corrected – such as atrocious editing, the TV censorship cuts, and the silly repeated/fabricated footage used to set up or pad scenes.
2) COLOR CORRECTION. The 40 or so minutes of extra live footage hastily reinserted into the Extended Version by Universal/MCA was never color graded and suffers from color mismatches with the older Theatrical footage. In V.2 colour-correction has been applied to all shots, scenes and part-scenes where the mismatches are clearly apparent, which amounts to about 80% of the extra footage. However the missing “blue eyes” of the Fremen have still not been restored – a massive rotoscoping job I chose not to undertake.
3) PROLOGUE. The painted-stills Prologue from the Extended Version has been fixed to make it a more accurate and more helpful background to the Dune universe. It has been shortened and reconfigured to avoid repetition, to avoid giving away plot points, and to correct confusing mistakes. In V.2 the Prologue has been moved to the very start of the film, before any credits and before Reverend Mother Ramallo’s introduction. In V.2 there are also slight changes to the score and the shot selection.
4) NARRATION. The male narration from the Extended Version was chosen for this edit and most of it has been preserved, while deleting or correcting occasional voiceover mistakes or misuse by the producers. I have always found this narration to be a more persuasive than Princess Irulan’s voiceover from the Theatrical Version. In V.2 the narration has been completely removed from one scene where the Fremen watch House Atreides arrive on Arrakis.
5) MUSIC. The Extended Version of Dune assembled my Universal/MCA is badly re-scored. It inexplicably omits Brian Eno’s ‘Prophecy Theme’ and generally the beautiful score by Toto is used far too often, too repetitively, and at times very inappropriately (eg. action music in a quiet scene). V.1 addressed this problem through restoring Eno’s music and favouring scenes and sequences from the Theatrical Version wherever possible. In V.2 the problem is further addressed by the removal or re-scoring of the music in 6 more scenes.
6) SCENE ORDER. I have restored to their correct place a number of existing scenes that appear in the wrong part of one or both versions of the movie (eg. Duncan & Leto’s reunion, the drowned baby worm ritual that produces the Water Of Life).
7) INTERNAL DIALOGUE. This was used successfully by Herbert in his novel but I believe it was a colossal mistake to adapt this device so literally to the screen. Many viewers including myself found much of it infuriating. In V.1 a handful of removals and edits were done to the internal dialogue, mostly in the dream sequences. In V.2. I have removed or minimized another 14 instances, again mostly without cutting any footage. Overall, the effect is a narrative that gives less away and unfolds more naturally.
DELETED SCENES. Some – but not all – of the deleted scenes that appeared as an Extras feature on the 2005 Universal Region 1 DVD release have been integrated into the Alternative Edition. These are rough-looking compared to the rest of the film rest but when edited back in these scenes restore plot points, warmth and character. In V.2 I have also performed some basic color correction on these scenes but the impact is limited given the poor condition of the footage.
9) TRANSFER QUALITY. It was noticed after the completion of V.1 that the Region 1 DVD Extended Print is actually slightly crisper that the Region 1 DVD Theatrical Print. Therefore in V.2 some Theatrical Version footage has been replaced with identical footage from the Extended print, while retaining the Theatrical Version’s superior audio source.
10) OTHER V.2 CHANGES. Restored the destruction of the Weirding Modules; restored establishing shots in several scenes; restored several shots of Paul’s filmbook slideshow; restored and fixed one of the filmbook voiceovers and its accompanying shots.
DVD details:
Format: 2 x single layer DVD (movie parts 1 and 2)
TV System: NTSC 720 x 480
FPS: 29.970
Video Bitrate: 6250kbps
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen
Audio: AC3 Dolby Digital 224kbps
Channels: 2-channel stereo (switch your amp to Pro Logic II for surround sound)
AVI details:
Video Codec: Xvid
Filesize: 2.3gb
Video Bitrate: 1500kbps
Resolution: 720*304
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
FPS 29.970
Audio: AC3 Dolby Digital 224kbps
Channels: 2-channel stereo (switch your amp to Pro Logic II for surround sound)
If you enjoyed my Alternative Edition fanedit in its original form I’m sure you’ll enjoy this revision, too. Thanks to those of you who gave kudos and shared constructive criticisms along the way.
