Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

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andypanda
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by andypanda »

If they cut some of the slow motion maybe they could have made it a 2-hour film?

Gone With The Wind is 3 hours and 58 minutes from beginning to end (counting the intro, intermission, exit music, etc.)
Have many people complained about the length in the past 82 years or said it should have been made in two parts? :beer

fwiw - I can't hear David Lynch's name without thinking about the night I saw Eraserhead in either 1977 or '78. That is one disturbed vision he had. Or nightmare.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by InMyDreams »

Eagle33 wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 10:07 pm When I read the original Dune book it was a struggle to get through the first half of it - very dry. It improved in the back half. In my opinion Dune Messiah and Children of Dune were better books.
Maybe they should make another Herbert book, The White Plague. Seems sort of apropos of our times, too.

No, haven't seen the movie. Read the first book years ago. I think it's really hard to make movies out of such complex plots.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by Barkingsparrow »

Just saw it with my wife and daughter. We loved it. No it was not perfect, the complex source material is nearly impossible to film, but I felt that the visuals/casting captured the essence of the book. We were so absorbed that we did not notice the long running time. I can certainly understand complaints about the lack of a narrative coherence, but you'd need something like an 8-hour movie in the vein of the Russian version of War and Peace to adequately capture the exposition of the book. This really needs to be seen in a theater with a larger screen and good sound system to appreciate the scale. It's grossed $220 million world-wide so far (exclusive of HBO Max numbers) so I think that a sequel is looking safe.
squirm
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by squirm »

stupid, waste
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by roamingzebra »

cogito wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 4:03 pm See it on the big screen.
I wonder how many millenials will watch it on their smart phones.
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rocket354
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by rocket354 »

Just saw it. Good movie, not great. Very entertaining, though. I liked that for the most parts the fights weren't too over the top. Fight sequences were an element of the movie, not the primary purpose of the movie.

I can see how source material purists would be disappointed. But as an adaptation, I thought it was pretty good, and am excited by the prospect of a part II, if a little bummed that we're probably at least two years away from it.

I saw it in the theater and was actually surprised at the poor reception. Halfway through, I hear my neighbor, a 20-something woman, whisper to her companion, "I really don't like this at all." The second the credits started to roll, an older-middle-aged gentleman loudly proclaimed, "and Frank Herbert spins in his grave." Walking out, I heard a few others bemoaning the movie. Then out in the hall, a couple older teenagers coming out met another group of teenagers they knew coming in and the conversation basically just went, "we just saw Dune." "We are about to!" "It sucked!"

So at least in my neck of the woods, a decent number of people were unhappy. But I'm glad I saw it.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by casun »

i saw it tonight at an imax theater and enjoyed it very much.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by toast0 »

andypanda wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 5:22 pm If they cut some of the slow motion maybe they could have made it a 2-hour film?
I'm sure there's some stuff that could be cut; as a fan of the book, I liked the mention of Old Duke, Paul's grandfather, but you could cut that scene and the rest of the references, and maybe make some tighter scenes here and there and get it down to 2h 15m. I didn't watch the closing credits because the theater soda is too large, so I don't know if those were particularly long or not, but opening credits were brief, so nothing to cut there. I think what made it to the screen was already cut pretty close to the bone, and I don't think it would make sense to end the film earlier either. This ending sets us up well for the next section of the story, IMHO. Hopefully it gets filmed.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by tomsense76 »

Was a fan of the first book. Didn't get into the later ones. Also haven't seen the David Lynch movie (though am a fan of his other work).

Happy with this movie. They cut the storyline right where I would have if making it into 2 movies. They also covered the key points in that storyline.

Understand the criticism about character development. That said, the book went into less detail about some of these characters. So doubt that could have been remedied much while remaining faithful to the book. Expect the 2nd part will include more character development now that the main characters have been introduced.
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mhalley
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by mhalley »

For the poster stating Dune should be a miniseries, they did do one back in 2000. It’s not available to stream but the sequel (based on dune messiah and children of dune)is available on hoopla. Supposedly they are pretty good.
https://gizmodo.com/where-to-watch-dune ... 1847885469
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Kickstart1967
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by Kickstart1967 »

Really did not enjoy it - went with youngest and DW
Saw French Dispatch the next day as a reward and absolutely loved it - horses for courses
MDfan
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by MDfan »

I've heard from numerous people that it's fantastic and that you have to see it on the big screen. Going to the local IMax theater this week. I would not waste my time watching this movie on HBOMax.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by Slacker »

I've read the book and watched the original movie.

