Film Review: Bringing Out the Dead

"It was the neighborhood I grew up in, and where I'd worked the most as a paramedic.  And it held more ghosts per square foot than any other." - Nicholas Cage

I can't even begin to imagine the stress and burden paramedics must go through, having to jump on every life or death emergency, having to contend with crazy people getting themselves hurt all the time, and ultimately having to determine who lives and who dies. Bringing Out the Dead pretty much emphasizes all these aspects, underscoring the manic stress and haunting guilt the main character experiences in his efforts to save lives.

There are a few caveats, because it will come off as something messy and disappointing to certain viewers. With the premise of a medic contending with ghosts, I initially thought this was a supernatural thriller along similar lines to The Sixth Sense. It totally isn't; it's actually more comparable to Taxi Driver, in the sense that Bringing Out the Dead focuses on one alienated character becoming disillusioned in a scuzzy city setting. In spite of that, it also lacks a straightforward narrative. It's one of those movies where the plot goes all over the place and never really settles on one specific conflict or aspect, and this can be quite off-putting for viewers who are used to seeing one complete storytelling experience (and I usually fall into this crowd; it took me at least two viewings to realize the value of this film).

This film is laid out as a series of episodic encounters, following the main character across a few days on the job. He responds to several emergency calls, often times with lives at stake, but always overshadowed by the malice and cruelty of the city. Drug dealers, junkies, prostitutes, the homeless, the desperate, the insane, the sick, all fall under the medics' late night watches. The film carries a dark and brooding tone that always underscores the misery of people in pain.

At the same time, however, the film can become manic and crazy. Some of the film's most entertaining moments show the characters high-strung and wired, racing around in the ambulance (and later, they cause some damage). At times, the film gets pretty funny, thanks partly to the main character's sardonic remarks (one of my favorites being "where are the band-aids? This IS an ambulance, isn't it?!"). There's a couple of scenes where the main character challenges his boss to fire him, but the boss just replies "I'll fire you tomorrow, I promise." There's the gruff cop in the hospital who sternly warns people "don't make me take off my sunglasses!" I think one of my favorite scenes involves the medics going to a goth club, where they revive an unconscious dude literally named "I.B. Bangin." Even though the film's drama becomes quite dark and serious, it's moments like these that made it even more interesting to me; it makes the film a fuller, more even experience, and it helped keep my interest more.

As mentioned already, the film doesn't really have a straightforward story to tell. It's pretty mixed up, as the medics race around and meet the same characters over and over again. Through everything the protagonist goes through, however, the film does develop a decent story arc regarding the guilt he feels, always haunted by the lives he could not save, and the film overall becomes a personal journey for absolution. Whether or not he finds it hinges on his continuous interactions with a certain patient he helped bring in. In the end, it's a strong character study, reinforced with decent narration and strong thematic undertones.

The film looks quite drab, but with remarkable effect. Many shots appear very stylish, with lots of interesting camera angles (including some that go sideways or upside-down), and some remarkably surreal imagery at key spots. Acting is great: Nicholas Cage can get crazy with his role at times, but he also shows remarkable nuance and emotion as the main character, and this might be one of his best performances of his career. Patricia Arquette has interesting nuances of her own, while John Goodman, Tom Sizemore, and Ving Rhames add some much-needed variety and color to the mix. Writing is good. This production uses some good, real-looking sets, props, and costumes. What few special effects there are look effective. Music is used very liberally: there are lots of blues and rock playing in most scenes, and it helps.

This is a film that seems to get better the more I see it. It's actually a bit of a shame that I never see it mentioned anywhere, never see it played on TV, never see people talking about it; it's clearly a forgotten and under-appreciated piece of work, and I think it's worth a look.

4/5 (Entertainment: Pretty Good | Story: Very Good | Film: Very Good)

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Writing Prompt: Using Rory's Story Cubes

In my former writing group, one of our members revealed a potentially interesting tool for storytelling: Rory’s Story Cubes. It’s basically a pack of nine dice with pictograms on them. I managed to find a pack of these at a Barnes and Noble store; the package advertises these dice as a pocket-sized story generator with infinite possibilities. It’s probably designed with children in mind, as an interactive tool or game to inspire their young imaginations and develop some basic plotting skills. However, these dice can be valuable for people of all ages.

