Dune is like Lord of the Rings dense, not a book for someone who’s not going to really dive into it and work for it. And who wants to work for something that’s supposed to be fun?
I dig the Lynch movie, but it helps if you’ve read the book. Sounds like this is the same.

If you’re still the slightest bit interested in the story, check out the sciFi channel version that came out around 2000. Certainly lesser in the special effects department but they made
Some good decisions to change minor things for adapting the story to a visual medium. Poor Denis, he may never get his part 2.

Oh my god. The music in the Lynch version is one of the best things about it! That is totally insane. And I thought Villenueve did a great job with Blade Runner.

Just looked up who wrote Dune: Jon Spaihts. That says it all right there. He wrote "Prometheus". I'm out.

Ok that made me laugh. There is definitely a LOT of inner monologuing. And knife fights. Guess what? Herbert is a huge influence on George R R Martin! SHOCKER!

LOL! Ok you got me there

Remember it was written in the early 60s and published only a few years later. It’s not a 2021-era focus group AI masterpiece ever read A Song of Fire and Ice? THATS slow

I forgot to ask how the OP saw the movie? Is there a Houston area film festival it was showing at? The reviews I’ve seen have been pretty positive - mostly European writers so likely not just studio shills.

checking... Yep... you are absolutely correct.

It wasn’t Herbert who said that, it was “Hollywood”, which I think if frickin Gerald’s Game can be adapted into a kick ass movie, Dune should be pretty damn easy.

But that said - it probably shouldn’t be a movie. It should be a sprawling Game of Thrones epic. Fortunately or Un, it is vastly more political and more about protest than about action, which is a weird mix for the MCU-molded audience. .. and I LOVE the MCU, but it is not the same at all. This is actual brainy Science Fiction (er, mostly…) with all the intrigue and backstabbing of GoT. Crap, GoT kinda owes a LOOOT to Dune.

All right, I caved - we watched it last night, and I'll probably watch it again on HBO or possibly in the theater if I can get my wife on board. (long shot)

So the look, atmosphere, 'feel', aesthetic of the movie is OMG spot on. Absolutely magic. Everything is huge, and super detailed, and feels very 70s scifi book cover all over. The ornithopters actually have wings! Awesome design. Just everything. There's no "weirding modules" thank goodness. I don't recall any specific references to the Weirding Way, so TBD on that point I guess. I can't say enough about the whole 'lived in' feel of the universe. There are so many amazing shots in the movie, it just pulls you right in.

That said - much, muuuuuuch of the film owes a ton to the Lynch version. I love that version despite all its flaws, but overall I felt like this film made a lot of the exact same mistakes. They did make the decision to slow down the story, and try to set the stage at a slower pace so you could more thoroughly take it all in. That worked, I felt. However, it has the ultimate effect of making the film sloooooooooow. Don't go in expecting action, action action - this does hold true to the book in all the political intrigue; slightly less hit-you-over-the-head than A Song of Ice and Fire, but also less detailed (I mean, it's a movie, not a 500 page book). I kept thinking "this is what the Phantom Menace was trying to be," with all the political machinations going on. That stuff worked much better in this film.

There are 3 fight scenes I can think of, which were all fine. I was a little disappointed with Gurney and Paul's training scene, I just love the special effects in the Lynch one, which were toned quite down. There is one particularly AAAAAMAZZING huge battle scene. That was just so well done. The Harkonnens are given very limited screen time, which I thought was smart - it makes them a little mysterious and sinister.

All in all, I thought it was actually pretty good - However: My wife hasn't read the book, and hadn't followed any of the marketing. Like Ted (and I bet the vast majority of the audience), She didnt' realize that it was a "Part 1", and she was kinda pissed when the movie JUST ENDS. Almost in the middle of a scene, too.

I realized how incredibly brilliant Peter Jackson and crew were when they pulled together the structure of LOTR to those 3 films and made decisions about changing where certain scenes landed in order to serve the film. Great decisions.

