Dune Movie SPOILER TALK Featuring Christopher Ruocchio (2021 - Denis Villnueve, Timothee Chalamet) 

I want to issue a correction: It was Jamis, not a Pardot Kynes cameo. I was wrong and clearly not paying attention the first time. Watched a second time last night. I really liked how Paul was having a couple of these visions of him and Jamis as friends. Really going to make that "I was a friend of Jamis" land different.

I love your videos guys. I'm a Dune book lover too but; Every valid point you guys make about things that were omitted from the book also meant that the run time was kept under three hours. You have to concede that the balance between book accuracy and making a good film is a delicate one. It's negotiating between competing goals: book accuracy vs good (general audience) film. The longer the movie is, the less likely normies are going to stay with it, the smaller the chance that we get to see a part two. You can't be so uncompromising as to ignore the audience outright otherwise just make avant garde indie films. I don't disagree with any of your guys' points but we have to admit that the reality of a quarter million dollar plus investment has to have a chance to be profitable or else what good does it do to make the most faithful book adaptation if no one ever sees it except Dune book lovers? Love the video.

Jessica is in early pregnancy and in dire circumstances, of course she cried. Honestly, I was impressed with the performance so much.

Jessica had to cry from a cinematic standpoint because in the book it's only from her internal monologue we learn how much she loves Leto and Paul. If she acted outwardly the way she behaves outwardly in the book, critics and casuals would have been like wtf does she even care about these people.

The absence of the mentat thing seems important to me, as not establishing it has consequences beyond just the mentat-proper characters. It results in us not knowing of Paul's mentat training, and fails to establish that, given Thufir's reaction to Jessica using the voice on him when confronted about the supposed betrayal (also absent), Jessica, and the bene gesserit broadly, are formidable indeed. The result is lack of development in several, important, directions.

As a long time Dune fan, I was blown away by the reverence Denis and the cast and crew had for the original material. The scale, the emotion, the humanity as well as the alien quality of this world was perfect. There are a couple aspects I was slightly disappointed didn't make the cut, but this film was all that I hoped for and more. Here are the few things I missed from book to film: (and of course, I know they can't fit everything and I know you guys talked about some of these already! But this is my list!) . . I do wish there had been the "traitor" plotline. In the book it's a large thread of tension that it is known to the Atredies that there is a traitor in their midst. Of course, we do see Dr. Yueh betray the Duke, and though it was as powerful as it possibly could've been with what info was given, I can't help but think the impact could've been even greater had there been even a few minutes of Theufir's mistrust of the Lady Jessica as the traitor, and also those moments between Jessica and Yueh where she did see unusual behaviors, but ended up explaining them away to herself - so human. The stakes were already high, but to have that be known I think would've hit a bit harder. I understand why they didn't add this part into the film, but I really wish we could've finally seen the dinner scene! I thought that was a wonderful moment to show the powers that be on Arrakis, and also the sharp wit and insight of both Jessica and Paul in moments of intrigue. It's clear in the film they reduced the time between their arrival on Arrakis and the ultimate betrayal by the Emperor, so I'm sure that would've felt very out of place and dropped tension. Although the Bene Gesserit are shown as very powerful, and I think the voice is portrayed perfectly I do wish there had been a few more visual clues as to the mastery of the "soft sciences" of the BG. Subtle hints that Jessica is reading the minutia of peoples faces and expressions, and maybe a close up on her face to indicate that she knows they're lying, or that she understands more than just the words they're saying. Some people really liked the change in the death scene of Liet Kynes, but I think that was a missed opportunity to show more insight from that character regarding the ultimate dream of the Fremen to turn Arrakis into a paradise. I know it was mentioned, and I liked the " moisture garden room" being moved from the palace to Kynes' place. But I think there could've been insight gleaned in an interesting and organic way had they taken her stillsuit and let her wander the deep desert seeing visions and re-experiencing memories like Kynes did in the book. And like you guys mentioned about little things like setting up Rabban as being the anti Gurney like Feyd is the anti Paul. As well as cutting Peiter down so much with no desire for Lady Jessica or even the Saphoo staining for mentats. I just feel these things would've built up a bit of personality and revelation to characters that may feel a bit flat if you don't have all the knowledge from the book to fill it in for you. My two cents... but ultimately I adored this movie, and think Denis was the perfect person to bring this to life.

Also the movie ended like the fellowship of the ring were the beginning of the second book became the ending to the first.

Seems like I made the right choice not to read the books beforehand, because I LOVED this movie. Already seen it twice!

It would have been more interesting if they had hinted at a traitor in the Duke's close circle and developed more of the relationships between them, Paul and the Duke. That is something the David Lynch movie did better.

