David Lynch's film is a strange creation. No doubt its a gorgeous movie to behold, visually stunning and epic in its scale and reach. However, the troubles that Lynch had in getting the film made, the pacing of the movie (especially towards the end) and the fact that Lynch's name is replaced in the credits with the name Alan Smithee (evident of a film maker not prepared to put his name to a film) highlights the troubled nature of the film. Nevertheless, its (largely) faithful to the book and until the last 20 minutes is paced very well.  Perhaps the rumoured and almost mythical 4 hour version would put an end to that, well at least one can only hope!