From the novel by Frank Herbert, published in 1965

Just as 2001 is the major cinematic work for science fiction, Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ is considered, by many, THE major work in literary science fiction. Like Kubrick’s sci-fi masterpiece, ‘Dune’ the film works magnificently as a visual companion to the book. Although, the film is much-maligned but undeservedly so, I think.

It is no masterwork as ‘2001’, but it was directed by another master of the medium, David Lynch. That being the case, the look of the characters, vehicles and settings are possessed of a strange reality just left of our own. I find this so fitting for a visual adaptation of Herbert’s opus.

The story is set during our own future, thousands of years from the 20th century. The story it tells, however, is of our past, our history as a species. The futuristic setting provides the outside perspective which illuminates that history, while the all-too human motivations ground it firmly in the moment.