I watched it last night. I'm very familiar with Lynch's movie, the books, etc.

I loved it!

IMO I think it's the best version of Dune put to celluloid. The world design, the costumes, the music...Villeneuve has proven again (like he did with Blade Runner) that he knows how to pull off complex material like this in an engaging way......for that small devoted portion of the audience.

Like Blade Runner, I feel that the majority of the audience is going to fall asleep by the end of the movie. God help you if you are walking into this movie blind with no knowledge of books, or just a general love of Science Fiction. American audiences are generally dumbed-down & expect non-stop action. This movie will fly right over their heads.

The movie doesn't dive into great detail explaining the backstory of Dune lore either. Everything is there, but it's just not explained. Which was probably by design, as they just focused on the large principles. For example the Mentats: Very cool...their eyes gloss over white when calculating. But this is never explained. Or the fact that Mentats have evolved because computers are outlawed. Which explains why all the ship cockpits have switches & levers for a movie set in the year 10191. If you know the lore it's awesome. The general audience will miss these subtleties entirely.

I just don't understand why producers/directors insist on making Dune movies. The dense material is better suited to a long running television series on HBO or Netflix, when a slow pace & backstory deep dive would be beneficial for viewers & the overall story.

But Villeneuve's Dune is what we got, and it scratched all the right places for me. I hope that Part 2 gets made, but with the dual digital/box office release, long runtime & a slow pace that will turn off many viewers, I doubt it will happen. I think the box office numbers are going to be a disappointment, just like Blade Runner.

Sure would have been nice to see Jodorowsky's version of Dune. If you loved this version, check out that Jodorowsky documentary

Oscar Issac doesn't need to be kneecapped to have a poor performance. I swear I was so impressed with his breakout role in Inside Llewyn Davis. Then I've never seen an actor lose his luster so quickly. He picks terrible roles, then provides flat or one-dimensional performances. Either in indy films that no one remembers, or big blockbusters like Star Wars that are just as forgettable. Another flat performance in Dune. Can't always be the directors or writers fault. I'm just not a fan anymore.

I also rewatched 1984 Dune again. I think there's a legitimate argument to say that Lynch handled the material & the characters better than the new version. They're both all good in my opinion tho.