10 Things You Didn't Know About DUNE

[PREPFORIT]

A very underrated film. It should have been made in two parts.
LONG LIVE THE FIGHTERS!

[Gamebit]

I enjoyed this as a child, rewatched it as an adult and frickin LOVE IT!!

[GrinderCB]

Here's a couple additions to Minty's list. First, in the long version Gurney Halleck is seen playing his Baliset, the upright stringed musical instrument. An actual working prop was built and Sting, front man for the band The Police who played Feyd Rautha in the movie, worked with Patrick Stewart to look convincing while playing it.

Second, before this movie and its merchandise, there was already a Dune boardgame published by the Avalon-Hill Co. Players represented different factions with different traits in the interest of controlling Arrakis. The game was so popular among gamers that two expansions were released to simulate the spice harvest and the one-on-one kanly knife fights. After the movie had been out a while, Avalon-Hill re-released the game with new artwork for the box depicting Sting as Feyd Rautha, even though he's only in a few scenes.

[peterterry]

One thing that you missed is that there was another board game based on the book in 1979. A more compex and thematic game by Avalon Hill aimed at the board game hobby market. One of the best stories is that Herbert's lawyers was causing trouble for the board game makers and this got to Harlan Ellison, another Sci Fi Luminary (and fan of their earlier board game, Cosmic Encounter) who contacted Herbert about it. The board game creator Peter Olotka was surprised to get a phone call from Herbert who said "I hate lawyers. Don't worry, I'll take care of it " The game became a success in the hobby and has been reprinted in anticipation of the new Dune film.

[sid]

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion

By the bean of the mountain thoughts aquire speed

Hands begin to shake

The shake becomes a warning

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion

[jdniedner]

"Toto was contacted to score Dune, where they said "hold the line" and left the rains down in Africa, to create music for the science fiction epic."
LMFAO

[Datande]

I had the best timing for seeing this movie, and I think it gave me the optimal experience. I was in my early teens when this came out, and I bought the book (same cover as the personless poster) and tried to finish it before seeing the movie. I got about 3/4 of the way through the book before seeing the film, and I'd started with the appendices, so I knew about the world and most of the story going in, but had no idea how the story ended.
Bonus: the ending of the movie is sufficiently different than the book that I didn't feel that the ending was spoiled.

[OjiOtaku]

My first encounter with Dune was a trade paperback from 1965 that I found in a box in 1977. I tried to read it but it was over my 12 y.o. head. I found it again in 1981 and read it twice that year. So when I heard they were making a movie, I was ecstatic. My girlfriend at the time and I went to Dune when it opened in 1984. She was confused but love the music. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. I own a collectors DVD that has the theatrical release on one side and the extended-release on the other. As a side note, the Sci-Fi Channel's miniseries was better and closer to the book, but the David Lynch film has a darker mood that makes it edgy. Plus José Ferrer's portrayal of the Emporer is outstanding. He brought class to the film, and his acting made that part feel believable.

[gruberjens]

The music always got me to like the movie... I always had a copy of the score and still have it on my phone. It's such great vibes to hear it.

[Bobalicious]

The novel Dune is one of my favorite reads. It changed the way I look at the world.
I love the Dune soundtrack, definitely one of my favorites.
The three hour TV version makes more sense and is much easier to watch.
The SciFi miniseries was so boring that I gave up after the first hour.

[vicariousgamer]

Prior to the release of this film I devoured the trilogy twice, with a couple of dictionaries which were useless for the most part. And I for one was ecstatic about there finally being a film adaptation of this politically charged story and also to being able to put faces to the characters and the landscapes upon which they existed. Perhaps it was at this point in life where I came to understand that if one is interested in a media production that they should say to hell with critics opinions, or anyone else's criticism for that matter. I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I was exposed to the "hype" during the pre-release and was not disappointed. I recall attempting to speak to people about Dune when their response of "Oh yeah, that story about the worms" indicated clearly that they did not understand the story at all. It matters not that Lynch refuses to revisit this film as his handy work is clearly visible throughout this film.

[CharlesMarlow]

" A million deaths is not enough for Yueh." Lady Jessica

[LouLope]

I remember going to the theater to see this movie. As we walked in, they handed us a card explaining some of the language in the movie. Wish I kept it.

[wstine]

"Minty, the sleeper has awakened!"

[Great_White_Shork]

I would love to see a director's cut and I know I'm not the only one.

[defiant]

I loved this movie since the 80's and I named my oldest son Feyd lol

[grapeshot]

When I was growing up I always thought this was one strange movie that I couldn't quite wrap my head around. Although I did like the sandworms though.

[Dwarficus]

Another bonus fact: early 90's a little know game developer called Westwood made a Real Time Strategy game based on Dune, called Dune II. Westwood would go on to create the Command & Conquer series, possibly the big daddy of RTS. Dune II is the Castle Wolfenstein of the RTS genre, I remember it being quite quite fun.
Also, my beloved "grim darkness" that is Warhammer 40, 000 heavily borrowed from Dune, from Abominable Intelligence to the Navigators.

[musicman]

When this movie was in theaters, they handed out a vocabulary list of words. That was another reason it failed. People didnt want to keep checking a long list of words in a dark theater, to understand what was happening.

[robertpease]

I went to the theater to see it, and loved it. I love the expanded version more. I also have a Paul action figure, and have the Dune board game with both expansions.