I'm far from an authority on Dune, but the Lynch movie is one of those troubled productions you hear about that span a decade or so. From what I understand, Dune was attempted several times during the 70's but it wasn't until Lynch's production that it made it to film. For what its worth, I prefered the 4 hour cut of the film (which I believe may be available on DVD overseas). I've never read Dune, so I really appreciated the introductory narration that version featured. The theatrical cut just kind of threw you into this world of spice, navigator guilds and Bene Gessirates (sp?) and left you to make of it what you would. The look of the film is gorgeous, but I'm inclined to agree that some of the performances were a little flat. I think the bulk of this comes from Kyle MacLachlan's whispery voiceover for much of the important exposition.