Dune (1984)

 

In the distant future, a man appears who may be the prophet that a long-suffering galaxy has been waiting for.

Visually compelling and with imaginative styling as you'd expect from the director, the plot has been overloaded so that the sci-fi epic seems more summarized than actually adapted.

On re-watching: Still good to look at, but the narrative is simply not convincing nor much coherent either.

Halliwell (no star): "A basically simple space fiction plot is immensely complicated by a welter of characters who are not properly introduced and who indeed are mostly irrelevant. The result, which cost nearly 50 million dollars, is inaudible, invisible (because of dim lighting) and unentertaining: a disaster of the very first order."

Maltin*1/2: "Elephantine adaptation...You know you're in trouble when film's opening narration...is completely incomprehensible! Visually imaginative, well cast, but joyless and oppressive - not to mention long. For devotees of Herbert's novel only." 

 

Sean Young

Blade Runner (1982)

A Kiss Before Dying (1991)

A determined student murders his pregnant secret girlfriend and moves onto her twin sister who gradually becomes suspicious of her new lover.

Moderately entertaining, but quite unoriginal Hitchcock-like thriller.

Halliwell*: "Moderately effective thriller, though it offers a considerable simplification of the novel on which it is based."

Maltin*1/2: "Almost completely ineffectual thriller..."

Sean Young

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Young

Blade Runner (1982)

A blade runner must pursue and try to terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.

Groundbreaking sci-fi thriller in noir style with a coherent bleak vision of the future, perfectly designed, still achieves to amaze even today. 

On renewed viewing: still finding wonderful new details, a very rich movie.

Halliwell**: "Gloomy futuristic thriller, looking like a firework display seen through thick fog, and for all the tiring tricks and expense adding up to little more than an updated Philip Marlowe case."

Maltin*1/2: "A triumph of production design, defeated by a muddled script and main characters with no appeal whatsoever. However, the film has a fervent following. Loosely based on Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

Dune (1984)