I'm happy to separate Lynch's movie from the book and view as its own thing. For me, I like the production design, costumes and music of Lynch's version. As herbert himself said:
Before I even knew who Lynch was I grew up with his Dune. I was a kid and had no idea what was going on, but the music and visuals mesmerized me. Of course half the time, if I told someone how much I loved it, they would incredulously ask, "Have you even read the book?!"And I hadn't. I only got around to reading it a few years ago. And yeah, that's a great book. I can see how fans at the time, hoping for a screen adaptation, would have been disappointed (though I have to say, by 80's Hollywood standards, it could have been
a lot worse.). But if you take the film more as a tone poem (which is pretty much the only way I could take it at, say, 8 years old) and don't get too worked up about plot, logic, etc., I think it's really a deep, mystic experience.
Villeneuve's definitely has some stunning cinematography but I miss the psychedelic weirdness of Lynch's. It feels more Flash Gordon, which is fine by me. I love the Guild Navigators.
I found much to like in the Villeneuve version but I missed the costumes, sets, etc of Lynch's. Everything just felt a bit too slick. Some of the dialogue and drama felt too familiar, they were trying to make the characters more relatable, and this undercut the weirdness of the world which I think Lynch did a better job of conveying. The Harkonnens, interestingly, seem to more closely resemble Lynch's interpretation than Herbert's. The Harkonnens in the book weren't nice people by any means but they had a certain amount of culture to offset the brutality. The Baron was a genuinely cunning and interesting character. This is one thing the 2000 miniseries did really well. In Villeneuve he's pretty much a plain thug. Aesthetically the Harkonnens and Gidi Prime look like Ikea's version of Lynch's Harkonnens and Gidi Prime. And the Sardaukar- I don't know what they were thinking with their uniforms. Just floppy, drab, indistinct work clothes. I don't think the black hazmat suits of the Lynch film were the most inspired choice but they at least look pretty cool. And the Hans Zimmer soundtrack has some fine moments but I couldn't remember any of it. It's weird to say but I really think Toto made the ideal Dune soundtrack.
Herbert himself, though disagreeing with the idea of Paul as God making it rain (Studio decision?) and while critical of some aspects did enjoy and support the movie. Before it bombed he was in talks with Lynch to make a sequel. He was heavily involved in the movie and goes into some detail of what was cut below:
I love the part where it rains, it just add another very unsettling layer. Paul is frankly terrifying at the end. And Alia even moreso... it's a shame they cut toddler Alia out of Villeneuve's, maybe they thought they wouldn't be able to find a toddler actor to make it work. But I think the girl in the Lynch film did just fine.
