Dune (2021) - Review! 

@Siddharth Sriram the books are what makes Dune a masterpiece. the films try to adapt it but it is not something that can really be done. Maybe a long and big production TV series will be the closest thing to bring it to life. but still, much of the complexity and intrigue in the books are inner monologue. Villeneuve's Dune was beautifully made though and was as faithful as possible to the books given only 2.5 hours.

Haha. Shared this comment with some friends. Good work!

​@Siddharth Sriram its all explained more in the books but basically: there are no prophecies so much, as seeds of religion and prophecy implanted among primitive cultures by the sisterhood in order to steer them in certain directions, as well as secure safety in case of situations like Paul and Jessica's where they may end up needing sanctuary. Essentially the Dune universe is Godless, as far as we know it. But there is religion and fanaticism. The sisterhood believe that there will be a coming superhuman but that is from their genetic manipulation through thousands of years of breeding, not because of prophecy. The blue eyes are from the saturation of spice use. the spice is the most powerful substance in the universe. it can give 300 year lifespan, promote health and vitality and expanded awareness. but once you are addicted the body will die if it is removed. So it is obviously a highly potent geriatric substance. and the fremen are living in it. its in the air they breath, the food they eat. The heavy addiction to it gives them the blue within blue eyes, where even the outer whites of the eye becomes blue. why exactly this happens i am not sure. but it is a substance that is discovered 20,000 years into the future from now so anything is possible. it is science fiction after all.

@Siddharth Sriram you lost me once you mentioned the hobbit trilogy

Yeah, when you see those little pigs on their boats and the pirate wolf... like, there is so much history there

Been there, dune that!

I missed it. What did he Dune?

One and Dune? I hope not

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes"

I think that joke is over-dune.

@Revenge Class good. Lynches dune will always have a place in my heart but not because it was good, but because it was the best effort (before Denis dune) to put dune on the big screen. It's just a terrible movie and I can accept that. Denis dune is spectacular on the other hand. Just jaw dropping. Can't wait for part 2.

@Revenge Class I think the anger might tell you that you are over reacting a little bit. In film there re always sacrifices to be made because film is an inferior method of telling a story. Narrative will always convey the most detail. All films are shallow in comparison, they are short and simple. The death of Yueh would be seconds on a film, no matter who deals the blow, yet in a book they can go deeply into motive, method, emotion of victim and perpetrator.

@Revenge Class Oh yeah...the 84 Dune where Paul makes it rain at the end......LOL! Or changing the weirding way into an auditory weapon. Zero rapport between Paul and his parents. Louis Vuitton interiors in the ornithopters and they look terrible. Harkonnens in hazmat suits. A vampiric Baron with pustules and some of the most cringe worthy dialogue and writing. Terrible as always Sean Young as Chani. And let's not forget the laughable inner monologues. It's an incoherent film. Lynch is one of my fave directors but I'll take his cue of not wanting his name associated with this disaster as he himself considering it a huge failure.

And part 3 tbh

Good news.... Zimmer just confirmed on Twitter..... They are moving forward with Part 2...... Hell yeah. :)

I don’t believe you.

You have my respect sir

Once i see a movie, i usually dont want to see it for 1 or 2 years. Since it came out last month, i‘ve seen it 4 times in cinema. I'm saturated for the moment, but if it runs another 2 weeks, i cant promise not making it 5.

@@tomitiustritus6672 Yeah, I'm definitely going to see it again next weekend. It's so good I can't even stand it.

All 6 Frank Herbert books are well worth the read IMHO. Have a great time!

@@etrecklefrancois2792 THEY ARE

Can she wear an N95 and breath in it? Pretty much foolproof if you fit it properly.

@@etrecklefrancois2792 the books are awesome. The story and the lore are so rich and good so deep. Can’t wait to see this movie.

@@etrecklefrancois2792 I read the first book in high school. Are the rest cash grabs or worth it?

Damn. I want to see it in IMAX but I don’t think they will make another one.

They already said it's a go for second movie

I would disagree with the "almost" part. It seems like they could have paced the story much better to have a proper 3rd act. As the sequel being made will rely on the success of this film's box office I feel it was not a good strategic or storytelling choice to end the film where they did.

I agree but I think once the next movie comes out it’ll make the ending of the first seem more significant

@@flowerpower32 it's not greenlit. All depends on how much money this one makes

I had the opposite feeling. I felt BladeRunner 2049 to be chillingly cold and detached, while still beautiful. In Dune, I found myself easily connecting to each of the characters, and felt their affection, fear or disdain for each other.

@@donkeydarko77 Exactly my feelings, but for BR2049 lol. 🤷🏻😄

@@travisspazz1624 That's respectable.

@@donkeydarko77 Denis has still yet to miss for me. Dune is still overall great.

@@travisspazz1624 Enemy and Prisoners were outstanding. I wasn't sure that I even liked Arrival until the end...then I realized I LOVED it.

