Sci-Fi Dune

[Lily Adler]

 

[Sithborg]

Yes of course.

That's... exactly what I meant.


You... You ****ing cracked the code son.

Or...





His character is boring. The performance is boring because no amount of "portent" in the music can make up for a defecit of emotional connection. For about two hours before he's dies we get... A convo about how he wanted to be a pilot. That's about as human as this thing got. Given that it's being defended online along with everything else in this film you'd think this was stirring, engaging or iconic as perfromances go but... It's just there. Like so much of the film. Adding nothing of particular value to the proceedings. Because ultimately nothing in this film makes you care about anyone or anything.

From the director to indeed the actors the choice was seemingly made to go for either opaque weirdness or holding cards to the chest so close that not a thing that was intended registers to the viewer. And when that happens you stop caring about the world you are spending oh so very much time in. By the end I didn't care about Leto, his family or what happened to make them nearly wiped off the map of history.


Now, when do the the ( ironically coming from THIS ****ing community of all places...) charges, implicitly and explicitly, of lack of intelligence in those who don't get this mastepiece start flying around?


Can't wait for that to start.

The story was not told in a way that you liked. That is fine. I have seen enough positive reactions from people who are not familiar with the book and are not what I would call cinephiles, to know that it is hitting with a different range of people than one might expect.

 

[JubJub86]

'Show don't tell' is a weird defence for this movie to me. It shows a lot of stunning landscapes, and then 90% of the character scenes are exposition. It's nearly all tell.

Yeah, a pretty good way of wording it.

It's not even that the movie's super complicated, obviously they do omit stuff from the books and try to streamline it a bit. They basically have to with a lore this dense. But it's also not a case of this movie being half as smart as it thinks it is - it's not. It's just pretty clunky as an actual film - I think most of us have an easier time with it due to having read the books and having an appreciation of how legitimely hard it is to adapt properly.

But I'm totally sympathetic to those going in fresh finding it all a little "blahh" too beyond the visual indulgence. Nobody's all that particularly likeable here, even Paul, it's probably hard to get too invested until you can pair it with sequels and what follows.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Yeah, a pretty good way of wording it.

It's not even that the movie's super complicated, obviously they do omit stuff from the books and try to streamline it a bit. They basically have to with a lore this dense. But it's also not a case of this movie being half as smart as it thinks it is - it's not. It's just pretty clunky as an actual film - I think most of us have an easier time with it due to having read the books and having an appreciation of how legitimely hard it is to adapt properly.

But I'm totally sympathetic to those going in fresh finding it all a little "blahh" too beyond the visual indulgence. Nobody's all that particularly likeable here, even Paul, it's probably hard to get too invested until you can pair it with sequels and what follows.

It must be 20 years since I read the book, about 40 since my Dad read it, and my Aunty never has, yet we all really enjoyed the movie and the characters.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

It must be 20 years since I read the book, about 40 since my Dad read it, and my Aunty never has, yet we all really enjoyed the movie and the characters.

Yes, I've never read it and while I did see the Lynch version sometime in the 90s I basically don't remember anything other than that I didn't like it, yet I had no issues following this adaptation and I loved the film.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Yes, I've never read it and while I did see the Lynch version sometime in the 90s I basically don't remember anything other than that I didn't like it, yet I had no issues following this and I loved the film.

I have always had a soft spot for the Lynch version but haven't watched it in years either. I remember the main story beats. This new version just blows it out of the water in every way.

I don't know why people who didnt like this version are seemingly searching for excuses as to why other people did, instead of just accepting people have different opinions.

 

[JubJub86]

Ehh, we'll have a better gauge on it once the dust has settled with the box office I guess. Everyone I've talked to that's had anything super-positive to say about it outside of the scope/scale and visuals has been a hardcore Dune-y.

Still, whatever, I love Denis' stuff so I can go a good ways to appreciate it. Just question some of the approach.

 

[Filmfreak]

I went to see it with two friends when it was released in my country. One of them isn't a fan of science fiction, none of us had read the book and we all loved the film.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

I have always had a soft spot for the Lynch version but haven't watched it in years either. I remember the main story beats. This new version just blows it out of the water in every way.

I don't know why people who didnt like this version are seemingly searching for excuses as to why other people did, instead of just accepting people have different opinions.

I can't say how I'd like the Lynch version today as my taste in film is quite different now than back then as I was a teenager. Could perhaps be worth a rewatch for fun. My backlog of things I should watch is pretty long though so I'll see if I get around to it.

Agreed. It's pretty pointless to make excuses for why people's opinions are different since it's just the nature of subjective things. It also shouldn't really matter much whether other people share your views on entertainment.

 

[shauner111]

Alls I know is I couldn’t sit through all of Lynch’s version, too corny for me. And I’m a Lynch fan.

And Isaac locked me in with his energy and expressions. I felt for him. I didn’t need more speeches or anything like that. He’s a leader with a lot of responsibility and pressure. He loves his family, he’s determined. Seemed pretty simple to me and Oscar nailed it. I was on his side. That’s all I needed to know. Wasn’t boring to me. If he’s supposed to be more than that, well I don’t really care because I haven’t read the book. I’m not watching a book. It has to work as a movie. This is why I rarely ever read the source material. All I see online is complaints that just amount to “it was like this in the book, why didn’t they do it like the book I read?”.

I’ve skimmed through countless pages in this thread where it’s more about what they did right or wrong, holding it up to the novel. Rarely have I seen a praise or criticism that doesn’t mention Herbert’s source.

