Official NG.com Dune: Part One Thread

[famicommander]

The movie literally says that spice extends life, enhances consciousness, and makes prescience and interplanetary travel possible.

 

[fake]

OK, here are my unorganized, stream of conscious thoughts.

Spoiler:

Dune = book
Dune [year] = movie

Dune is not sufficiently adaptable to film based on its scope. You would need something like Game of Thrones to fully convey its details, but that would mean a TV show with a whole lot of talking and keeping track of politics – essentially GoT but more boring. And that's not to mention the hit that production values would take. I don't think the quality of the large scale visuals or art direction are really up for criticism here, but I don't think we would get that same level of quality if Dune 2021 were created as a series. I suppose we'll find out when Sisterhood or whatever it's called comes out. So, studios can try to adapt Dune, but it's never going to perfectly work out.

The best way to look at this movie as a movie for fans, and a swing for the fences. "We know this isn't achievable but we're going to do it anyway." One problem with Dune 2021 is that it doesn't fully commit to this. It felt like they only partially had the mindset of "whoever is watching this is already familiar with the ins and outs of Dune." I don't believe, for example, that they explained Thufir's role or what a mentat is, but they were pretty overt about the Harokonnens plot against the Atreides.

People complain about exposition and moan as soon as any backstory is hinted at, but exposition is necessary. The way it's presented is what matters. That's at least the case for most movies. I think one of the worst points in the movie was when Paul was in the tent with Jessica and was rapidly describing his visions. It was cringe, and it wasn't solely down to the acting. It was cliche and overdramatic. With a fans-only mindset, they could have avoided the clunky exposition. But would a fans-only movie be any good? Would it be successful?

Speaking of cringe, the treatment for the Voice was awful. Maybe it's a pet peeve, but I think it's a pretty objective view that the multi-pitch voice effect is super corny, especially when one of the overdubs is Raegan from The Exorcist. Personally, I would have liked a less-is-more technique. Rather than having a weirdo double-demon voice, the scene should just cut to slow motion, cut dialogue and just have a deep rumbling bass tone, have an extreme close-up on whoever is using the Voice, and then cut back to normal to show the effect. Simple, effective, and probably a lot less corny.

The treatment for the shields was pretty bad as well. It looked like a decent amateur film project effect. There are so many other directions they could've taken that, so it was pretty frustrating to see. Combat scenes are usually pretty boring to me, so I didn't really care or notice if they were good or bad here. I'm glad they didn't go full Marvel, though.

We're slowly transitioning to things that I did like.

Visually, Dune 2021 is fantastic in most case. The wardrobe felt like an afterthought, though, especially the soldiers' armor, which look like cheap vaccuform and L2 foam. The stillsuits were more Lynch than I expected, and are nothing like what I pictured in my mind when reading Dune. Why would their heads and mouths be exposed if they're trying to recycle their perspiration, tears, and spittle? The obvious answer is that having the Fremen in full suits would result in Power Rangers. They wouldn't be able to very clearly emote or speak, and would have to rely on a lot of awkward and overemphasized physical acting. That said, I still think the stillsuits looked pretty uninspired.

But in terms of the landscapes, the wide shots, the transitions, and the sets, I really loved Dune 2021. They reproduced what I saw in my mind while reading Dune, which was a mix between Arab and brutalist styles – something that's overwhelming and intimidating but also slightly foreign and almost mystical. Which, yeah, the mystical thing might be a stereotype, but it works. Harkonnen was pretty great to me, especially the scene where he rises up. I wish they didn't include that in the trailer. In fact, most of the scenes of the Harkonne base looked fantastic and bizarre. I'd have not problem rewatching this a few times because of how much I liked the visuals.

What doesn't work for the Arab styling is the soundtrack. The female vocalist modulating her voice to fry levels is super cliche and on-the-nose. The high level concept is fine, I guess, but it would have been less eye-roll-worthy if it were a bit more subtle. I would have loved a weird score of zithers, sitars, and vintage synths.

