DUNE Movie: Thoughts, Opinions, and Impressions

Just finished. Marvelous. Need to see it in IMAX.

The juxtaposition of epic scale and intimate scenes adads a dimension simply absent in the book. This film really underscores how Dune is a tragedy: 20 or 30 thousand years in the future and we‘ve learned nothing. The only human truth is power. We’ve turned ourselves into computers and killing machines, and for what?
 
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Wait how else could you pronounce Dune?
In British English the letter u is usually pronounced "yoo" so you would probably write the British pronunciation d-yoo-n.

It's why the British didn't drop the u in armour, colour etc.

But, given that Herbert wasn't British, one has to assume the US pronunciation was intended.
 

In British English the letter u is usually pronounced "yoo" so you would probably write the British pronunciation d-yoo-n.

It's why the British didn't drop the u in armour, colour etc.

But, given that Herbert wasn't British, one has to assume the US pronunciation was intended.
I doubt there is such a thing as "usually" when it comes to British pronunciation, but where I come from we pronounce it "d-ew-n".

I am reluctant to subject my wife to this film, but on the other hand I dragged her to see the Hobbit and she loved it (much more than I did, even though - or perhaps because - she had never read the book).
 


My spoiler review

overall greatly enjoyed it, and my main comparison is the mini series (I don’t remember the original movie).

I loved how they portrayed the voice. The shields were a very cool effect and they did a good job showing how useful they are (at one point a characters take a gun blast to the chest and doesn’t even feel it). The ornothopter wing effects were very neat. And my god, real lasers…like you see them and go “now THAT is a freakin laser”. Last note here is I find the vision effects well done, they were mysterious but I actually could follow them. One part kd that I really liked was one of Paul’s visions is wrong…he sees future time with him and the man he ultimately kills…showing that he does have some say in which path he goes down.

acting wise I loved Jessica’s performance the best. When Paul is being tested her grief and concern is very visceral, she just sells it. Oscar issacs is awesome of course, and is never in the movie enough.

The music and effects are truly powerful, the sand worm is killer, they do a great job not just showing how the worm itself is dangerous, but the shifting sands around it can be just as deadly. I will say this is a great IMAX movie, I think it does help to sell the scale.

the main critique is the lack of intrigue, as that seems the main price for compressing dune bsck on the big screen. None of the “who betrayed Leto” is there, it’s the dr right away…and that got no build up at all. The barons scheming is really undercut, he definately shows his evil side but we never get to see how cunning he is. I will also say coming from the mini series it’s jarring how such “big moments” in the mini series were just given in the movie. Paul’s idea to become the next emperor…casual throw away line. The fremins secret cache of underground water and their dream of greening Arrakis…put out so casually that I actually wonder if newer audiences even caught what a big deal it is.

So it’s not a perfect movie but it is a grand one, and one worth seeing
 

My thoughts

Good, not great.
Other than Paul and Jessica, there is zero character development.
I'm not a fan of glossing over everything in Arakeen (sp?).... We really get very little of the fremen there. It had to be done for time, and probably doesn't matter....
It felt epic, but lacking.

I still maintain this should be a series on HBO or Apple+
 

My thoughts

Good, not great.
Other than Paul and Jessica, there is zero character development.
I'm not a fan of glossing over everything in Arakeen (sp?).... We really get very little of the fremen there. It had to be done for time, and probably doesn't matter....
It felt epic, but lacking.

I still maintain this should be a series on HBO or Apple+
Im going in a few hours and these are all my fears for part I.
 

My spoiler review

overall greatly enjoyed it, and my main comparison is the mini series (I don’t remember the original movie).

I loved how they portrayed the voice. The shields were a very cool effect and they did a good job showing how useful they are (at one point a characters take a gun blast to the chest and doesn’t even feel it). The ornothopter wing effects were very neat. And my god, real lasers…like you see them and go “now THAT is a freakin laser”. Last note here is I find the vision effects well done, they were mysterious but I actually could follow them. One part kd that I really liked was one of Paul’s visions is wrong…he sees future time with him and the man he ultimately kills…showing that he does have some say in which path he goes down.

acting wise I loved Jessica’s performance the best. When Paul is being tested her grief and concern is very visceral, she just sells it. Oscar issacs is awesome of course, and is never in the movie enough.

The music and effects are truly powerful, the sand worm is killer, they do a great job not just showing how the worm itself is dangerous, but the shifting sands around it can be just as deadly. I will say this is a great IMAX movie, I think it does help to sell the scale.

the main critique is the lack of intrigue, as that seems the main price for compressing dune bsck on the big screen. None of the “who betrayed Leto” is there, it’s the dr right away…and that got no build up at all. The barons scheming is really undercut, he definately shows his evil side but we never get to see how cunning he is. I will also say coming from the mini series it’s jarring how such “big moments” in the mini series were just given in the movie. Paul’s idea to become the next emperor…casual throw away line. The fremins secret cache of underground water and their dream of greening Arrakis…put out so casually that I actually wonder if newer audiences even caught what a big deal it is.

So it’s not a perfect movie but it is a grand one, and one worth seeing
Agree with this.

What's below is not technically spoilers, but I'll spoiler it anyway because some viewers want to go in with zero foreknowledge.

Although relatively coherent, it is a little odd which story points get attention in this version and which are all but ignored. Dr. Yueh's Imperial Conditioning is not mentioned once, making one wonder why he was so trusted to start with. No mention of the abilities of Mentats (human computers), and the roles of Thufir Howatt and Piter DeVries are cut back to almost cameos. The Bene Gesserit and their abilities are addressed, but they have to be as they are essential to the narrative. What is missed, however, is their need for Spice along with that of the Guild Navigators, and the whole politicking between the Bene Gesserit, the Spacing Guild, the Emperor, and the Landsraad.

The trip from Caladan to Arrakis is handled as a jump-cut- you never see a space-fold or hear it mentioned; for the uninitiated, Heighliners might as well travel by warp or hyperspace. There is no real mention of Guild Navigators or the way they are mutated over centuries by the Spice. One thing the movie does well is impart a sense of scale with respect to the various ships and vehicles- they are frakkin' huge. You could fit half of starfleet in that Heighliner!

The scene of Paul's Testing by the Reverend Mother, and the way this version handled The Voice, is superlative.
 
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