Frank Herbert's sprawling sci-fi novel was never likely to be tamed in the space of a single movie. Now that "Dune: Part Two" has completed Denis Villeneuve's spice odyssey in box-office smashing style (until the director gets round to making "Dune: Messiah", at least), it's more obvious than ever that David Lynch's 1984, single-film adaptation of a crown jewel of genre literature was always as doomed as poor Leto Atreides. Nonetheless, four decades later the director's version of "Dune" remains an intriguing, if seriously weird, misfire.
In a parallel universe, Lynch might have made "Return of the Jedi" instead. The director, then the toast of Hollywood thanks to his work on the Oscar-nominated "The Elephant Man", ultimately turned down George Lucas's offer of a trip to a galaxy far, far away. But it wasn't long before he was hitching another ride into outer space, bankrolled by eccentric "Flash Gordon" producer (and subject of many a Hollywood anecdote) Dino De Laurentiis.
