The Dune Debate

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The Dune Debate

A few weeks ago, we reviewed Artisan's 2-disc DVD version of Frank Herbert's Dune, an epic 266-minute mini-series based on the classic sci-fi novel which aired recently on The Sci-Fi Channel to the network's highest ratings ever. You can read our in-depth review of the DVD here. Artisan had promoted the DVD release with word that the disc would be in anamorphic widescreen, and would include trailers and lots of other supplemental materials. To our surprise, when the set was finally released, not only was the program not in anamorphic widescreen, its supplements were far less encompassing than expected. It also featured only a Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround soundtrack, instead of a full 5.1 audio mix. Naturally, as fans of this series, we were less than pleased. To make matters worse, much of the special edition content we wanted to see on Artisan's DVD was released separately on a bonus DVD disc that comes with the iBooks' paperback, The Secrets of Frank Herbert's Dune. This included a much longer production featurette, extensive production photo and design artwork galleries (which also included whole pieces of composer Graeme Revell's score for the series), and even the Sci-Fi Channel trailer.
To try to find out what had happened, we contacted sources who were involved with the production of the Artisan disc. And we posted what they told us on the Bits. We also made several attempts to contact the series' director John Harrison. Finally, as I was going over the series' listing on IMDB.com, I located a link to the series' production company, New Amsterdam Entertainment. So I sent a request to the company via their generic e-mail address, asking to be put in touch with Harrison. Ironically, I sent this e-mail the night before I posted the Artisan side of the story here on The Digital Bits, along with my own editorial comments. The next day, I got a tersely-worded e-mail from New Amsterdam's Director of Development, Mike Messina (who, ironically, was the DVD producer for the bonus disc that comes with The Secrets of Frank Herbert's Dune). "We would like you to know that your recent remarks... are extremely inaccurate and unjustly attack John Harrison," was how it began. So they were pissed. Okay... that's fair and they're entitled. I absolutely wanted to find out what they had to say. But more importantly, aside from getting sucked into a "he said, she said" situation, I wanted to try and understand exactly WHY events transpired in such a way that Artisan's DVD ended up being so disappointing. Because the fact remains... it IS disappointing. And I think that's what both sides of this issue are overlooking. We've received several hundred angry e-mails (so far) from fans of the series who have decided not to buy the DVD - even to the point of cancelling already placed orders - because it's not in anamorphic widescreen, the sound isn't 5.1 and the extras are lame. And the e-mails continue to come in. What I've decided to do on this page is to present both sides of this story - the Artisan information, as well as New Amsterdam's response - so that you can form your own opinion as to what happened with this DVD. And at the end, I've added some closing comments of my own. Here goes... The DVD Producers Take on Dune The following is a repost of my comments on Frank Herbert's Dune, based on conversations with those involved in the production of the DVD at Artisan, from Tuesday, March 13th: "All right... many of you will no doubt recall our recent review of Artisan's DVD version of Frank Herbert's Dune. I think it's no secret that we were disappointed with the DVD. What surprised us most is that Artisan has, overall, been very good in terms of the quality and features of their other DVD releases. They were quick to adopt such features as anamorphic widescreen and animated menu screens, and have been very proactive in terms of adopting other innovative aspects of DVD technology, like the DVD-18 disc configuration and seamless branching. So how, we wondered, could they have dropped the ball so badly on Dune? The disc was originally to have included anamorphic widescreen, 5.1 audio, trailers, director's commentary and numerous other special edition features that failed to make the final disc. Well... we've been digging hard on this, and we may be able to shed a little light on the situation. What it boils down to, is that there was something of a business disagreement between the series' creators and Artisan Entertainment. Sources close to the DVD's production have informed us that, when it came time to talk about the DVD, a lot of promises were made by the series' creators in terms of the content and elements the disc's producers would have access to. But the film's director, John Harrison, then decided that he wanted a significant amount of money to produce a director's cut of the miniseries for the DVD release - a six-figure amount. Apparently, some 20 additional minutes of footage would have been added back into