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Teaser for SciFi Channel's DUNE miniseries!!!

Published at:  May 28, 2000 8:28:26 PM CDT

Hey folks, Harry here. I remember when I was a mere Twelve-Year Old, my parents had just divorced, and it was my first summer visiting my father in Austin. He had bought me all the toys for DUNE, the sandworm, the Sting figure, the floating fat dude figure, the rayguns, the little DUNE crawlers that putted about his oriental carpet. That afternoon we watched SISKEL AND EBERT to be told that DUNE was like the worst film ever made... And there was this look on Dad's face like.... "GODDAMNIT, I FUCKING SPENT $75 on a buttload of shit products!!" I looked up at the screen at the clips and said, "Daddy, those men are stupid, let's go see DUNE!"



We went, and I loved the film. I didn't have the books in my mind. At that point in my life I hadn't even heard of this Frank Herbert fella. And didn't care about 'quality of adaptation', all I knew was the 'weirding way' was fucking cool.... that 'the slow blade passes' rocked... that taming a big fucking sandworm as your mode of transportation ruled.... and that I wanted to be a big floating fat man that pulled Heartplugs....



Since then, I have read Herbert, and Yes I do know it was a shit adaptation, but if you read your Frank Baum, you'd know that Garland's WIZARD OF OZ was a shit adaptation as well. Ya know... sometimes ya just gotsta let that go. So... it is with great hopes that this SCIFI miniseries of DUNE rules that I present to you folks the link to the first Teaser Trailer.... for you to consume, digest and ralph out...



Click Here To Check Out THe New Teaser Trailer!!!






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    Readers Talkback

  • May 28, 2000 8:50:35 PM CDT

    adaptations

    by ambrose chappell

    Yes, Harry, something like the Garland's Wizard of Oz CAN be a commercial success, but to true Oz fans, it still sucks. It's important for the fans to have a faithful adaptation of the original material that they love. You've already written about the importance of Spiderman having Peter Parker-made webshooters instead of mutant shooters from his wrists. If you're a Dune fan I'll be you hope to god that this series is faitful to Herbert's books, just as much as the rest of us do. BTW, That trailor kicks ass! Anyone know if those are Saurdauker or Fremen running at the camera at the end of it?

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  • May 28, 2000 9:14:02 PM CDT

    Re: RS

    by sir mordred

    I heartily disagree. Movies are movies, books are books. It is impossible for there to be a true to book adaptation of Dune or LOTR for that matter. Some things must be left out if it is going to be a less than 4 hour movie. Unfortuneately, these are the parts that every true book fan loves because of the way they explain the author's universe or make enjoyment of the book so much greater. A 6 hour mini-series has a chance, but unfortunately it's the Sci-Fi Channel. If they can screw up Sliders, then they will probably srew this up too.

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  • May 28, 2000 9:24:19 PM CDT

    where's the sound?

    by marze1

    I just saw the trailer and I have to admit that it looks kick ass but there was a small problem, for some reason I couldn't get any sound? am i the only one who had this problem?

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  • May 28, 2000 9:40:45 PM CDT

    THIS LOOKS LIKE COMPLETE AND UTTER CRAP TO ME! ^_^

    by ka' dargo otaku

    I knew that would get your attention. Um, nah, I'm bluffen. I will give anything a chance. Hell, I saw Battle Field Earth! Hehe. I will ignore the fact that none of the characters look like anyone from the holy movie of all movies,(Next to the star wars trilogy), and I will give it a chance. It better be good.

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  • May 28, 2000 10:36:20 PM CDT

    I'm With You Harry

    by simonyam

    Unlike you, I did read Dune first, and I STILL liked the movie. I was realistic enough to realize there was NO way to adapt that book to please everyone. And Gene and Roger blew it--NO WAY was Dune the worst movie of the year. Claiming it ripped off Star Wars--when Lucas ripped of Dune! The movie is a Lynchian tone poem, his dream impression of Herbert's massive, complex universe. I look forward to what Sci-Fi puts together--the pictures I've seen look interesting. But let's be fair here--Herbert's world is big enough to be adapted in many ways. Lynch's is just one--and in my mind one of the most misunderstood films of all time.