Buy the original DVD and support FANEDIT.ORG:
Images:
artset by spicediver (download here ):
inserts:
Disclaimer: You must own the original movie before acquiring any FanEdited movie. We here at FanEdit.org respect the company’s copyrights, and don’t want to infringe on any company’s rights. Thank you, FE!
Maybe downloadable from Fanedit.info through Rapidshare and bittorrent (enter and download at your own risk and responsibility)
What happened to the 3rd DVD? Have been slowly getting this through RapidShare, but I was looking forward to eventually get the complete 3 DVD set. Did it get removed for some reason?
Review by odysseus93 — July 19, 2008 @ 1:48 pm
yes, the third DVD was removed because it contained extras that are available on the original DVD releases.Since Fanedit.org only supports fanedited material or material not available on official releases, this DVD was removed, because it is not needed for this release. Thanks for your understanding. Let’s keep it all legal.
Review by boon23 — July 19, 2008 @ 2:37 pm
Apologies. Boon23 has a legal point and I accept this decision.
Disc 3 compiles docos and features from various different Dune releases, but they are not fan-edited, so my download links for Disc 3 cannot be hosted at this site.
Review by spicediver — July 20, 2008 @ 2:43 am
Understood, thanks for your efforts.
Review by odysseus93 — July 21, 2008 @ 1:44 am
By the by. I also noticed in the Disk 2 download section of the RapidShare files that there is two ‘part02.rar’ files in the listing. Is this misnamed or just a doubling of the same file. Thanks again…
Review by odysseus93 — July 21, 2008 @ 2:14 pm
it is the same file, uploaded twice. Corrected.
Review by boon23 — July 21, 2008 @ 2:25 pm
This is a great edit. Thanks Spicediver!
Review by samwisefan — August 2, 2008 @ 7:49 pm
I had some trouble in deciding on what to rate this edit. It was great fun seeing these new scenes (only have the theatrical cut on dvd) but at the samer time some of them were really bad.
I really appriciate the effort, and for several parts I found this to be a superior version. But in some parts the new scenes were badly acted (even for this movie!), and the integrated deleted scenes are clearly noticiable, the quality just is less good. I could totally understand why you wanted them in though.
One particular scene I would rather have been without was the one about Paul taking a wife in the end. Compared to what had just occured it just feels a little blah-blah to me. So I find the ending slighty less good than the theatrical version, which is a pity since it is a very powerful moment.
I’m ending up on a weak 4 out of 5 stars. For anyone who likes Dune, this will be well worth the time.
Review by spelledaren — August 28, 2008 @ 5:14 pm
Sorry, Spicediver, but dumping Princess Irulan in favor of keeping that shite prologue from the TV version makes for a fan edit I’m not interested in watching. You should restore the Alan Smithee credit and remove Lynch’s name. Nice editing, but you really should bill this thing as “the new and improved TV VERSION.”
ADM’s version is closer to the ideal I’d want to see, but his has seriously problems with the video quality of the deleted scenes and with retaining so much of the Toto Muzak which plays randomly beneath every scene of the TV version. Ever notice that Eno’s name is still in the credits of the TV version but his Prophecy Theme is nowhere to be heard?
A better starting point would be to keep EVERYTHING from the theatrical release, extend it where possible, and do whatever can be done about the Muzak problem with the TV footage.
More Dune fan edits are required. We’re not there yet.
Review by jadeanderson — October 14, 2008 @ 12:53 am
Samwisefan and Spelledaren: thankyou for the kudos.
I’m chuffed you enjoyed my edit and thanks for taking the time to actually watch the thing from beginning to end.
The Demonoid community seemed to enjoy it too.
“May the Hand Of God be with you”…
SPICEDIVER
Review by spicediver — October 27, 2008 @ 8:29 am
The definite version of David Lynch’s Dune to go with. Period!
