Dune (1984) The Alternative Edition Redux | 480p Edition

Thank you spicediver for finally giving us a great version of this movie.

It was a great idea to break the movie into four 'books'. This version is so much more cohesive and flows from scene to scene much better than anything that has been presented thus far. There are a couple of hiccups but nothing that detracts from the overall experience. I use the word experience because watching any David Lynch movie is an experience more than anything else. Even though this is one of his more straightforward movies it still has some moments of oddness and very unique imagery that can only be associated with Lynch.

This will definitely be my go-to version from now on. It's just so much better than the other cuts. If you are a fan of Dune, or just curious, start with this version and forget about the rest. You won't need any other version. Well done and thank you again spicediver.

THIS IS IT. This is the edit that made me realize how much a talented, imaginative and passionate individual can change/improve/transform a movie. This is the edit that made me write my first review. I have seen other edits. Good edits that add some scenes, remove some scenes, improve the pace, the narrative etc. But nothing had prepared me for this. This is an unbelievable achievement and my go-to edit to prove to other people the power of fan edits.

I first watched Dune as a kid in the late 80s/early90s. I was mesmerized by the visuals, but didn't understand s**t. Then I watched it again after reading the book and didn't like many parts of the movie. The pacing was bad, the script at places was bad, uneven... but certain aspects like the art direction impressed me, and I found Lynch's vision and atmosphere very fitting... when it worked.
Then came the extended edition. It added many interesting deleted scenes, but the overall result was of bad quality. The storybook intro was amateurish and the added scenes were just thrown in there without even some added effects. The Third stage edition fanedit managed to vastly improve the above extended edition and it was my definite version... up until spicediver did his magic.

The change in the pace is phenomenal. The Book-Chapter separation works really good and many scenes have been very cleverly altered to fit the mood. The removal of most of the inner voiced dialog improves the movie immensely. Technically this edit is perfect in my eyes and considering the some of radical changes, this is a huge achievement. The fact that this fanedit includes English subtitles is another big plus. I wish more faneditors did this. Even if I consider myself pretty fluent in English, I usually choose to watch movies with English subtitles because they help me a lot, especially with strange accents and/or low voices. Faneditors should have in mind that non-native English speakers always welcome English subtitles.

Anyway, this fanedit is a testament of talent and love to the franchise as a whole. This edit transformed an interesting but deeply flawed gem into a brilliant movie. Thank you.

Let me preface the review I'm about to give with a bit of my own backstory regarding Dune. The first time I'd actually seen the theatrical cut was in about 1987. I was six or seven at the time and the movie was like nothing I'd ever seen before. The tone, the production, the music...all of it. Totally the antithesis of Star Wars, which I'd experienced shortly before. During my teens, I'd revisit the film from time to time and at the age of twelve, finally read the novel. Each time I'd watch the movie after reading the book, I kept getting this feeling that the film was gutted. And watching the extended Alan Smithee edition in 2005 drove that point home. Alas, neither of those cuts did the true job of demonstrating how good the book is.

Spicediver has completed a masterwork here. Every gripe I had with either of the film's prior official releases is vapor. The pacing, the exposition, the execution are in synchronicity. The film's...rhythm is now on point. It breathes and the spice certainly does flow. As with the previous reviews below mine, is it perfect? No. But any quibbles I have are minute to the Nth degree and wouldn't be worth the keystrokes.

As a true testament of how good this edit is, I cajoled my wife into watching it with me. She's an avowed Star Trek fan and upon viewing Dune the first time with me years back, let's just say that she was wholly unimpressed. Even trying to get her to read the novel was a fruitless labor. Upon convincing her to watch this version of the movie, she wants to read the book now. THAT is how good this cut is. To take a doubter, practically a hater even and show them what really could have been. And to actually sway them.

The only real gripe I have is that I don't have a version of this cut on uncompressed Blu-Ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio sound mix. Universal should hire Spicediver. No joke.

THIS is my go-to version of Dune to watch and I will watch no other, henceforth. I consider this canon.

Dune has long been one of my personal favorite,s and is certainly one of the finest classics around.. I have collected many versions over the years, even compiled one or two of mine own in order to get a more complete experience, but so far, none have been able to compare with this version.. I observed 4 different releases just today before finding this one during my course of upgrading whatever I can at last.. to 1080p.... and at last can say I have mostly what I want.. The video quality is superb save for about 7 or 8 clips that I am quite positive Spicediver just could not enhance any more.. I can tell...that you do work like I do.. over, and over, and over again until it is as perfect as you can make it.. even ripping the audio out and working separately with multiple programs to remaster both audio and video to where there is no glitches or other of the myriads of problems.. I am the sort of musician who can hear about 0.3 of a semitone of difference, and I can also see and hear down to 2 and 300ms of gap, possibly less. There are segments in this fanedit I had never seen in all of the copies I have obtained over the years... It really put the whole thing in proper perspective and flowed quite nicely.. I would have preferred that you had not removed most of the princess' monologue at the first.. enough to actually fix my own copy to reflect it.. and I also would have preferred at least 25% more of the soliloquies to have not been removed.. There were indeed too many, but removing just over 75% of them is problematic, and not exactly practical, as it asserts that everyone is a mind reader.. to be quite Francois and Ernesto about it. * chuckles * You had some awesome resources to do this edit Spicediver and almost Draconic style, professional skill with the editing.. It is an most excellent compilation. I'm actually going to watch it twice in one day just to be satisfied. I also would have preferred the sketched section to have been included in a proper place more than just a glance at that book for a few words, and a scene or three.. Backstory is everything with a story like this and I don't care if the movie is 4 - 6 hrs long... It's worth it.. If you ever feel like it again Spicediver.. do one more and let's see how it hangs off the chain... You do most excellent work

I also appreciated greatly when you broke the scene for each book... very thoughtful, and accurate..

Regardless of my few, minor issues.. I definitely give this fanedit a 10 talons up...

And remember one things folks, If... you will..

Perfection is the flaw that makes everything work.......

Namaste...

Aurih.

I am a fan of dune and i liked the movie but the original movie editing was a little akward and i am not saying this the artistic way :) , here if you see the changelog you will understand why this is the best dune edit.

No more very happy ending, most internal dialog removed (i must say that i like the original idea but doesnt seem to work right in this movie), deleted scenes are back where they belong, the quality isnt on par with the rest of the film but its alright, the story must flow and the most cheesiness is gone.

It's a quality release with custom subtitles and thats a plus too, i recommend this edit to any sci fi fan , for me this is the edition of the movie i would see and enjoy with friends or by myself.