There are no real right or wrong ways to use or interpret these dice. The package describes that these dice can be used as a party game ice-breaker, a problem-solving tool, for creative inspiration (which would be my chief motivator for getting these), for enhancing speaking and listening skills, for use as a mental workout, and for literacy development. The package offers the suggested playing techniques: 

1. Roll all 9 cubes and look at the face-up images. Pick an image that will be the starting point for your story. Beginning with “Once upon a time…”, make up a story that somehow links together all 9 face-up images.
2. Think up a title or theme for a story (for example, the beach, or my fantastic vacation, or dream). Then roll all 9 cubes and try to tell a story that relates back to the title or theme. 
3. Divide the cubes evenly among multiple players (it’s okay if some get more than others). Starting with one player and continuing in a circle, take turns rolling the cubes and adding to the story based on the face-up images. Stop after all 9 cubes have been rolled, or continue rolling for additional rounds.

Today, I rolled these suckers and came up with the following images.

Yikes, what can I make out of this?

My thinking is…

1. The Earth, or the world, a globe: maybe the characters are in space and seeing Earth from afar. Or maybe the world is in danger. Or maybe the story is set in international locations. Maybe there’s an environmental message to emphasize.

2. A man parachuting: could be a literal interpretation, a man parachuting to the ground. Or parasailing. Could be thematic as well, such as a man who “needs to come back down to Earth.”

3. A house: could be a literal setting. Could also be a thematic interpretation of home. Maybe the characters are trying to find their way home. Home is where the heart is. You get the idea.

4. A bridge: could be a literal setting. Would be an awesome place for an epic fight (like the Battle of Stirling or something). Could also be thematic, if you consider that bridges can be figuratively built between characters or places. Maybe bridges can be built across cultures, internationally, or even extraterrestrially.

5. A magnifying glass: the first thought is that of a mystery, or “whodunit” type of a story, with a detective finding clues. You could make this into a mystery story that way. Or, maybe it’s a literal plot device, or a way of saying that something is being scrutinized in great detail.

6. A letter: maybe a letter plays into the story somehow. Or it could be just a message in general. Maybe the characters are couriers.

7. A fountain: could be a literal setting. Could refer to the mythology of the Fountain of Youth; by extension, the search for everlasting youth could be the actual plot.

8. Lightning bolt: maybe plasmic energy, electricity, or lightning, plays into the story somehow. Or, in a manner like Zeus, maybe the characters are super-powered.

9. Sheep: could be literal, or maybe it alludes to a rural setting. Or, it could reference people acting like sheep.

This might seem like an odd mix of stuff, but some ideas blend together pretty easily here. The lightning bolt and sheep has me thinking about the relationships between super-humans and normal people (in which super-humans are like gods, and everybody else are like sheep), a theme which I’ve already been exploring in another story I started. In light of that, the lightning bolt and fountain could go hand-in-hand, if you consider that the fountain could be a literal or figurative source of power. Seeing the Earth juxtapose to the parachuting man immediately brings to mind a man literally falling to Earth. Chances are that you see something totally different out of these dice. The fact that the dice has me thinking about some basic connections, potential plotlines, and possible themes, is enough to get started on something.

With some additional thought and planning, I came up with the following story. I’ve put a little number next to certain things to correlate with the numbered bullets above, so you can see what dice images have been included in the text.

--------------------

                 “Jason, what are you doing?” Kayla frantically shouted on the radio.

                 Looking back, Jason regarded the space station Olympus:  it was an expansive sprawl of metal modules and solar panels, stretching out into space for over a kilometer.  Sunlight glinted across the station’s surface, giving off harsh glares against his helmet.  Slowly, the station seemed to move further and further away from him; in reality, the station was still, and Jason was the one moving, thousands of miles per hour across the Earth’s exosphere.

                Facing forward again, Jason beheld the Earth¹; it was an expanse of immense blue water and green continents before him.  At his angle and trajectory, he was in an uncontrollable freefall to the planet’s surface².  However, he knew that he would never reach the actual surface; upon reaching the atmosphere, the friction would incinerate his body and obliterate him.

                Kayla reached the same conclusion, and her voice continued to plead in Jason’s helmet, “What are you thinking? Why are you doing this?”

                “You got my message⁶, right? Then you know what I’m doing and why,” Jason calmly asserted.