If the world were to end in 3 hours (or something) after initially abusing my neighbors and taking a heavy hit of psychedelic substances I’d surely (and gladly) dive towards the Eschaton with this baby in my DivX-player rollin’ and my eyes wide gazing.
Having seen a handful of other Dune versions this is definitly the one to enjoy if you have any form of sensibility towards the Dune Universe’s atmosphere.
What a marvelously weird movie this is and how marvelously weirder it got after Spicediver put his alchemical fingers on this thing.
Make no mistake friends this is the philosopher’s stone – it’s gonna turn your mind into gold if you can digest it.
All hail SPICEDIVER, Emperor of the known Dunieverse! 5 Stars
Mati
PS: Yeah it’s a little bit much to say but you deserve it pal for making me enjoy this unyielding leviathan one more time…
Review by spaceamoeba — October 29, 2008 @ 9:48 pm
Thankyou spicediver, for me you made Dune actually hang together rather than just wash over me! Quite a bit of thought went into into this. And when I watched it again I noticed all the little changes with your edit too. The visions and hallucinations seemed more, well, mysterious when I heard less of Pauls thoughts on the soundtrack.
Review by sevenofnine — December 24, 2008 @ 7:30 am
Thoroughly impressed with this version, the story felt weightier, there’s a certain joy in seeing extra moments you didn’t see in the original release although some moments reveal very poor hammy acting that hints at why Lynch is ashamed of the movie, it seems he did not yet have the craft to elicit a top drawer performance from some of his top draw leads. Jose Ferrer, Linda Hunt, Freddie Jones and the great Patrick Stewart (one of my favourite actors) seem at times to be performing on ’stage’ rather than celluloid. I missed the Irulan opening scene, when I saw this as a 16 year-old she was so beautiful the scene really stuck in my mind but I understand why this was cut for the male narration. I didn’t like Paul marrying Irulan but saying to Chani he would be mean and nasty to her; that didn’t seem right after telling everyone he’s the universes super-being but overall it’s the best fanedit I have seen and enhances one of my all-time favourite movies tremendously.
Review by adw_uk — January 20, 2009 @ 12:30 am
Easily the best cut of this awesome movie. I’d recommend this to any fan of the original movie and especially fans of the books. This is a must see. 5 stars.
Review by daddypants — January 24, 2009 @ 11:54 pm
Complied with love, this was loooong but very rewarding.
Review by Fluidic — April 2, 2009 @ 2:10 pm
I read the book and saw the movie when it came out. In the day it was a cult classic. This version was immensely entertaining to watch and was a noticeable improvement over the theatrical release specifically because if you had not read the books, the theatre version would not make any sense as far as continuity or even plot for that matter. Well done, and btw the noticeable cut scenes were unavoidable and not in the least detracting from this, a true work of art.
Review by sp3mce — April 27, 2009 @ 8:40 pm
I have only read the first Dune novel by Frank Herbert, but what introduced me to the novel was surprisingly Spicediver’s fanedit cut of the film. The film ranks as one of my all time favorite films, alongside Blade Runner, Kingdom of Heaven, and The Lord of the Rings. V1 was my favorite cut, though now seeing V2, it’s been swiftly replaced. Personally, I’m very happy that the missing/deleted/rare scenes were reinserted back into the films narrative. Some say it detracts, but I personally can’t watch any other cut without missing those scenes. =) In my humble opinion, this is the best cut of Dune out there. 10/10 for a fine piece of work.
Review by kelvorn1914 — May 6, 2009 @ 11:39 pm
Thanks for the comments everyone.
This Dune edit may not be for purists but I’m thrilled to hear that some people appreicate my handiwork.
It also seems it was well worth doing a revised V.2. I ask myself why didn’t I put the reconstructed Prologue right at the start in V.1? It all seems so obvious now.
Oh, and a special shoutout to Demonoid members who’ve shown such enthisiasm for this project. You guys and gals rock.
Now that this project done, perhaps its time I got my sh*t together and fanedited something else.
