The producer of over-the-top movie spectacles died at age 91. He’s responsible for good movies (Manhunter), bad movies (Dune), and King Kong Lives, the mind-bogglingly bizarre sequel to the 1976 giant-gorilla-on-the-World-Trade-Center remake of King Kong:
It feels like a certain kind of old Hollywood movie has died with De Laurentiis. He was responsible for the kind of quirky blockbuster that allowed for (often vapid) self-expression in the middle of all that big-budget schlock. It would take at least 200 Jerry Bruckheimers to make a single Dino De Laurentiis.
army of darkness
also
grandfather to giada di laurentiis
“bad movies (Dune)”
Silence!
You forgot Conan.
dune = awesome.
I also stopped in to stick up for Dune.
CAN YOU HEAR ME IN SEATTLE? I LIKED DUNE!
“It would take at least 200 Jerry Bruckheimers to make a single Dino De Laurentiis.” I suppose. But he’d be very large, very annoying, and what are you going to do with those 200 leather jackets? No one’s going to want them, you know.
Dune is over-hated.
No one’s mentioned Flash Gordon! This man gave us Brian Blessed as an alien hawkman sky-barbarian! For that alone he will be missed.
@CC: “Long live the fighters! Except, uh, for the ones who are about to die in the fight! Short live them, I guess. Sorry, guys!”
Huh. Jack Nance of ERASERHEAD fame was in DUNE, and he was married to Kelly Jean Van Dyke, who made porn films and committed suicide, and who was also the niece of Dick Van Dyke, who was recently saved from death by friendly porpoises. It’s like everything’s connected, man! Haven’t worked Justin Bieber in there yet, but I’m working on it.
Dune was definitely pretty ridiculous, but it got to me when I was too young to give a shit about how faithful it was to source material (or that it had source material), or what the hell was going on plot-wise, or ridiculous jumps in time plastered over by worm-training montages. It was just unlike anything I’d ever seen before in a really cool-looking way.
Plus vulva-mouthed space monsters. Also crazy eyes Sting.
I liked most of Dune. It should’ve been made as two or three films, but there wasn’t enough money for that, and such a thing had never been done before. Too bad.
Thing is, Dino was the one who gambled on Blue Velvet when no one else would touch it. Without that, who knows what might have become of Lynch’s career.
Also, Danger: Diabolik!
@c&b: Danger: Diabolik! I want that secret underground lair SO BAD! Can’t fit it under my house, though…just ain’t gonna work.