Dune spoilers

[Scott Taylor]

Fantastic movie, all the naysayers are wrong and probably never cracked a book in their lives! Overall, seriously I loved it, this movie brought me right back to the first time I ever read the book. You had plenty of sandworm stuff, get to see a Fremen riding one at one point (and it was cool as heck), the thopters were wicked, the shields were picture perfect, all the characters were pretty great. This movie pretty much got it right. The multitude of visions of the future got a little tiresome after a while, could have done without that, plus Villaneuve has a weird fetish for really loud, distorted noises. But hey I can live with that, the movie was a blast.

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.

No one who isn't a Ben Gesserit needs a reason to distrust a Bene Gesserit. You pretty much always assume they are up to something.

[Midvillian1322]

Beautiful movie top to bottom. I just didn't care about the characters, no one had much personality or anything I could attach to except for Duncan and well that didn't end well. Jason Mamoa being Jason Mamoa made up 99% of the movies personality for me. Glad it's getting the part II given the way it ended and I'll still watch it. Didn't care for the characters but I enjoyed the world. Anyway the movie is visually worth a watch alone.

I've never read the book but someone who has mentioned there's a good chance we see Mamoa again in the future. Didn't really follow the reasoning but I hope so. He was the MVP for me. Which insane given the cast of this movie. No one gives a bad performance, most of them are great. I just find the characters blandly written. Anyway seems like alot of people here loved it. So hooray for Part II

[Kirby101]

Fantastic movie, all the naysayers are wrong and probably never cracked a book in their lives!

I read the book before you were out of diapers and hated it.

[Scott Taylor]

I read the book before you were out of diapers and hated it.

Lol! Honestly I hated most of the book, too.

[Moon Ronin]

Lol! Honestly I hated most of the book, too.

Frank Hebert was not a great writer, and I tell anyone going into the Dune books that. Good stories horrible story telling

[Ramsay Snow]

I've never read the book but someone who has mentioned there's a good chance we see Mamoa again in the future. Didn't really follow the reasoning but I hope so. He was the MVP for me. Which insane given the cast of this movie. No one gives a bad performance, most of them are great. I just find the characters blandly written. Anyway seems like alot of people here loved it. So hooray for Part II

His character's return is an important part of the storyline in the second book. I'd be surprised if Villeneuve doesn't bring him back for an eventual 3rd movie.

[David Walton]

I think DUNE is well-written.

The historical framing device is well done, and there were only a few parts it felt like a chore to get through. Quite the accomplishment for the monster novel that it is.

[Nate Grey]

The Harkonnens were the one visual that felt completely different than what I imagined from the book. I pictured more of a corrupt Roman family living in excessive luxury, not guys brooding in dimly lit rooms.

Funny you mention that. I always imagined the Baron as essentially the Hedonismbot, complete with Djambi, but if the Hedonismbot was human and floated instead of being his own kline.

[Ramsay Snow]

I think DUNE is well-written.

The historical framing device is well done, and there were only a few parts it felt like a chore to get through. Quite the accomplishment for the monster novel that it is.

The alley scene, alone, in the second book is brilliantly written.

[BeastieRunner]

His character's return is an important part of the storyline in the second book. I'd be surprised if Villeneuve doesn't bring him back for an eventual 3rd movie.

Yes, Idaho is pretty important later in the series.

[Scott Taylor]

I think DUNE is well-written.

The historical framing device is well done, and there were only a few parts it felt like a chore to get through. Quite the accomplishment for the monster novel that it is.

Hey David!

Dune is a decent read, but I found myself much more entralled with the sequels. I still feel that the movie would have benefited from just being one movie and skipping lightly through the fall of House Atreides a bit faster. Of all the characters, the Duke, Jessica, Gurney, Yueh, the Baron and most everyone else are just plot devices. Its really just Chani, Paul, the Fremen and Duncan that are important lasting characters.

It was kind of cool to see how Yueh set Leto up to kill the Baron, and see Leto then almost kill the Baron. Almost. But does it ever come up again in the books, ever? Nope. Totally irrelevant to everything. All you have to know about the Atreides House is that they are a threat to the emperor and the emperor thus did his level best to wipe them out of existence through treachery. It could practically be handled in a five minute intro! (Not that I would want that, but it could).

[David Walton]

Funny you mention that. I always imagined the Baron as essentially the Hedonismbot, complete with Djambi, but if the Hedonismbot was human and floated instead of being his own kline.

Yeah, I never pictured him as being so...militant. The military aspects he mostly hands off to others and is generally more concerned with what he believes to be the high life. He weighs so much from overindulgence he can't move without artificial support.

The alley scene, alone, in the second book is brilliantly written.

Very much so!

Hey David!

Hey, Scott! How's it been?

Dune is a decent read, but I found myself much more entralled with the sequels. I still feel that the movie would have benefited from just being one movie and skipping lightly through the fall of House Atreides a bit faster. Of all the characters, the Duke, Jessica, Gurney, Yueh, the Baron and most everyone else are just plot devices. Its really just Chani, Paul, the Fremen and Duncan that are important lasting characters.