Peace,
Spicediver
Review by spicediver — May 14, 2009 @ 11:41 am
I saw Dune when it first came out. Awesome work imho, though critics panned it. And now, this work, by spicediver is, to me, the best version I have ever seen. Mind you, I own a copy of the original and still watch it a couple of times a year. But from now on, I will be watching spicediver’s version. Totally awesome!!!
Review by prarieboy17 — May 18, 2009 @ 4:42 am
I really enjoyed this edit!
I saw the original release in the theater, and haven’t been too interested in seeing it again since. This edit pushes the narrative in an exciting, linear fashion.
Thanks for your hard work, Spicediver!
Review by monitorman — June 3, 2009 @ 2:45 am
Thanks a ton. This is a great one. I prefer the Irulan intro as it ties in better with the book and, poor Virginia Madsen doesn’t have much else to do without it.
Regardless, this was very well done and what I wanted the Universal disc to be when the last version came out. Here’s hoping someone goes back and fixes the blue-within-blue eyes some day — even the original needed touch ups here and there.
Thanks, especially, for including the “He gives water to the dead” scene and Thufir’s finale. Both are essential (IMHO).
Review by impossiblefunky — June 13, 2009 @ 6:54 pm
Thanking you, really glad you enjoyed it.
Excising Irulan’s narration in my edit in favour of Universal/MCA’s male narrator allowed me 3 opportunities:
1) to open the film with the full Fremen prophecy instead of a narration, as per the intention of the shooting script (final 7th draft);
2) to use the Prologue from the Extended Edition, which is quite valuable after substantial correcting, reconfiguring and shortening;
3) to use some of the male narration throughout the film – because I like his additions such as the character introductions and the brief backstory on Baron Harkonnen’s past treachery towards Leto.
It’s interesting that Irulan’s narration – which I enjoy but don’t particularly miss – was not originally scripted. It was created in post-production after the producers viewed the 4 hour 20 min assembly edit and decided they would need a narration in order to try and make a shorter movie comprehensible. It’s also interesting that Irulan’s voiceover role in the film is fundamentally different from the book. In the film it is mostly straightforward narration, whereas in the book she is a brilliant historian interpreting and commenting on events.
My main reservation with the male narrator is that his actual voiceover performance is inferior to Virginia Madsen’s effort. He was clearly given little direction, typical of the general sloppiness that marred the creation of the Extended Edition. It’s as if they put him in the microphone booth and went with his first take. I have excised the mistakes, padding and unnecessary lines in his script but, alas, I couldn’t improve his actual reading.
If you’d like to see Dune with Irulan’s narration and also with the blue eyes sfx completed, you can; just check out some of the other Dune edits here at fanedit.org.
SD.
Review by spicediver — June 14, 2009 @ 4:19 am
Understood. I love it regardless. No version is going to please everyone. This is one of the best edits of this film that I’ve seen. Big time kudos.
Review by impossiblefunky — June 17, 2009 @ 6:29 pm
Hi Spice,
Sorry it has taken so long to get here. I have spent the last hour navigating this site. Very cool.
I am not a expert on quality of editing or any of the technical nik naks that interest the more techy minded. I do however know what I like to see. The origianal theatrical offering was in my opinion poor.
It left so many unanswered questions and for those people who had not read the book was probably a major turnoff. I always felt as if it was a project that was started and then rushed to completion. The acting in many cases was half hearted and often just downright bad.
It will be impossible for anyone person, I think , to make a definitive version of Dune. The sheer scope and scale of such a project is simply daunting, somewhere on the scale of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. That is the kind of money and Passion that would be required. I wonder if Peter Jackson would be interested? Probably not.
In the meantime we have Spicedivers V2. Quite frankly it is the best version I have seen. Especially considering what he has had to work with. The story is tighter and more fulfilling than either the original theatrical or the extended edition. The soundtrack is more in tune with the action. As far as I am concerned this rates a large 5 stars. If there is more than can be done to this story I don’t know what it is.
Kudos to you Spicediver and many thanks for a giving me something I can watch that matches the Herberts vision.
