Where’s David Lynch? Why is his name not on the extended version? Who Is Alan Smithee? Well, I’ll tell you… Mr. Lynch, following a time-honored tradition (since 1968, at least), petitioned the Directors Guild of America to remove his name from the extended version of this film. Though the reasons are supposed to remain private, according to the Directors Guild, many say that the additional material and haphazard editing to make the film more suitable for television (and arguably more accessible to a wider audience) were to blame for his request to remove his director’s credit. Additionally, Lynch removed his writing credit replacing his name with Judas Booth, a pseudonym, to express his feelings both of betrayal about the edit and the ‘assassination’ of the film by the addition of material he removed from the theatrical release.

So if he was that against the film why should anyone want to see it? Simple answer? At least speaking for myself, we’re geeks. When I buy a DVD I watch all the deleted scenes, all the bonus material and all of the making of featurettes.  I feel they add to my viewing experience. They give me an inside look at the process of filmmaking and in some cases a better appreciation of the film itself. If these are the things you look for in another version of the film they are all there.

This version, though extended, is not necessarily the definitive one. There are still hours of chopped material left out of the deleted scenes and the television edit. I’m sure that adding it into the film to create a sort of rough cut would not in any way enhance the viewing experience, but, I do think that including these edited scenes would finally give us the complete ultimate version cult followers of Dune need. For years after it’s release different versions of the film have popped up through illegitimate sources. Until that material is available I suspect there will still be sources releasing 4 hour rough cuts and people seeking the fable 8 hour complete edition (which I think only exists as a legend of the lore around the film).

I would recommend a viewing of this new release to fans of Lynch, of Dune and of the book. Lynch fans can really get a sense of the level of craftsmanship a master like Lynch wields. Lynch takes an epic book and science fiction classic and pares it down to a couple of hours deftly, while still retaining his style and personal screenwriting gifts. This comes out exceptionally well in the side-by-side comparison of the two films. It may also provide an excellent introduction the works of Lynch, which to some may seem inaccessible. We Lynch geeks don’t have to bite our nails wondering what the neophyte might be getting out of Eraserhead. Yeah, we now have Lynch ‘Lite ‘. The theatrical cut has been enhanced since it’s last release also; with a minor upgrade to the sound quality. I think that any fan of the theatrical release would also appreciate it all the more for what has been removed from the extended version. I’m not sure that fans of the original book will be more or less satisfied by this newly released edition. On the one hand the story is clearer, with more details from the book introduced. On the other, it is still a completely different media with a different creative force behind it. Though Lynch did change certain elements (some major), I feel that he portrayed the archetypes and political intrigues with all the gravitas the book(s) did.

This extended edition, for probably the same reasons Lynch removed his name from the credits, doesn’t seem to have his blessing. He’s absent from any of the special features except when referred to by special effects crew and Raffaella De Laurentiis (the producer’s widow). Reminds me of Alien 3. The introduction of the deleted scenes by Raffaella explains the 4-hour rough cut a little bit and includes about ten minutes of additional material not contained in either version. The remaining featurettes are your standard anecdotes with a bit of early 80’s sci-fi special effects film craft. 

-stephen-