I'm a big Dune fan and I absolutely *loved* it. There were only two choices during the movie that were noticeably different from the book, but they both make sense in the context. I just can't believe how closely the movie matches how I saw things in my mind's eye from reading the books. It was uncanny.

@@funtechu thanks. I wondered if they’d make some changes. The David Lynch version was pretty awful for me. Glad they’ve been reasonably faithful. I’m in Australia and not out here until December.

@@funtechu I was impressed at how accessible the movie was. It could have gone wrong in so many ways but Denis Villeneuve knocked it out of the park.

I watched the review right after watching Dune, on my couch at home. And, out loud, responded to the joke. Fuck, you. Respectfully. Love you Dan, never change :')

@... VFX does not equal CGI. There is a lot f CGI....but it's used less than you'd think. And used appropriately.

Me as well. I truly hope they continue the story.

I enjoyed and definitely want to see the 2nd part. Tbh the only thing I didn't like was the it having to be broken into parts. I would have watched it for 6 hrs lol

Zimmer just confirmed on Twitter today..... They are moving forward with Part 2. :)

What's so "visionary" about this Dune? In terms of sheer visual originality, Blade Runner was far superior, but had the same pacing issues (as well as bland acting from the leads)

Just watched it again on hbo and my opinion stands: no repeat value. A terrible disappointment

Yes!! Exactly the perfume commercial. I was like is this an ad for Macy’s??

Exactly my problem. None of the characters other than Oscar Isaac were interesting.

@@SamMart13 I just thaught Duncan (jason momoa) was interesting.

The problem with Leto's character is written into the story: he's a dead man from the beginning. Paul and Jessica too, and the Mentats. About the others, something could be done. But the way that characters in LoTR were handled was a little invasive... Gimli was VERY jokey.

This is a weeks old comment but I have to say this is my experience as well. Can't believe there are "fans of the book" saying the movie disappointed them because dr yueh or the mentats weren't explained or whatever. The director got 165 mil dollars, less then the latest Fast and Furious movie, and managed create pure gold with it and gets to do a sequel as well. This is the best Dune adaptation possible in my opinion.

Huh. Well, I hope so! But Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya said yesterday or the day before on Colbert that nothing was yet confirmed.

Fuck, so it's about 3 years away... :(

😱

@@donkeydarko77 not necessarily.

@@gavinhenderson7250 You're right. Might be 4.

Well, yeah, if they can.

Agree completely.

I would say the opposite. People who've read the book will miss a lot of the intrigue from the first half of the story. It's a far more streamlined version of the story but I feel like there could've been a bit more runtime devoted to illustrating the plot and the personal conflicts and motivations between the Atreides characters. Yeah I agree non-readers won't know about the various lore items, but the film is structured so that they don't need to fully know it to understand the story.

I can only speak as someone who is very familiar with the first three books. I don't think I've ever seen Lynch's film all the way through and I suffered through even the sci-fi adaption even though I did finish it and didn't absolutely hate that. I think they managed to nail the best of both worlds. I think they gave enough exposition if someone was completely cold goin in, but paid attention they'll get the jest, plus didn't needlessly spend 30-40 minutes going over stuff the majority of people watching this movie will already know.

@@dzd2371 the sci-fi adaptation was very cheap looking but I think it did a pretty good job of introducing the world to non-book readers and it had some strong performances.

Personally I was satisfied with the miniseries Children of Dune encompassing the two books, not so much the Dune miniseries (sorry to any who liked it, just wasn't as well put together imo). What I want is God emperor.

@@barbarabaker1457 I can't imagine them doing God Emperor. Can't imagine Hollywood going in on a movie that's 90% philosophical soliloquies.

Probably bad sound mixing. Nolan is notorious for that, sucks Denis is doing it for this film too lol

I watched it at home with a sound bar and had to turn on the closed captions. The score was ok but unremarkable. Set design and acting was on point thou.

This was the only problem I had with this movie. Tooth shaking action and score then cut to literally old man with hands cupped at my ears missing half the dialogue.

After rewatching that scene, Rebecca does a hurried whisper in her accent, I don’t think it’s a mixing issue. It is difficult to make out the words, I somewhat like it though. Not everything has to be perfect and presented. Makes it feel a bit more real, but maybe it’s because I knew the litany already.

Do yourself a favour and watch the 2012 Spicediver fan edit of Lynch's film, everything is explained. The film depicts all the parties goals and their machinations to achieve those goals. This is literally a galactic Game of Thrones. The 2021 explains nothing. You need this movie as a primer. Peace!

@@ckooakley i wouldn't say it explains nothing. I give it more credit than that. There is some notion of the interactions among the powers of the Lansrad. Hence why I'm torn. As I think of it more, I ask myself if that portion of Herbert's novel is what makes it too challenging to make a movie out of, and that eliminating that portion of the story is the right call.

Oh yeah. I can easily see a 3 hour cut of this movie being out there.

