Have we had a Dune thread yet?

It’s out this week, I’m really quite excited.

I *think* we have, I’ve talked to ‘someone’ about it anyways.

I’m really looking forward to it, despite never having read the book and I sort of remember the one with Sting in it, but not really.

As visually stunning as it will be… I fancy I’ll watch it at home.

After the disappointment of Foundation my fingers are well crossed for tomorrow.

I’ve re-read the book in preparation.

I’m really looking forward to it because I’ve read the book and loved it, the trailers look stunning, and it’s directed by Denis Villeneuve, who’s a brilliant director of intelligent sci-fi (IMO, obvs).

One for the cinema too, not our 32″ telly.

I sort of remember the one with Sting in it, but not really.

I must have tried watching that film at least 3 or 4 times over the years – it’s dreadful. I only read the book a few years ago. (Maybe 10 years ago? I can’t remember anymore!) It’s a brilliant book and I hope the new film will be worthwhile. Even after reading the book I couldn’t work out what was going on in the 1984 film.

Bear in mind, it’s Part One of Two – they haven’t filmed the second one yet.

My wife’s a huge fan of the book and is looking forward to it greatly, she wants me to go with her to see it..

From what i’ve seen and heard i would expect it to be great, Denis Villenueve has the ability and free range to pull this type of movie off and the cast looks the part as well.

The only issue i think i can see is this is the first half of the novel, so a second movie is required to really close this one out, and as that isn’t even planned yet, it could mean a long time before the actual full Dune movie being available.

From the early run it had last month it did have positive reviews mainly, the negatives were all as you’d expect, the clunky bits of the novel and the pacing, it’s such a massive world and novel it’ll take 2 x 3 hour movies to sort it out, and i bet there’ll be more in future versions!

I played the games when I was a kid.

I’m reading the books now, in preparation for seeing the moving.

Just had a look at the cast list on imdb, and visually at least it’s almost perfect.

There is anticipation here. It is a film I might actually go to the cinema to see.

Saw it on Monday (Cineworld unlimited advanced screening) MrsTH thought it was OK, being a fan of it already. I’m totally new to it all, I thought it was crap.

Edit: fans of cinema sound are well catered for.

Watched it last night. Really enjoyed it. Not had anything to do with it before.

Only complaint is some of the dialogue is hard to hear. But I normally watch films with subtitles on 😂

Saw a trailer for it when I saw James Bond, Pink floyd soundtrack, so something to hold my interest at least if the film’s gash!

It’ll be the first film I’ll have seen in a cinema for quite some time….

Pink floyd soundtrack

It’s Hans Zimmer isn’t it? I didn’t hear any Pink Floyd in any of the trailers I’ve seen?

Not sure I want to watch it. Original one was ace and don’t want to be disappointed again with another shitty remake.

The first film of it was a decent stab – but Dune suffers from the same thing as many other good SF books – the story is too complex to make a 2 1/2 film of and tell the story properly. so if you had read the book a few times the first film ( especially the 3 + hr directors cut) was OK but if you didn’t know the book large parts of it didn’t make sense as whole chapters from the book were missing.

to do Dune justice would need a 9 hr film. Its a complex many layered story

Jonny mnemonic is another example – a simple short story made a full length film. Imagine trying to film the neuromancer trilogy? It wasn’t until the third time I read the whole series that I caught all the nuances

I hope this version of Dune is good and what we know so far it sounds like it but I am not too hopeful because there is just too much in the book to tell in a sub 3 hr film

Edit – just saw this “The only issue i think i can see is this is the first half of the novel,” so maybe they can tell the tale properly if its going to be over two films

I’m looking forward to it.

Review here (may contain spoilers) – https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/20/dune-review-denis-villeneuves-awe-inspiring-epic-is-a-moment-of-triumph

The first film of it was a decent stab – but Dune suffers from the same thing as many other good SF books – the story is too complex to make a 2 1/2 film of and tell the story properly.

yeah, I’m hoping it’ll be an entertaining film but will it be everything the book is? Doubtful unfortunately!

Loved the game Dune II years ago, read & enjoyed the first book off the back of that – never really got into or could be bothered with the others. Not really sure it needed any sequels anyway.

Interestingly it’s available to stream from tomorrow I think 🤔

I am very excited about this film, love the book, love the director’s previous work, but mindful of the massive disappointment that was Prometheus.

Five star review in the Guardian – what can go wrong?

I watched the 1984 (NOT) David Lynch version again last week – it was very “of its time” I think is the kind assessment, and actually quite engaging if you like poh-faced wooden dialogue, perhaps Star Wars fans might enjoy it, if they dumb it down a bit more?

read & enjoyed the first book off the back of that – never really got into or could be bothered with the others. Not really sure it needed any sequels anyway.

