The Glossary Universal Studios Gave Out to the First Audiences of David Lynch’s Dune (1984) — openculture.com

Next to Star Wars, David Lynch’s Dune was one of my very first introductions to great science fiction filmmaking, and my first introduction to David Lynch. My sci-fi-loving father and I watched it over and over, along with Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth, Kubrick’s 2001, and popcornier fare like the Planet of the Apes films. Now, when I call Dune “great,” I’m fully aware that many well-respected critics, especially the late Roger Ebert, hated, and continue to hate, Dune. Some fans and critics—and for the life of me I cannot understand why—have even stated a preference for the Syfy Channel’s mediocre 2000 miniseries adaptation, mostly because of issues of “faithfulness” to the source, despite it looking, as one blogger aptly put it, “like a cross between a telenovela and a youth group staging of Godspell.” This won’t stand for me. Some poor editing decisions notwithstanding, Lynch’s Dune is brilliant. Hell, even Frank Herbert himself, godlike creator of the Dune universe, loved it.

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