Mistakes in Dune
Flying through the air with the greatest of ease...
In the scene where Paul, Stilgar and the Fremen encounter the smugglers towards the end of the movie; at one point Stilgar says "Too bad, I thought they were Harkonnen!". In the shot that follows, Paul turns and shoots a running trooper who summersaults. If you watch the spot the stuntman lifts off from, you can just make out the air ram used for hurtling the stuntie. As the smoke clears, the platform collapses out of sight.
(Spotted by Roger Lewis) Added January 2008
Living in a box
During the final battle, there is a Sardukar trooper who explodes who is nothing but a couple of boxes stacked on top of each other, with something round on the top to resemble a head.
This shot of an exploding trooper is also repeated twice during the battle sequence.
(Spotted by Gareth Prior) Added April 2006
Soft landing
When the Harkonnans attack Arrakeen and Rabban throws an Atreides soldier of a bridge/cliff, watch closely as the stunt man hits the ground and you will notice it shake - the padding for the stunt man's fall!
(Spotted by monsoontide) Added April 2006
Red Hand Gang
In the scene when Stilgar marks the Fedaykin with red paint (blood) he says there are fifteen of them..
Well.. in that case Fedaykins have the fastest reproduction rate among mammals, as in the scene before Paul takes the water of life we can see sixteen of them.
(Spotted by Palkers) Added April 2005
Where for art thou Thufir?
When Paul confronts the Emperor the camera pans across the Emperors party and Thufir can be see between the Emperor and Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, a second later we see the same people, only Thufir has vanished!
This is due to Thufir's death being removed from the film.
(Spotted by Mark Bennett) Added September 2002
Who are you?
When Paul is having shield practice with Gurney, in some of the shots you can see the face of the stunt man - who looks nothing like Paul.
(Spotted by Sebastian Peters) Added September 2002
[Note: The stunt man is Dickey Beer, thanks to Terry Cox, a member of the 82-83 Dune SPFX crew for the information]
Soft Rock
The scene where Paul is sliding down the rock face (after he and his mother are chased by the worm) his foot hits a rock and he is pitched forward. Look at the spot where his foot hits. You may need slow-mo VCR or DVD or pause or something to see it, but Paul's foot cuts a gap in the rock-colored styrofoam.
(Spotted by Jeff Wagner) Added September 2002
Shield won't go away
When Paul and Gurney finish their shield practice, and Paul says "Would you really have drawn my blood" he's turning his shield off...and the shield retracts into the beltmounted device....then begins to reopen again!
(Spotted by mrichey) Added 02/04/99
Am I Dead Yet?
When they switch to the scene of Yueh in the autopsy room, he is surrounded by tables on which dead Harkonnen soldiers are waiting to be inspected. During an establishing shot of Yueh, you can see the top of the head and shoulders of a Harkonnen, with his shaved-top carrot coloured hair. The actor is apparently shifting around to try to get comfortable. As the scene unfolds, it is apparent that all of the bodies are quite dead with some already prepared for examination.
(Spotted by ssands)
Is this mic on?
I've spotted a mistake in the scene where Duke Leto's thopther saves the men in the harvester that gets swallowed by a worm.
In the second "Leto's- shouting- in- a- microphone- to- a- lot- of- running- men" scene, he shouts into the back of the microphone. But in the first "Leto-shouting..."-scene, he's shouting in the "proper" side of the microphone. Sorry if I couldn't explain very well, but I'm not english
(Spotted by u_dufwenberg)
Did the cat get hungry?
The scene where Feyd is holding the cat with the mouse attached to it, when it shows a close-up you notice that the mouse is next to the cat, when it cuts away from the scene to show Thufir, you can then see that the mouse is gone.
(Spotted by Wish)
Old Blue Eyes
Paul's eyes changing from blue in one scene to normal in the next, this happens in a number of places such as when Paul is given the name Usul and after sandworm ride.
Got the time Sting?
In the scene where Sting (Feyd) walks out of the 'shower' he has an allover body tan... except on his left wrist, when you can see where his wrist watch has been!
