I’m a fan of “Dune”- the book and the movie. Every time I hear the word Dune, ‘Muad’Dib’ always pops into my head. Don’t you just love that name.
Matt, your posting of this prompted me to google Frank and his biography makes interesting reading. There were 6 books in the original series and I read some of them years ago but I was unable at the time to get hold of all of the titles & to be honest, can’t remember too much about what happens in the others. There’s heaps of info. on the net re Frank and his son Brian who has continued the stories with Kevin J Anderson. Ages ago I also bought the 3 hour extended edition DVD of Dune. The back cover states:
This special version of “Dune” is the Alan Smithee cut – a three hour reassembling of the film prepared for airing on television. David Lynch had his directorial credit removed from this version, primarily due to his objection to the specially created prologue which attempts to spell out the convoluted twists and turns of what many describe as being an unfilmable plot. Despite Lynch’s objections, this version is actually clearer than the original cinema edit, which was notoriously trimmed almost to the point of incomprehension by Hollywood executives determined to make it a “commercial” duration.
Ah! Politics in movie world – what a nightmare that must be.
I agree though, it does need a lot of explaining. As with the Harry Potter movies, it really is best if you’ve read the books prior to seeing the movies. It is well worth seeing the movie just to see the giant sand worms. Haven’t they become popular creatures for movie makers? Besides Dune, there was Star Wars & Beetlejuice. Can anyone think of any more?
Before reading the other books, (Brian & Co’s prequels and Frank’s continuation novels), it might be worth reading some reviews on the net as not everybody seems to like them.
For those who didn’t know or haven’t read all the articles in this Forum’s Library, WS also likes Dune:
“I’m very omnivorous. I like science fiction, Frank Herbert’s Dune, African thrillers; Hugh Forsyth; historical fiction like CS Forrester’s Hornblower; the Sharpe series and David Cornwall’s Warlock.” (From Library article: ‘BBC Questions Wilbur (2004)’).