Enter Dune: The Alternative Edition Redux, a fan edit born of passion and dedication. Spicediver, a fan, decided to take matters into his own hands. Using material from the theatrical release, the TV edit, deleted scenes, and the original score, they crafted a new 3-hour cut.

The TV version attempted to fix this by adding deleted scenes filmed by Lynch, but the execution was a mess. Poor pacing, repeated effects, and a chaotic tone made things worse. Lynch was so upset that he disowned it, crediting it to “Alan Smithee.”

Initially, Lynch envisioned a 5-hour epic. Reluctantly, he trimmed it to 3 hours, but the studio demanded it be cut down further to just 2. What hit theaters was a patchwork: a story riddled with gaps that left audiences of the 80s confused and underwhelmed.

Dune isn’t just any story—it’s the foundation for much of the space opera and sci-fi we know today. Herbert’s novel combines feudal politics, anarcho-ecological themes, and mysticism, set on a desert planet ruled by giant sandworms and the mind-bending spice, melange.

Before Lynch’s attempt, Jodorowsky dreamed of adapting Dune in the 70s—a wild tale of ambition and excess that we’ll save for another day.
Lynch’s Dune emerged in the 80s, a tough era to translate Frank Herbert’s sprawling, complex sci-fi masterpiece to the big screen.

Six days ago, we said goodbye to David Lynch, a visionary in cinema. Among his bold and unique works is Dune (1984)—a film with the potential to be great but tangled in studio interference. It’s a fascinating story, so let’s dive into what happened 🧵