Dune 2021

[Ron Texas]

Have you been watching Alien vs. Predator?

Did the Predator have that net?

 

[somebodyelse]

Did the Predator have that net?

At least one of them certainly had a net. IIRC it was self-tightening, but I've not seen it in some time. Another film that made more sense before the studio started chopping bits out of it, but even then probably best if you put your brain to one side before watching.

 

[mhardy6647]

Does anyone find it strange that in a world with interstellar travel soldiers fight with armor and swords?

Now... don't be bringing logic into a discussion about SF -- or, more to the point, movies based on SF literature.

My Rubicon (so to speak) for SF movies: if something explodes in space and I hear it on the soundtrack... I'm done.

Fortunately, a (very) few movies have gotten that whole sound and vacuum thing oh-so-right.

 

[krabapple]

Oh man, this is probably one of the best things about the movie. It's really slow compared to the current action-packed high-speed blockbusters. But Dune by contract is slower and deliberate, but it still keeps you hooked! A very nice contrast.

Did anyone see it in 3D or IMAX? I've seen the 3D version. Was quite nice as well, but sadly the 3D technology of the local cinema has some blooming and crosstalk issues. For IMAX, the trip was a bit too long.. possibly next time I'll do it.

Saw it in IMAX. It was magnificent.

Pretty much got everything 'right', even with some plot adjustments. I even liked Chalamet as Paul, despite being skeptical going in.

The quibbles:
- necessarily in a movie (even a 2.5 hour one) some depth of characterization was lost...if you didn't know who/what Piter DeVries was , for example, you'd know little more after watching this.
- the Baron is *still* not fat enough! This was one of my dislikes about the Lynch curiosity..not only was his Baron not fat enough, he was just a disheveled raving maniac in instantly dated 1980s 'punk' gear, not a sly plotter. The new one gets the character (and look) far more right, and includes delightful 'Apocalypse Now' refs. But the Baron to my mind should be almost a Jabba-like figure, his rolls of fat so abundant that he obviously requires antigravity to get from place to place. In the new one the Baron is merely...a big guy with a big belly, who levitates.
- the soundtrack was serviceable (and pretty deafening at times, in the theater I saw it) but not as fine as the sound design for 'Blade Runner 2049', which was astonishing. 'Dune' relies too much on 'world music' cliches that sound like outtakes from Peter Gabriel's 'Passion' from 1986.

that's about it!

little happy notes:
I liked that Villeneauve didn't finish on the obvious scene....which would maybe have required compressing the plot further ...instead he's saving that for the next one.

I got a kick out of the callback to Jodorowsky early on

 

[krabapple]

I think most of part 2 is already shot, so actually the investment was for multiple movies already. It would not make sense to not release the second one as well.

No, don't think it's been shot.

"Warner Bros. has not yet greenlit Dune: Part Two. It is odd for the studio and director Denis Villeneuve to include “Part One” in the title of the first Dune when a sequel has not yet been confirmed. In an interview with Inverse, Villeneuve said that he’s “standing with one foot in the air, waiting for the permission to make Part Two.”

'Dune: Part Two' Release Date, Cast, And Everything We Know

What happens after 'Dune: Part One'? Here's everything we know about the 'Dune' sequel, from Part 2's release date to a possible Part 3.

www.inverse.com

 

[krabapple]

Does anyone find it strange that in a world with interstellar travel soldiers fight with armor and swords?

That's 'explained' in the book. Shields protect against bullet-like projectiles and lasers. So people reverted to hand-to-hand, or devices that can go fast/slow.


More curious to me is the fact that even though spice is all-important, no one but the Fremen bothered to figure out what it is/where it comes from. I guess science as we know it doesn't exist circa 10,000 AD.

 

[Honken]

Not sure I get the wokeness discussion, if there's one to be had it is about the source material rather than with the movie itself. I think that this take was rather good, I was a bit scared going into it but my fear passed quickly.

Villeneuve is probably my favorite contemporary director. He manages to attract big enough audiences to movies that to me seem orthogonal to what is popular today (quickly cut, vapid movies about super heroes) that he gives me hope for movies as a medium.

I don't think it is perfect however, and it definitely isn't my favorite movie by Villeneuve (which would be Incendies), but my gripes are rather minor in the grand scheme of things (for example, I think that Duncan & Baron Harkonnen were miscast)... except for the ending. I do believe that the ending would have been fine if we were to get the conclusion in a timely fashion but it seems like we'll have to wait. I do prefer the pacing over what Lynch did, as in that take it feels as if they realized that after they were done setting up the premise they were out of time and that they had to end the whole shebang quickly.

