Dune (Denis Villeneuve, 2021)

i havent read the books only saw the movies D=, i see

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https://youtu.be/M-7QBR6hugc Wanda Maximoff-Scarlet Witch -Elizabeth Olsen
https://youtu.be/78oLEoy5Npo Natasha Romanoff-Black Widow-Scarlett Johansson
https://youtu.be/0LXhnd-CMrQ Agatha Harkness-Kathryn Hahn
https://youtu.be/4E880wNeB2g Yelena Belova-Florence Pugh
https://youtu.be/V8BhIsWTGUI Clint Barton-Hawkeye-Jeremy Renner
https://youtu.be/wX7VibqBUrk Loki Lufeyson-Tom Hiddleston

Watched it last night. Such an awesome film. Can't wait for the second one. Loved the soundtrack as well.

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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019

Saw it at the theater this afternoon, and was blown away. Spectacular film. Maybe a full five boxes for a rating, but I am going to let it simmer for a day or two before I rate it.


Now then, about to watch it again here at home!

(My letterboxd review)

Okay, let me say right off the bat, if you're a big Dune purist, you should look elsewhere for opinions on this movie. I can't tell you how it compares to the book, the David Lynch movie, or the miniseries because I have never read/watched them. However, I did see the documentary about the version that didn't get made, Jodorowsky's Dune. It looked like it would have been amazing, so I knew that this was a source material that had potential for a pretty sweet adaptation. Plus, I loved the director Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner sequel, so I figured he wouldn't just give us some generic sci-fi movie with this. And just judging this movie purely on its own, I love it! It's been a long time since I really felt I was having an experience at a movie. I felt similar to how I did with Blade Runner 2049. You should know this movie is only part 1 of the events from the original book, so it really takes its time. You may feel like not many events happen to justify a 155 minute run time, and I would understand. But, like the Blade Runner movies, I can overlook that because the whole draw is this world with its lore. I gather this franchise has pretty complex lore and backstory, and I thought this movie did a good job establishing its world for the uninitiated (me) in a way that's palatable, but doesn't dumb anything down either. If I do have a gripe, it's probably character development. There are some good actors in this and they serve their purpose, as well as having personalities that make them stand out. But I didn't find any of them particularly deep, I guess. I do like the main guy, Paul, played here by Timothee Chalamet. He has a good heart and yearning for adventure like most young heroes. But when it comes to him being "the one" who's supposed to help things, I didn't see much development there. He seems like another hero who is good at stuff just because a prophecy said so, and that's it, kind of like Neo or Rey. But it doesn't bother me too much because the film's world and atmosphere just so completely absorbed me, I could ignore most shortcomings. It is one of the most visually beautiful, atmospheric films I've seen in years, which is what I expected from a Villeneuve adaptation, and I was not disappointed.

If I had to rank the films I've seen from him, it would probably go:
Blade Runner 2049
Prisoners (if you liked Mystic River or Gone Baby Gone, you'll love this)
Sicario
Arrival (another clue that Dune would be smarter than the average sci-fi)
Dune
Incendies
Enemy (which I still really liked)

This was the most entranced I've felt at the movies in a really long time and I can't recommend you go see it enough. And I do mean GO see it. See it on the biggest screen with the best surround sound possible. Unless you have the most top notch home theater possible, resist the temptation to stream it instead of going to the theater. Plus, it's a well-known principle that you vote with your wallet. BR2049 didn't do too well box office wise, so we probably won't see any more movies. Please don't let that happen to this movie, let them know if you want more stuff like this instead of the usual generic crap.

4.5, bordering on 5/5. Could become 5 on a rewatch, we'll have to see

Haven't seen it, but I suspect some of us are familiar with the books. Are there any film vs. book questions?

I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. I’m not ambivalent towards it, though. It’s a real odd duck of a movie for me.

Overwhelming filmmaking. I guess that’s worth something.

OK, a few thoughts about the movie.

1. The music is a bit much when we get into the pseudo-Arabian yodelling with hints of Shirley Bassey. The connections to the Middle East (e.g., Lawrence of Arabia) are obvious without need of laying it on thick with vocal cues. In some moments, it felt like Team America World Police type scoring (tropey, obvious, exaggerated). I had to laugh when he killed Jamis at the end and that stupid warbling came in. The music is not so much. No strong themes, just ambient tones and this stuff. Oh and the didgeridoo voice at the beginning was goofy too. What's up with the comically scary voices?