                “But why like this? There could have been other ways to do this, you don’t have to kill yourself!”

                “At this point, it’s not just a matter of practicality.  It’s become a matter of principle.  I’m sure General Bannon is watching and listening right now, and understands.”

                At this point, General Bannon’s voice gruffly interrupted, “I understand just fine, you worthless sack of s**t! You can’t expect me to sit here and watch as you take Project Bethesda away from me and burn it all up in the atmosphere!”

                “What can you do, general?” Jason taunted. “If I destroyed the research notes on Olympus, then you would have had leverage over me.  Out here, I am untouchable.  My destiny is in my hands.”

                “Bull! If I really wanted to, I’ll turn the photon collector on you, and fry you like an ant underneath a magnifying glass⁵!”

                “Go ahead, general.  If you burn me up now, the research will be destroyed all the same.  Your only chance now is to physically collect me with a shuttle craft, but there’s not enough time for you to launch a craft and catch me before I reach the atmosphere.”

                “I don’t know what’s worse:  you taking off with the research materials, or you getting the better of me.  I ought to fry you just as a matter of principle!”

                “I win either way, general.”

                “Maybe for now, but when it’s all over, you know what people will say about you? They’ll say that you’re a criminal! Because you are robbing all of us of our future, and I’m going to make sure that everybody knows that you stole critical research materials and destroyed them! You’re nothing but a selfish punk!”

                “You’d really release all this to the public?” Jason challenged. “The true nature of Project Bethesda? Would you really tell people about the anti-matter pool⁷,  and the way it can alter the human body to make it last longer and become indestructible⁸? Would you tell the press about your plan to engineer space-faring supersoldiers, who would rule the planet from Olympus, and rule over everybody else as if they were just sheep⁹? You call that a future?”

                “Son, what I’m trying to build here is a bridge⁴,” General Bannon calmly explained. “Our future depends on becoming stronger.  We might even have to leave the weak behind to do so.  That’s just the way things are.  We need Bethesda, because the Earth is becoming more hostile all the time.  You know just as well as I do that, with all the carbon dioxide and methane in the air, the planet only has a few hundred years of sustainable life left in it! We need to give our gene pool a boost!”

                “At what point do we mutate, and become something inhuman?”

                “Son, I’m talking about evolving into something better than human! We could be gods!”

                “General, I take it you’re not a god-fearing man.  I am, and without me, there’s no telling what kind of damage your carelessness would have caused.  I have a moral obligation to go through with this.  I figure, this is the only way to make you understand that Project Bethesda was always a bad idea.  I’m also making sure that all this knowledge will never be rediscovered again.”

                “You think you’re some kind of martyr?” General Bannon mocked. “I’ll make sure you’re remembered as a strung-out nobody who died in a stupid space walk accident! I can make the project work again, but nobody can bring you back from the dead! Goodbye, Dr. Levitt.”

                Silence followed.  Jason watched the Earth grow bigger in front of him; he could feel the gentle tug of the planet’s gravity, subtly pulling him closer to the world’s blue mass.  He was still miles away from imminent death, but he started to panic, when he realized that he would accelerate.  His breathing became shallow, and his heart rate spiked.

                On the radio, Jason heard Kayla speak again, “I know you’re right about doing this, but you should have talked to me first! We could have rigged something up together.  We could have burned the research notes in the fusion core.  We could have sent an escape pod to the Earth, and let it burn up.  You didn’t have to eject yourselfinto space!”

                “I had to make sure,” Jason firmly said. “I had to take it all with me, and let it burn up with me.”

                “Do you have the sample with you too? You could inject it! All that power of Bethesda could allow you to survive the fall!”

                The notion had occurred to Jason repeatedly; a sample of capsulated anti-matter particles could render him invincible enough to withstand the friction of reentry.  It could even ensure his survival after landing, even on a hard ground.  He envisioned his body burning through the sky, streaking into the ground, where he’d leave a massive crater, but walk away unscathed.

                Unconsciously, Jason’s hand crept toward the satchel strapped to his suit, where Project Bethesda’s notes and samples were stored.  Watching the Earth growing bigger and bigger, he was deeply considering succumbing to the notion.  Fear crept through his gut with each passing second, knowing that his death was imminent.