the series' 266 minute running time (included brief nudity and scenes that were cut to accommodate commercials during the SciFi Channel broadcast). A few effects shots would also have been finished. When Artisan balked at the amount in question, the series’ producers denied Artisan access to an anamorphic master, 5.1 audio stems and most of the promised supplementary materials. They then went overseas and made a deal with a German company instead to produce a special edition DVD release of the series for Region 2. As part of this move, they granted the German company access to the anamorphic master and the other "premium" elements denied to Artisan. Artisan was then never given a formal chance to bargain with the producers for any significant added content (beyond what made the final disc) - they couldn't even get trailers. So Artisan had little choice but to do the best they could with the materials they'd been given. What that means, is that Region 1 gets a lackluster, non-anamorphic DVD, while Region 2 will get a loaded, anamorphic special edition. Now... granted, this is only one side of the story. We have yet to speak with Dune director John Harrison and his people (we ARE making an effort to do so). We have heard that Harrison feels he was treated rudely in his dealings with Artisan. In any case, the only people who truly suffer in a situation like this are DVD fans and, more importantly, fans of the series. I'm sure plenty of Region 2 DVD consumers will find it fitting that Region 1 is getting screwed for once when it comes to a DVD release. Here at The Digital Bits, all we can say is that it's disgusting when egos and seemingly petty business disagreements get in the way of quality. When you consider how cool this DVD release could have been, and what happened to prevent that... you really have to just throw your hands up in frustration. As a fan of this series, I'm extremely disappointed. And judging by the flood of e-mail we've been getting here at the Bits over the last few days, I'm definitely not the only one. Is there hope that someday Region 1 will get the DVD special edition that fans of the series deserve? Maybe, if cooler heads prevail. Artisan certainly wants to give us one. But in the meantime... what a shame." The Series' Producers Respond Here is the full text of the official response I received from New Amsterdam's Director of Development, Mike Messina, on Friday, March 16th: "The reasons you give and the order of events you relayed in your 3/13/01 1AM update are excruciatingly inaccurate. For the record: John Harrison made no such demands for additional money to produce a director’s cut. It was grossly inaccurate to state that our miniseries went to DVD with a few F/X shots still unfinished. The German company you mention (Betafilm) is an original partner in the financing of the miniseries and owns the rights outside of North America to the mini. Betafilm is not a late-to-the-table licensee. There was no business disagreement between the series creators and Artisan, which resulted in Artisan being denied any supplemental or master materials that they were contractually guaranteed. Artisan was given access to the same "premium" supplementary materials that we provided to Betafilm and their DVD licensee (Columbia/TriStar). Artisan was also provided the same source materials that ibooks was given. How a licensee chooses to use the materials is up to it. Columbia/TriStar even asked about using Artisan’s supplementary materials as a way to share costs (more on this later). Sci Fi Channel owns the trailers that they created to promote the airing of the miniseries on their network. As far as we know, the trailers were available to Artisan. Regarding alternate versions, it should be understood that only one version of the miniseries was supposed to be produced for delivery to Sci Fi Channel, Betafilm, and Artisan. However, due to programming standards and practices and TV running time constraints here in the US, it became clear that we would not be able to include every scene that was shot. Betafilm then decided to spend a considerable amount of money to have a longer version of the movie made for their markets, which would include scenes we couldn’t fit in. Betafilm is the sole owner of this version (and any additional scenes contained therein). Both the US version and the longer foreign version are 16:9 letterboxed and no anamorphic master was created for either. Artisan wanted to use the longer version for its US DVD release and we strongly encouraged this. However, Betafilm (rightfully so) wanted to be reimbursed for a portion of the costs to make this longer version and Artisan felt the price tag was too high for it to reasonably acquire this version. After that, when Columbia/TriStar expressed interest in obtaining Artisan’s supplementary materials, we encouraged Artisan to do some horse trading in an attempt to secure the longer version for the US DVD release. In the midst of these negotiations, Columbia/TriStar decided they did not want the Artisan supplementary materials if it meant that