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Denis Villeneuve's Dune Films

Not quite sure how I feel about it yet. They nailed the stillsuits, but the other costumes, IMO, look rather... bland. Like, they look good for what they are (except for the armor, I'm really not feeling the armor), but I wish they went for a more baroque style. I guess the style they went with is kind of to be expected as I suppose they're trying to give this as much of a serious sci-fi impression as possible (and are probably desperately trying to avoid comparisons to the Lynch movie).

Timothee Chalamet and Oscar Isaac look perfect for Paul and Leto.

I've only read the first book, how good are the sequels?

The thing about the Dune sequels is they get progressively weirder. I'd definitely recommend at least reading Messiah. Possibly Children of Dune, as well. Dune, Messiah, and Children work as a kind of a trilogy; I don't like Children as much as the first two, but it's still solid overall and Paul's story isn't really finished without it. There's a massive timeskip between Children and God Emperor and between God Emperor and the last two, IIRC. Some consider God Emperor the best, but I personally don't really get the hype there, but YMMV. I don't remember it all that much other than feeling like it kind of didn't do much besides really spell out the themes that the series was building up to; it's much more philosophy-oriented than action-y. Heretics and Chapterhouse get REALLY fucking weird. For me they're a bit of a mixed bag. They've got some cool ideas and I liked the focus on the Bene Gesserit. On the other hand, the sexual stuff gets really weird and very uncomfortable at times - there's some stuff (in Chapterhouse, I think) that I legit can't fathom how it got past an editor. Also, Chapterhouse doesn't have a conclusive ending (there was a seventh book planned, I think Heretics and Chapterhouse were meant to be parts of a second sort of trilogy), so that's something to bear in mind. Depending on your tolerance for weirdness, I'd say overall it's worth it to try going through the sequels at least once, but there's a reason even Dune fans all have different opinions of them - it's a strange series.

I'd definitely avoid all the non-Herbert Dune books.
 

lithiumkatana17

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Lith
HOLY BALLS THAT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


tenor.gif
 

Ghost X

Moderator
The visuals just ain't doing it for me. They're clearly going for a reduced palette look, but I don't think that's the problem (hasn't been a problem in other films I've liked). What I suspect is an issue is that the blacks aren't actually blacks (which certainly dulled the aesthetic appeal of the MCU films), but I think my main problem is the composition of what is on the screen itself. which looks largely the same throughout the entire trailer with few exceptions. Horizontal, largely empty (not an issue in itself, but not made visually interesting here), with focal point mostly in the centre. Boring. Might be that the entire thing is set in a desert also, but that's no excuse either, as there are other films that have handled that well, made visuals dynamic, etc. The Dark Side of the Moon totally blew away my immersion also :P. Should've gone for an original score, but hopefully just a trailer issue.
 

Wol

None Shall Remember Those Who Do Not Fight
AKA
Rosarian Shield
Gotta agree with you there, enjoyed everything else apart from the mostly bland visuals / cinematography / color grading.

It looks hella promising and the story seems appealing though. (I didn't read the books, so this is all new for me)
 
Yeah, there's a sterility to the visual style that doesn't really work for me. It's not so much the color palette, but the costumes and minimalist aesthetic that are a bummer for me. I don't think I'll ever warm up the battle armor, it's so generic looking. I don't know how I feel about the Reverend Mother's net veil thing, maybe it works? The worm looks really good, though. The cast looks pretty great, too. Only one who I'm not sure of is Momoa as Duncan Idaho, though that's largely for a reason that won't be relevant to these films -
Idaho is the only character that appears in ALL of the Dune sequels, and I can't see Momoa pulling off the various gholas, but it's not like he's going to have to, so :monster:

The Pink Floyd cover music is an odd choice for the trailer - is it some sort of callback to how Jodorowsky was going to get Pink Floyd for his film, or is it just because cover songs are trendy? The teaser music is fine (I assume it's Zimmer, right, he's doing the music for the film?), but, as with the visuals, it feels a bit standard, though it's just a teaser so I suppose that's to be expected. Tbh, I'm not sure what style of music would be a good fit for Dune, but, speaking of Jodorowsky, he was also going to have Magma do the soundtrack as well, and, thinking about it... zeuhl would be really cool (not that it'd ever happen in a blockbuster aiming for broad appeal).

While the style choices they're going for aren't my personal preference, I think this'll be a good movie and a good adaptation (provided it doesn't shy away from the moral nuance). Is the second part guaranteed? ...And are they really still planning on releasing this in December? A Dune movie being a hit financially always seemed rather iffy and during a pandemic seems the worst possible time to release this ESPECIALLY if it's theaters only.
 
It definitely looks good (still wish they went a bit more adventurous with the visual style, but I can appreciate the sleekness; the look of the battle armor is still the one thing that I can't get over lol), but the new trailer seems to play it a bit safe in that it deliberately doesn't show the weirder aspects. From what's been shown, I kind of wonder if people without knowledge of the book are getting the impression that it's kind of typical YA sci-fi? I totally get why they'd market it that way, though, gotta get people to watch it so it won't flop financially.