This version is good, but not great as a movie. Drags on too much like we're watching a "directors cut" with a half hour or so added on. I've watched 3hr movies without complaint often in the past, this one drags.

Watched it on HBOmax, but we have a decent projector, movie theater room and surround sound. I would not have enjoyed this one in the theaters given the nearly 30 minutes of previews they've been doing at AMC lately coupled with the dragging pacing of the movie.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by sureshoe »

andypanda wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 5:22 pm If they cut some of the slow motion maybe they could have made it a 2-hour film?
I think this was the most frustrating part.

I loved that they were going to make 2 movies, it gives a little more time to flesh out the characters - and they had a great potential cast. Gurney, Yueh, Thufir Hawat... I thought we might flesh some of these out and their subplots, but we didn't. We just had lots of slow motion Chani dreams.

I want to go back and time how many minutes were spent on slow motion flashbacks/flashforwards... I'd wager at least 15 if not 20.

I didn't hate the movie, but it was just rough, and it's hard to get too excited about the sequel (which may not come).
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by mr_brightside »

I'm not a 'Dune guy' but i look forward to seeing it at some point

------------------------------------
cuendillar
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by cuendillar »

I like it, but I also think that if I had not read the books I would have been completely lost.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by randomguy »

Tubes wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:30 pm I never read the books. I enjoyed both movies. I think seeing the first movie and getting "cliff notes" from friends helped me appreciate the second movie.

Just because I don't know all the nuances and incredible backstories of the "houses" and other societies doesn't mean I can't enjoy the visuals and general story. On reddit I keep seeing that theme: "Oh, this must be so confusing to you. You can't possibly appreciate this because the movies can't convey it."

Why? For example: I'm missing something some huge backstory about how in the future you can choose the gender of a child. Doesn't matter that I don't know the details why. It is clear from the movie that one can. That's good enough for me.
We can pick gender of kids today:)

The movie is pretty visually speculator. The dialog, plot pacing, and acting? Not so much. Remakes like this are hard in the sense where half your audience knows the story and the other half doesn't. How much to explain and how much to assume is a balancing act. And you always run into the issue of how fast and loose you should play with the source material.

I don't mind splitting books but it always feels odd when you will be waiting 2+ years to see the conclusion.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by alex_686 »

hunoraut wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 4:36 pm There’s no liberty taken with the story, so its basically the same movie as the 1984 lynch version, but better produced and less exposition/narration.
They will be very different movies - I think and hope.

Minor spoilers on the book and the movie:

Herbert's book subtly undermined the standard sci-fi tropes, in particular those set out by John W. Campbell. i.e., a American male individualistic hero comes to a backwards society and saves them with science, rationality, and will.

Paul does not come to fulfill the Freeman's prophecy. Rather the Gesserit Jesuit subvert the religion with "hidden" Freemasonry ideas which he is able to exploit. He knows that a prophet exists so he mimics the characteristics of the prophecy.

Paul is the "white savior", the outsider come to redeem the primitive people. Except that the Freemen are not primitive. They are a sophisticated and adaptive culture living under harsh conditions and repressed. They have a 1,000 year plan to turn Dune into a oasis. The reason they do not free themselves is because their religion, which has been manipulated by the Bene Gesserit, has crippled their society, conditioning them to wait for a outside savior.

Villeneuve hints that he is going in this direction in the first part.

Lynch did a 180, fully embracing the magical savior. At the end of his movie, for no logical reason, Lynch has it raining.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by michaeljc70 »

denovo wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:36 pm
goshenBogle wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 3:45 pm I have read several reviews of the movie that rate it only so-so, not very good, which is disappointing since I am a BIG fan of the book.
Have you seen the new Dune movie?
If so, what is your opinion?
As someone who knew nothing about the story, never read any of the books or the prior film, it was confusing and plodding. At the same time the cinematography was nice.
+1
alex_686
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by alex_686 »

randomguy wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:15 am
Tubes wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:30 pm Why? For example: I'm missing something some huge backstory about how in the future you can choose the gender of a child. Doesn't matter that I don't know the details why. It is clear from the movie that one can. That's good enough for me.
We can pick gender of kids today:)
Well, it is kind of does matter. It is a theme of the book.