                Instead, Jason restrained his hand, and he told Kayla, “It’s a tempting thought, but I can’t.  You know I can’t let this project survive in any way, shape, or form.”

                He heard her reply in a broken voice, “I know.”

                Jason was aware of his acceleration through the Earth’s exosphere.  His suit started to flutter, and he felt a stronger tug from the planet’s gravity.  As he continued to speed up, he said, “For what it’s worth, I enjoyed working on Olympus, and I loved working with you and the team.  I like to think of you and everybody else as my friends.”

                “No, we were more like a family,” Kayla sobbed.

                “It made me feel at home³.  Thank you for everything.”

                Seconds later, Jason was freefalling faster and faster.  Upon hitting the planet’s deeper atmosphere, the air rubbed harshly against his suit.  It became warmer and warmer, until it was uncomfortably hot.  Flames erupted around him, burning through Jason’s suit and satchel.  Miles above the Earth, Dr. Jason Levitt perished; from the space station Olympus, his passing was observed, and it appeared like a brief fiery flash of light against the planet’s blue curvature.

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Film Review: Star Trek: Into Darkness

In 2009, Star Trek was "rebooted", successfully remixing aspects of the classic Trek universe and making it all fresh, new, and exciting again. At the same time, it remained true to the classic characters and the spirit of the franchise. In the film's first sequel, Into Darkness sets forth to do the same thing most other sequels do: introduce more characters, raise the stakes, and take the audience on a (hopefully bigger and "better") thrill ride.

This film definitely retains the thrill ride aspects; like its predecessor, it still has some great action scenes, some jaw-dropping special effects, and the occasional bits of humor (which has been toned down from the last film). The film does its best to present scenes that are bigger in scope and scale; the action setpieces are pretty massive. More importantly, however, it's the emotional scope and scale that's blown up: the film tries harder to tug at some heartstrings, and to make the characters count.

Therein lies the film's most interesting and redeeming values: where the characters stand at this point. The first film introduced the Enterprise crew in a fresh new light, using Kirk's flirtation with death as a thematic pillar. In this film, the theme is expanded tremendously, pitting Kirk against death in a twisting series of events that constantly calls for him to make the hard choices. At multiple moments, everybody is called upon to question the value of human life, the value of the mission, and the morality of self-sacrifice. Oh yes, fans of the classic films will recognize these same aspects from The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock, because Into Darkness takes the same aspects and remixes them in interesting new ways. Some might call it a retread, but it does give the characters a strong emotional depth, and it helps to reinforce the themes of facing death.

That being said, this Trek adventure does suffer a little from feeling like more of the same. Parts of it are predictable. Parts of it play it safe. Parts of it are clearly ripped straight from other Trek films (there are even some aspects that reminded me of Star Trek: Nemesis). Despite the plot twists and the emotional depth, the film still doesn't take any really bold moves. The ultimate climax felt really short and small in scale, and afterwards, the movie ends abruptly. In the end, I didn't feel that Into Darkness was any better or worse than the 2009 film; it's just more of the same.  That's not to say it's bad, but I was hoping for more.

In spite of that, the film continues to exhibit some jittery camerawork and plenty of lens flares, which will irk many viewers. Some of the camera movements are pretty brilliant though. Acting is the same as before: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, and Simon Pegg all inhabit their characters comfortably, and are a joy to watch. Bruce Greenwood is still good, Alice Eve is quite appealing, and I felt that Peter Weller's role is appropriate. The biggest draw to this film will be Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain; the man definitely establishes the proper screen presence and gives his character plenty of nuance. Writing for this film is pretty decent. As before, the film uses some clever camera trickery and unique settings to give the film a unique and authentic-looking edge. All the sets, props, costumes, and special effects are good. The music score offers much of the same as from the first film, but with unique new variations.

4.5/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Very Good | Film: Very Good)

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Film Review: Star Trek (2009)

"Whatever our lives might have been, if the time continuum was disrupted, our destinies have changed." - Zachary Quinto

You’d have to be living under a rock on Delta Vega to have never heard of the Star Trek franchise.  Ever since its (tragically-cancelled) run in the 60s, this quaint sci-fi adventure show spawned a dozen films, half-a-dozen spinoff TV shows, and a massive fan base that could constitute its own nation (complete with its own language, customs, and dress code).  Slight problem with some of the original films is that they cater specifically to the Trekkies; most casual audiences might find some amusement among the even-numbered films, but the entire saga is a nerd haven more than anything.