So I REALLY enjoyed this movie - but I'm a big fan of the series, and I think there is a miniscule chance this makes enough money to warrant a part 2. I think the filmmakers had blinders on trying to be so true to the book that they forgot to make a compelling film. I'll rewatch it again and reevaluate.

Dune had approximately the same budget, around $165 (not including marketing) - and it's already made over $100 million - not including the US - and NOT including HBO Max. So maybe there's a chance after all.

It's slightly on the lower end, but still a big studio budget; almost all of the marvel movies have a 25% larger budget - but they're THE most proven franchise out there right now. I will say that it's clear they went to actual locations in Dune, and enhanced some with matte work or CGI - the movie is all the better for it.

The movie cuts off right about when Paul and Jessica get to the main sietch. And I mean CUTS. OFF. The Paul/Gurney fight is basically identical to the Lynch film, and they sufficiently show how the shields work without forcing it down your throat. Same line, even - we'd have joined each other in death, the slow blade, etc.

It's super obvious what "the way" is, don't worry And no sonic blaster thingies

Thinking about it again today I really liked it, it IS very faithful to the book, although IMO this may be what tanks it to a general audience.

totally agree, and I watched it at home - the shots are just incredible, and I love how a lot of it is actual REAL places - like the original Star Wars (Yavin base, etc) - you can tell how Imax would just blow your mind

LOL I didn't even notice that! Haha, I guess it really didn't matter

Not even going to be a thing until part 2 anyway!

dude, spoilers.

It was Villeneuve's specific choice, not the studio. He just wanted the best actor for each role, and he thought it made sense to make the change. As you guys have pointed out, it doesn't matter in the slightest.

I generally agree - however the Lord of the Rings had a similar problem, and people figured that out. Hell, Star Wars did have a bit of explaining to do in the first film (yeah I know, there's the crawl..). They told a similar story in Phantom Menace which... ok that's not helping my point.

Even after seeing the 1984 version 20+ times, I still can't pay attention to that opening narration. I'm not sure the movie benefits from it - they took a lot of that exposition and spread it out in the first 15/20 minutes of the movie, which I think worked way better.

You’ll be counting for a long time - the 2nd movie isn’t greenlit yet. Even if they started filming today, it would not be in theaters for 2 full years. So hopefully they get on the ball ASAP!

Would have been funnier if you referenced the old one since the worms in the new one look like Sarlaacs. Did you watch the 2021 Version?

Could not agree more. But Warner Bros has of late not been very smart with their .. well, anything. They are determined to drive their billion dollar DC franchise into the ground, so why not just save time and kill a nascent franchise in the womb!

Ha! Very cool actually

Looks like a $40 million opening, which is the biggest WB opening since COVID started. Not sure if that translates directly to a sequel, but it's the best possible result. I think it had already made $100 million overseas, not including China, if I'm not mistaken. So they are well on their way. Not sure how much HBO pitched in, or how the accounting works on that.

Their only soundtrack, but they played on a LOOOOOOOOT of other records in the 80s, many you'd never know. One... you may have heard of called "Thriller"

LOL. It does make an interesting point about him not being able to go over 40 pages, so when he hits that limit, he knows he can tighten it up. The article also mentions that GRRM writes all of the Song of Ice & Fire books in frickin' WORDSTAR

Respectfully, in all but a few cases, the producer is the final say. Almost no directors have what’s called “final cut”. The buck stops with the producer, who is responsible for financing, the budget, the final product, etc. if something is really bad they have a responsibility to tell the director.

LOL

Here’s an alternative explanation from the Dune wiki:

“It was created in a process whereby the fungal excretions of sandtrout would mix with water to form a pre-spice mass. This mass would then be brought to the surface of the desert through an explosion of pressure, and under the intense heat and air of Arrakis, melange would form. When the worms died, sandtrout would be released into the sand, and the cycle of creation would repeat.”

I'm not going to get on anybody's case just because they didn't like a movie, but WTF is a twink?

Yeah I wasn't getting that warm and fuzzy vibe from that review in general. Oy vey