5. David Lynch - Dune
Four years after The Elephant Man (1980), director David Lynch tackled the adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic science fiction novel, Dune. It featured the film debut of future David Lynch regular, Kyle MacLachlan as well as, of all people, Sting, of the band The Police. Lynch considers this film the only real failure of his career. In an interview, Lynch had this to say about the film:
"Dune I didn't have final cut on. It's the only film I've made where I didn't have, I didn't technically have final cut on The Elephant Man but Mel Brooks gave it to me, and on Dune the film, I started selling out even in the script phase knowing I didn't have final cut, and I sold out, so it was a slow dying- the-death and a terrible terrible experience... I trusted that it would work out but it was very naive and, the wrong move. In those days the maximum length they figured I could have is two hours and seventeen minutes, and that's what the film is, so they wouldn't lose a screening a day, so once again it's money talking and not for the film at all and so it was like compacted and it hurt it, it hurt it."
Lynch, who's always been an individualistic filmmaker, would no doubt view any film where he didn't have considerable creative control, as something not completely true to his vision. Lynch also disowned the extended TV version since he had no involvement in it.