Sci-Fi Dune

[OutOfBoose]

I think it's a myth. Happy and fun tone doesn't save popular IPs. Like Justice League or Birds of Prey.

 

[Schlosser85]

I know Dune is dour and convoluted, but the trailer alone doesn't make it look especially dour. Probably less than it is, if anything.

 

[Stringer]

And it wasn't the point of comparison. Dour or not dour - it has little to do with what people end up liking or being interested in.

Sure, that's great for reviews and cult status, but isn't this movie supposed to be a blockbuster and a potential franchise? Funny, I see a lot of Nolan criticism in here, but for his faults, he's excellent at adding the right amount of fun, stakes, and thrill in his movies that Denis hasn't shown yet.

 

[OutOfBoose]

Sure, that's great for reviews and cult status, but isn't this movie supposed to be a blockbuster and a potential franchise? Funny, I see a lot of Nolan criticism in here, but for his faults, he's excellent at adding the right amount of fun, stakes, and thrill in his movies that Denis hasn't shown yet.

Well, it's DV's job to adapt the book, which is rather dry, into a thrilling narrative. Dune might end up being simply boring for GA, regardless of it's tone.

 

[Guts]

I think point is that the dour tone might put off the GA even more than what a fun tone would’ve. Since this is a niche IP.

A fun tone would be horrible for Dune.

 

[Schlosser85]

Well, it's DV's job to adapt the book, which is rather dry, into a thrilling narrative. Dune might end up being simply boring for GA, regardless of it's tone.

I'm not sure it's his job to make it "thrilling".

 

[antsman41]

Atreides culture feels very Oriental. Costumes feel inspired by Imperial Japan. Fish motifs, some interiors, Thufir having a Japanese paper umbrella...

Though here Jessica wears something mid-Eastern:

Freaking gorgeous.

Those dinner suits or whatever you call them, that Paul is wearing in this trailer are aces.

 

[Stringer]

Well, it's DV's job to adapt the book, which is rather dry, into a thrilling narrative. Dune might end up being simply boring for GA, regardless of it's tone.

Yeah, that's kind of the dilemma I think he's facing. I'll add that Villeneuve is one of the best there is when it comes to tension, but that isn't going to bring in the crowds.

 

[samsnee]

I think point is that the dour tone might put off the GA even more than what a fun tone would’ve. Since this is a niche IP.

Yes that’s what I mean. It’s not like the original is really beloved so people are interested in seeing it again updated for a new generation.

 

[Pink Ranger]

A fun tone would be horrible for Dune.

Dune, Where's My Car?

 

[samsnee]

Doesn’t need to be a “fun” tone like a Marvel movie. Visually I found it too darkly lit and flat.

 

[Neil McCauley]

I think Villeneuve is better in general. Much more emotionally engaging to me and I feel that he handles characters and delivers messages better. For example, there is a message about love in Interstellar and Blade Runner 2049 but I think the latter has a more subtle and nuanced way of doing it through K's relationships with Joi, Luv and Joshi and I think it's more effective. Of course it's more central to Interstellar while it's just an aspect of the overall theme of 2049, but I think that speaks to my point even more.

I find Nolan to often be technically great (I think he was uncharacteristically sloppy in the Batman films) and he has had some intellectually interesting ideas, but I don't think he manages to make me feel the films as well as Villeneuve so sometimes my reaction is "that's interesting" instead of full immersion. He's certainly more mainstream than Denis now and even if Dune is a success I think that will remain the case.

I certainly agree that just because you think one is better than the other doesn't mean that the lesser one is bad at all. I'm just throwing an opinion out there as the subject was on the table.

You're allowed to have this opinion, i never contested that. Also, don't get me wrong but while i like it Blade Runner 2049 is very overrated due to the cinematography, the film is not Parasite or something that will be an all-time great (in that tier i mean). Also, Nolan's characters in the Batman trilogy are more "emotional" than anything in BR2049 or Sicario, where things are shown and not told. I liked Harvey Dent and Gordon's arcs way more than the ones in BR2049..

I like both directors but Nolan's script with Memento and Inception are far better than anything Denis has done IMO. Telling a story in reverse is more interesting than a time-travel film or something like Enemy.

Villenueve has 1 masterpiece, 1 great film or two and a few good films.

That being said, things could get closer or change with Dune for me. I'm confident it will be better than Tenet which is arguably Nolan's weakest film.

 

[Schlosser85]

I agree that (IMO) Nolan's movies like Inception and Interstellar have more emotion than anything I've gotten from Villeneueve thus far.

 

[OutOfBoose]

So Chani is confirmed she's Liet-Kynes' daughter here too. Like in the novel.

 

[moviefreak]

I haven't read Herbert's Dune in decades, same with Asimov's Foundation & Robot series of which I'm currently re-reading. Have yet to see Goyer's adaptation of Foundation for Apple+.