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  • May 28, 2000 11:04:32 PM CDT

    Umm.. what did I just see?

    by sir mordred

    Ok, I'm looking forward to it. It didn't seem as bad as I thought. But then again, I didn't see much. I'm sorry, but anyone can make a good trailer, especially if it shows maybe 15 one second clips. I loved Lynch's, I just wished they let him do a director's cut, and not make on themselves. Because my browser sucks, I had to watch it on TV, and I didn't see much. I'll wait for the next one.

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  • May 29, 2000 12:32:31 AM CDT

    doesn't this look like...

    by jccalhoun

    The trailer reminds me of the computer game Riven. That's not all bad as I liked the game, but it just seems odd.
    Oh and I think that if you couldn't hear the sound you need the newest version of quicktime.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 29, 2000 3:44:33 AM CDT

    Intriguing

    by evilknievel

    People who like the Dune movie are always so defensive about it... like they have to explain why before you say anything. Sorry but although a huge fan of Lynch and bigger fan of Dune, I think Davey missed the point of Herbert's vision on this one and it came off kind of muddled. To me, it was the visualization of the ornithopter that epitomized this mistake and turned me off of the movie. But this miniseries does look pretty ok... the indian-sounding music and presence of Vittorio Storraro are what really interest me. Especially Vittorio. That guy makes my mouth water. Maybe this will end up like the Shining... there's the great auteur director's personal creation which happens to share a basic plotline, and then there's the faithful adaptation of the book (miniseries) which accomplishes something totally different.

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  • May 29, 2000 3:56:02 AM CDT

    I can think of one really good thing about Lynch's Dune

    by jetalone

    It's that one scene where Sting is wearing that little jock-strappy thing. That was keen. On a barely tangentially related note, Vittorio Storaro is the shit.

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  • May 29, 2000 8:54:36 AM CDT

    new scenes in movie

    by cncoyle

    Hey, why did they put Alan Smithee over David Lynch's name last night? Did Lynch not authorize the added scenes? Is that why they had Robert Loggia or somebody narrating instead of Virginia Madsen? It's drivin' me crazy; I gotta know!

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 29, 2000 9:39:35 AM CDT

    It's too bad we never saw it all...

    by will collier

    I agree with Kinevel about the boxy ornithopter design being a good summation of the accumulated mistakes in Lynch's Dune... but on the other hand, we've never really *seen* Lynch's Dune as it ought to have been seen. The original script was blessed by Frank Herbert himself ("as good as the book" was his quote at the time), and according to contemporaneous accounts, every major scene--including the banquet--was actually filmed, but of course, whole hours were cut out before the final release. It's a real shame that Lynch never got the chance to do a genuine director's cut for video (forget about the "Alan Smythee" syndicated travesty). I'm not a huge Lynch fan, and I thought Kyle McLaughlin was pretty horrible in "Dune" (he was a lot better in "Twin Peaks"), but I still wish I'd gotten to see the '84 movie in its legitimate entirety. I suspect it would have been much better than the theatrical mishmash.

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  • May 29, 2000 12:09:01 PM CDT

    Hey yeah, jccalhoun, you're right

    by spacedork

    Except for all the people in it, it is quite similar.

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  • May 29, 2000 2:36:19 PM CDT

    The Ridley Scott DUNE that was almost made... swear to god!

    by brendan3

    In the mid to late 70's Ridley Scott was doing preproduction on DUNE and was working on art designs with Moebius and H.R.Giger. The studio balked at the proposed budget and it was never made. On the plus side, Ridley Scott made ALIEN instead and enlisted the help of Giger and Moebius, with whom he had developed a working relationship while prepping for DUNE.

