Review of 'The Making of Dune'

The Making of Dune by Ed Naha

the_making_of_dune.jpg I am a big fan of Frank Herbert's Science Fiction classic and when it was initially adapted for film by David Lynch I was one of the few people, it seems, that actually liked the film. Yeah, a bit baroque, details of the book were changed, and the acting a bit stilted in parts but I just liked the entire experience - The inspiring music, and the magic of it all. Watching the film again, it has not dated well with it's laughable effects (particularly the sandworms) but I still remember when me, the teenager, stayed in the cinema after our performance (along with my mother, it has to be said) to watch the next showing, taking it all in…

“The Making of Dune” is largely a fluff-piece with surprisingly little revelations into the actual making of the film though it does feature a number of interviews with the principal cast (including a young Patrick Stewart, with his first foray into film-making and before his Star Trek days) and the production team as well as loads of behind-the-scenes pictures (I find particularly poignant the pictures of the late Frank Herbert, the author of the original book, who sadly passed away in 1986, only a few years after the film was released). The book traces the original adaptation through production and, to a small extend, post-production but does not cover the initial release or subsequent critical responses (it was pretty much universally panned). The release of the book corresponded with the release of the film so no doubt it could capitalise on the success of the film…which never really came.

Having said all that, it does offer some insight into the film-making process of the time and fans of Dune and fans of Lynch's film (the few that may exist) will doubtless find the book interesting…if they can find it as it is now long out of print. I found particularly interesting were the chapters on producer Raffaella De Laurentiis and director David Lynch which really managed to capture their involvement in the film. It just would have been nice to see some of the finer details of the production such as design material and progression information but, I suppose, this is something in this mass-media age we are used to. This was written well before those days.

Satisfying but a bit on the light side. It's OK but definitely for fans or film buffs only.

Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2020-03-08


Genre: Non-Fiction

Publisher: Berkley

Publication Date: 1984

ISBN: 0425073769