the long version of the movie would be released on DVD in the US prior to its foreign release, which they thought would encourage piracy. Upon learning that Artisan was unable to bring the longer version of the movie to the US market at this time, Exec. Producer, Richard P. Rubinstein, and Director, John Harrison, concurred it would be appropriate to hold Mr. Harrison’s Director’s commentary until such time that the more definitive longer version of the movie could be released on DVD in the US. With respect to deleted scenes, the scenes that were deleted from the US TV version of the movie were part of the foreign long version and therefore are controlled by Betafilm and could not be included without Betafilm’s permission. If these scenes had been included the DVD would in fact contain the long version. We expect that at some point a Collector’s Edition DVD will be released in the US with the longer version of the miniseries, Mr. Harrison’s Director’s commentary, and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Hopefully, you can see that egos and petty business issues were not the cause of why the DVD does not contain the things you think it should. We hope that you will issue an apology to Mr. Harrison. Sincerely, Mike Messina Asst. Producer, Frank Herbert’s Dune Director of Development New Amsterdam Entertainment, Inc. Closing Thoughts Well... we certainly appreciate the length and detail of the Mike Messina's response. A couple of points we wish to make: "It was grossly inaccurate to state that our miniseries went to DVD with a few F/X shots still unfinished." This was not the point we were making. We never said that the miniseries went to DVD with unfinished shots. We were referring to the longer, director's cut. We WISH we had that on DVD. "John Harrison made no such demands for additional money to produce a director’s cut." Fair enough. Based on New Amsterdam's response, it was Betafilm that made demands for an amount of money that Artisan considered unreasonable in order to get the director's cut. So Artisan gets access to special edition materials and Columbia gets the director's cut? How screwed up is that? Forget that there are seemingly legitimate business reasons why this happened - imagine what it looks like from the fans' perspective. It's ridiculous. All that aside, it was not our intent to disparage John Harrison. We have every respect for the man and his work. I personally have been a huge fan the miniseries. But... well, more in a minute. We appreciate New Amsterdam's response, and the business positions of all involved. But the bottom line is that the Region 1 DVD version of Dune is lackluster. There's no way around it. Given the stature and quality of this miniseries, the fact that an anamorphic widescreen master and a 5.1 audio mix wasn't delivered for DVD is extremely disappointing. And now it looks as if even Columbia TriStar's international DVD version will not be anamorphic widescreen - something that's sure to upset DVD fans in Region 2, where anamorphic displays are even more common. Unfortunately, Columbia's international DVD WILL feature the longer cut of the film, which is going to further upset already angry Region 1 fans of the miniseries. But here's the worst part - the one thing that seems to upset DVD fans more than non-anamorphic widescreen movies on DVD, is when a studio releases a title on DVD in lackluster quality... and then makes you buy the same title again later in order to get the higher quality and special edition materials you all wanted in the first place. And right there, in New Amsterdam's response, is proof of what we all feared: "We expect that at some point a Collector’s Edition DVD will be released in the US with the longer version of the miniseries, Mr. Harrison’s Director’s commentary, and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound." Oh goodie. But what people are asking is, "Why couldn't you just have done it right the first time?" Once again, DVD consumers are going to feel like they're getting screwed. And they have every right and reason to feel that way. You'll just have to decide (based on what we've heard from Artisan and New Amsterdam's response) who's doing the screwing. All I can say is this - the Frank Herbert's Dune: Collector's Edition (whenever it comes out) had better feature an ANAMORPHIC widescreen master or fans will be livid. "16:9 letterboxed" isn't gonna cut it. Hell... I can get that on VHS. You know... the really sad thing about all this, is that it's the fans who want Frank Herbert's Dune on DVD the most who suffer in a situation like this. And, judging by the response we've heard from them (and the posts we're seeing elsewhere on the Net), they're definitely not happy with this DVD. Hey... I was a huge fan of this miniseries, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on this disc. Did you notice that I used the word "was"? Now, I'm just soured on the whole damn thing. It's gonna be a LONG time before I feel like watching this miniseries again. Bill Hunt, Editor The Digital Bits billhunt@thedigitalbits.com