I Finally Watched Dune
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Back in the late 70's I read the sci-fi /fantasy novel Dune. Cant remember the year because it is so long ago now. I loved the book, and always wondered what this complicated and dense story of other worlds , hallucinogenic "spices" , and noble families in perpetual conflict, not to mention the secret society of powerful witch nuns , could be like translated to the movie screen.
I tried to watch the version that came out in the 80's , directed by David Lynch , but I couldnt get into it for some reason.
Now we have the new epic Dune, with all the CGI bells and whistles, and the six newly won Academy Awards, and I finally got around to watching it on HBO Max.
I thought it was good, and the photography and effects are at another level compared to most films, and even the action scenes are pretty well done, but when it was over I was wondering why I didnt like it more.
I think the reason is because when a movie is made, from a famous book, we are being told how to process the story and the images. Previously we chose our own way of imagining the scenery , events, and characters from the pages of the novel. We were enthralled by the power of words with which our imaginations would interact. In a movie we have the director telling us "this is what this story is, take it or leave it." Most individual interpretation is gone.
In that light the story in Dune seemed far less interesting to me than it had been in the novel. We no longer imagine the giant desert sandworms, we see someone's conception of them on the screen.
The Bene Gesserit cult seemed far less mysterious and occult in the movie than it did when described in far greater detail in the novel.
Not sure I'll have immense interest in Pt 2 of this story which will be released late in 2023 they say. Maybe I'll go back and reread parts of the book.
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I give Dune *** out of four.
I give it * and I am being generous.
I think it is not a movie for everyone. Most people wont be familiar with any of the terminology used in this imaginary universe.
I wasn't going to comment cause I don't plan on seeing it.
I am thinking you didn't like it? Haha
Whether the average person will really like it depends on how much they appreciate exotic images made to look real by computer programming. It is a stunning looking movie, although visually dark. Its the story that does not translate that well from the book to the screen.
I read Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune (lost interest after God Emperor and never read the follow up 'Heretics of Dune') in the early 80's and loved the first film when it was released as a made for TV movie with several hours of extra footage that was not in the abridged theatre release. I remember having to pause the VHS recorder at the commercial breaks so I had the full four hours, what came to be known as the David Lynch directors cut of the film, on VHS which I would show every few years for any friends who had never gotten to see the full film.
Since then I've seen the Dune TV miniseries from 2000 and the Children of Dune miniseries from 2003, both had some good and bad things but never really felt as gritty as they should have in my opinion to warrant more.
With all that said, I think the new Dune movie was very well done, had the right feel and captured a lot of that grit the book expressed and first film (at least the directors cut) captured. My only real complaint with the new film is that the end came too soon, I wanted it to continue the story to the end of the first book all in one fell swoop akin to how the four hour version of David Lynch's film did. But I understand that they had to get some feedback from the first half before investing in the second, I just hope they don't disappoint after getting the green light to finish it.
I devoured the books ( A trilogy still hiding in the garage library boxes? )
Loved the books, hated the first movies, the remakes and the doomed series....
I agree if they were going to doit it should have been the whole book.
Time will tell
Movies are a collaboration between the people making them and it takes tons of people to make something as big as Dune. Books are a collaboration of the writer, editor and the person reading it. It's a much more intimate media format. I don't prefer one format over the other, I respect them for what they are. I have both the Dune book and the Dune Part 1 movie disk in my libraries.
People (in general) are too hung up on films adapted from books not meeting up to what they've personally built it up to be in their heads instead of approaching it as its own thing. A whole internet business model is based on keeping people outraged about it.
I get what you are saying, but I dont think the story in the movie Dune is that interesting or compelling when divorced from the plot of the book. A lot of people will see the movie that didnt read the book or read it decades ago.
Yeah... I'm the target market for things like Dune, so it would be difficult to comment on that. All I can say is Warner Bros thinks it did well enough to start work on part 2.
I have real mixed feelings if I am watching it or not. I am a big fan of all the Dune books but am concerned watching the movie will fall as flat as the first Dune movie they did. It is on my list of things to watch but it never gets to the top of the list because other movies come out and push it farther down the list. I guess that is telling me I may never get to it.
Ditto, brother.
Wasn't David Bowie in the first movie?
I might be thinking of something else.
I don't think so but Sting was in the first one. Bowie was in the Sci Fi movie "The man who fell to Earth" in the 70s. Maybe you were thinking of that
Thanks. I was thinking a famous musician was in it.
I know Bowie was also in Labyrinth or something.