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  • May 29, 2000 2:40:40 PM CDT

    TOTALLY AWESOME

    by beruska

    That trailer was totally awesome! I got the chills like the first time I saw the Episode I trailer. I was a little disappointed in Episode I too kiddie for me and this DUNE doesn't look like kid's stuff! Looks sufficiently dark for my taste. Can't wait to see more - like Irulan, Jessica, Feyd, Duncan!!! Wow.

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  • May 29, 2000 2:41:29 PM CDT

    Dune, and the movies

    by guyver - iii

    Was David Lynch's adaptation of Dune faithful to the original novel? Not even close. Was it entertaining and did it portray the important elements of the novel? Yes. People always forget that Frank Herbert himself worked closely with the team of people who adapted his work. If you thought the movie was crap but loved the book, blame Herbert. I for one loved that movie (both versions). Of course I was 4 when I orginally saw it, but who cares. It was a load of fun, the performances were great, the costumes and sets were fantastic. As for the sci fi miniseries. I'll give it a chance, but from what I have seen so far... it wont be anything more than your run of the mill made for t.v. fest. Even if the adaptation is faithful, it will lack the grand, epic like feeling the Lynch movie had.

    Reply to Talkback

  • In the early 80's David Lynch, hot off the oscar winning ELEPHANT MAN, was offered two major directing projects. One was, of course, DUNE fo Dino DeLaurentis and the other was.... (drum roll please)...REVENGE OF THE JEDI for Lucas. He turned down JEDI because he felt he would have more freedom and control shooting DUNE. Had Ridley Scott's DUNE been made, there is no question it would have been superior to Lynch's. But also David Lynch would have most likely accepted the director's chair for REVENGE OF THE JEDI. It was almost Ridley Scott's DUNE and David Lynch's REVENGE OF THE JEDI. I imagine Lynch would have had a different take on the nauseatingly sweet ewoks among other differences that might have been. Two great sci-fi films that almost were.

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  • May 29, 2000 2:47:56 PM CDT

    Dali

    by *groundwork*

    Salvador Dali was actually supposed to be part of the scrapped Dune project (as "The Emperor"??) from the '70's, and Pink Floyd was going to do the score. I'd heard this stuff before, but I saw it again last night on some of that trivia crap they play before the trailers start in the movie theater.

    Reply to Talkback

  • There were at least 3 different attempts that came close, that I know of, to bring DUNE to the screen from the late 60's to the late 70's

    Reply to Talkback

  • . . .yet strangely intriguing. It definitely would have been a much different movie. How would he work in any fetish motifs? Hmm. In other news: Was the Dali Dune the one that was to be produced by the people behind Planet of the Apes?

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  • May 29, 2000 10:49:23 PM CDT

    Finally, they're doing it right

    by xf1

    Stephen King always said he resisted selling the movie rights to "The Stand" because there was no way a two or even three hour movie could tell the story. Dune was the same way. The movie (while not the disaster many think it was) didn't capture the full impact of Herbert's novel, something you'd need at least four hours for. The mini-series format is perfect for it and I for one look forward to seeing the book brought to the screen the way it was meant to be. Dare we dream of a Dune series?

    Reply to Talkback

  • The original world premere was show at the Kennedy Center,here in Washington DC.The original reports on the news was that the length of the film was close to 4 hrs long, not including the intermission. The tv cut is around 3hrs and 15 mins. I would assume the world premere cut was sanctioned by Lynch and was probably the closest to a directors cut as the movie could get. If you collected the Dune cards, you would have noticed a great deal of scenes that never made the theatrical cut or TV version.As to earlier projects in a 79 issue of Starlog had sketch concepts from H.R. Geiger that was sanctioned from a producer or director in France who had the rights for the film at the time.This was probably the 2nd or 3rd attempt to make the film.

