Recommendation Challenge Day 2: My Cult Favorite

Fear is the mind-killer. - Paul Atreides.

Dune. The movie based on the classic science fiction novel of the same name written by, Frank Herbert is a cult classic in my mind. Released in 1984, it was not met with the greatest of critical response, yet over time it grew to become one of the more popular cult sci-fi films of a generation. Fans of the movie are quite greatly polarized; some praise the movie for its scope, and others (the self-proclaimed purists) are critical of the creative licenses taken through the film.

The movie was directed by David Lynch who actually turned down Star Wars: Return of the Jedi to work on Dune. David was not the first director attached to the film as David Lean, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Ridley Scott were all approached before finally coming to David after his success with Eraserhead and The Elephant Man. Lynch, notorious for his immersion into his work , spent 3.5 years working on the film before it was released.

Dune is the story of a dark future where royal houses wage war for control over a desert planet called Arrakis. This planet has the most precious resource known in the universe, the spice melange. The film follows Paul Atreides as he quests after a collection of prophetic dreams that he has. Paul is part of a century long breeding search for the Kwisatz Haderach, which ultimately is a character akin to the likes of Neo, Anakin Skywalker, John Connor, Liu Kang and Harry Potter. Paul was the Chosen One who was predestined to bring about a change in the universe. The Kwisatz Haderach is able to see beyond time and space and has the ability to unify the houses of Harkonnen and Atreides.

At the time cast included several actors who were fairly unknown but eventually went on to become highly regarded actors in Hollywood The cast included Patrick Stewart (Star Trek), Virginia Madsen (Sideways), Richard Jordan (The Hunt for Red October), Kyle MacLachlan (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D), Sting (Leon: The Professional), Alicia Witt (Justified), Linda Hunt (NCIS:LA) and Max Von Sydow (Shutter Island).

Dune is one of those movies that I return to when I'm looking for a jog back to my sci-fi roots, seeing as I read the original books. I also loved the re-releases and updated telling of the story in 2000.

If you get a chance you should check Dune out.