We can pick our child's gender today because of technology. i.e. computers. Computers not only extend the mind but limit the mind. Our brains become dependent on these crutches, thereby also limiting them.

In the book, human's are not animals. They have control over their minds and thus do not need computers. Having control over their bodies means they can actively chose what their bodies do - such as what sex their child will be.

The book is more nuanced but it does tie into Herbert's themes.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by jpelder »

alex_686 wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:25 am
hunoraut wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 4:36 pm There’s no liberty taken with the story, so its basically the same movie as the 1984 lynch version, but better produced and less exposition/narration.
They will be very different movies - I think and hope.

Minor spoilers on the book and the movie:

Herbert's book subtly undermined the standard sci-fi tropes, in particular those set out by John W. Campbell. i.e., a American male individualistic hero comes to a backwards society and saves them with science, rationality, and will.

Paul does not come to fulfill the Freeman's prophecy. Rather the Gesserit Jesuit subvert the religion with "hidden" Freemasonry ideas which he is able to exploit. He knows that a prophet exists so he mimics the characteristics of the prophecy.

Paul is the "white savior", the outsider come to redeem the primitive people. Except that the Freemen are not primitive. They are a sophisticated and adaptive culture living under harsh conditions and repressed. They have a 1,000 year plan to turn Dune into a oasis. The reason they do not free themselves is because their religion, which has been manipulated by the Bene Gesserit, has crippled their society, conditioning them to wait for a outside savior.

Villeneuve hints that he is going in this direction in the first part.

Lynch did a 180, fully embracing the magical savior. At the end of his movie, for no logical reason, Lynch has it raining.
Good point. I'm thinking that it'll be a 3-movie series. Without Dune Messiah, Paul's whole arc loses its meaning.

I'm resisting the temptation to watch on HBO Max so I can catch it in the theater next weekend. There's an IMAX near me, and it's supposed to rain all day Saturday. Perfect!
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by alex_686 »

denovo wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:36 pm As someone who knew nothing about the story, never read any of the books or the prior film, it was confusing and plodding. At the same time the cinematography was nice.
I wonder if a second viewing would help. Serious question.

I like complex movies where you are not spoon feed, where you have to work a few things out for yourself. It is a fairly complex story but I think they did a good job telling it.

Of course, I have read (and studied) the book multiple times so things came naturally to me. And many people find the book complex and confusing.

So what do other people think? Would a second viewing help?
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JoMoney
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by JoMoney »

randomguy wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:15 am...
The movie is pretty visually speculator. The dialog, plot pacing, and acting? Not so much. ...
...
I don't mind splitting books but it always feels odd when you will be waiting 2+ years to see the conclusion.
Totally agree with this, I enjoyed the audio (aside from the dialog) as well.
FWIW, since I'm already familiar with the Dune story, I can't quite tell how well I'd be able to follow the visual story telling without exposition and dialog , but I think this movie would. For me, sometimes I enjoy it more without the dialog, especially if they have to cram a lot into a short amount of time. I'd rather they allow me the mystery to mentally fill in the blanks.
There was an older sci-fi cartoon series called Aeon Flux that originally had no dialog, when it got popularized they extended it into a longer TV series and later a movie that had dialog. It was better without it.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by Tubes »

alex_686 wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:32 am
randomguy wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:15 am
Tubes wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:30 pm Why? For example: I'm missing something some huge backstory about how in the future you can choose the gender of a child. Doesn't matter that I don't know the details why. It is clear from the movie that one can. That's good enough for me.
We can pick gender of kids today:)
Well, it is kind of does matter. It is a theme of the book.

We can pick our child's gender today because of technology. i.e. computers. Computers not only extend the mind but limit the mind. Our brains become dependent on these crutches, thereby also limiting them.

In the book, human's are not animals. They have control over their minds and thus do not need computers. Having control over their bodies means they can actively chose what their bodies do - such as what sex their child will be.

The book is more nuanced but it does tie into Herbert's themes.
Perhaps starting with what a Mentat* is would get that theme across? I've since learned from context that this anti-computer thing is very important. It does not come across in either movie.

