I suppose from my point of view they're as popular as possible without a popular film because I haven't even read them and yet become aware of the biggest plot points by simply reading generally about fantasy.

 

It's not just your point of view. I remember when Dune (80s) came out. It was far more hyped than this one, and it was all the more disappointing after having seen it. Then again, Clash of the Titans was a cinematic masterpiece, for fantasy fans, at the time as well. We didn't have a lot standards to look up to at the time.

Here's hoping they don't screw this one as well. I've heard it's better, so I have my fingers crossed.

 

It is really very good. Probably not stellar enough to inspire non-fans to go read the books, but definitely well worth the ticket price / a month of HBO.

 

Re 'Snape kills Dumbledore' I had a rude awakening on that front. Back before the sixth movie came out (or sightly after, can't remember) I causally dropped that into a conversation to the same reaction to spoilers I'm seeing here.

I honestly couldn't even conceive of how you couldn't know lol...

They still won't let me forget it.

 

When it first came out over here, I told two friends that the ending...

Spoiler

Felt more like a LotR disc swap than the end to a film.

Both of them have since told me that I was bang on the money on that. I stand by my 8-8.5/10 mark, but likewise, people less familiar with the source material (to wit: I've picked up a bunch of osmosis-y stuff about the universe and read the 'main' book a few times, but not in the last couple of years is my level) might be less enthused.

Oh, and can I just say that...

Spoiler

The Harkonnen attack feels... Dissonant, somewhere. The whole ship bombing sequence and battle in the middle of the landing zone just felt like it'd been thrown in because every blockbuster these days must have some scene of grand property damage and explosions that make Michael Bay need a tissue.

 

@Oment

Spoiler

According to wikipedia, the attack happens in the book, it's the plot point that pushes Paul and his mom to seek shelter with the Fremen. I do agree that the execution was lacking. I know this is supposed to be old-style sci-fi, but not a single thing about the way the attack was shot or the way fight scenes were choreographed impressed me at all. I must have been spoiled by bombastic action in modern movies, because those elite Atreides legions died like bitches and the Emperor's fearsome Sardaukar murder-troopers reminded me of Peacekeepers from the Hunger Games movies. And I thought Peacekeepers were boring and generic as fuck.

I've had it with elite soldiers being portrayed doing stupid shit. If they're supposed to be elite, why the fuck did those guys who murdered Dr Kynes die like suckers to the sandworm? Like, my dude--do you need an Arrakis pamphlet? It's the most important planet in the Empire, but you don't have what seems like basic information about sandworms and how they're attracted to regular human footsteps? Do you guys only carry swords? No sort of ranged weapon at all?

Ok, maybe the last bit isn't fair, because in fact, I don't think I spotted any handheld ranged weapons, it was all swords and knives. Maybe that's just the in-universe aesthetic.

 

Spoiler

Lazguns have a resonance of sorts with personal shields. where it causes a nuclear explosion on the gunman or the victim.

 

Spoiler

They have guns aplenty in Dune. In this movie specifically, Paul had a Maula pistol at the end there (spring-loaded gun). Dr Yueh had a sort of dart gun thing where the dart somehow slowly penetrated shields. The reason guns are largely not used by the Great House armies though is because everyone has shields which prevent fast moving blades/objects. The projectile is caught and can be deflected (you see Duncan do this with a Sardaukar guy who fired the same penetrating dart thing at him that Dr. Yueh used.)

 

Spoiler

I don't have a problem with the attack, and its use in the plot is good, just that a whole round of blockbuster explosions and stuff felt tonally dissonant with the rest of the film. It's like being at a funeral and someone starts 'playing' Happy Birthday on the kazoo.

 

What would you imagine instead? A more stealth operation?

 

Just came back from Dune, it was pretty good, I enjoyed it a lot. Would definitely recommend seeing it in the cinema. Didn't really have a problem with anything. Would've been even better if the Part 2 followed immediately, since the ending seemed kind of out of nowhere, but oh well. Curiously, my girlfriend, who hasn't read Dune, enjoyed it a lot, but that might have had something to do with Timothée Chalamet, he is one beautiful man. Fingers crossed for the 2nd part to actually happen.

 

Went and saw Dune, and I'll abide by the spoiler things, so nothing too revealing here.

The ending that everyone seems confused about is obvious if you've read the book.

The story itself is separated into three distinct parts: 1. Dune, 2. Muad'dib, and 3. The Prophet.

The movie covered events in part one (Dune) only. Which leads me to believe this will be a trilogy of movies if they stay consistent with the story. So, that's the reason it seems so random. It really isn't.

As far as book to movie: considering that the story was written in 1965, it doesn't surprise me that they changed a lot of the dialog to something more modern. Other than a couple of lines from Duncan Idaho that were head scratching, it wasn't too bad. They doctored a few characters and the plot a tad as well, basically trimming the excess, where it truly wasn't needed.

Dune, at it's heart is a political story and that shined through very well, without being overburdened with Hollywood agendas. I appreciated that. It was still there, but a lot less in your face and preachy as they tend to do these days.

I don't know if it was a specific casting choice, but the Fremen seem to be the only real people of color in the cast. I guess because they're being oppressed by everyone and it's the easy way to put it across? I have no idea. Don't know if there is a message there, because Paul is about as white as white can get and him suspected as being the "savior" doesn't seem too in line with the typical message Hollywood sends out these days.

Leto (Oscar) is eh, but he was pretty much eh in the book and in every movie tv show there was. There's just not much for him to work with.
Jessica is a little over the top with acting useless and emotional until the end of the movie.
Paul was pretty spot on. Timmy nailed it. Though they altered his character to give him a little more agency in this part of the story, but not too much as to be overbearing.

All the rest of the characters were basically cameos, but it's really hard to do this without making them so, if they want to fit it into a 2.5 hr movie. You just really can't get into the character of each very important person in Paul's life without maybe ten movies, and it's not really worth it in the end.

Thufir & Piter were not even explained at all as Mentats (basically human computers & spymasters) I guess they just assumed everyone would know or it wasn't in the least bit important... which it kind of is in subsequent parts.

Still, from a giant fan of the books, this was a very well put together movie, and I rarely say that about those types of transitions.

 

This kind of highlights that their special backgrounds kind of aren't that plot important. Is it interesting to know that the betrayer was trusted because he had Clockwork Orange-esque mental conditioning that no one had ever broken, or that Thufir isn't just an implied spymaster but essentially a biological logic-engine? Sure, but it's not necessary.

 

@KHAAAAAAAN!! Saw Dune.

while I stand on my comments in the cultural relevance…I see why you made comparisons to LOTR.

That was epic. Makes me want to go buy the book.

I give it a 9.5/10. Easily as good as Fellowship of the Ring.

 

@Arthellion

It's a good movie, I'll give it that, but FotR good? Nah. Fellowship is a class of its own for fantasy/adventure films.

 

it’s hard to put into words because I do agree FOTR is at a very high level…but its been ages imo since we had a story of such depth coupled with such beautiful cinematography and acting.

 

Did people rate Fellowship on its own super highly? From memory the other two are the ones that cemented it? It's been ages though...

Maybe the same will be the case for Dune.

 

I used to think so too (I think because it had no massive siege set-piece), but then every time I actually watch Fellowship I am blown away. It's a fantastic movie as its own piece of media.

 

I do think it’s difficult to separate the films of LOTR because they were all made at the same time.