Dune (1984)

Famous for being a head-scrambler, David Lynch’s version of the Frank Herbert sci-fi epic is obtuse but fascinating. On my first viewing, many years ago, I found it confusing. Now, having read the novel, I found it made a lot more sense.

There’s a lot going on: the rivalry between two noble houses for control of Arakis (a.k.a. Dune), the mysterious spice (a consciousness-expanding drug), the huge sand worms, the blue glowing eyes of the Fremen, the Bene Gesserit sisterhood of women and their use of telepathy, and The Voice, the Weirding Ways, and the rise of a new messiah...

The special effects, impressive in 1984, now look clunky and almost quaint. But the epic vision of the storytelling shines through.

Kyle MacLachlan is compelling as Paul Atreides. Kenneth McMillan is convincingly nasty as the obese, disfigured Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Sting has a small part as a demented assassin.

In a way it’s a total mess, but it’s a glorious mess. It tries to achieve so much and doesn’t always succeed. But in terms of its scope and ambition, there’s nothing else quite like it.