...Speaking of which, is the second part not greenlit? Does it depend on how this film does? Kind of hard to get too excited when this could be part 1 of 2 with part 2 potentially not happening.
 

Ite

Save your valediction (she/her)
AKA
Ite
Just saw it as a total newb, and loved it. It was big and loud and slow, very dramatic — I was gripped. I loved the visual language, cinematography, script, performances, score... It got me invested in the setting, and I may just buy the book to (well first of all finish the story, but also) dive into a lot of the worldbuilding details the movie spared me. It was well paced (except maybe the last three minutes) and those ship designs *chef’s kiss*

8/10
 

cold_spirit

he/him
AKA
Alex T
Dune releases in Australia on December 2nd.

I read all 6 Dune books over the past year. No way I'm going to be one of the last people in the world to see this.

Fortunately, Dune simultaneously released on HBO Max in the states. Bought myself a VPN, immediately canceled the auto-renew, bought HBO Max, immediately cancelled that auto-renew, grabbed myself an ice cold beverage and got comfortable. It was finally time.

If you've seen Denis Villeneuve's other movies, then you should know what to expect. And by that I mean you should know that it's going to be real good.

Villeneuve's Dune rightfully focuses on the novel's centermost theme: the danger of messiahs. There's not much I can fault it for when I think of it through that lens. It successfully builds Paul into a compelling character, but is also overt in saying that he could bring about some real bad stuff.

This doesn't mean the movie makes room for everything from the books though. For starters, the ecological reading of Dune (i.e. how climate and geography shape our culture) is largely left on the wayside to make room for the plot. These themes can be inferred by the visuals, but only at a surface level. This is expected. There's just not enough time to get into all that.

The only thing I think is missing that would've enhanced the plot is Arrakeen culture. There's just none of it. You don't see a single city alley or common building interior, it's just the palace and its airfields. Will moviegoers even know there's a city out there? I think giving some humanity to Arrakeen would've gone a long in making the audience more invested in the world.

I'd also say that the pacing is a bit awkward. The big climatic event is like 60% into the film. As a result, everything afterwards feels... exhausting? I felt emotionally drained and there's just no way the movie could build the stakes back up again. I think it'll work a lot better after (if?) Part 2 comes out, but for now it doesn't feel great.

Well, that's two paragraphs of complaints. I'm not doing a great job of complimenting the film! It's just that so much of it is aesthetical. I can't describe it! Just sit back and soak it in! Rest assured it's well worth your time. Villeneuve brings a wholly different flavor to Dune, similar to what Peter Jackson brought to The Lord of the Rings. That's not a criticism. It works! Also, Dune is on the big screen! And it's good this time! Wow!

Seriously though I need confirmation on Part 2.
 
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Prism

Pro Adventurer
AKA
pikpixelart
I saw the David Lynch take on Dune when I was in High School and I really enjoyed it. I don’t know what I’d think almost ten years later, but I remember some of the really surreal and trippy aspects of the movie really captivating me. And I thought Paul Atreides was cool.

Makes me wonder both what I’d think of this new one and the original books, which are probably better than both?
I’ve heard really polarizing things about the new adaptation. Some people really seem to love it, others think it’s a mess.
 

Leafonthebreeze

Any/All
AKA
Leaf
I saw the Lynch film a couple months ago and thought it was firmly in the "so bad it's good" category, had a great time watching it. I then started reading the book expecting a fleshed out, less campy, more nuanced version of the film. I admit I'm only about 50 pages in but so far I'm actually finding it even less nuanced than the Lynch film, and really pretty annoying although I can see how it was groundbreaking at the time.

My partner is incredibly hyped for the new film though, which is rubbing off on me. We're gonna try and see it at the Imax next week.
 

The Twilight Mexican

Ex-SeeD-ingly good
AKA
TresDias
I saw the Lynch film a couple months ago and thought it was firmly in the "so bad it's good" category, had a great time watching it. I then started reading the book expecting a fleshed out, less campy, more nuanced version of the film. I admit I'm only about 50 pages in but so far I'm actually finding it even less nuanced than the Lynch film, and really pretty annoying although I can see how it was groundbreaking at the time.

There was a time while a friend and I were both dealing with serious insomnia that she would read Dune to me over the phone until we fell asleep.
 

cold_spirit

he/him
AKA
Alex T
Just completed my collection of New English Library edition Dune books. I actually read the first two shown here, then moved over to my Kindle for the rest of the series. Figured I'd finish the collection.

Love the cover art on these. Midway through the series I began looking at other editions and was pleasantly surprised that I already owned the one I liked the most.

New English Library didn't publish the final two Frank Herbert books because I don't think they existed yet. That's actually fine with me. I find book 4, God Emperor of Dune, to be the best "jumping off" point. Make no mistake though, I like books 5 & 6! They just do their own thing.

IMG_20220114_124252_6.jpg
 
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