No, I may have to check it out, thanks
Yes, Sting was in Dune. Bowie was in The Labyrinth.
If you mean the original, that was Sting. His coming out of that chamber all oiled up in that leather diaper made my day.
Thanks for my first big laugh of the morning.
I have watched that movie seven times this week just for that one scene.
The movie looks fantastic. Still suits are perfect. Ornithopters are perfect. The worms! I feel like they nailed the Fremen. The combination of CGI and practical effects is superb. You can go and on.
If I have a beef with this movie, it’s that it’s too short. They could have made it an hour longer and it would have been amazing. How about a song from Gurney? How about some time with the Spacing Guild? Or a better explanation of mentats? How about some more bonding time from the book between the people of Arrakis and the Atreides? Where is Feyd? Why leave out Irulan?
What they put in the movie is nearly flawless. The problem is there’s just so much they left out. If you’ve read the book, you understand what is happening; but I have to believe that if you haven’t, you must be lost watching this thing.
They are currently working on part 2 pre-production. Villeneuve wants to also do a movie off Dune Messiah to complete this all as a trilogy. There is also a prequel series Dune: The Sisterhood has been revived from development hell.
I guess what I was kind of hoping for was an extended version or director’s cut, but I think he pretty much put out what he wanted to put out
Yeah... no 4 hour "Snyder cut" on this one. Villeneuve said he had complete freedom to put out what he wanted.
There is a lot of underlying drama and nuance that is not in this version.
Any attempt, at least in my mind, to do justice to the series of books, would be a television series. But it would most likely be to tedious for most of today's audience.
I can't even imagine attempting to to a movie based on 'The Foundation' series.
You might not be able to image it, but Apple + has a limited series...
Ah hell, another subscription. Should've known I guess.
This one is only $4.99 per month.
I don’t know if I would say you’re missing much. The series is based on the books, but “loosely” is not a strong enough word.
I read the books and I thought it was a good adaptation of the novel. I plan on watching the next series.
Based on your recommendation, I shall watch the series.
I’ll watch it, too, of course, just like I watch everything labeled “Star Trek” no matter how flawed. I can’t help myself.
I don’t mind that the Foundation show doesn’t match the books perfectly, and there are some things I really like. For example, I think what they have done with the Emperor (practically a non-character in the book) is actually really smart and creative. I also welcome the diversity in the cast. Practically everybody in the book of any importance is a white male, and it’s just not necessary for any of them to be so.
What I mainly object to is the way the show seems to accentuate the need for important actions by key individuals over the trends of large populations - literally the opposite of the theory of psychohistory.
My personal favorite is the Dino DeLaurentis produced version. But the honest truth is how many times can you tell the same story? This is what, the fourth remake of Dune so far? I will still give the benefit of doubt and watch the newest version anyway.
Because I won't go into a movie theatre any more I'll have to wait to see this new version of Dune. Going back in my history I started reading SF at a single-digit age, perhaps because my brother, who is 4 years older than me was a SF fan and bought all the pulp SF magazines, Astounding Stories, Galaxy and SF, Amazing Stories, etc. that featured authors like Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clark, and I cut my teeth loving the Edward E. "Doc" Smith Skylark and Lens series. However, what I settled upon as my most favourite SF novel and its followup novels was Dune by Frank Herbert (the father, the son's continuation turned me off) and to this day my favourite SF movie is the first movie made from Dune nothwithstanding that David Lynch tried his best to distance himself from it. Having read the novels again and again, I still have never been critical of the novels' original adaptations, even tolerating the TV ones - all were great IMO and I wasn't looking for things to criticize, but to enjoy.
And because I did appreciate the original movie, I do look forward to someday seeing this new version. The technology used in the making of it must be (to NOT coin a word) fantastic.
I suppose if I had written an article like this one, I would have posted it either in the Movie and TV group or the Science Fiction Fanatics group and promoted it to the Front Page for the same result, but then I'm not the author.
Buzz, I put another article in your group. I suppose you didnt see it.
I just saw it and posted a comment on it. Thank you - it was a good article.
It was the same with me as I also started reading SF at the same age. My mother told me repeatedly that I always had a overactive imagination. Growing up the youngest in a Hispanic family on the border, I was considered by most of my extended family as being wierd and was somewhat shunned. My elderly maternal grandmother with whom I lived with and was raised by told me to never mind what other people thought as long as I was happy. I love Sci Fi to this day.
I enjoyed Dune and I am looking forward to the next film in the series. I agree with your 3/4.