* - Before I got on Reddit to read a bit about the movie, I thought the Mentat was just a guy with weird eyes and a tattoo on his chin, who just happened to be good with math.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by alex_686 »

Tubes wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:45 am Perhaps starting with what a Mentat* is would get that theme across? I've since learned from context that this anti-computer thing is very important. It does not come across in either movie.

* - Before I got on Reddit to read a bit about the movie, I thought the Mentat was just a guy with weird eyes and a tattoo on his chin, who just happened to be good with math.
The Spacer Guild is a better example.

If you are traveling faster than light you can't see where you are going - you are going faster than sight can travel. So you have to compute you path before you head out. Manually.

And yes, that is something that the movies gloss over a little. Maybe the 3.5 hour Lynch movie did it better. But it's opening narration had a opening narration.

By the way, do you think they did a good job in explaining shields and why everybody was running around with a sword? Once again, having internalized the logic of book it was obvious to me. Looking for somebody with a fresh take on it.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by ItzaHoot »

I enjoyed it! Much more faithful to the book than many other book to movie or series adaptations (such as Foundation). Still left out key items from the book such as the waste of water by the Harkoneens vs. the stewardship of Artreadies and their beginning relationship with the Fremen. Due to the necessary length to cover even the first book, much less the original series, it really should be at least a mini series instead of an abrupt end with the vague promise of episode two or even three to complete the cover of the first book.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by Shift4 »

Expro wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 4:14 pm Oh, if only there was singing!
#SpiceWorld :wink:
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by randomguy »

Tubes wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:45 am
alex_686 wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:32 am
randomguy wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:15 am
Tubes wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:30 pm Why? For example: I'm missing something some huge backstory about how in the future you can choose the gender of a child. Doesn't matter that I don't know the details why. It is clear from the movie that one can. That's good enough for me.
We can pick gender of kids today:)
Well, it is kind of does matter. It is a theme of the book.

We can pick our child's gender today because of technology. i.e. computers. Computers not only extend the mind but limit the mind. Our brains become dependent on these crutches, thereby also limiting them.

In the book, human's are not animals. They have control over their minds and thus do not need computers. Having control over their bodies means they can actively chose what their bodies do - such as what sex their child will be.

The book is more nuanced but it does tie into Herbert's themes.
Perhaps starting with what a Mentat* is would get that theme across? I've since learned from context that this anti-computer thing is very important. It does not come across in either movie.

* - Before I got on Reddit to read a bit about the movie, I thought the Mentat was just a guy with weird eyes and a tattoo on his chin, who just happened to be good with math.
Does the story change if Lady Jessica only has daughters because of her control over her body versus just killing the the male new borns? Not really. The important part is that she broke with the plan and had a son.

Mentat's and the like provide for a richer world but I am not sure if going into a ton of details helps. Getting distracted by hearing about the Butlerian Jihad might make the movie drag even more. In good movie adaptations, you tend to just get enough background to let you immerse yourself in the story and details like that get revealed alone the way. Think things like personal shields. You need that training scene at the beginning to explain why everyone is knife fighting instead of blasting away with guns but we don't need exact details.

My question has always been if spice is only on Arrakis and spice is required to space travel, how did humans travel to Arrakis? :) I am sure there is some backstory explaining but again it isn't something you really need in the movie....

The movie does seem to setting up the Paul exploiting the religious beliefs stuff but we will have to see if they follow through. I look forward to the sequel but I sort of doubt I will be rewatching this move again.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by Rex66 »

alex_686 wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:32 am
randomguy wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:15 am
Tubes wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:30 pm Why? For example: I'm missing something some huge backstory about how in the future you can choose the gender of a child. Doesn't matter that I don't know the details why. It is clear from the movie that one can. That's good enough for me.
We can pick gender of kids today:)
Well, it is kind of does matter. It is a theme of the book.

We can pick our child's gender today because of technology. i.e. computers. Computers not only extend the mind but limit the mind. Our brains become dependent on these crutches, thereby also limiting them.

In the book, human's are not animals. They have control over their minds and thus do not need computers. Having control over their bodies means they can actively chose what their bodies do - such as what sex their child will be.

The book is more nuanced but it does tie into Herbert's themes.
Only the bene can control the sex of a child in that universe. They are capable of manipulating their bodies at a microscopic level.

