Lynch has toiled to condense Frank Herbert's mammoth SF novel into two hours twenty: 10000 years in the future the life-and-death struggle between the Atreides and Harkonnens for the vital spice Melange, which is vital for space travel and is guarded by giant mile-long worms, takes place on a third planet - Arrakis, the desert planet, home to the Fremen, dune dwellers with vivid blue eyes. Fremen legend tells of a Messiah who will be able to drink the water of life, previous tasters having tried find out more...

Two astronauts land on a planet populated by apes, but these chimps are no chumps and the men find themselves imprisoned and at the mercy of their furry captors. The enigma of the planet's history, juggled through Heston's humiliating experience of being studied as an interesting laboratory specimen by his ape captors, right down to his final startling rediscovery of civilisation, is quite beautifully sustained. One interesting fact is that the aristocratic orangutan Dr. Zaius was originally to find out more...