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So…I guess it’s the Hero’s Journey, okay? Strip away all the hoopla and flowery wordplay and Dune is basically about a kid who is the Chosen One. Everyone wants to kill him, but they can’t because he’s on a Mission from God, his mentor dies, there’s a girl, there’s a villain, there are trials of faith and courage…. blah blah blah. You’ve heard it all before - the difference with Dune lies in the presentation.

As I’ve already mentioned, the novel is one of the pre-eminent works of the 20th Century. But I think Lynch’s film deserves…if not more praise, then at least less hate. I would dare say that his effort at least rivals the source material in pure ambition, and that more effort was made to faithfully interpret the book than resentful fans might realize.

One of my favorite things about Dune is the way we’re ushered into characters’ minds – where expository dialog leaves off, we’re actually allowed to hear the characters’ inner monologue a-la Taxi Driver, or Memento – or an expositional balloon in a comic book. Yet in Dune, the device is used (in my opinion) to great effect, and despite sounding closer to the Chuck Norris film Octagon than to Taxi Driver thanks to Lynch’s vision, it still works.

This movie is an emotional tapestry that you must embrace completely to have any hope of getting anything out of it. I don’t mean to imply that this is an entirely adequate interpretation of the novel, or that it’s even a particularly great film - at least in the traditional sense. But it IS a unique and fascinating experience that takes some very old ideas, and gilds them with an appealing sheen that makes you see ancient truths as new ones. Is that good? It’s up to you.

Dune is a messy, often impenetrable mélange (pun intended) of ideas and concepts that’s based on a novel far too ambitious to cram into such a short runtime. And while the set design and visual effects are by and large highly innovative, far too many of the VFX shots are nothing short of laughable; even for the time. But I would insist that despite its flaws and limitations, Dune does a credible job of bringing a genuinely alien universe to life, and in making you feel like a part of what’s happening – even if you can’t figure out what the hell IS happening.

I don’t love Dune, and I don’t hate Dune. But I definitely appreciate it. Whether it’s more success than failure; I’m honestly not sure. But whenever I’ve seen it, I can’t stop thinking about it for the longest time. Just like Eraserhead, this is, on some level, a weirdly affecting film. It may be as close as I ever come to understanding what Lynch’s greatest fans are seeing in his material. And I guess it’s that debate that makes Nerd Culture go ‘round - from one generation to another.

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