The acting, I didn't have much of a problem with. Yeah, they didn't really get to show off their range, but it is what it is. A two and a half hour movie. It pretty much had to pick and choose, and it went with the obvious choice of focusing on Paul. I think Timotheee Chamwow did fine expect for that tent scene I mentioned. He looked and acted pampered, but didn't come off as a brat, seemed reluctant but fully capable of fighting, had a sufficient amount of self-doubt, and he didn't chew up the scenery when he was having visions. Rebecca Ferguson was probably the weak point in the cast. I couldn't stand her when she was outside the door while Paul was being tested. It's also weird and Oedipal that she's only 13 years older than Chalomet. I'm just glad they didn't cast Angelina Jolie as Jessica. I think everyone else was pretty much a decent fit with their characters, and I don't give a shit that Kynes was a woman. If this were a series and Kynes' role were reduced to the point it is in the movie, I'd be scratching my head, but in a 2.5 hour movie, it's fine.

I thought the dialogue was fine as well. My only big complaint was with the "desert strength" or whatever the line was that they kept repeating. Dumb. I think Dune 2021 could have easily been turned into the Shinji and Gendo show, and while the dialogue wasn't Shakespearean, it did its job.

In terms of it being half a movie, knowing that the next one is so far away is a bit frustrating, but I thought it stopped at a logical point. I didn't have a problem with the pacing; I thought the movie was going to end with Paul and Jessica watching the base burn, so I'm glad it got to the point of them meeting up with the Fremen. Had I not been a fan, I'd be pretty unsatisfied, though.

Even though this looks like mostly negative stuff, I did think it was a good adaptation for what it was – an earnest effort at accomplishing a basically impossible goal. It was reduced to Paul's story but kept the overall feel of Dune, and looked incredible. Is it a good movie? If you have the right expectations, I think you could argue that it is. I went in knowing that it couldn't possibly capture the scope of Dune, but was hoping for some artistic semblance of Dune. And that's essentially what I got. It's pretty surface level. It's not ground-breaking. But it showed me a stunning depiction of the world of Dune, its alleged heroes, and its melodrama villains without ever feeling like fan service.

 

[basic]

god damn...where's the tl;dr?

 

[sylvie]

all part of fami's master manipul8r troll plan

 

[HornheaDD]

Denis was like “everyone knows this already, since the original Dune movie fills in all the holes of my wet, used, toilet paper, of a beautiful CGI rich movie, that is making millions of abstract money.”

This. I think Dennis Villynew made this movie for people who have read every book, fanfiction and comic issue ever put to page. I know that they reference what the Spice can do like once, but they didn't put enough emphasis on the importance of it.

I think it was already stated here but they completely ignored the 'wonder' of FTL travel. The Spacing Guild is very important, they basically hold the universe by the balls. But "ok we're gonna have an image of a cool looking ship, but then make all of the smaller ships exiting SUPER tiny so they look like fleas. Book readers already know about that so we can just gloss over."

 

[fake]

god damn...where's the tl;dr?

LOL I'll put everything but the tldr in a spoiler.

 

[evil wasabi]

The movie literally says that spice extends life, enhances consciousness, and makes prescience and interplanetary travel possible.

The movie says it? Or whispers it? Not sure what Denis was thinking with the terrible sound in this garbage.

 

[SouthtownKid]

I mean 2021 Dune owes much of it's success to the original. They reused some of the design/story elements of it. Admit it!

He doesn't have to admit it, because Villeneuve already did.

Also, in addition from taking some design cues from Lynch, Villeneuve also seemed to borrow from Jodorowsky's The Metabarons, which was basically Jodorowsky's adaptation of his own rambling and pointless idiotic vision of Dune.

the real question for me is, is dune 2021 better than prometheus?

Shockingly no. Dune's story is better, merely on the basis of inheriting it from super strong source material. But Villeneuve does a halfway incompetent job of relaying that story. And in pretty much every way other than the source story, Dune does not do significantly better than Prometheus.

 

[SouthtownKid]

but they didn't put enough emphasis on the importance of it.

They didn't put enough emphasis on the importance of pretty much anything. The politics, the Bene Gesserit, the ecological themes of the novel, etc.

It seemed like almost the only thing Villeneuve did want to put emphasis on was doing lap after lap of setting up the eventual meeting of Paul and Chani, as if the point of Dune was a teen love story.

On the other hand, maybe the over-focusing on the teen love story will help make Dune the success fami needs it to be. Maybe instead of the next Star Wars/LotR (it's certainly bloated and self-indulgent enough to take the title from Peter Jackson), Villeneuve actually set out to make the next Twilight.