The reason why the floating fat man is so grotesque is bc he raped a bene who in essence gave him an std.

Computers are outlawed bc humans almost went extinct bc of them. Sort of a terminator event. Now only simple computer devices are allowed and mentats were created to replace that need.

The books can be difficult to read bc some are darn slow but filled with all kinds of details both before and after the dune book.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by Rex66 »

randomguy wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:32 am
Tubes wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:45 am
alex_686 wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:32 am
randomguy wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:15 am
Tubes wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:30 pm Why? For example: I'm missing something some huge backstory about how in the future you can choose the gender of a child. Doesn't matter that I don't know the details why. It is clear from the movie that one can. That's good enough for me.
We can pick gender of kids today:)
Well, it is kind of does matter. It is a theme of the book.

We can pick our child's gender today because of technology. i.e. computers. Computers not only extend the mind but limit the mind. Our brains become dependent on these crutches, thereby also limiting them.

In the book, human's are not animals. They have control over their minds and thus do not need computers. Having control over their bodies means they can actively chose what their bodies do - such as what sex their child will be.

The book is more nuanced but it does tie into Herbert's themes.
Perhaps starting with what a Mentat* is would get that theme across? I've since learned from context that this anti-computer thing is very important. It does not come across in either movie.

* - Before I got on Reddit to read a bit about the movie, I thought the Mentat was just a guy with weird eyes and a tattoo on his chin, who just happened to be good with math.
Does the story change if Lady Jessica only has daughters because of her control over her body versus just killing the the male new borns? Not really. The important part is that she broke with the plan and had a son.

Mentat's and the like provide for a richer world but I am not sure if going into a ton of details helps. Getting distracted by hearing about the Butlerian Jihad might make the movie drag even more. In good movie adaptations, you tend to just get enough background to let you immerse yourself in the story and details like that get revealed alone the way. Think things like personal shields. You need that training scene at the beginning to explain why everyone is knife fighting instead of blasting away with guns but we don't need exact details.

My question has always been if spice is only on Arrakis and spice is required to space travel, how did humans travel to Arrakis? :) I am sure there is some backstory explaining but again it isn't something you really need in the movie....

The movie does seem to setting up the Paul exploiting the religious beliefs stuff but we will have to see if they follow through. I look forward to the sequel but I sort of doubt I will be rewatching this move again.
Well it’s actually the powerful engine (I forget it’s name) that allows the travel. Spice allows navigation. You could navigate with computers before they were outlawed.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by lazybones18 »

saw it in IMAX

best movie I saw all year

the sound effects were insane by Hans Zimmer

Vladimir Harkonnen looked amazing

10/10
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by alex_686 »

randomguy wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:32 am My question has always been if spice is only on Arrakis and spice is required to space travel, how did humans travel to Arrakis? :) I am sure there is some backstory explaining but again it isn't something you really need in the movie....
This is getting into the lore of Dune. We have a 10,000+ year history so some items are lost or obscured.

The answer is that you can space travel without spice. Slower than light is one option.

Human/Computer hybrids are another. Most of these got wiped out in the Butlerian Jihad (the war against machine minds) but some are still around. This is referenced in the book if you read the passages about spice smugglers closely.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by Tubes »

alex_686 wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:59 am
Tubes wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:45 am Perhaps starting with what a Mentat* is would get that theme across? I've since learned from context that this anti-computer thing is very important. It does not come across in either movie.

* - Before I got on Reddit to read a bit about the movie, I thought the Mentat was just a guy with weird eyes and a tattoo on his chin, who just happened to be good with math.
The Spacer Guild is a better example.

If you are traveling faster than light you can't see where you are going - you are going faster than sight can travel. So you have to compute you path before you head out. Manually.

And yes, that is something that the movies gloss over a little. Maybe the 3.5 hour Lynch movie did it better. But it's opening narration had a opening narration.

By the way, do you think they did a good job in explaining shields and why everybody was running around with a sword? Once again, having internalized the logic of book it was obvious to me. Looking for somebody with a fresh take on it.
I figured the shields were some non Newtonian thing, like cornstarch and water. But I was a chemistry geek, so the fast/slow thing made sense.