So, in 2009, this reboot was released with the casual audience in mind.  Even if you’ve never liked or heard of Star Trek before, this film totally rocks! From start to finish, there’s loads of spectacular space battles, shootouts, fistfights, and occasional bursts of witty (and rather silly) humor. The pacing is tight, and the movie overall carries an adventurous spirit that hasn’t really been used since Star Wars.  At the same time, die-hard Trekkies should be relieved to see some familiar faces, hear some familiar lines, and witness the occasional homage to the classics.

The story might seem off-putting at first, but it all comes together and brilliantly kicks off a franchise that’s distinct and separate from the previous incarnations of Trek.  It’s pretty darn fun seeing the origins of the characters and how they come together. The characters themselves are very well-developed and portrayed; it’s hard not to like the lot of them, and they do exceptional justice to the original characters. I also admire the film for showing some of the dangers and peril of space travel.

Coming from JJ Abrams, you can expect some jittery camerawork and some stylish lens flares; some people find them annoying, but I think they add to the realism and intensity of the film. Otherwise, the camerawork shows a fine balance between being steady and being hectic, and there are plenty of good camera movements and angles.  Editing is decent too.  Acting is superb; I initially found Chris Pine a little off as Kirk, but the man does emphasize the arrogance and impulsiveness of Kirk with some degree of accuracy.  Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban are perfect as Spock and McCoy, respectively.  I enjoy the performances of Zoe Saldana, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, John Cho, and Anton Yelchin. Winona Ryder is in the mix too, and I didn't even know it was her playing Spock's mom until later. Writing is good overall; the plot is laid out in a way that's neither too high-brow or too low-brow. Production value is decent; it’s pretty obvious that they filmed many scenes at a beer factory, but most camera tricks are incredibly convincing, and it shows magnificent prowess at using less to make more. A lot of it also serves to make things look creditable; transporter beams, warp drive, red matter, etc all appear scientifically plausible.  So overall, there are lots of interesting sets, props, costumes, and gorgeous special effects. Music is surprisingly catchy.

Recommended!

5/5 (Entertainment:  Perfect | Story:  Perfect | Film:  Perfect)

This film appears on my list of Top 100 Favorite Movies at #10.

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Video Game Review: Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3

"We've altered the past and changed the present." - Peter Stormare 

There's nothing like good old fashioned time travel to muck up things and make for an exciting new combat situation.  Just as it was in the first Red Alert game, this rendition explores a bizarre alternate timeline where Albert Einstein has been eliminated, preventing the invention of nuclear weapons, and allowing the Soviet Union to prosper unchallenged.  But when the time-traveling assassins return to their time, they find themselves facing a new challenge from the Far East.  Thus, the three factions of Red Alert 3 are set up:  you get to wage war with the Allies and the Soviets, just like before, but now you also get Japan thrown into the mix.  Let the chaos begin!

Just like in any other Command and Conquer game, you're given control of a battlefield, to build a base, create and army, and wipe out the enemy (or enemies).  If you've played other real-time strategy games before, the setup is the same as always:  you build a construction yard, gather resources, build more buildings, train infantry, build tanks and other cool things, and blow everything up! The cool thing about Red Alert 3 is that, in this alternate universe, you're given a plethora of weird and silly units to play with.  You'll get boats and ships that can crawl on land.  You'll see flying infantry that can transform into jet planes.  The Soviets can train bears and use Tesla coils; the US has time-warping technology; Japan has giant robots.  All three factions get one hot sexy commando chick that can single-handedly cause massive damage (although these units usually die easily).  Each faction builds their buildings and units in different ways, and each unit has their share of strengths and weaknesses that make all three sides balance out.

Gameplay is as rewarding as most other RTS games.  It can be frustrating to find yourself being wiped out if the enemy pulls out something that you're unprepared for, but it can also be rewarding when you crush your opponents with awesome technology.  The control scheme is simple and easy; you have a good amount of control over everything, with only two mouse buttons and maybe a few keyboard shortcuts.  My only complaint here is that it's almost too simple; resource gathering is pretty much simplified to the point where you don't have to worry about it unless the enemy targets your ore collectors, and when power gets knocked out, you have no control over which buildings are powered-down.  However, the standard mechanics for garrisoning buildings, using special abilities, using command powers, and other recent C&C trends are there, and help make things versitile.