Fantastic discussion here! Oscar Issac was perfect for the Duke, wasn't ready for him to go in the book, wasn't ready for him to go in the film :(

Their are set photos of Jessica & Yueh, the Dinner Party scene etc...I think Denis cut them out for runtime but I do think their will be a extended édition one day

Interesting you mention the sunset shot when leaving Cladan - I didn’t even think Star Wars I just thought of the jump cut in Lawrence of Arabia from match to the desert Sun

We watched it in IMAX and thought it was magnificent, especially the soundtrack. I am a long time Dune fan and my SO had not read the books, we both thought it was excellent, she felt it was the best movie she had seen in years. Hats off to Villeneuve for making an excellent film that should appeal to a wide audience.

Saw it in IMAX last night! loved it. I just think that if you hadn't read the book, some of the relationships weren't compelling enough.

I was shocked I actually loved Jason Mamoa. His last stand was so sick!!!

I’m reading articles where Denis V doesn’t like directors cuts, but when you have a movie as big as Dune the fans want to see all the footage possible.

People mistake emotion for weakness. Jessica is strong.

I was okay with most of the film but I missed the dinner party lol one of my favourite parts in the book

I want to see it again, but you touched on my biggest criticism. Virtually all the scenes felt so truncated that I could never get any emotion from them. Like the hunter seeker scene. It just happens, then we move on like we have to keep to the schedule. It made it feel like there were no highs or lows. Similar feelings on the score. Not much variety, just a constant push throughout. I think it works better if I think of the movie as a first act as a whole.

Just watched the movie, loved it, and now give into the fact that, at long last, I really need to re-read this book. Haven't since 1990-ish and was a kid and not into it that much. But the movie and you have convinced me to go back in. I could have sat through the entire film even if it was 6 hours long. They HAVE to make the sequel. They just have to.

One thing I would have liked was to give a brief explanation of balance of power between Emperor and Great Houses and where spacers guild fits in. I also felt they could have deepened the mystery about spice and why it's coveted. Maybe they'll explain more about it in Part 2.

Not having Paul choose his name and being called Mua’Dib to end the movie was criminal. The rest of the movie looked really good but felt so rushed even in a 2.5 hour run time.

Hi guys. I am so bummed that I didn't know about this channel when the film came out. I would have LOVED to have seen this level of discussion when it came out because I found myself OBSESSED with the film, but in the horrific position of having no one to talk to about it.

Got out of the theatre and came straight here. It has to be a good sign that much of the critique is just wanting more.

No dinner scene and Paul not saying fear is the mindkiller, even tho he says it in the trailer really irked me.

Damn it. I just rewatched Dune Part 1 before I watch Part 2 on the weekend, but I still forgot practically every insight from the books from this video that I learned last year.

Apparently they filmed a Yueh and Jessica scene and it will be on the deleted scenes on physical and digital media.

I think, if anything, Jessica's character portrayal in the film betters that of the book. She's pregnant. Her family's existence - specifically her husband's life - is in serious jeopardy. Her ability to defend the life of her son is in question. She's lost her stronghold. And her son's life is threatened what - four times in this first film? I know she's disciplined, but I don't think appearing vulnerable is inappropriate. I thought is was very well performed, especially given the weight assigned to the mother/son relationship in the film.

I think there were two aspects of Piter shown that did connect to a shared role the same as Thufir: his lip tattoo and the moment when Rabban entered and Piter's eyes were rolled up white like was shown with Thufir when he calculated the cost of the Herald's trip. I can see how a mentat when idle will further compile their data and continue making calculations that optimize the affairs of the house they serve. The book had the Baron, Rabban, Feyd and Piter explaining the entire plot by chapter two, so that scene I was expecting early and when it did not happen made me adjust my immediate expectations of exactly where the story was going. I hope that an extended version is eventually released and once both parts, extended versions, can be viewed concurrently the overall impression of the film will change. It's still amazing. The best movie I have ever seen in IMAX.

Mads Mikkelsen for the Emperor.

I really liked how the whole Gom Jabbar sequence was carried from beginning to end.

Really loved the movie... probably 9 out of 10 for me. Epic scale and themes, wonderful acting, and so many difficult-to-film elements were handled perfectly. I've read the book 3 times, but not in the last 15 years. None of the tweaks or omissions Mike and Christopher mentioned were noticeable to me. Nitpicks: Gurney sort of disappeared, which was weird. Litany of Fear should have been easier to hear and possibly condensed, so "fear is the mindkiller" would be a catch phrase in modern culture. Also, Paul and Jessica were in the sand cloud for WAY too long. In addition, it's not clear why the Baron didn't die, since he took a face full of poison gas.