Would love a directors cut but DV has often spoken honestly about his dislike of the premise of "the directors cut". He always says that there are no directors cuts of any of his films, nor will there ever be

Not even close. Do not compare this to The Fellowship of the Ring. Not even on the same tier. The Lord of the Rings actually has compelling characters.

@@starpower8093 To me the characters in Dune are compelling and interesting I'm just not emotionally attached to them in a point by point drama basis that character driven works rely upon. Dune, the book and this film, isn't about the readers or viewers being emotionally connected to the characters. Really the book wasn't written for emotional attachment to characters but rather how those characters actions and motivations shape their imperium, and what that means for the stories overall messaging. The movie seemed to follow suit while showing how these characters were emotionally attached to each other. Like the book when it was released this movie took risks and didn't follow normal industry expectations.

Fellowship of the Ring is just a part of a bigger story but it does have a three-act narrative and a conclusive climax with Frodo and Sam going their own way, the death of Boromir and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli deciding to go save Merry and Pippin. It's a satisfying end on it's own but it does leave you hungry for more. The Empire Strikes Back is one of the worst ones if this can't be considered great, because the movie ends with the heroes basically being defeated and everyone in despair. It isn't even somewhat satisfying if you didn't know about Return of the Jedi.

@@avidfather1864 okay… thanks for that unnecessary rant.

Only this is more akin to splitting FOTR into two parts and just releasing the first part, ending it the moment the Fellowship forms in Rivendell.

@@J_Tevo I'm just trying to make a point. Storytelling devices like this can be great and Fellowship and Empire are great examples of this.

To be fair, that's very much how Paul was written in the book.

Update: worth it ❤❤

30 minutes is a normal drive here in Los Angeles with decent traffic.

@@jamesm818 my 30 minutes was all highway to go 2 cities over. Yeah, I understand traffic can make a drive 30 minutes and from what I hear LA traffic can be bad. I was lucky that was 30 minutes without traffic because I went late at night. In traffic it could easily have been a 40-45 min drive.

This movie is just a “part” of a bigger picture and story. Think of the fellowship of the ring (lord of the rings)

@@arnie.suryawan a. that doesn’t make THIS movie less boring. B. Everyone doesn’t have to like it.

Didn't most people hate that movie? At leas for me it sucked

They say that Oscar Isaac is really popular with all the Royal families so The Emperor gives is the most important planet in the Galaxy so the Evil Bald guys can take him out. Unfortunately for them the space witches have genetically engineered the chosen one to bring to save all of humanity. His mom birthed him one generation early though and he has visions of himself bringing death and destruction.

Agreed. They just drop you in the story with little to no explanation of certain characters that are fairly important. I left feeling that it was pretty to look at it but just don't care about the characters and what happens.

I had the same experience. Although I usually appreciate slow storytelling, in this movie I was not invested in the characters and their motivations. And I found the open end more than just frustrating. I don’t think this movie stands on its own. And if you need a second movie to appreciate the first one, I think it failed from a storytelling perspective. Having said that, it is a gorgeous movie and worth a watch, but for me it missed an actual emotional center.

@@TommyWalker1991 like Dan said it's unapologetically a part 1. The film really only covers 40% or so of the book. This film will probably be received a lot better once part 2 drops as the payoff will actually be given. Really they ended the film at the most logical point it could when you know the storyline from the book. The book is too long to be covered well in a single film so in the long run this seems to be the best way to adapt it. The storytelling and messaging in the movie will come together and make more sense once part 2 is out. This is risky and breaks from normal movie going expectations. The issue of not caring about the characters like one would in a traditional story is actually a criticism the book also receives. This makes sense as Herbert was more so writing for overall plot, messaging and meaning, rather than point to point character drama.

@@DA-nk6gx I understand that the source material is maybe too long to be adapted into one movie, but that didn’t make it less of a disappointment for me personally. I don’t know any of the source material and felt left empty handed when the movie ended. Just my two cents. Similar to how the last Harry Potter book was split up and made the first movie just a set up for the second one, which made it very lacking as a film. It only works because of the second one. I also get why other people love it though, but I wonder overall whether it would not be better to adapt into a (mini) series rather than a series of movies that are made years apart. Then you legitimately have the time to tell the story and build the world.

Happened to read the book when I was 12. I had to do a bit of back tracking while reading it because of being 12, and having the whole school obligations in the ‘80s thing going on. This film gives an advantage to those who have read the books, but I can’t say that the film leaves too much unanswered. We all watch films about characters experiencing situations we know little about, and it includes stories set in the real world on subjects we find foreign. Having to explain certain aspects of a story such as Herbert’s Dune is not out of the ordinary. It’s pretty heady stuff. Written on a level with the intent of asking that you learn more about the situation. The book actually provided an index, with definitions! The posthumous books all involve deeper history that Herbert kept in his file cabinets. There is no shame in pausing and explaining because the source material is actually quite dense. It’s a thick swim, but ultimately rewarding in it’s message. Kudos for your 12 year old for giving it a try!

That’s why we getting the prequel Sisterhood of Dune to answer such questions