2. I like Rebecca Fergusson as an actress, but she has self-reported not reading Herbert's books and it shows. Her emotions are on the surface and they are rather extreme. The Lady Jessica is a Bene Gesserit. Think Mr. Spock, except more manipulative, cunning, and controlled. A Bene Gesserit shows nothing on the outside that she does not intend to display, be it an honest show or a convincing sham.

3. Paul not wanting to be Duke? Paul wants nothing more than to please his father. He is proud of his father and his family. He is not averse to leadership. I know that this was a "Save the Cat" moment for Duke Leto (what a great dad!) and for Paul (Aww, he's not greedy, he was thrice offered a crown and thrice refused it - ambition is surely made of sterner stuff). I suppose this fits the emotional temperament of of the Zoomer generation, but Paul is a member of a great house. His family has great expectations for him and he has great expectations for himself.

4. So, Guild Heighliners are now copies of the Doomsday Machine? OK?

5. The 'thopters look too much like Blackhawk Helicopters. We're tens of thousands of years into the future, so they should look a little more... ...refined.

6. Post-Colonial Dune -- So, we have the erasure of Irulan. The '84 film begins with a Lord of the Rings style exposition provided by Irulan, who explains the Dune universe and why Dune matters in that Universe. Irulan is detached and non-partisan in this opening. In the new film, words are given to Chani about how horrible Europeans... ...er... the Great Houses of the Imperium are, focusing on the Harkonnens, "They ravage our lands in front of our eyes. Their cruelty to my people is all I've know." We thus begin with the view of the oppressed. "Who will our next oppressors be?" asks Chani at the end of her monologue, emphasizing that Colonizers are bad, the oppressed are good. This is awkward, because it forces another round of exposition which has to occur to explain the rest of the universe in relation to the spice. This view of the oppressed winds up dignifying the Fremen as noble savages in ways that don't quite fit the book. Take, for example Jamis. Yeah, Jamis is not a wisened sage looking to release Paul from a cruel death on Arrakis. He is a bit of a punk. In the book he is pissed that Paul got passed him and wants to fight Paul to prove it was luck the first time around. The film changes him, however, into more of a philosophical sort. The Fremen are a mix of brown and black skinned people where the great houses are basically white. Kynes is now a black woman, which doesn't matter all that much in the grand scheme of things, but she too is given the death of a noble savage, pounding sand to attract a worm to swallow up her assassins. The Kynes of the book is much more of a book worm and winds up hallucinating and arguing with his father about ecology (an instructive lesson too!) as he contemplates his imminent death on a pre-Spice mass that is about the explode. This film to me feels very much like white people imagining brown people, complete with old racial tropes here. But they don't lay it on too thick and you don't quite choke on the woke.


7. Shadows of Dune 1984. Just one feature to note is the long shots of giant ships (with claw-like feet) with rows of people standing in front of them that create a sense of scale. Where the '84 film gives us a visit from a Guild Navigator, the acolytes of Daft Punk show up and space and motorcycle helmets to hand over the pink slip to Arrakis in a brief ritual.

All i can say is,it s a nice film, with good acting, although a bit overlong i guess, but overall a good film

Saw it yesterday, and it's certainly another great film from Villeneuve. I just don't think I'm willing to buy into the world that's developing here for a sequel and/or trilogy.

I feel similar. It's epic and overwhelming but I can't say it was brilliant. Quite average really and by Denis Villeneuve's high standards it falls a bit short.

It's solid world-building for the most of act one (half of the movie). But the Atreides eradication kinda feels like weak execution. I guess it finally shows Villeneuve's limit this occasion, he is not Peter Jackson or even Michael Bay (someone like that), yet. For that level of spectacle and tension, it turns real flat.
And Momoa's Duncan Idaho kinda suck dick. I mean he supposedly looks badass or something but during the raid but I can't help myself to think it was quite Tommy Wiseau-esque. Villeneuve kinda makes everything about him either abrupt or awkward.
overall it's still nice for a movie that literally ends in its act two.

