Dune spoilers

[Kirby101]

What was the spider, though?

I don't know, was that suppose to be a Navigator? Or a weird pet?

[ZeroBG82]

What was the spider, though?

A genetically engineered pet.

There are no computers in this world, just machines and organic tech. Later in the series we meet a faction that are experts in genetic engineering. This was basically a nod to that side of things.

[Ramsay Snow]

A genetically engineered pet.

There are no computers in this world, just machines and organic tech. Later in the series we meet a faction that are experts in genetic engineering. This was basically a nod to that side of things.

You mean the Tleilaxu? That wasn't that much later in the series, they first appear in the second book. If Villeneuve brought any of that element in the film, it's likely to set up a 3rd film (That is, if the franchise succeeds, financially, and sequels are actually made).

[Immortal Weapon]

I enjoyed the movie but I couldn't fully comprehend what was going on. Might have to give it another watch.

[Username taken]

It felt oddly cold and I struggled to connect with the characters (except for Lady Jessica, Rebecca Ferguson always brings her A-game).

It was ok. It wasn't great but I think i need to watch it again.

[Anthony W]

Just saw it. Here are some thoughts.

WOULD IT HAVE BEEN BETTER AS A STREAMING SERIES?

I want to say this would have been better as a television series. If this was a television series we wouldn't have the excellent casting and we wouldn't have Denis Villeneuve directing.

So no, I don't really think this would have been better as a streaming series. Since we got that out of the way...

SHOULD YOU SEE IT IN A THEATRE?

Unfortunately, yes. It's at It's best in a theatre.

DID I LIKE IT?

Well, like Villeneuve's Blade Runner it is visually stunning and works hard when it comes to world-building, but I'm not "all in" and I can't tell if that is due to any decisions that the film is making or the fact that so many franchises have ripped off Dune that nothing is hitting me with the same force as it hit the people who were originally exposed to it. One person said "Oh, they are doing a Jedi mind trick!" When a character uses mind control. Also it's...kind of cold. Watching Denis Villeneuve's Dune is like watching someone create a really cool ice castle which is really amusing because the majority of the movie takes place on a desert planet You appreciate what it took to build it. It's stunning. It's still an ice castle.

YOU MENTIONED STAR WARS

Sigh...yeah. I would love for Denis to do Star Wars but it would no doubt lead to a monkey's paw situation, so I'll just wish for him to do Star Trek because that franchise can't possibly get any worse.

[BeastieRunner]

The lack of the dinner scene could be forgiven if they at least played up Gurney thinking Jessica killed Leto. Like her getting the ring from Me to in the hall when he's paralyzed would have been a change to the plot I would have like.

[Godlike13]

Knew nothing about Dune beyond its existence. Thought the movie was super rad.

[Jim Kelly]

I doubt I'll watch this one. My copy of DUNE sits on my bookshelf waiting to be read. I bought it shortly before the Lynch movie came out. I saw that movie and I tried to crack the novel but I couldn't get very far. Always meant to read it. If I ever do then I might check out this movie. But I don't see that happening for a long time, if ever.

Herbert wrote twenty Dune books, so even if a second movie gets made, that will only finish the first book in the series. That's what's so off putting--that's a lot of reading and a lot of movies. My best option would be a comic book adaptation--I think that's something I could get through.

[Kirby101]

I doubt I'll watch this one. My copy of DUNE sits on my bookshelf waiting to be read. I bought it shortly before the Lynch movie came out. I saw that movie and I tried to crack the novel but I couldn't get very far. Always meant to read it. If I ever do then I might check out this movie. But I don't see that happening for a long time, if ever.

Herbert wrote twenty Dune books, so even if a second movie gets made, that will only finish the first book in the series. That's what's so off putting--that's a lot of reading and a lot of movies. My best option would be a comic book adaptation--I think that's something I could get through.

Frank Herbert wrote 6 Dune books, the rest were by his son Brian and others. The original Dune is a self contained novel. If you like it it is worth continuing with the other books, but it isn't like LOTR or Foundation in which is only the first part.

[CSTowle]

I liked the Wheel of Time books (hoping the show is at least decent), and I was honestly sad when I got to the last book. Have reread the series twice now. Haven't read Dune though, not sure if the quality kept up.

[BeastieRunner]

Yeah ... Herbert wrote 6 books. Up till Chapterhouse the quality maintains. The Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert books are real up and down.

And the first is a complete story.

I very seldom recommend reading the book to people. It is a slow burn political and religious epic. Not everyone's cup of tea. If you like the OT Star Wars, you probably would enjoy the first book because Lucas homages Dune a lot.

[Gray Lensman]

Even Lynch thinks his version was bad, and it was. But at least he told the whole story in one film.This movie is just slow and boring, nice visuals, but nothing we haven't seen before. I have a lot of problems with it but one is we don't ever really see the Sandworms. We see a mouth, a big shadow at night, and a far away worm with a rider that looks like a cardboard cut out.
I doubt there will be a sequel.

Lynch wanted almost double the runtime he was given (and was told this AFTER filming) - that's a large part of why he was so dependent upon exposition in his film. Fun trivia fact - the Baron's disfigured face in Lynch's Dune was because the actor came down with something on set and they just used makeup to make it look worse, writing it in rather than replacing the actor.

The good for Lynch's Dune is that the feel of it being another world is truly captured. The talent on screen is truly top notch, with many of the actors going on the be science fiction staples later on - Patrick Stewart, Dean Stockwell, Brad Douriff....and while not well known outside Germany, Leto is played by the sub captain from Das Boot.

[Jim Kelly]

Frank Herbert wrote 6 Dune books, the rest were by his son Brian and others. The original Dune is a self contained novel. If you like it it is worth continuing with the other books, but it isn't like LOTR or Foundation in which is only the first part.

My bad. I just looked at the list of books and saw there were twenty and didn't bother to check who wrote all of them.

My edition of DUNE is from 1977 and inside that book it lists the "Dune Trilogy." And that's enough to scare me. I've read LORD OF THE RINGS and the Deptford Trilogy--that's about all the trilogies I've been able to get through.

[Gray Lensman]

My bad. I just looked at the list of books and saw there were twenty and didn't bother to check who wrote all of them.

My edition of DUNE is from 1977 and inside that book it lists the "Dune Trilogy." And that's enough to scare me. I've read LORD OF THE RINGS and the Deptford Trilogy--that's about all the trilogies I've been able to get through.

The good thing with the Dune series is that the first four don't really need to be continued past each individual book - each of those ends with a natural stopping point that reads like a complete story. I don't know if that makes it easier for you or not, but that's the way I felt when I read them for the first time.