For me as someone who didn't read the books. Personally I enjoyed it alot as a movie. But seeing your points I kinda agree, I didn't get a sense of the characters and didn't care about any of them. I liked it as a big interesting movie, but I didn't feel like it's the gigantic universe that'll fall in love with it's characters and long stories. So u guys might be right.

I disagree on Liet Kynes. I didn't know about the gender swap going in so I was caught off guard. Her performance wasn't great either but it could be because I was still bitter from being blindsided by the change. Kynes was one of my favorite (maybe even my favorite) characters in the book and I feel like the the movie could have done a bit better explaining the Liet connection to the Fremen and also what he/she was trying to do. At the same time though, for a part 1 of 2, this movie is probably as good as it gets. Dune may be better off as a GoT style TV show or maybe a movie trilogy. Or it could just be an unfilmable book due to the amount of stuff going on.

Enjoyed this SO MUCH, great talk.

Hunter Seeker scene was over a minute

Maybe now they'll adapt Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained as a tv series. Trying to make each one of those books a movie would be ridiculous because they're so long.

I really like the movie too but agree the big moments had little to no emotional weight.

My country is lock down so I watched it online and still loved it. The score was atmospheric but not memorable. There were a few love letters to Jodorowsky as well.

So on Dune we have Thanos, Drax, Aquaman and Spiderman's love interest ... am I missing any comic book characters???

I will forever say that this book would have suited a high budget GoT style hbo series over a movie. Even with the slow pacing of the movie, it had to cut out so much important stuff for the sake of run time. A series can have all of that stuff and explain these important things without info dumps to save time. So many characters didn't get their due before meeting their end. So many missed opportunities, but I get it, you can have it all. But the fact we didn't even know Pieter's name, or anything with me tats of suk doctors, or the reason gurny hates harkonens so much really made me wish I had more. Lady Jessica felt more like a damsel in distress in this movie than the book, which funnily enough was what the actress said they were focusing on making her stronger than the book. Didn't mind her as Jessica at all, but she is definitely a stronger character in the book. And another thing that bugged me was the fact the fremen were outside during the day A LOT!! Wasting their bodies water without their masks or hoods on. Herbert's fremen would turn in their grave. Aside from that negative list though, as a whole I really enjoyed the movie. Visual porn and the exact vibe I imagined when I read the book. The battle of arakeen was so awesome I had a smile the entire time. I was so invested in the movie that when It ended I had no idea it was near the end. I thought it still had a bunch to go. Which for a movie that's closing in on 3 hours is pretty amazing. Bottom line for me will always be that I just wish it was a series instead. 10 episodes, 10 hours to really dive into this universe and flesh out all of these characters and their motivations and what not.10 hours of Dennis V shot goodness. I mean the missed banquet scene would have been so good to see with not having to worry about the standard 3 act structure to adhere too. Or Paul seeing the faults in his father when he starts making mistakes before he dies. Such an important moment for Paul imo. Wow this was a long rant. Loved the movie, but the book will always reign supreme. I also thing the part 1 will look better when part 2 gets released. The end was... Abrupt

"Feyhd will be Harry Styles." 😳😁😆

Just saw the film in IMAX and I'm so happy!

Just watched the movie, thought it was great. Got me so excited to read the book soon it’s going to the top of TBR

41:54 preach

Do you plan on reviewing any of the Dune sequels (The ones by Frank Herbert, not the others)? Loved the movie and have read Dune but not the sequels. Seems to be a lot of mixed opinions on if they are worth while.

Once the second film is done it will be almost 5 hrs long, Can read the book in not much longer than that. Leaves no grain of sand unblown.

Liked the portrayal of Jamis and Stilgar. Josh Brolin did not really make for a warrior poet/bard imho, a little bit too gruff, perhaps I remember P. Stewart too fondly. The final scene really hit me. In the book and previous movies it was very brief and not really impacting, but Denis really amped it up and made it count (In retrospect I now understand better the significance of the moment).

I really enjoyed the Soundtrack. Sure it doesn't have catchy tunes but this somber and alien music fits the style of the movie well. It's not a hopeful world after. It's strange and unsettling and most unforgiving

Feyd will be in Pt 2

Denis filmed a few more yueh scenes but they were cut. He made some executive decisions etc.

I expect Feyd to be in the part 2. I am more curious as to the casting of the part. Who do you think would make a good Feyd? I think a good young martial artist and swordsman would be perfect. Donnie Yen is probably too old, but that is the kind of person I envision. Maybe Iko Uwais from the Raid films?