I say that as a fan of Lynch in general, and I do think that Lynch's take has quite a few things going for it (I love some of the sets, actors and practical effects, but I don't think he's the type of director that would ever do such a story justice.

Now... don't be bringing logic into a discussion about SF -- or, more to the point, movies based on SF literature.

My Rubicon (so to speak) for SF movies: if something explodes in space and I hear it on the soundtrack... I'm done.

Fortunately, a (very) few movies have gotten that whole sound and vacuum thing oh-so-right.

I personally don't mind it when movies abide by the rule of cool and I've come to expect sci-fi movies to get certain details wrong anyway. One short opening which made me groan in the cinema was the opening of Star Wars Episode VIII where they attempted to carpet bomb capital ships in space. That whole scene was just too much.

 

[pseudoid]

Now... don't be bringing logic into a discussion about SF -- or, more to the point, movies based on SF literature.

I am thinking "Lost in Space" TV series was never based on SF literature!
Pure "mind candy": Where the watcher does NOT even have to think logic versus SF, or even think at all.
I plan on watching (if/when) Dune[2021] with the same mind-set and overlook all aberrations of logic and/or SF and just enjoy it for its entertainment value.
Even though, I've already been brainwashed by this thread.

 

[elvisizer]

That's 'explained' in the book. Shields protect against bullet-like projectiles and lasers. So people reverted to hand-to-hand, or devices that can go fast/slow.


More curious to me is the fact that even though spice is all-important, no one but the Fremen bothered to figure out what it is/where it comes from. I guess science as we know it doesn't exist circa 10,000 AD.

Spoiler

liet knew exactly what was up but kept it a secret. also it's mentioned in the books that the fremen paid huge bribes to the spacing guild to prevent satellites over Arrakis (which could have revealed the connection between makers and spice) so it's not like everyone just failed to notice this stuff- it was actively being covered up.

 

[Gorgonzola]

...
The quibbles:
- necessarily in a movie (even a 2.5 hour one) some depth of characterization was lost...if you didn't know who/what Piter DeVries was , for example, you'd know little more after watching this.
- the Baron is *still* not fat enough! This was one of my dislikes about the Lynch curiosity..not only was his Baron not fat enough, he was just a disheveled raving maniac in instantly dated 1980s 'punk' gear, not a sly plotter. The new one gets the character (and look) far more right, and includes delightful 'Apocalypse Now' refs. But the Baron to my mind should be almost a Jabba-like figure, his rolls of fat so abundant that he obviously requires antigravity to get from place to place. In the new one the Baron is merely...a big guy with a big belly, who levitates.
- the soundtrack was serviceable (and pretty deafening at times, in the theater I saw it) but not as fine as the sound design for 'Blade Runner 2049', which was astonishing. 'Dune' relies too much on 'world music' cliches that sound like outtakes from Peter Gabriel's 'Passion' from 1986.
...

I agree about missing character's in Villeneuve's version, including Piter De Vries, Feyd-Rautha, Princess Irulan, and others.

I agree too the Villeneuve's Baron lacks the impact of either Findlay's, (Kenneth McMIllan), Harrison's, (Ian McNeice). On the other hand Villeneuves's Duncan Idaho, Jason Momoa, is heavily overplayed with plot mods and additional scenes for him, seemingly for no better reason than to feature Momoa.

On the topic of esthetics, the 2021 is drab by comparison with either the 1984 or 2000 versions. The grey-brown monoliths are at once dismal and boring.

One thing I like better about the latest version is the ornithopters; thanks to modern effects they are much more interesting and, at the same time, plausible than earlier versions. On the other hand the apparently anti-gravity floating landing vessels are less plausible.

Another thing commendable about 2021 are the troops fighting with knives and swords which is consistent with the books description.

 

[elvisizer]

One may construe the Herbert that great-man control was preferable to disorder and the power-seeking machinations of so many mortal men & women

Spoiler

at that point leto II ISN'T EVEN HUMAN anymore, he's the worm. Think about that for a minute and what it says about Herbert's attitude toward 'great-man control'. if you're not human anymore are you still a man?

 

[MZKM]

Does anyone find it strange that in a world with interstellar travel soldiers fight with armor and swords?

It was mentioned very briefly in the training sequence by Josh Brolin’s character: “The slow blade penetrates the shield”. Continually pushing thru the shield gets passed it.

Now, as to why they can’t block a slow knife but can block a bullet, who knows.

 

[Ron Texas]

It was mentioned very briefly in the training sequence by Josh Brolin’s character: “The slow blade penetrates the shield”. Continually pushing thru the shield gets passed it.

Now, as to why they can’t block a slow knife but can block a bullet, who knows.