I was hoping to see some space guilders. Lynch's aquatic worm was memorable. I hoped for a different interpretation. Instead we got nothing.
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by ExTx »

It's 2 and a half hours of your life you can't get back. Pass.
Jwulgaru
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by Jwulgaru »

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wolf359
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by wolf359 »

alex_686 wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 9:41 am
esqu1re wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 5:32 pm I think it's better suited for a limited series though. The movie was 2.5 hours. They're only like 1/2 through the first book and there are like 6 books. That means at least one more movie to finish the series! Math!
I will mildly disagree.

Each book tells a stand alone store, more or less. Or at the very least each book has a definite finish. Reading the backstory helps in navigating the latter stories but it is not like some series where the story wanders over a dozen books. Or even 3.

Villeneuve has said he is interested in filming the first 3 books. He does not want this to become his career. Dune, the first book, is the longest and most complex. So maybe the only one deserved to be cut into 2 pieces. This kind of makes sense as they are clustered around the same people and time. So maybe 4 to 5 films top.

All of the other books, 3 or 20ish depending on how you count, take place with different people and in different times.

I don't think a mini-series would be the best choice. The books tend to be focused on a single person. In m y opinion mini-series do best in a broader universe tracking multiple people.
The first book was originally published as a serial in a magazine. It was also broken into 3 parts: Book 1: Dune; Book 2: Maud'dib; Book 3: The Prophet. These three "books" were published as a single book, "Dune."

The movie actually breaks near one of the stopping points. The first part actually ends in the tent scene with Paul and Lady Jessica under a sand dune. In the movie, they re-arranged some of the story elements and ended shortly after Paul meets Chani (which is soon after that tent scene.)

I really liked this movie. I've read the books multiple times, read some of the follow-on books his son wrote, and watched the earlier movie and both mini-series. This movie is much better done than the David Lynch version. It also told the story better than the mini-series, which was perhaps too faithful to the books.

On the other hand, I knew what was going on. My wife had never heard of Dune other than in reference to an old movie she had never watched that had bombed. She liked the visuals and was able to follow the general plot, but otherwise wasn't overwhelmed. Her favorite part was the ornithopters, which she thought were pretty cool.
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BrandonBogle
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by BrandonBogle »

mhalley wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 12:44 am For the poster stating Dune should be a miniseries, they did do one back in 2000. It’s not available to stream but the sequel (based on dune messiah and children of dune)is available on hoopla. Supposedly they are pretty good.
https://gizmodo.com/where-to-watch-dune ... 1847885469
Sadly, I never read the books, so now I have something to add to my list. However, I did watch Lynch's movie multiple times, including the extended version and enjoyed it.

When SyFy did the two miniseries, Dune and Children of Dune (incorporating Dune Messiah), I loved them and am glad I have them on DVD. I would repurchase them on BluRay if I could find it. That said, I may now need to get Lynch's 4k if it has a good transcoding.

I have a good 60" and Atmos home theater set up at home, so I'll enjoy it on HBO Max and then decide whether to see it in theaters. I rarely go to the theater (even pre-Covid) because I dislike that movies nowadays don't have an intermission for at least a bio break, and I hate missing scenes.


Side note: I was ill this past weekend and really thought about watching it. But then I had trouble focusing to make some tea and thought, I definitely don't have the mental capacity right now to appreciate Dune. :)
Starfish
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by Starfish »

We really liked the movie. I expected much worse from the trailer, I thought is completely dumbed down in commercial. But its a good mix.
I highly recommend the movie theater experience, regardless of the home setup.
PS: I did like Lynch's version too, but not as much.
MariaT
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by MariaT »

I saw it on HBOMax at home with my husband and I loved and enjoyed the movie. My husband thought it was slow, boring and confusing. So much better than the old movie.

I must say the cinematography was fantastic and would have loved to have seen it in theater but not eager to go visit movie theaters as of yet. This has been one of the better sci-fi movies out there.

I actually rewatched the movie last night on my iPad because I wanted to follow the dialogues closely and enjoyed it more the second time around! :P
I'm not one to watch the same movie twice in the same year but this one is the exception. Can't wait for Part Two!! Hopefully, it will not be a LONG wait.
toast0
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by toast0 »

Jwulgaru wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 3:15 pm Dune is my favorite book by far with many rereads over the years. I refuse to ever watch the 1984 version lest it sully the book in my mind in any way.

