Quote Originally Posted by ZuLuLu View Post
The visuals were great but overall I found the movie a bit underwhelming, never was emotionally invested in most of the characters enough to care what happened to them.

I think this would have worked better as a TV series.
Quote Originally Posted by CSTowle View Post
I feel like it's a sin to admit as a self-proclaimed nerd but I've never read the books. I do know they're beloved and considered classics of the genre. I've also never seen the Sting movie. So with all of that said, I did not like this movie.

I felt no connection to any character, I felt no reason to side with one faction over another (even when one was clearly portrayed as "the bad guys"), I didn't enjoy the battle scenes, I'd heard about the worms and when seeing this version I said "meh", I could see/pick up that there was a good bit of lore behind all of this, but it felt like I was getting 1/4-1/2 the story and when they were bothering to explain anything at all it was completely uncompelling.

It felt like a bunch of things that were supposed to be exciting but weren't, mixed with long stretches of boredom and dialogue that was supposed to explain who the characters were and what the world/society was but came across as reading an instruction manual or a restaurant's menu.

Why should I root against the Empire? Why should I care about psychic lad and the prophecy? Why should I care about the desert-folk? Why should I care about spice, and aside from being told it's important why can't I be shown in a convincing manner (reminded me of "unobtainium", blech)? Was I supposed to buy that psychic lad and Aquaman were the best of friends and his death had meaning? Maybe if I'd cared about either character it'd be different.

Seemed like a movie that would have been better off as a TV series and with a much smaller budget so they had to rely on storytelling rather than CGI and fight choreography. Though that doesn't sell tickets. I did like the dragonfly planes/helicopters. And seeing things that were referenced/homaged in other things (assume most of Morrowind and the "Voice of the Emperor" power were nods in the Bethesda games) was neat. Feel like I should just bite the bullet and read at least the first book. Still don't imagine that'd make me enjoy this movie. Might make me dislike it more.
First- they did do a tv miniseries on the Sci-Fi network back in the early to mid 2000's, which I thought was very good and still rewatch every now and then. It is a bit odd- at times it felt like they were filming a stage play with some of their choices, but it worked.

And for the record, CSTowle- I think that miniseries had the same problem you mentioned. For instance, Duncan was even less developed in that mini-series; he became a larger part of the sequel, which was based off another book.

Having just watched it at home (I'll go to the theater next weekend), I did like it. The visuals were stunning, and the performances were very good. I actually felt sorry that I both saw the Sci-Fi miniseries back in the day, because I knew the fate of all of the characters, so there wasn't as much suspense for me (I read the book as well, but it's been over 20 years and I don't remember it that well).

One thing I don't like- we never saw the Emperor or his daughter, and we never got the dinner scene to set up a possible romance between Paul and the Daughter. We also never got any false leads that Jessica would betray Leto, which would lead to Gurney being suspicious of her. That becomes a point of tension later in the story, and as I recall, the Emperor's daughter had her own subplot navigating the politics her father put into play by siding with the Harkonnen. We also never saw the younger nephew of the Baron.

My biggest concern is that WB won't greenlight a sequel. I feel if I could see the whole story play out in two (or three) parts, I would like it more. But if it ends here, and we don't get to continue the story, it's only a very pretty movie that I wouldn't watch again.