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  • May 30, 2000 1:16:49 AM CDT

    This and RoboCop - PD...

    by sonofjorel

    This one and RoboCop: Prime Directives are just gonna kick ass!!! Check out the RoboCop 6 MINUTE trailer over at http://www.robocop-pd.ca/ !!! It's gonna be great, aside from a few slight problems. Hell, I'll overlook those problems just so long as they adhere to their promise that these flicks are gonna ignore RoboCop 2 & 3.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 30, 2000 2:29:23 AM CDT

    Direct link to the movie...

    by neuracnu

    Their page appears to crash my browser every time I look at it. They tried to hide it behind a few damn javascript pop-up windows, but here's the direct download link (sans java): http://www.scifi.com/dune/gallery/trailer1.mov

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 30, 2000 12:22:49 PM CDT

    Dune

    by jesse custard

    The only way to adapt Dune is in a mini-series format. Not a @ hour film. Cutting away much of the book takes so much away from a movie. Ridley Scott wouldn't have been able to do it.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 30, 2000 12:38:25 PM CDT

    It will suck because............................

    by fatguy

    ......there will be something missing from this miniseries that was crucial to my enjoyment of the Lynch film. No, I'm not talking about Sting as Feyd. Nope, not even the presence of Patrick Stewart. I'm speaking of the soundtrack by TOTO. The music gave the original movie an edge that seemed to send the emotions over the top. Beautiful. Doubt it can be copied for the miniseries.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 30, 2000 12:43:14 PM CDT

    DUNEs that might have been

    by usagibrian

    The University of Texas at Austin Harry Ransom Research Center has a fabulous version of a DUNE script from the sixties (it's in one of the screenwriter's collections [I want to say Ernest Lehman, but I'm pretty sure it was in the next collection I indexed and the name is just gone]. Anyway, it openned with Leto, Thufer (sp?) and Gurney leading a slave revolt (they were described as being bound with their hands behind their backs being forced to eat like animals from a spiral trough of gruel running along a stairway with lots of other slaves). Then Leto is called before the Emperor; he enters the throne room through a a giant clown head, walking into the mouth. The emperor and the court are all attached to the ceiling (the serving girls' long hair is plastered into a style designed to make it look as if they are on the ground). The Emperor informs Leto that reality is what he decides it is ("You say it's the floor. I say it's the ceiling {courtiers reply: It is the ceiling!}"). Leto is ejected out of the clown's anus. It gets weirder from there. Does it have anything to do with Frank Herbert's book? Hell no! Would it have made a cool movie? Maybe.

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  • May 30, 2000 5:17:37 PM CDT

    Alexandro Jodorowsky's "Dune"

    by lemmy caution

    That's the version that came the closest to actually being produced in the '70s, from what I understand. Apparently Dali was going to be cast as Baron Harkonnen, but he wanted a characteristically-absurd amount of dough for his role (something like $1,000,000 a minute or upwards) so he priced himself out of the running...this is the production that Giger did conceptual sketches for. I guess the idea was that sets were going to be little models and the actors would be blue-screened into shots, the same technique the BBC was using in the cheesier episodes of "Doctor Who" at the time. Maybe it's fortunate that it didn't get made after all, n'est pas? Woulda loved to see Lynch's "Star Wars" flick...Dennis Hopper could have played the Emperor!

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 30, 2000 5:46:45 PM CDT

    Juvenile Question

    by emby mellay

    It is possible that this could be chalked up to the epic suckiness of my computer or the immaturity of my mind, but are those naked breasts I spy in that preview? Does that mean we are detined to see and edited version?

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 31, 2000 3:00:39 AM CDT

    Alexandro Jodorowsky! Thank you!

    by brendan3

    I had forgotten his name. Thank you. Yes Jodorowsky came close to doing DUNE before Ridley Scott took a crack it and yes he enlisted the help of Moebius and Giger to work on set and art design for the film. But so did Ridley Scott. Perhaps Ridley Scott chose to work with Giger and Moebius by pure coincidence, or perhaps deliberately because he had seen or heard of the work they had done earlier for Jodorowsky's DUNE. Perhaps we have Jodorowsky to indirectly thank for bringing Ridley Scott, Moebius, and HR Giger together and allowed them to give birth to ALIEN.

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  • http://www.hotweird.com/jodorowsky/dune.html

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