The story has an interesting premise, but as the game goes on, the actual events and politics of the thing barely matter.  As expected, factions fight each other, join forces a few times, betray each other again, and it all ultimately works out so that every side gets a victory.  The story merely serves to string all the missions together and give each mission a unique objective.  Some of the missions have unique challenges, but most have been done before in other games.  There are a few really outlandish missions that stand out though, such as seeing superweapons popping out of Mount Rushmore.

The game runs pretty smoothly.  Graphics are on the same level as C&C 3, and it's not bad for its time, even if everything does look cartoony and blocky.  Textures and renderings, on a good machine, can look really good.  Controls are simple and effective.  This game uses a plethora of awesome actors doing their best to delivery really hammy performances, to include the talents of Tim Curry, Jonathan Pryce, George Takei, and other familiar faces.  Writing is pretty simple and silly.  Designs for the game's settings, vehicles, buildings, units, and everything else are pretty decent and imaginative.  Sounds and music are good.

Recommended for C&C fans, Red Alert fans, or RTS fans in general.

4/5 (Entertainment:  Very Good | Story:  Average | Game:  Good)

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Film Review: Sucker Punch

"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." - Scott Glenn

As it likely is with most young men, I’ve always craved a certain type of excitement in cinema. That often includes overblown computer-animated environments, crazy-fast fight scenes with gratuitous slow-motion, and a cast of hot girls kicking a lot of butt! As you can probably tell from the movie’s cover, Sucker Punch offers all of these things, following in a whole generation of similarly gratuitous and brainless entertainment. There are four major segments in which the film delves into an imaginative and creative landscape where all hell breaks loose.

This only begs the question, so what? Where’s the story and the substance? Most folks will argue that this film doesn’t have a good story or good characters, and that the plot is merely a hollow shell to showcase the over-the-top action scenes. Others have taken offense to its portrayal of women being abused by the male characters.

Frankly, I don’t agree with these assessments. If anything, the movie may have been too effective in dazzling the audience with its fantasy segments; if you look past them, there are deeper levels to the story. Without the action scenes, it’s primarily a drama, full of vulnerable characters struggling to escape a desperate situation. With the action scenes, it’s a play on what’s real and what’s not. Given the twist at the end of the movie, all layers of reality are sewn together with some rather intriguing parallels. It may not make total sense at first, but on repeat viewings, I’ve picked up on many subtle details that make the levels work sublimely together. Whether or not it (and the characters) really resonate with the audience will vary from person to person, and this will always remain a love-it-or-hate-it film.

For those who wish to look deeper into the film, you might find that the film reaches past the screen and tries to invoke you in some way. Some believe that it’s a parallel to living life in general. I believe it’s a criticism of the Hollywood studio system, with the dancers representing filmmakers and the male characters forcing them to produce fantasies of their choice. Regardless of how you look at it, the message is clear; the film asks you to fight for what you believe in.

As to what the film’s title really means, I’m sure it’ll differ from person to person. The plot sucker-punches you with its twists and turns. If you see a message in the film, maybe it’ll hit you like a sucker punch. If you wind up hating the film and finding no redeeming value whatsoever, then I guess you’ve been sucker-punched.

Cinematically, the film is very slick and stylish, with lots of smooth photography and editing. The action segments feature loads of slow-motion and CGI effects; everything in-between utilizes a very cool color scheme and a lot of unusual camera angles. Acting can be a mixed bag; I didn’t mind Emily Browning as Babydoll, but I didn’t care for Abbie Cornish playing Sweet Pea. Oscar Isaac, Carla Gugino, and Scott Glenn are not bad in their roles. Every other performance here is serviceable. Writing is pretty strong, with enough distinctive and interesting dialogue to invoke some thought and feeling. The production value is high, featuring lots of slick and decent sets, props, costumes, and special effects. Music, while not original, is pretty darn cool.

5/5 (Entertainment:  Perfect | Story:  Very Good | Film:  Very Good)

This film currently appears on my list of Top 100 Favorite Guilty Pleasure Movies at #1, and my Top 100 Favorite Films at #64.