This dune on youtube made a very good guide to all 6 Dune novels, starting with part I:

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

You're allowed to have this opinion, i never contested that. Also, don't get me wrong but while i like it Blade Runner 2049 is very overrated due to the cinematography, the film is not Parasite or something that will be an all-time great (in that tier i mean). Also, Nolan's characters in the Batman trilogy are more "emotional" than anything in BR2049 or Sicario, where things are shown and not told. I liked Harvey Dent and Gordon's arcs way more than the ones in BR2049..

I like both directors but Nolan's script with Memento and Inception are far better than anything Denis has done IMO. Telling a story in reverse is more interesting than a time-travel film or something like Enemy.

Villenueve has 1 masterpiece, 1 great film or two and a few good films.

That being said, things could get closer or change with Dune for me. I'm confident it will be better than Tenet which is arguably Nolan's weakest film.

I never said anything about you contesting the validity of any opinions, I just offered my own. Did you mistake me for someone else? Differing opinions are interesting since that often creates more discussion than similar ones.

Personally it's not the cinematography I like the best in Blade Runner 2049, although it is an amazing looking film. I think the script is great, as shown by how one aspect of the theme outshines the main one in Interstellar for me. I agree that it's not among Villeneuve's more emotional films though, in that sense it's a bit closer to Nolan. Being compared to Parasite is a high bar, but to comment on that I probably think 2049 is closer in the way of subtle messages and cinematography storytelling than anything Nolan has done. In terms of overrated I have a similar issue with Nolan and TDK. A film that is widely liked but that I actually think only has a mediocre script that struggles to combine two different tones. Unfortunately I don't find any of the Batman films emotional either since even when Rachel died I was just relieved since I didn't think the character was very well done in the story.

Memento is still my favorite Nolan film, I don't think Inception is on that level (didn't get all that much out of the great DiCaprio), but I hold some of Villeneuve's works higher now. It's still sort of indicative of how I experience Nolan as I don't really feel that much for the characters, I'm just very intrigued by the plot and the structure. It doesn't stop it from being great though. I haven't seen Tenet yet (will do on Wednesday) so I can't comment on that but Dunkirk was unfortunately one of the least engaging war films I've seen so I'm hoping for an upswing compared to that.

As for Dune (and the thread is about that film so perhaps I should stop with the director comparison) the trailer has kept my hype going but since I've decided not to read the book before I've mainly been hyped for Villeneuve himself. It's his first real epic so we'll see if he can pull that off. Part of the charm is that he's doing something new (although it's still sci-fi) but it does make it less of an automatic success.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I think the GoT comparison is a good one. Dune isn't a huge brand like Batman, but neither was GoT before the show came out. Case in point, most people refer to the series as GoT and not A Song of Ice and Fire, because that was the name of the TV show. The books had their fans, yes, but it wasn't like they were The Lord of the Rings. Dune certainly has more name recognition than GoT/ASOIAF had before the TV show. So it's possible that this movie could cause Dune's popularity to surge if marketing and word-of-mouth are good. We'll see.

Now, it is true that BR 2049 wasn't a hit (despite being really good, IMO) and it's possible that BR and Dune are about the same in terms of name recognition. I'm not really sure about that one and it's difficult to point to hard evidence there because you're comparing a book to a movie. But perhaps Dune has a better chance for success simply because it's not a sequel to anything. One of the problems that BR 2049 might have had is that there may have been people who weren't interested because they never saw the original or hadn't seen it in so long that they barely remember it. The film has been arguably been the biggest influence on sci-fi in the past 30 years other than Star Wars but it's mostly film aficionados that notice that. Regular people who don't take this stuff as seriously as we do might have been like, "Blade Runner? Isn't that an old Harrison Ford movie?"

 

[Sawyer]

Trailer was OK, but I hated the choice of music. I guess they're trying to make this more palatable to average joes?

Is Pink Floyd supposed to be catnip for average joes now?

 

[Schlosser85]

I thought the song was fine ::

 

[OutOfBoose]

I liked the song choice.

 

[Guts]

I'm still waiting for a movie to use Bike in a trailer.

 

[Pink Ranger]

I think the romance angle with Zendaya portrayed in the trailer is what's going to make this more than just "sci-fi weirdness" for the general audience. I can see this film doing Life of Pi numbers; don't underestimate the drawing power of a great book.

 

[Schlosser85]

I think the romance angle with Zendaya portrayed in the trailer is what's going to make this more than just "sci-fi weirdness" for the general audience. I can see this film doing Life of Pi numbers; don't underestimate the drawing power of a great book.

Yea, unsurprising that the trailer was playing up both that and the action scenes.

 

[Guts]

Just realized that putting Eclipse in the trailer was a reference to Jodorowsky's Dune.

 

[Blade Hoarder]

A fun tone would be horrible for Dune.

I am aware. We are talking about the trailer for Dune. Not Dune. This is a big budget movie and a trailer is supposed to entice the general public.