That being said, I was incredibly pleased with the movie both in regards to the story adaptation---9.5/10: an incredible feat for a complex book---and from a cinematography/film perspective 10/10. I came out of the movie with my brain buzzing which is something that few movies do, especially now in the era of clone-copy low attention span dopamine fix Marvel junk food movies.
You can watch the 1984 movie now... there's some weird stuff and you might not like it, but it shouldn't sully the book now that you've got a film in mind that you like. Much of what people tend not to like wasn't in the book; a lot of the rest of the things people tend not to like wasn't in this film. I'm invested in the 1984 film, so I'm always going to like that, but this one is good too, I think I may end up liking them both a lot.
MDfan
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by MDfan »

Just saw it today in IMAX. I highly recommend it.
manatee2005
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by manatee2005 »

Valuethinker wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:37 am
manatee2005 wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 3:59 pm It’s horrible. Looks good but empty.
Unfortunately that defines a lot of Hollywood product these days.

With the decline of the aftermarket (DVDs& video rentals) it is (pre Covid) all about the big box office in the early days. Films used to sit for weeks in cinemas whilst people read reviews and heard about them from their friends, building an audience.

To make money, a movie has to do well in international rentals. Generally that means that the story has to be simpler - complex character development or plot lines don't translate as well into the big international markets (Spanish or Chinese, I imagine). It has to meet certain censorship standards (political or adult themes) to even have a chance at the Chinese market, now the world's largest or 2nd largest after USA -- and the number of foreign films each year is restricted there by quota.

(Bollywood is world's largest cinema by ticket sales. But by dollar value, I don't think it is).

(these factors underlie the decline of the typical American mid-list film. For example the sort of Rom-Coms Nora Ephron specialised in writing. I read that if it weren't for Megan Ellison (daughter of Oracle billionaire Larry) a lot of these movies would just not get made).

With the high costs of film making plus the higher risk of not recovering those costs, studios are risk averse. Michael Bay (Transformers franchise) is the most bankable director in Hollywood, I believe I read. JJ Abrams might be another (Avengers. Star Wars?). Sharing common DNA (e.g. Marvel Comics Universe) which has instant recognition w the potential audience.

"Looks good but empty" is how I'd define a very large number of movies. Maybe it was always thus, but it seems the ones that beat that don't get made (or maybe I just don't catch them).
I have a movie channel so I watch a lot of movies in the background and the movies that are made before about 2012-2014 are a lot better. Something happened then, I don’t know if it cos Netflix and everyone else are making movies so it dilutes talent, or CGI or if people just forgot how to make movies, but the movies made before 2010 are so much better.
I’m at the point where when a movie comes on the channel, if it’s made after 2010 I won’t even watch it.
manatee2005
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by manatee2005 »

toast0 wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 5:46 pm
Jwulgaru wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 3:15 pm Dune is my favorite book by far with many rereads over the years. I refuse to ever watch the 1984 version lest it sully the book in my mind in any way.

That being said, I was incredibly pleased with the movie both in regards to the story adaptation---9.5/10: an incredible feat for a complex book---and from a cinematography/film perspective 10/10. I came out of the movie with my brain buzzing which is something that few movies do, especially now in the era of clone-copy low attention span dopamine fix Marvel junk food movies.
You can watch the 1984 movie now... there's some weird stuff and you might not like it, but it shouldn't sully the book now that you've got a film in mind that you like. Much of what people tend not to like wasn't in the book; a lot of the rest of the things people tend not to like wasn't in this film. I'm invested in the 1984 film, so I'm always going to like that, but this one is good too, I think I may end up liking them both a lot.
I love the 1984 version opening with the girl giving us the lay of the land, it’s really good.
manatee2005
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by manatee2005 »

BrandonBogle wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 3:54 pm
mhalley wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 12:44 am For the poster stating Dune should be a miniseries, they did do one back in 2000. It’s not available to stream but the sequel (based on dune messiah and children of dune)is available on hoopla. Supposedly they are pretty good.
https://gizmodo.com/where-to-watch-dune ... 1847885469
Sadly, I never read the books, so now I have something to add to my list. However, I did watch Lynch's movie multiple times, including the extended version and enjoyed it.