The downplaying of Piter and Yueh was one of my biggest gripes of the film. I also disliked that they downplayed the four pillars of Paul's training: The education he received from Gurney, especially in poetry and music, the Mentat training from Thufir, the combat training from Duncan, and the Bene Gesserit training from Jessica. In the book, this goes a long to explaining why Paul is as talented as he is. In the film, it makes it seem like it was all about the Bene Gesserit training, which is the biggest part perhaps, but still. Also, the fact that Gurney's poetic and musical side is lost makes him seem the same as Duncan, just a sword master who trains Paul in combat. So, the viewer could legitimately ask why we need both characters. At least they did hint that Paul was functioning as House Atreides' unofficial Truthsayer by the time they reach Arrakis. He has one line where he says "It's truth" when they meet Stilgar. I would've preferred more, but it's something. I'm just hoping there's a bunch of stuff that was left on the cutting room floor (metaphorically) and we'll get a big 3-hour extended edition made especially for the book geeks.

The way I see it, The purpose of Beast Rabban's character is to be the thug like brute who screws things up on Dune, as he tries to use brute strength to control the Fremen, without any real clue as to the true scope of what he is up against. Whereas Feyd is a much more sophisticated threat, offering a more compelling obstacle to Paul. So yeah, I'll be disappointed if he does not show up at all in the second part, assuming they make it.

Jodorowsky's Dune is the most important and influential movie never made. It had tons of great things in it. H.R. Giger and Dan O'Bannon met while working on it. The world is a better place because Jodo tried to make that film, for both films and comics. That being said I'm also glad it didn't get made.

Hey Mike! Love your content - you woke me up from a 6 year reading slump which I'm extremely thankful for. I like your channel very much and wanted to give my honest opinion on something that bugs me from time to time, meaning no disrespect to anyone. Truely. RU-vid and Booktube especially, for me at least, is a place where you come to someone's channel for them. You're interested in the content creator's thoughts and way of seeing things, what impact a book has on them and what they see where, that you didn't. There's a connection that forms between us and you, which is the reason we love coming back for more. We want to get your thoughts and opinions. If I have to use an example - seeing you in a panel of people that have read the entire Malazan series is fun, because you're the one asking all the questions and we're getting the new reader experience through your eyes. Dune is your favourite book of all time - this video should have been all you. Seeing you stand by for most of the video was a bit dissapointing. Again, no disrespect to Christopher Ruocchio, I just don't have the connection with you, Sir, and I'm basically using this video as an example. Stopping here as I feel more and more like a dick writing this, but these are my honest thoughts, which I'm putting out there as hopefully a different perspective that would might be at least somewhat helpful. Cheers and hope everyone's healthy and doing well!

One thing that I was so excited about was Kynes being cast with a woman of colour but then she had next to no screen time or characterisation so her death didn't really effect me :( I wish they had given her character more.

Idk how anyone that read the book couldve enjoyed this movie as much as it deserved. Movies arent a good medium for all stories.

Dr. Yueh’s betrayal was my biggest problem I had with the movie, non book readers needed to get a sense of what is at stake for his character before he betrays them, so that when he does, it has more weight. That added convo between he and Jessica was all they really needed. I can accept Hawat getting the shaft in terms of not getting much screen presence. I can also accept them removing the dinner scene because those elements are not as integral to the plot or pacing, unless they added the subplot where they suspected Jessica as a traitor, which I’ll admit, still would’ve liked to see but won’t dock the movie for it. Other than that, I’ve seen the movie three times now, and the flow of the overall film feels way better. The hunter seeker scene didn’t bother me and felt just long enough. Also disagree on the score. I’m not a Han Zimmer fan and have complaints about his overall style, but I can’t get the score out of my head and believe it’s his greatest to date. It fits the feel of the movie, and subtly uses themes. Been listening to it repeatedly.

What was up with the creepy spider baby? Don't remember that being in the book?

Hey Mike, you may have answered this question before but I'm gonna ask anyway: I know you aren't happy with the books that Frank's son has written. I have read Dune and really loved it but was wondering what your opinion is as far as what subsequent books I should read and which ones I should skip? Thankya sai! Sure love your videos!

Had not been so excited to see a movie since Empire. At least this time lines. The movie was absolutely gorgeous. I liked the soundtrack. There were no catchy tunes but it did give a constant feeling of weight and quite often dissonance. For me, the major issues were a lack of exposition for thoswho have or haven't read the book. Yueh in particular. But at 2 1/2 hours, something had to be cut or end the movie sooner. And the weepy Jessica and lost Paul was a little disheartening. Jessica in particular. But neither really come into their own until later in the book. But these are minor observations and am just excited we have the movie to critique.

