I think the Dune series hasn't recieved the movie it deserves yet. By the way, I've only seen the Alan Smithee extended cut of the David Lynch film (he took his name off it because he was unhappy with its direction) and I get the feeling it lost something when they tried to smooth out the plot. Point is, the 1984 film deviated from the books, while the scifi series stuck closer but the budget let it down.
And no one has gotten past the third book, I'll admit that God Emperor of Dune really got really bogged down in political philospophy, but I found the setting and locale to be amazing. I mean, the effect of skipping 3500 years forward to when the desert has become a paradise, and the familar scenery is now completely different, but you still recognise feature like the shield wall. The plot would have to be fiddled with, but the cinematography could be amazing, especially with Leto's massive architecture.
For me, the books dwindled off after they started following the Bene Gesserit's point of view. The Bene Gesserit just annoy me, the way they're just SOOOOO organized, then the plot turns into a cosmic catfight, then a rather dull war with the killer robots, then everyone makes up and holds hands and stands in a big circle singing kumbayah (including robots).