When SyFy did the two miniseries, Dune and Children of Dune (incorporating Dune Messiah), I loved them and am glad I have them on DVD. I would repurchase them on BluRay if I could find it. That said, I may now need to get Lynch's 4k if it has a good transcoding.

I have a good 60" and Atmos home theater set up at home, so I'll enjoy it on HBO Max and then decide whether to see it in theaters. I rarely go to the theater (even pre-Covid) because I dislike that movies nowadays don't have an intermission for at least a bio break, and I hate missing scenes.


Side note: I was ill this past weekend and really thought about watching it. But then I had trouble focusing to make some tea and thought, I definitely don't have the mental capacity right now to appreciate Dune. :)
Instead of tea you should have gotten some spice!
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TomatoTomahto
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by TomatoTomahto »

ExTx wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 2:50 pm It's 2 and a half hours of your life you can't get back. Pass.
That’s the delight of watching it at home. I only lost 10 minutes of my life :D

The sound was spectacular as was the video quality in my HT. But, my wife and I knew 10 minutes in that it wasn’t our cup of tea. I will probably play it occasionally as an Atmos demo when the BluRay comes out.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
runninginvestor
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by runninginvestor »

Part 2 has been approved. So far aiming for Oct 2023 release.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/26/dune-se ... -bros.html
sureshoe
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by sureshoe »

toast0 wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 5:46 pm
Jwulgaru wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 3:15 pm Dune is my favorite book by far with many rereads over the years. I refuse to ever watch the 1984 version lest it sully the book in my mind in any way.

That being said, I was incredibly pleased with the movie both in regards to the story adaptation---9.5/10: an incredible feat for a complex book---and from a cinematography/film perspective 10/10. I came out of the movie with my brain buzzing which is something that few movies do, especially now in the era of clone-copy low attention span dopamine fix Marvel junk food movies.
You can watch the 1984 movie now... there's some weird stuff and you might not like it, but it shouldn't sully the book now that you've got a film in mind that you like. Much of what people tend not to like wasn't in the book; a lot of the rest of the things people tend not to like wasn't in this film. I'm invested in the 1984 film, so I'm always going to like that, but this one is good too, I think I may end up liking them both a lot.
I didn't think the 1984 film was the disaster everyone made it out to be. The only thing I didn't understand were all the weird, inexplicable changes to the book - like the mentats having to pet cats? The "weirding sound weapons"? The rain at the end? WTF.
sureshoe
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by sureshoe »

runninginvestor wrote: Tue Oct 26, 2021 1:59 pm Part 2 has been approved. So far aiming for Oct 2023 release.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/26/dune-se ... -bros.html
That's a bit of a relief. I'm really curious if they adapt Heretics and/or Children.

I would kill for a God Emperor adaptation. Lol, people be smoking crack.
alex_686
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by alex_686 »

sureshoe wrote: Tue Oct 26, 2021 2:21 pm I didn't think the 1984 film was the disaster everyone made it out to be. The only thing I didn't understand were all the weird, inexplicable changes to the book - like the mentats having to pet cats? The "weirding sound weapons"? The rain at the end? WTF.
The cat was kind of in the book. The Harkonnen captured the Atreides's Mentat Hawat. To bind his loyalty to them they first poisoned him then they fed him the antidote. If he every proved disloyal they could just withdraw the antidote. Lynch made this a bit more visual with the cat providing the antidote. So Hawat specific, not Mentat. I approve of this change.

Lynch didn't want to do slow motion martial arts in the desert. Kind of hard to visualize psychic powers. I think this is a valid point. I am open to reinterpretations. His solution was to translate some of the psychic stuff to the more visual weirding sound weapons. My reactions are mostly mixed but mostly negative.

The rain at the end? A fundamental misreading of the book's themes as I have mentioned before.
Former brokerage operations & mutual fund accountant. I hate risk, which is why I study and embrace it.
Californiastate
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Re: Seen new Dune Movie? Your opinion??

Post by Californiastate »

I watched it again last night on HBO Max. It was my second time. Nope, still sucks. Too many celebral and slow motion scenes. I still enjoyed the extended Lynch version better. This movie seems to appeal more to people who have read the books. I haven't. I watched the movie to be entertained and it failed. Some movies and directors try to be too artsy and they have their audiences.
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