For me, the exposition wasn’t like Nolan’s worst impulses where a character should know what’s going on but one guy is explaining the situation or world to them like a child...and you’re like “huh? That was obviously just for the audience because that character should know what’s goin on”. I’ve only seen it once but it seems to me with Denis’ sci-fi movies, he uses exposition correctly.

 

[OutOfBoose]

For me personally, the Lynch's version collapses after the escape to the desert. It just looks and feels like a montage (including the actual montage) of stuff going on until Paul fights Feyd. Probably the biggest reason why I'm excited for Part 2 is because it will finally have enough screen time to explore latter half of the book.

 

[Eddie Dean]

The book itself speed runs through the last act too.

 

[VTGuy]

I'd say there's no reason they couldn't have introduced Feyd in this movie. Other than wanting to save more material for Part 2.

I'm thinking that Feyd is being saved for Part 2.

The way I see the introduction of the character playing out is that the Baron is not happy when he finds out that Paul is alive despite Rabban's assurances that was dead.
The Baron is forced to bring in Feyd to finish the job despite the risk of losing his heir.

 

[emc5466]

For me personally, the Lynch's version collapses after the escape to the desert. It just looks and feels like a montage (including the actual montage) of stuff going on until Paul fights Feyd. Probably the biggest reason why I'm excited for Part 2 is because it will finally have enough screen time to explore latter half of the book.

This is the biggest problem with Lynch’s Dune, the third act is a mess because of the speed in which he had to tell the story. I would argue that the third act before the assault on Arakeen is also the weakest part of Herbert’s book as well. Even the Syfy miniseries slowed to a crawl before the battle sequences.

 

[Blade Hoarder]

Can we talk about the attack on House Atredies? It’s horrifying and gorgeous at the same time. I think Denis reached a higher plane as a director with this scene.

usually in movies a scene will either have pulse pounding action or be be beautiful. Even films made by cream of the crop talent. Usually if a scene is action packed it’s shot with function in mind. And if a scene is beautiful usually nothing else is going on.

Denis and Freiser managed to make this scene a terrifying sequence of shots that you can actually frame on your wall.

I genuinely haven’t seen this harmony of action and beauty since Kurosawa.

 

[Bren]

Can we talk about the attack on House Atredies?

We may.

 

[Sithborg]

Can we talk about the attack on House Atredies? It’s horrifying and gorgeous at the same time. I think Denis reached a higher plane as a director with this scene.

usually in movies a scene will either have pulse pounding action or be be beautiful. Even films made by cream of the crop talent. Usually if a scene is action packed it’s shot with function in mind. And if a scene is beautiful usually nothing else is going on.

Denis and Freiser managed to make this scene a terrifying sequence of shots that you can actually frame on your wall.

I genuinely haven’t seen this harmony of action and beauty since Kurosawa.

The visualization of lasguns is amazing.

 

[Marvolo]

Can we talk about the attack on House Atredies? It’s horrifying and gorgeous at the same time. I think Denis reached a higher plane as a director with this scene.

usually in movies a scene will either have pulse pounding action or be be beautiful. Even films made by cream of the crop talent. Usually if a scene is action packed it’s shot with function in mind. And if a scene is beautiful usually nothing else is going on.

Denis and Freiser managed to make this scene a terrifying sequence of shots that you can actually frame on your wall.

I genuinely haven’t seen this harmony of action and beauty since Kurosawa.

I thought it was bland and poorly put together. Denis needs to improve significantly with action scenes if he's going to make part 2 satisfying.

 

[Filmfan93]

Can we talk about the attack on House Atredies? It’s horrifying and gorgeous at the same time. I think Denis reached a higher plane as a director with this scene.

usually in movies a scene will either have pulse pounding action or be be beautiful. Even films made by cream of the crop talent. Usually if a scene is action packed it’s shot with function in mind. And if a scene is beautiful usually nothing else is going on.

Denis and Freiser managed to make this scene a terrifying sequence of shots that you can actually frame on your wall.

I genuinely haven’t seen this harmony of action and beauty since Kurosawa.

Agree - a beautifully shot and tense scene.

 

[TheVileOne]

I'm thinking that Feyd is being saved for Part 2.

The way I see the introduction of the character playing out is that the Baron is not happy when he finds out that Paul is alive despite Rabban's assurances that was dead.
The Baron is forced to bring in Feyd to finish the job despite the risk of losing his heir.

No offense, but that's not how they should write Feyd.

 

[TheVileOne]

This is the biggest problem with Lynch’s Dune, the third act is a mess because of the speed in which he had to tell the story. I would argue that the third act before the assault on Arakeen is also the weakest part of Herbert’s book as well. Even the Syfy miniseries slowed to a crawl before the battle sequences.

I wouldn't say it's a mess at all. It simply doesn't follow a lot of traditional narrative tropes and conventions.

 

[Drizzle]

Speaking of the Lynch film, will we see that weird cat-milking device that the Harkonnens had in Villeneuve's Part 2?

 

[VTGuy]

Speaking of the Lynch film, will we see that weird cat-milking device that the Harkonnens had in Villeneuve's Part 2?

Or will the weird spider creature with the humanoid hands be the one doing the milking?

 

[VTGuy]

No offense, but that's not how they should write Feyd.

I'm sure they will do it some other way that makes more sense and ties into the book better. But I lack imagination and my thoughts are the easy way to do it

 

[TheVileOne]

I'm sure they will do it some other way that makes more sense and ties into the book better. But I lack imagination and my thoughts are the easy way to do it

On a personal level, I sort of see Feyd as the anti-Paul. They are of similar age. He's the golden boy and desired heir of House Harkonnen, but he also embodies some of their worst qualities. He's also a rival for the throne.