I agree, never has a SF series started so promisingly and then dragged on so depressingly.

First book is absolutely ace though. The sense of place is just astounding, I don’t know if Frank Herbet lived in a desert but he captures it so perfectly.

I’ve re-read the book in preparation.

Likewise, and really enjoyed it despite it being 35+ years since I last read it.

the rest of the dune series are rubbish. Dune itself is a masterwork. time I read it again

the story is too complex to make a 2 1/2 film of and tell the story properly.

The concept is a bit complex (it certainly was for it’s time), but strip away all the layers I think the story is a simple one. Agree that the first one or two (perhaps the third) are all re-readable. The rest of them (The postman of Dune, The Kitchen Sink of Dune and so on) are several types of shit.  I worry that, like all the other versions I’ve ever seen, they’ll totally miss the point of the story, and indulge in the whole “white saviour” nonsense.

Booked for Saturday, and because it’s Denis Villieneuve, I’m looking forward to it.

This is another good read about the background to his ideas.. (possible spoilers). Apparently he did partake in desert trips.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/oct/18/dune-science-fiction-answer-to-lord-of-the-rings-frank-herbert-neil-gaiman

Interesting. I saw the trailer while watching Bond with the kids at the weekend. I’ve never read the book and somehow never got round to watching the original movie way back when.

Hive mind recommendations please on order of things to do:
1. Read the book
2. Watch the original movie
3. Watch the new movie

I love a good book and usually prefer to watch a film adaptation only after reading the book.

Good that its going to be at least 5 hours in length. One of the trouble with the original was how short it was, especially as the book was dealing with complex subjects of empires.

I think what we’ll get is another Star Wars epic, with the main 2 movies, then a host of prequels dealing with the individual houses and their relationship to each other from the past.

I hope not, most of the prequel stuff is really crap. Paul’s story is pretty much done at the end of Messiah. Leave it there. The story of his son turning into an un-killable immortal worm is just silly, oh and all the Duncan clones, and all the Deux Ex Machina bits of tech that handily appear just when they’re needed…makes for a poor story telling

tonyd – read the book, don’t bother with the original film

Will do, cheers TJ

I re watched the Lynch Dune a few months back, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as I remembered. I mean, it wasn’t great, but I’ll be generous and say it’s “of it’s time”

I’m quite interested in this, I’ve not read the books and the ‘sting’ film version was, at best, hard to watch and quite boring.

I’m not normally a fan of re-makes, but if they do it right, it could be quite good?

It’s OK though I was half expecting to hear this….

at one stage which can’t be a bad thing !

What about the mini-series about 20 yrsr ago?

this one

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert%27s_Dune

I thought it was much better than the film with Sting

I’m the rare one that likes both the David Lynch film and the miniseries starring James Macavoy. I loved the book (although not many of the other ones in the series) and I’m properly looking forward to this film.

I’ve re-read the book in preparation.

Likewise, and really enjoyed it despite it being 35+ years since I last read it.

Yup,really enjoyed reading it again and (for me) it has stood the test of time.
Very excitied about watching the film with the story fresh in my mind.
“He who controls the spice controls the universe”. 🙂

Really dull remake not worte the effort IMO

the soundtrack is nice the OTT orchestral one in the 84 version was awful.
a few nice spaceships, and explosions but really not that impressive.
whole thing feels watered down in typical mass market appeal style
I did not feel it captured the scale of the story any better than the old version
in fact it felt lacking….

the David Lynch version has much more engaging atmosphere and characters.
it did not need or rely on fancy SFX. (but they were good enough really anyway)

Really surprised with how crap a remake it was TBH.

It looks and sounds fantastic. There are some good performances – I particularly liked Oscar Issac. I already knew the story but I don’t think you need to, to follow it. But it is big without being epic, fancy without being grand. It doesn’t really do anything that the 1984 or syfy versions didn’t. So many characters are omitted or truncated to squeeze it into a film – Teilaxu, mentats, navigators.

Its biggest failing is that it is only half the story – there’s no end. I know its supposed to be part one of 2 but it just stops. Maybe the rest comes, maybe not, maybe with the original cast, maybe not, maybe Villneuve directs or maybe Rian Johnson takes over.

6.5/10 could do better.

Looking forward to it. It will be the second film since Tenet I’ve seen at the cinema in last couple of years.

I struggled with the David Lynch version and have failed to fully watch it a few times. It had some decent moments from what I remember. I’m a fan of David Lynch films, Mullholland Drive and Wild at Heart are great.

Nothing against slowly paced films if the whole is satisfying! Denis Villeneuve seems like the obvious choice to make a decent fist of it. Reviews are mixed, we’ll see eh!