 

[LoneSage]

They didn't put enough emphasis on the importance of pretty much anything. The politics, the Bene Gesserit, the ecological themes of the novel, etc.

It seemed like almost the only thing Villeneuve did want to put emphasis on was doing lap after lap of setting up the eventual meeting of Paul and Chani, as if the point of Dune was a teen love story.

On the other hand, maybe the over-focusing on the teen love story will help make Dune the success fami needs it to be. Maybe instead of the next Star Wars/LotR (it's certainly bloated and self-indulgent enough to take the title from Peter Jackson), Villeneuve actually set out to make the next Twilight.

Tinfoil hat: Legendary Entertainment, owned by Chinese, in turn owned by the CCP, produced Dune. Makes me wonder how much of a hand the Party had in saying how the film went.

 

[evil wasabi]

The observation of Teen Romance Dune is a kick in dick hole. Once you read STK’s post it becomes so painfully obvious that this is all it is.

are you team Mahdi (China definitely didn’t green light that), or team Feyd?

 

[SouthtownKid]

Legendary Entertainment, owned by Chinese

Is that true? That's disheartening.

 

[LoneSage]

Is that true? That's disheartening.

"On January 11, 2016, Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group announced that it had concluded an agreement with shareholders to acquire Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion, making it the largest acquisition of an American media company by a Chinese firm."

I have noticed since then every movie from them has been released in China. Used to be great, but now everything they do is the blandest brand of mediocrity and inoffensiveness. Perfect for Chinese audiences. So much behind-the-scenes censorship and notes from the propaganda department we'll never hear from.

Personally I'm bummed to hear this isn't an excellent movie. I really wanted to go to the theater again.

 

[roker]

"On January 11, 2016, Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group announced that it had concluded an agreement with shareholders to acquire Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion, making it the largest acquisition of an American media company by a Chinese firm."

I have noticed since then every movie from them has been released in China. Used to be great, but now everything they do is the blandest brand of mediocrity and inoffensiveness. Perfect for Chinese audiences. So much behind-the-scenes censorship and notes from the propaganda department we'll never hear from.

Personally I'm bummed to hear this isn't an excellent movie. I really wanted to go to the theater again.

So you're saying this is why the gay rapist isn't in the movie?

 

[LoneSage]

Yes sir.

 

[@M]

The Dune movie I want, or maybe Tremors, I don't know anymore:

This would be pretty boss too!

 

[famicommander]

It what comes as no surprise, the sequel for Dune finally has been greenlighted for a October 20, 2023 theatrical release with director, producer and co-screenwriter Denis Villeneuve returning.

The key word here is theatrical. We understand that a key point of negotiations between Legendary and Warner Bros was that Dune: Part Two would be given a pure theatrical window; no day-and-date HBO Max release plan is in the mix for this cinema spectacle.

‘Dune’ Sequel Greenlighted By Legendary & Warner Bros; Pic Will Get Theatrical Window In October 2023

It what comes as no surprise, a sequel for 'Dune' finally has been greenlighted for a October 2023 theatrical release with Denis Villeneuve returning.

deadline.com

 

[norton9478]

I liked dune better the first time i read it when it was called "Princess of Mars"

 

[Taiso]

thank you yes. The fight scenes were so bad.

and fucking Momoa… he’s really fallen off the horse with that weight gain. Shaved his beard and gained 20 lbs.

FAHKING
MAH
MOWWAH

Fami is not an authority on cinema but I, in fact, AM.

And I'm saying this is a tedious interpretation of the story.

 

[SouthtownKid]

I liked dune better the first time i read it when it was called "Princess of Mars"

Saying that makes you sound like someone who's never read either book.

 

[terry.330]

Saying that makes you sound like someone who's never read either book.

Pretty sure he stealth edited that post and it was originally "Isn't Dune just a ripoff of Princess of Mars?" So yes I assume he has never read either.

 

[norton9478]

Saying that makes you sound like someone who's never read either book.

I once got wasted and watched the Disney movie and the Lynch movie back to back.

 

[Taiso]

I once got wasted and watched the Disney movie and the Lynch movie back to back.

I think you're still wasted.

 

[@M]

 

[Lagduf]

What the hell is the context of that picture.

I still haven’t seen Dune yet.

I never saw Lynch Dune so maybe I should continue skipping. I’m more excited for The Eternals, honestly - and it will just be more superhero garbage.