It was kind of cool to see how Yueh set Leto up to kill the Baron, and see Leto then almost kill the Baron. Almost. But does it ever come up again in the books, ever? Nope. Totally irrelevant to everything. All you have to know about the Atreides House is that they are a threat to the emperor and the emperor thus did his level best to wipe them out of existence through treachery. It could practically be handled in a five minute intro! (Not that I would want that, but it could).

I'm most of the way through DUNE MESSIAH.

I just read DUNE for the first time a month ago and I loved it. The whole subplot with Yueh and how he hated the Harkonnens but ended up being their tool because of his attempt to get revenge was one of the best parts of the book for me. I would have liked for the film to get more into the clan war being another reason Leto assumed control of Arakkis, not just out of duty. And of course the conflict between the great houses is integral to the climax of DUNE and future developments.

[Ascended]

Saw the film last night. And I was most impressed. Dune is one of my favorite novels, and I think the entire cast and crew knocked it out of the park. After the 80's film and the two miniseries on the sci-fi channel I didn't think Dune could be properly adapted. Those previous attempts have their good points (even the 80's film, which is terrible) but they're far from good, much less manage to truly capture the true spirit and depth of Dune.

I mean, hell, this movie here only did the first half of the first book, had a 2.5 hour runtime, and *still* had to cut out a ton of subplots and scenes, and much of what they did include they had to skim over, without digging into the deeper details. We never get a mention of the various schemes the bene gesserit are running (beyond the obvious one) or the deeper political currents of the Empire and the feud between Atreides and Harkonnen. Small details are lost, like the fact that Yeuh's wife is bene gesserit, and all of that can add up and result in a disjointed, disconnected mess.

But the movie knows what to cut and what to keep, and when they deviate from the novel they do so in a way that streamlines everything in a laser-tight narrative that maintains the integrity of the story without creating any serious plot holes.

The performances were excellent. These aren't easy roles to play; the characters are deeply political creatures who can read a lot into a single expression or the placement of a hand. They're smart people who deal heavily with subtext, and whole chapters can be spent with them just digging through what a single uttered sentence "really" means. So much is internalized by the characters and their inner monologues it can make for a nigh-impossible translation to live-action, but the cast managed to convey all the calculating, double-guessing, second-meaning, political BS that these people speak as a first language. It's all there, perfectly captured in micro-expressions and body language, and just like the book it results in a film where the dialogue is only the tip of the iceberg and the true characters run much deeper.

And I was highly impressed by the film's use of the...exotic....abilities. How do you visually express the mentat's super-computer mental calculations, or a suk doctor's examinations, without making it look like low rent super powers? This film finds a way, striking the perfect balance between "more than normal" and "less than supernatural."

And do I need to say anything about the cinematography or effects? Huge in scope and camera angle, just beautifully done all around. And I love that they allowed shots to just eat up screen time, it really set the stage and even though I know they rushed through a lot, it didn't often *feel* that way. This crew captured the world of Dune so well, and that's a hell of an achievement because this setting can be weird as hell.

My only complaints are silly nitpicks. Much of the time when the characters are wandering the sand with their masks and hoods down, all I could think was "this is terrible stillsuit discipline, Stilgar would be pissed!" but of course you need to see the actors' faces. And Jessica was more visibly emotional than she should have been, but this is a visual medium and the circumstance of those emotional outbursts (like Paul's gom jabbar test) makes it feel more valid than it rightfully should be.

Hell of a movie. 10/10.

[Ramsay Snow]

Saw the film last night. And I was most impressed. Dune is one of my favorite novels, and I think the entire cast and crew knocked it out of the park. After the 80's film and the two miniseries on the sci-fi channel I didn't think Dune could be properly adapted. Those previous attempts have their good points (even the 80's film, which is terrible) but they're far from good, much less manage to truly capture the true spirit and depth of Dune.

The one casting decision I think was off was Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck. His love of poetry is hinted at a couple times, but where's the guy who would break out into song? That's one thing the horrible 80s film captured better than Villeneuve, Patrick Stewart's spot-on performance as Gurney (Holding a pug in his arms during battle notwithstanding).

Brolin has name value, especially with how big Deadpool and the MCU had been in the box office, but they could've cast Brolin in a different role. He came across too grim.

[ZeroBG82]

The one casting decision I think was off was Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck. His love of poetry is hinted at a couple times, but where's the guy who would break out into song? That's one thing the horrible 80s film captured better than Villeneuve, Patrick Stewart's spot-on performance as Gurney (Holding a pug in his arms during battle notwithstanding).

Brolin has name value, especially with how big Deadpool and the MCU had been in the box office, but they could've cast Brolin in a different role. He came across too grim.

That was probably intentional, honestly. To give some distance between Gurney and Momoa's Idaho.