7/10 - cant see it as a definite modern classic, yet, but a new whole franchise, maybe.

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Thought it was great. Think it works better as a TV series though, there's a lot going on and the plot moves quickly.

Avatar meets Game of Thrones.

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I watched half of it today, and I'll try to finish it tomorrow. It's been nothing special this far. Like the new Bladerunner, the world looks too sterile and lifeless, like a set from a modern theater (it doesn't look bad per se, but it lacks the illusion of life and feels like a staged photo shoot - which it is, obviously).

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The film evokes continual visual awe without feeling awesome. There is a sterile majesty to the film. Well-made and beautiful to look at, but lacking a pulse. Idaho is the only character who seems like any fun (Mamoa helped lighten up the emotionally depressed DC movies and he alone appears to understand the need to have fun to hook the audience. Everyone else is "acting" in a very serious way). Paul is dour, lacking youthful innocence and exuberance. He appears to appropriately feel guilty for being "the next oppressor" before arriving at Dune, which rather robs him of any interesting character growth. Bardem's Stilgar is well-played and Brolin plays a somewhat predictable and familiar version of himself.

The seduction of Dune (especially the first book) is that it pulls you in with the hero's journey and then pulls the rug out from underneath you in Dune Messiah.

This film doesn't embrace any of that joy and is careful to strike a post-colonial sensibility from the start. And in this way, the true arc of the book has been cut out from the story, and for what? To appeal to the blue check-mark brigade? To hold up the conclusion before teaching the lesson? And before we take the lesson too seriously, it appears Hollywood marketers have done the "incredible disapperaing black person" trick on the Chinese poster, once again. So brave of them to swap genders and race-flip Kynes only to erase the character for the Chinese market. Colonialism and Imperialism rule after all?

With respect, you watched a quarter of it.

YES!

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SPOILERS FOR BOTH DUNE (BOOK) and POSSIBLE DUNE PART 2 SPOILERS AHEAD

That's good news. Now the problem will be how to set up the sequel so as to not to be too confusing to people who skipped part 1.

Some questions remain.

Are they going to do the "genetic memory" thing with the Bene Gesserit?

They can remember both ALL of their female ancestor's lives (up to the point of their conception via genetic memory mumbo jumbo) and the lives of all the Reverend Mothers they "download" when another Reverend Mother dies. So far, they have danced around this, focusing on the powers of the Kwisatz Haderach as seeing past space and time. This is perhaps the greatest conceit of Herbert's and I would not mind if they skipped this bit.

Will they show Paul inheriting his first wife/concubine/servant Harah and her two sons Kaleff and Orlop?

By besting Jamis in single combat, he inherited all three (in the book).

Where the hell are Feyd, Irulan, the Emperor? Who will be cast? How will they be introduced?

The Beast Rabban (Bautista) is an inconsequential characters. A monstrous pawn used by the Baron. Feyd, however is a skilled and cunning counter-part to Paul (and also part of the Sisterhood's breeding program).

Will they reveal that Paul has mentat powers?

In the books, Paul has the additional power of a keen intellect capable of performing the computations of a mentat.Paul doesn't just use the cheat-code of foreknowledge, but has the ability think very deeply in terms of data processing.

Are they going to disclose the whole truth about Liet Kynes?
Leader of the Fremen and parent of Chani.

And don't forget about the redub of the '84 movie.

Dune Book spoilers ahead


Loved this movie, such a huge undertaking and I think they did a fantastic job thus far. I’m currently Re-reading the book after 15 years and have come across a few things that were slightly disappointing.

•When you unshealth a crysknife, it must draw blood, but when a crysknife was presented to lady Jessica, no blood was drawn.

•Paul was being raised, also as a Mentat and would have the choice to pursue this goal if he so chose.

•Paul is only 15

•Conversations are more often and longer in the book, especially the plot surrounding Dr. Yueh (only got as far as them landing on Arrakis)

In the book, Mapes still makes this mistake. It is only when Jessia points out that she sheathed her blade unblooded that Mapes begs her to take her life, but they manage to move past the mistake. In this case, in this version, she does not call out Mapes. But this is mistake that the housekeeper makes in the original as well.