Review by LordMatrim — August 21, 2009 @ 1:53 pm
Greetings All,
New to the forum but not new fanedits or Fanedit.org.
I have been a fan of “Dune” (both the books and the various incarnations of the commecrically-released movies) for years. I have seen all the commercially available versions of the movie (even the SciFi channel mini-series) and even an early attempt by a friend of mine to do an “edit” using three connected vcrs.
Not until I downloaded and watched Spicediver’s “Dune” have I been more happy with this movie. A great edit, much better pacing than any version I have ever seen and an outstanding use of source material. I take no issue with Spicediver’s choice in using some of the lower-quality deleted scenes – they definitely progress the plot/pace of the movie. This version absolutely replaces my commercially bought version. I plan on burning this version to DVD and giving several as gifts to my freinds!
SPICEDIVER: You sent the becnhmark for fanedits/extended version not seen since Phantom Editor’s “The Phantom Menance”. My question to you: what’s next?
Review by flyboy707 — November 27, 2009 @ 6:03 pm
flyboy707, cheers for the comments and I’m thrilled you enjoyed my edit so much.
You mentioned pacing – interesting. I watched this edit again last month and I sense that removing a lot of the internal dialogue/thoughts from the soundtrack made a big impact on the film’s pacing and rhythm – yet these qualities are normally associated with how shots are cut together. Essential stuff like Herbert’s “Litany Against Fear” was left in, of course. I like John Harrison’s screenplay for the Dune miniseries because he didn’t adapt the characters’ internal dialogue from the book so literally to the screen. He used it sparingly, because he understands that the film/TV medium is just not sympathetic to such a literary device. Lynch as a screenwriter either didn’t undertand this (he was a young and relatively inexperienced, after all) or perhaps he was under pressure from Herbert to write that way.
Re. other edits, my life at present doesn’t allow time for another project but who knows what 2010 will hold?
Re. burning to DVD – suggest you grab the actual DVD version of the film (split over two single layer dics) rather than convert the AVI file to a single layer DVD. A three hour AVI film transcoded to a single layer DVD will compress the hell out of the video and lower quality substantially. You could always try a double-layer blank disc I suppose, but some DVD players don’t like them!
Adios
SPICEDIVER
Review by spicediver — November 28, 2009 @ 1:51 am
This was an improvement over the theatrical cut, but you could have removed about 90% of the imbecilic internal monologue, perhaps replacing it with on-frame titles in the handful of places where it conveys essential information. Most of the really embarrassing ones serve only to identify some object or person.
Also, the scene where the monster is supposed to be banging against their rock hideout immediately after they land in the desert looks cheesy mainly because color in the combined SFX footage is off, something now easy to fix. Easier than the painful acting or dialogue, anyway!
I also agree with #8: Paul taking a wife weakens the ending.
Review by adaae — February 4, 2010 @ 7:10 am
I love this edition. Not since I have seen the original in the theaters as a little girl has this great story given me goosebumps….Spicediver, you are a genius! please keep up the good work!
Review by ErinV — February 16, 2010 @ 5:03 am
At 3 hours I must admit my trepidation at sitting down and watching this one. But boy, am I glad I did. This Dune edit is a great piece work and a real lesson in the art of storytelling through editing.
I like the first 3 books although it was the original version of Lynch’s movie that actually got me into Dune. When I first saw it I liked a few elements like the creative art direction but I was pretty annoyed and confused and had to read the novel afterwards to understand what the hell was going on! I’ve watched the extended ‘TV’ edition on DVD a few times and I think its intriguing but I agree with Spicediver: what an amateur mess it is.
I really enjoyed the alternative edition. It’s extremely well thought out and technically very nicely edited and mixed. The extra deleted footage is rough, yes but the stuff that was chosen belongs there and there’s not too much of it. Another thing: only after watching this edit did I realize how much of the ‘voiced thoughts’ had been erased from the soundtrack. Then I had flashbacks: god, those voices were annoying weren’t they? So, great call there by the editor: it’s a device that belongs in the novel, not the movie!
Review by mullholland665 — July 9, 2010 @ 9:15 am