David Lynch

I rewatched Dune 1984 last night for the first time since having completed the Original Dune Saga. Ive probably seen David Lynch's Dune about 4-5 times over the course of my life with the first time being when I was probably 7-8. But I only became a genuine Dunehead this past summer when I finally sat down a reread the original novel and then continued on and fell absolutely in love (stopped after Chapterhouse).

All that said, watching the 1984 version I was well aware of its....*departures (though holy crap I can't believe what a huge role the weirding modules play in the plot despite being completely invented)...*but what really was the most jarring thing for me was the editing - specifically in the last half of the story. The beginning half is really evenly paced and most scenes have time to breathe. You get to absorb the incredible set design and all of that. But then Paul meets the Fremen and it starts to feel like somebody writing a paper who thought it was due at midnight the following day but turns out it's tonight and it's already 11:00pm. Not only are major events just run through at breakneck speed there's all sorts of cuts, and overlays, and screenwipes going from one location, then to another for 5 seconds, then back to the same location, then back again. It's so chaotic!

Is anyone more familiar with the creation of the movie able to account for this? I know that David Lynch absolutely hated making it and has gone on record describing it as "a nightmare" but I'm also familiar with and a fan of more of David Lynch's typical work (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, etc.) and if I were to accuse him of anything 'over-editing' would most definitely not be on the list.

I also know that there are a few different cuts of the movie floating around out there so that might have something to do with the particularly jarring nature of the second half - I just rented it from Amazon which it listed as 'BBC America Presents' if that shines any light.