I'm well aware the properties of the shield prevent the use of guns. In the first Dune there was a slow projectile. It just seems the director wanted swords and armor instead of other clever weapons. Maybe there was too much slaughter in the last part of the film and the duel with Paul was a too drawn out.

The film unfortunately cuts off before getting the heart of the mystical aspects of Dune. It's just hinted at in Part 1.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I am thinking "Lost in Space" TV series was never based on SF literature!
Pure "mind candy": Where the watcher does NOT even have to think logic versus SF, or even think at all.
I plan on watching (if/when) Dune[2021] with the same mind-set and overlook all aberrations of logic and/or SF and just enjoy it for its entertainment value.
Even though, I've already been brainwashed by this thread.

The shame of Lost in Space to me....it was a top rated show at the time. CBS turned down Star Trek doing Lost in Space instead. Star Trek I think was shown against Gomer Pyle and Lost in Space. Only a letter writing campaign convinced them to air it a 2nd season as it did poorly. The 2nd and 3rd seasons Star Trek was given a Friday night time slot which was about the worst time in those days.

 

[krabapple]

I agree about missing character's in Villeneuve's version, including Piter De Vries, Feyd-Rautha, Princess Irulan, and others.

Piter isn't missing....he's in several scenes, gets some lines, but you just don't hear him called by name

I suspect we'll see Feyd and Irulan in the next installment. They aren't crucial to the events depicted in part 1.

I agree too the Villeneuve's Baron lacks the impact of either Findlay's, (Kenneth McMIllan), Harrison's, (Ian McNeice).

I'm afraid we aren't really agreeing on that...I thought McMillan was terrible. Though not necessarily his fault. The conception of the role for that film was terrible. I'm fine with the characterization in 2021 so far, just not quite the look.

On the topic of esthetics, the 2021 is drab by comparison with either the 1984 or 2000 versions. The grey-brown monoliths are at once dismal and boring.

To me that fits the setting well. I expect to see more color later when the Emperor and his retinue appears.

One thing I like better about the latest version is the ornithopters; thanks to modern effects they are much more interesting and, at the same time, plausible than earlier versions. On the other hand the apparently anti-gravity floating landing vessels are less plausible.

Another thing commendable about 2021 are the troops fighting with knives and swords which is consistent with the books description.

I think you'd have to admit too that the blue Eyes of Ibad are done better in 2021 than they were in 1986.

 

[krabapple]

I'm well aware the properties of the shield prevent the use of guns. In the first Dune there was a slow projectile. It just seems the director wanted swords and armor instead of other clever weapons. Maybe there was too much slaughter in the last part of the film and the duel with Paul was a too drawn out.

There's a slow projectile in the new one too...two , actually.

The film unfortunately cuts off before getting the heart of the mystical aspects of Dune. It's just hinted at in Part 1.

Which is fine by me. The last thing it needed. given the need for so much exposition, was 'mystical aspects'. We got some of Paul's visions, which was enough.

 

[krabapple]

The shame of Lost in Space to me....it was a top rated show at the time. CBS turned down Star Trek doing Lost in Space instead. Star Trek I think was shown against Gomer Pyle and Lost in Space. Only a letter writing campaign convinced them to air it a 2nd season as it did poorly. The 2nd and 3rd seasons Star Trek was given a Friday night time slot which was about the worst time in those days.

Lost In Space went up against Batman for a half hour in its second season. And it got sillier and sillier.

 

[krabapple]

I am thinking "Lost in Space" TV series was never based on SF literature!'

Neither was Star Trek......

LiS was a space age take on The Swiss Family Robinson. ST was a space age take on westerns like Wagon Train, and the Horatio Hornblower nautical tales. With some Forbidden Planet (itself based on Shakespeare) thrown in.

 

[pseudoid]

The last line states to "See ALL results for 'dune" and others may state back "isn't this enough?"

 

[Gorgonzola]

Piter {De Vries} isn't missing....he's in several scenes, gets some lines, but you just don't hear him called by name

I suspect we'll see Feyd and Irulan in the next installment. They aren't crucial to the events depicted in part 1.
...

Correct about Piter but he isn't featured in 2021 anywhere close to 1984, (played by Brad Dourif} or for that matter the book. The 1984 version was more colorful and interesting..

I'm afraid we aren't really agreeing on that...I thought McMillan was terrible. Though not necessarily his fault. The conception of the role for that film was terrible. I'm fine with the characterization in 2021 so far, just not quite the look.

Nope, I don't think '84 was so bad though, OK, a bit over-the-top. I like McNeice as a actor, (e.g. Conspiracy), in '00 and he gets my node as best Baron.