The Green Green Grass of Dune
In the scene just before Paul plants a thumper for his first worm ride we see a sand dune... with grass growing on the bottom of it!
(Note: A few people have pointed out that the grass could have been part of Dr. Kynes' 'terraforming' project.)
Wire meet again
In the scene where the Emperor's tent blows outward you can briefly see the wires pulling the wall away from the camera.
Enjoy your trip?
When the Third Stage Guild Navigator first appears (entering the Emperor's Throne Room), one of the escorting troopers trips and stumbles.
(Spotted by Dan Atkinson, reported by Steve 'THINMAN' Arkle)
Don't trail your trail
At the end of the movie when the emperor, his generals and the princess walk into the room, one of the generals is about to step on the back of the princess' gown until he nonchalantly swips it sideways with his foot.
(Spotted by Casey Plummer)
'Spot' the mistake
The Baron Harkkonan's blisters on his face keep changing places.
(Spotted (no pun intended) by Robert Beckhusen)
Wooden Acting?
One of the mistakes I noticed is when the Fremen army is massing in the desert and planting thumpers (to make the attack on the Emperor) you can notice Fremen warriors in the far left are nothing but black cloth tied to sticks and placed in the ground.
(Spotted by George B. Robb III)
Do get the name right
During the ending credits when actor and name come up, Jose Ferrer's character is titled Padisha Emperor Shaddam IV, Padishah is spelt with a 2 'H's, not one.
(Spotted by Ricardo De Torres)
Missing the point
Just as the Reverend Mother tells Paul to remove his hand from the box, she removes the gom jabbar from her right index finger. One can clearly notice that the needle-like point that was atop the gom jabbar was no longer there.
(Spotted by queen)
(Note: It could be that the light doesn't catch the needle very well, I think the needle is still there if you look hard enough.)
Keep on running
In the battle sequence in the last part of the film, when the Fremen are riding on the worms. Seen from above, Sand falls from the mouth of the worm, and covers Harkonnen troops, yet the Harkonnens keep runing as nothing has happned. Noone can standup under tons of sand, also there is no shadow of the sand. When the men still are 'under' the sand, you can spot the shadows of them in front of the sand.
(Spotted by boss)
Paul bags an error
In the scene where Paul is falling down from the rock Paul has a bag on his shoulder of his left arm. When he slides down on the broken rock the bag fall from his arm. There is a short scene when Paul and bag fall separate, then a scene on which is Paul seen from a front camera and he falls down with bag on his shoulder again.
I think that this is a mistake because Paul would be unable to catch the bag and get it back on his shoulder.
(Spotted by xnajbr00)
Lost Plug
When Sting comes out of the shower he does not have a heart plug on his chest although the Baron said that everyone had to have them there.
(Spotted by rigler)
[Note: Many people have suggested that 'everyone' has a plug, apart from a Harkonnen noble.]
Caught Red Handed
In Paul's first worm riding scene, the Fremen warriors near Stilgar and Paul have their stillsuit shoulders painted in red, but this cannot happen untill the next scene, when the warriors get their shoulders painted by Stilgar's hand in the foundation of Paul's Guard, the Fedaykin.
(Spotted by Cesar Ernesto Videla Cerda) Added July 2003
Just filling in
In the scenes when Jessica and Paul take the Water of Life you can see the fillings in their teeth when they scream.
Metal fillings in the year 10000? Not much progress here :)
(Spotted by Ohad G) Added July 2003
In some releases of Dune on VHS a section of the movie was flipped, which produces several continuity errors, such as those below. These are really production errors rather than movie bloopers though.
What a cheek!
Gurney's scar is supposed to be on his left cheek. But during the scene right before the Fremen attack Shaddam IV, the scar is on his right cheek.
(Spotted by Ricardo De Torres)
Pick an ear.
If you notice, when the Baron is brought in to see the Emperor the earing is in the right ear, when the battle is complete, and Paul and Feyd are about to fight, you see that the earing is now in the other ear, and there is no hole in the right ear for where the first one was.
(Spotted by Wish)
Please report any known mistakes to [email protected]