Dune film lingo glossary??

[Dunenewt]

...the 1984 David Lynch film adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic Dune was so incomprehensible to the uninitiated that some theaters passed out a glossary of the film's lingo to moviegoers.

Is this true?

[Andrew]

I've read that several times in different places. I'm pretty sure it is true.

[MrFlibble]

I've heard about that, too.

[Dunenewt]

I bet a copy of those glossaries would be pretty rare these days!

[MrFlibble]

I guess it was nothing more than a few extracts from the Dune Glossary from the first book. Maybe I'm wrong though.

[Dunenewt]

So nothing fancy then?  I would have thought perhaps, they'd have some kind of special packaging, or something similar.

[MrFlibble]

I'm only guessing. I don't think it was anything more than a small brochure you'd skip through in the lobby 5 minutes before the film.

[Vanguard3000]

It was just a watered-down version of the "Terminology of the Imperium" from the book, printed on a brochure with a grey picture of dunes in the background.  They pop up on Ebay every now and then, along with Dune Tequila labels (which were also from the box office releases, I think).

I didn't find I needed any clarification of terms when watching the film.  They seemed to describe everything that needed description.

[Mahdi]

Hahaha, remember that half hour illustrated prelude to dune on the allen smithee version we had to sit through, Vangaurd?  And then it never actually said it ended and the movie simply started?

[Dunenewt]

What kind of things did the prelude show?  Where did you get that version from?

[Anathema]

I watched Lynch' movie again the other day...*groan* I don't remember thinking it was that bad the first time I watched it. They got so many things wrong, miscasted so many roles (with notable exceptions) and generally made a mess out of almost everything.

And I'm not even talking about the weirding modules...ugh.

[gunner154]

It couldn't be more than the glossary on the first book. Probably covering only the important terms. Who bothers about what the sandworm steering terms are? Just add in the subtitles for good effect! ;D

[Dunenewt]

I would have thought a lot of it was self explanatory, but maybe the glossary explained basic things like who the Atreides were.

[gunner154]

I'd expect something like "The Kwisatz Haderach... the one who can be at many places at once..." or something along those lines. But Dune concepts can get pretty abstract, so these pamphlets would help a lot.

[MrFlibble]

Hahaha, remember that half hour illustrated prelude to dune on the allen smithee version we had to sit through, Vangaurd?  And then it never actually said it ended and the movie simply started?

I've got it on my DVD. It's pretty insightful about the Butlerian Jihad, by the way ("people were enslaved by other people with machines" - I think it's actually a quote from on of the books, forgot which one).

I watched Lynch' movie again the other day...*groan* I don't remember thinking it was that bad the first time I watched it. They got so many things wrong, miscasted so many roles (with notable exceptions) and generally made a mess out of almost everything.

And I'm not even talking about the weirding modules...ugh.

I, too, first considered the movie bad, but now I understand that I made a mistake by constantly comparing it to the book. IMHO, it just needs to be perceived on its own, and then I find it quite nice.

[SandChigger]

It's pretty insightful about the Butlerian Jihad, by the way ("people were enslaved by other people with machines" - I think it's actually a quote from on of the books, forgot which one).

This is another of those cases where I envy those Arab women that ululant shriek they do so well. ;)

"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them."

"'Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a man's mind,'" Paul quoted.

"Right out of the Butlerian Jihad and the Orange Catholic Bible," she said. "But what the O.C. Bible should've said is: 'Thou shalt not make a machine to counterfeit a human mind.' Have you studied the Mentat in your service?"

"I've studied with Thufir Hawat."

"The Great Revolt took away a crutch," she said. "It forced human minds to develop. Schools were started to train human talents."

I, too, first considered the movie bad, but now I understand that I made a mistake by constantly comparing it to the book. IMHO, it just needs to be perceived on its own, and then I find it quite nice.

I'm actually quite fond of it. As a camp classic.

At this little bar I used to frequent on Friday nights, a Kiwi friend and I used to bandy mangled quotes from the movie at each other.

"Tell me of the waffers of your home bar, you sod."

"What is in the glass?"

"Pain is in the glass. ... But not until tomorrow morning when you wake up."

"I did not drink this. I was not here."

"Father! The sleeper has...slipped under the table, it appears."

"There are thousands of these cocktails, but only a few of us have drunk them all. And when we've had enough, we shall fall on our face and cause a ruckus!"

[Vanguard3000]

Hahaha, remember that half hour illustrated prelude to dune on the allen smithee version we had to sit through, Vangaurd?  And then it never actually said it ended and the movie simply started?

My favourite part was that the "prelude" bit actually started with a picture of the book.  It reminded me of MontyPython and the Holy Grail.

[Hypatia]

There were no glossaries handed out at the theatre where I saw the Lynch movie. I guess the manager thought we were smart enough not to need them.

[Dunenewt]

Hmm...having just watched the film again, I can see why they did it.  Things like Navigators aren't really explained during the film, so I can understand why people would find the film hard to follow.

[Vanguard3000]

"...The Spice is vital to space travel.  The Spacing Guild, and it's Navigators, whom the Spice has mutated for four thousand years, use the orange Spice gas, which gives them the ability to 'fold space' - that is, travel to any part of the universe, without moving."

I think they made it pretty clear.

[SandChigger]

Yeah, clearly wrong.

Oh well.

[Dunenewt]

Ah, you're right.  I guess I shouldn't have watched the film half asleep!

[Vanguard3000]

Yeah, clearly wrong.

Hey, it may not be totally accurate to the book (especially the 4000 years thing... the extended version mentions that, too, but never quite explains it), but it tells you enough to understand who they are and why they're in the movie.

[SandChigger]

I'm sure the new movie will introduce errors (oh, I'm sorry, "corrections" ::) ) to make the above seem minor by comparison. Vive l'HLP! :P