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Film Reivew: Dune (1984)

"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." - Kyle MacLachlan

Dune is a very strange, vicious, beautiful place, from a very renowned series of novels by Frank Herbert and his son. Book fans and sci-fi aficionados should already be familiar with this fantastic franchise full of otherworldly planets and empires, of fremen and sandworms, and the spice melange.

This 1984 film is an attempt to adapt Frank Herbert's deep and dense story into a palpable format. At the time of its release, the film was a massive flop, and it has garnered its fair share of complaints. So much so that even director David Lynch condemned the film as his biggest failure, and has effectively disowned it.  The biggest issues are that the film is gaudy, messy, and pretentious. Chances are that if the world of Dune doesn't captivate you, these issues will beat you over your head, and you'll walk away thinking the film overly long and dull.

Dune does captivate me, however. From start to finish, it dishes out a plethora of fantastic imagery, thanks to its strange array of baroque props and costumes, its elaborate settings, it the story overall. David Lynch manages to squeeze in a few of his signature freak-out scenes, with strange images and scenes overlaid over each other in surreal montages, mostly during dream and spice-induced sequences. The man also tends to focus a lot on strange and grotesque details, many of which are so weird and out-there that they might seem out of place or unintentionally funny. And yet, that's one of the things I love about this film: the strangeness of it. I believe it's immensely successful at being otherworldly, and I feel that's most appropriate for Dune.

This film's pacing can be a hit or a miss though. The first half is entirely devoted to House Atreides settling on Arrakis, and these scenes can be rather dry. The more interesting segments occur in the last half, with the fremen uprising against House Harkonnen. There are big, epic battles at key moments, but they are pretty short, and special effects are of such mixed quality that it can be distracting (the biggest gripe I have is that many guns go off without producing any visible beams or bolts). What really makes this film interesting will be the individual scenes involving the characters and their journey.

That brings me to the most important aspect to this film: the story. Fans of the book may complain that the film swaps out "desert power" with weirding modules, thus undermining the tactical prowess of the characters. However, I feel the movie does the book decent justice, especially in the overall tone and style. A lot from the story and characters are lost between the book and the movie, but the fundamentals remain. On its own merits, the movie is not hard to follow, even with its vast array of Dune lore laid out. The plot is sound and interesting, and there's just enough to the characters to make them endearing. As the plot and characters progress, themes of destiny are strongly enforced.

On a cinematic level, the film is superbly constructed, with quality photography and very vivid editing. A few shots appear cheap, especially with some special effects appearing incomplete or gaudy, but other effects are great. Acting is very strong all around: Kyle MacLachlan is especially powerful and commanding as Paul Atreides. I enjoyed the performances of Francesca Annis, Sean Young, Jose Ferrer, Brad Dourif, Linda Hunt, Dean Stockwell, and Max Von Sydow. Kenneth McMillan is extremely hammy as the baron, and I love him that way. Sting offers a brief and gratuitous cameo, but he delivers a deliciously fun performance as Feyd Rautha, and he delivers one of the best psychotic smiles of all time. Writing can be a hit and a miss; I love a lot of the lines, but some of them are dumb, and there is a ton of exposition (especially regarding voice-overs, which are used to death here, and probably aren't necessary). This production uses some very elaborate, very interesting, and very big sets, props, and costumes. The music, by the rock band Toto, is really awesome and epic, and is one of my favorite music scores.

This adaptation of Dune has its share of issues that hasn't sat well with many viewers. However, it is a big, sweeping, epic sci-fi adventure with a very interesting universe. The film has a strong emotional power in its presentation, and that alone has cemented it as a personal favorite of mine, despite all its problems.  For the open-minded sci-fi fans, I recommend giving this film a try.  For an alternative adaptation, however, the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune should be worth a look as well.

David Lynch's Dune has an extended cut available on DVD, which runs for about three hours.  There is a wealth of interesting new scenes, but this version is very cheaply edited, it has a terrible prologue, the pacing is substantially slower, and since it was made for TV, all the bloody scenes were cut out.  I personally prefer the theatrical cut, but the extended edition is worth seeing for fans.

5/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Very Good | Film: Perfect)

This film currently appears on my list of Top 100 Favorite Movies at #36, and my Top 100 Favorite Guilty Pleasure Movies at #4.

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