David Lynch never disowned his ambivalence about "Dune," the 1984 sci-fi epic he directed, but he reserved special contempt for a later re-edited television version of the film, which he branded "the worst piece of junk" he had ever encountered. The remark, made to The Washington Post, highlights how badly the troubled production went for Lynch and underscores the gap between his singular directorial vision and the studio's subsequent handling of it.

The project had passed through several directors, including David Lean, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Ridley Scott, before landing with Lynch, who cast the then-unknown Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides. Studio interference and weak special effects left the finished film disjointed, and it failed to recoup its $42 million budget. Lynch's frustration deepened when Universal later released a chopped-up, re-narrated TV cut of the film, which he dismissed as "a joke" made by "complete jerks," while admitting he had also been unhappy with his own theatrical version.