Soo...first half went by like too fast and many scenes were cut too short. Last part was ok and kinda didn't make sense. The soundtrack was almost always out of place and I didn't like it. The ending didn't felt satisfying at all and I fell like the movie should have definitely been done only with the part2 totally confirmed, like Infinity War and End Game

I'm one of the Baron fans 😎

Winding and Jessica defend their face on Desert planet

Does the video contain spoilers from the second half of the book??

Legendary has officially greenlit the sequel as of two hours ago

Tons of piter scenes cut out

My hot take: I'm a HUGE fan of Hans Zimmer. But there's no getting around it. His soundtrack is the weakest link in this movie. It was 40% interesting- especially when the bagpipes are heard- and 60% noise distortion that was so loud, it was hard to hear dialogue and sound effects.

Dune should not be adapted as a movie anymore. There is more stuff left out in this version than any adaptation before.

I think if you hadn't read the books you would really struggle to figure out what was going on. Nothing was explained in any depth at all. And Jessica spent half the movie in tears for reasons that were never clear, especially if the Bene Gesserit are as mentally powerful as painted.

'Vill Noov' 😀

Haven't seen it yet. Maybe they should have licensed the Sy-Fy screenplay, let Deny tweak it, and filmed it with the current set of characters and production costs for Fx? Eueh, the dinner scene, the Fear speech, Fenring, Piter, the Emperor, logical development of Irulan's character, Feyd, etc. etc. etc. were all well written in that version.

Am I the only one who feels the creepy pet from Dune is similar to that one character from Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 😂😂

I stopped watching this conversation when you said you didn't understand Jessica's crying.

I was kind of salty about how they nerfed both Paul and Jessica. They were both way too emotive considering their training. And I don't remember any specific scenes but I remember often thinking that they were acting too stupid considering how smart or perceptive they are supposed to be.

Jessica did seem pouty, every other scene with her she’s being overtaken with her emotions. I was thinking “what’s wrong with her now?!”

As somebody who has never read the dune series my god I was so confused about so much. Definitely reading the books now🤷‍♀️

I think in order to have a shot at adapting Dune ever again, though I don't think it should ever be done, is to make it a trilogy similar to how they did The Dark Knight which is basically what the book is, 3 books woven together like Frankenstein into one massive novel. That way, they can do more with the characters & plot development if they have less material to weave together in only 2 or 3 hours. But also, get better actors, the only one I personally liked ironically enough was Rebecca Ferguson as Jessica.

Just a big, big, disappoint. But, it's only a movie, and I'm a sandy bookworm.

LOTR rant. Extended edition Is that edition. I saw theatrical edition ony once - in cinema ( 1 part) and a was dissapointed as hell, then watch extended 1 part and I was shocked why they cutt off so much important stuff. Other parts included Night in cinema with 1,2,3 at once. Since then coupe times yearly. Returning to Dune. too cold, too landscapes,too less about them. Yueh could be cutt off the film alt all, Pieter, Rabban also. That wersion I saw two times already and I don't want to see it anymore. See ,hopefully, in second part.

The Lynch version is better just for how weird it is. The Weirding Way needs the horror element. The new movie’s soundtrack is extremely wack. Oh well.

You guys aren't going to mention how they made kynes a woman for no reason?

I read Dune when I was 12, and grew with all the other books Herbert wrote. It is my favourite book series, not a fan, I'm not a fan of anything. Fanaticism brings lack of criticism, which I don't like. I abhor Lynch's movie. He didn't understand Herbert and did a huge disservice to him. I like Villeneuve, and I have watched every movie he had done: from Incendies to Blade Runner 2049. I was expecting for his version. I was expecting more, but I got a watery coffee instead of an espresso. To be honest, I am hugely disappointed. To put as a metaphor: it is like an American is asking in a bar in Rome for an American coffee and what the Italians do is prepare an espresso and pour boiling water in it. The result is horrible for the Italians and Europeans, but ok for Americans. That's what Villeneuve's Dune is. Sorry, but I'm having hard time to love the movie, I appreciate it, though.

The idea that Harkonnen leader(s) should personally come and kill Duncan gotta be the most stupid thing I've ever heard in regards of Dune. Someone's been watching too much comic book villain movies I guess. Anyway.

Liet was a forced diversity hire. They had to change the sex of the character so they could make the movie. Blame the woke Hollywood for that, not the Director nor the actress. It's not her fault for being an actor version affirmative action.