Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Cast: Sean Young, Emily Killlian, Anna Telfer, Cherish Michael, Manny Zaldivar, Sienna Farall, Ramiro Leal, Clark Moore, Mo Smead, Grant Terzakis, Anton Kas.

There is nothing that shows the public how much you admire a piece of art than that which replicates and reproduces the key elements without going the full hog and being accused of absolute plagiarism.

Not so much a copy, but perhaps an imitation of thought, a simulation of scenes and not a mockery, a reasoned clone with its own back story, and a train of desire to cash in on the name closely associated with the original, whilst retaining the barest glimpse of what it was known for.

This is the fate that has befallen Grant Terzakis and Anton Kas’ Planet Dune, a story that in its own way fares better than it should on paper, and which perhaps finds itself to be more accessible than its more prestigious namesake which was released in the same year.

Planet Dune is the realisation that for the vast majority of the public, what they know of Dune comes down to the worms, the mental image on their head is that of what crawls beneath and not the complexity of Frank Herbert’s novel or its subsequent cinematic adaptions, and it is this in which Planet Dune captures with perfect ease, some roundabout plot and convivence, and what should be noted as engaging personality; like the school child in the class who will do anything to have the spotlight upon them by making jokes and urging others to join in, so Planet Dune is the reckless child in a room full of serious study, and it has, like the child, moments where you cannot but help sit and take a long hard look at what is going on in the mind and appreciating it for its attempts at satisfaction.

The huge surprise comes in its casting. Sean Young, the actor who appeared in such films as Blade Runner, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Dr. Jekyll and Ms Hyde, and A Kiss Before Dying, appears not in a momentary role, but as the book end for the plot to be carried forward. Her appearance is welcome, but it also serves as a reminder that cinema is often unforgiving, that for every career that is based upon the blockbuster that chains together an actor in the public eye for the whole of their life, there are hundreds whose profession slowly descends, arguably into the same sands of the planet in which the rescue of the team takes place, and they will put themselves forwards for any job to stay in the picture.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, it is to be applauded, respected, it just comes as a surprise when someone such as Sean Young does it.

For what is to be seen as one of the fabled B movies of cinema, Planet Dune does its job with spirit, it doesn’t require pin point accuracy in plot development, nor in the chops of its stars, it exists to divert, and it does it well, it does it with joy and a smile on its face; it knows it is never going to be the film at the top of its class, barely even achieving a middle ground, but it will be remembered for its imitation of thought, and one that does not descend into parody.

Planet Dune…not as doomed as you might believe when you start watching.

Ian D. Hall