Jodorowsky's Dune covers the inception and eventual crumbling of one of the most ambitious film projects ever conceived. Alejandro Jodorowsky, the Chilean cult filmmaker whose films include surrealist works like El Topo and The Holy Mountain, wanted to make a miniseries- length adaptation of Frank Herbert's sci-fi novel that would elevate the consciousness of the entire human race, or something. Frankly, I'm kind of glad he never found the money. I'm not sure what film could live up to that level of ambition.For me, what's most interesting about this documentary is how much I disagree with its thesis. This film clearly wants us to see Jodorowsky's Dune as the greatest film never made. I'm not buying it. Jodorowsky admits that he had not read the novel when he started getting his team (he called them "spiritual warriors"; the whole thing seems rather cultlike) together, and when it becomes apparent that his film would deviate from the novel in many significant ways, he claims that he was "raping Frank Herbert...with love". I don't care if that's a metaphor; raping *anyone* with love is an oxymoron. I am a fan of the novel, which might be biasing my thinking here, but I doubt anyone but the most hardcore Jodorowsky devotees would ever want to sit through this film, had it been made. So maybe the greedy studios were right to withhold backing.None of this is to say that Jodorowsky's Dune is itself without merits. As a study in how making art is a series of compromises, and how one charismatic visionary can sweep others up in dreaming the impossible dream with him, it's enlightening. Jodorowsky is a jovial, engaging fellow, and when you consider that the team he assembled for this film included Dan O'Bannon, H.R. Giger, and Moebius, it's not difficult to accept that some of their ideas for this film later found their way into later sci-fi classics that did get made. If nothing else, you will marvel at the sheer absurdity of it all. The 70s were a good time to be a groundbreaking auteur. But not everyone gets to be Scorsese.

If you love the metaphysical, if you love the spiritual, if you love passion, documentaries, science-fiction, or movies, watch this.This documentary on 'the best movie never made' takes you through the process of an uprising director on the path to making one of the 1960's most ambitious movie-projects.Jodorowsky's intent was to change the perceptions of the public by adapting the sci-fi novel Dune into a glorious big-screen piece of art. He wanted to do this by subtly reproducing the effects a drug like LSD has on you in order to 'open the minds'.I especially loved how he talked about several synchronicities, spiritual concepts, and other things like working from the heart. Jodorowsky is a legit artist and one massive ball of energy, even at the age of 84. This was a very inspiring watch and I highly recommend it if you're into the more qualitative documentaries.

With having found auteur film maker Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Dance of Reality to be a dazzling surreal title,I was pleased to spot on a thread on IMDb's Film Festival thread that a doc about a project Jodorowsky failed to get made was chosen for viewing,which led to me getting ready to step on Jodorowsky's Dune.The outline of the doc:After his movie The Holy Mountain is an unexpected hit,film maker Alejandro Jodorowsky is asked by the producer about what he would like to do for his next project.Hearing about the book,Jodorowsky decides that he would like to do an adaptation of the Sci-Fi novel Dune.Once the producer gets the rights, Jodorowsky begins writing a screenplay for a 14 hour long (!) adaptation.As he Jodorowsky starts hiring people for the film,the project starts to face cash troubles.View on the film:Displaying a number of the superb storyboards and drawings that Jodorowsky had done for the project,director Frank Pavich offers a bittersweet taste to what could have been by bringing the storyboards alive with a delicate use of CGI.Along with the CGI preview,Pavich dips the film into Jodorowsky's surrealist ink,thanks to images of the stars and pre-production meetings, (from Mick Jagger to producer Dan O'Bannon being high when he first met Jodorowsky!)giving the movie a dreamy fantasy atmosphere.Despite the project not reaching the screen, Alejandro Jodorowsky displays a burning passion for the project which shines across the screen,as Jodorowsky reveals what came out of the ashes of Dune.

This movie is a spiritual enlightenment in a documentary form.Let us start with this: I own the blu-ray version of the movie. Never saw any Jodorowsky movie, but I am huge fan of both books and David Lynch's "Dune".So far somebody would expect me to judge this documentary from the perspective of a "Dune" fan, but honestly I tried to be as neutral as possible. Of course, part of me was the "Dune" fan when I was watching, part of me was trying to get into the mind of this crazy genius, as Jodorowsky appears to be.Some quick facts and impressions: I have never seen the theatrical version of the documentary, but the blu-ray version do contains additional footage, giving even a bit more insight from both Jodorowsky and Michel Seydoux on the events and relationships of Jodorowsky and the crew. I consider this bonus material a very valuable add-on to the whole story, so I do recommend you to buy the blu-ray version.What to say... The movie pretty much speaks about itself. It is well done and very interesting to see, especially it touches such a mysterious subject in the world cinematography, as the never made movie about "Dune". What the movie shows however in addition, is a valuable insight on Jodorowsky's mind and we are given the chance to experience from first person perspective the creative process of the mind of a genius.Yes, I said I have never seen a Jodorowsky movie. However experiencing the way this man thinks and creates, I cannot deny he is a true genius. While we are not given the chance to see the whole book he prepared for the movie studios, showing the storyboard of "Dune", we almost feel like we could watch the movie from some of his words.Jodorowsky's "Dune" would have been a true spectacular movie. David Lynch's "Dune" is already spectacular - we have the monsters by Kit West , the same who created the monsters in "Star Wars", we have the music of the legendary TOTO and Brian Eno, we have a whole constellation of famous actors, including Sting in addition. Jodorowsky was about to offer much more - different music for every Dune house, starting with the cult Pink Floyd, even more constellations of stars - Mick Jagger, Amanda Lear, Orson Welles, H.R.Giger and even, oh my, Salvador Dali! And all this experienced in a totally different palette of colours trough the prism of Jodorowsky's mind.Honestly, while I think the movie would have been very very different than everything we saw and maybe considered too "mature-rated", if not even little "pervert" by some, I think the world really lost by not having this movie created.The moral of the story however, is that even true geniuses have to consider the budget and some boundaries in the end. Otherwise we are left with nothing, but legends.