Dune (2020) - Denis Villeneuve

Steampunk said:
The first three books are Paul's story, and that of his children's rise to power. Those are pretty self contained. Book 4 is the end of the Golden Path, where Leto II is God Tyrant, and rebuilds humanity to have freedom from superhumans like the Kwizatz Haderach. This is a sort of big sequel/addendum to the first three books, and all four tie up Paul's story, and Leto II's story that is started in Book 3 and finished in book 4.

The series starts to drag after that as we go further into the future of humanity, and see all sort of things getting progressively more convoluted and bonkers, and I'd only recommend those to the completionist. They are not terrible, but don't reach the heights of the first three or four books. Book 5 and onwards certainly feels like Herbert is riding a successful book series, and doesn't want to get off until the fans stop buying, and it sort flatlines until you get to the Brian Herbert/Kevin Anderson novels which IIRC take a notable dip.

I'd certainly recommend the first four books. After that, if you've had enough of the Dune universe, I'd stop there, or if you really want to delve into the deeper future of the Dune universe on the chance it's hooked you in, then keep going until you get fed up. If you start to see a drop off in interest, it's not likely to pick up for you as you continue down the series.
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I don't think I'll be reading the books, just not my thing nor do I have the time. Is there a time jump in any book 1 since the movie ended about half way? Also do you think part 2 will cover only upto end of book 2?
 
ci_newman said:
I went to see this earlier this evening, I dont know if the cinema I went to had the audio levels all out of whack, but Jesus Christ the background BAUUM through the entire 2.5hrs was distracting as hell. I was waiting for the movie to end by the time Paul met with the Fremen, it detracted a lot from an otherwise good movie.
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I'd say it was a bad sound setup at the cinema, there was probably less than a minute of dialogue I struggled to understand across two viewings.

I've noticed if I go to Odeon the sound is normally overly bassy and detracts from the movie I watch, whereas Showcase seems to be spot on.
 
SixTwoSix said:
I'd say it was a bad sound setup at the cinema, there was probably less than a minute of dialogue I struggled to understand across two viewings.

I've noticed if I go to Odeon the sound is normally overly bassy and detracts from the movie I watch, whereas Showcase seems to be spot on.
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Reading online, I'm not the first person to report this either. Large parts of the dialogue were lost, in particular the "fear" mantra.

In my particular screening the bass was so loud it was actually causing vibrations on the projection screen!
 
kakarott said:
I don't think I'll be reading the books, just not my thing nor do I have the time. Is there a time jump in any book 1 since the movie ended about half way? Also do you think part 2 will cover only upto end of book 2?
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Yes, there are time jumps. Book 1 mostly skips two years of guerilla warfare by Paul and the Fremen against the reinstated Harkonnen rule. Book 2 is pretty much (IIRC) ten years of Jihad as Paul consolidates his hold on the empire. Book 3 is about five years later when Leto II and Gehanna are young adults. Book 4 skips forwards about 3500 years.

I have no idea if part 2 of the film will go to the end of book 2. Based on the pace of the first movie, I think they will only go to the end of book 1, which is a good stopping point as it concludes with
Paul beating the emperor and taking the throne, taking control of Arrakis and all Spice production, being the defacto leader/messiah of the Fremen, forcing a political union with Irulan, killing Baron Harkonnen, bringing the Spacing Guild and Bene Gesserit (mostly) to heel.
 
The rumours yesterday were stating he'd like to make it a 3 part film, with the 3rd part, Dune : Messiah covering the remainder of Pauls main story arc
 
Steampunk said:
Yes, there are time jumps. Book 1 mostly skips two years of guerilla warfare by Paul and the Fremen against the reinstated Harkonnen rule. Book 2 is pretty much (IIRC) ten years of Jihad as Paul consolidates his hold on the empire. Book 3 is about five years later when Leto II and Gehanna are young adults. Book 4 skips forwards about 3500 years.

I have no idea if part 2 of the film will go to the end of book 2. Based on the pace of the first movie, I think they will only go to the end of book 1, which is a good stopping point as it concludes with
Paul beating the emperor and taking the throne, taking control of Arrakis and all Spice production, being the defacto leader/messiah of the Fremen, forcing a political union with Irulan, killing Baron Harkonnen, bringing the Spacing Guild and Bene Gesserit (mostly) to heel.
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So there's no way they can do end of book 2 even if it's 3hrs plus? I understand that part 1 was giving like a background etc but hopefully they can speed it up.

how does he marry the emperor's daughter when he wanted him and his family dead? Does he personally kill Baron?
 
kakarott said:
So there's no way they can do end of book 2 even if it's 3hrs plus? I understand that part 1 was giving like a background etc but hopefully they can speed it up.
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I can't see that happening. There's just too much world building to do in the second half as Paul learns to be a Fremen,
becomes the Kwizatz Haderach,
falls in love, leads an army against the Harkonnen and the Emperor. I checked where the film ends against the book, and it is pretty much half way through. They are not going to rush the second half when the end of book one is the pinnacle of Paul's story.
Book 2 shows Paul's death, the Jihad out of Paul's control, the death of Chani and Paul's disillusionment with the actual running of an empire. There's too much there along with the second half of the first book.

kakarott said:
how does he marry the emperor's daughter when he wanted him and his family dead? Does he personally kill Baron?
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Baron Harkonnen is killed by a young Alia. Although she's a young child, she's in Jessica's womb when Jessica takes the Water Of Life to become the tribe's new Reverend Mother and consolidate her position and power (and by extension Paul's power) in Fremen society. Alia would normally have died, but being in psychic contact with her unborn child allows Jessica to safeguard Alia's infant mind. Alia is born with the powers and psyche of a Reverend Mother. At the final confrontation in Arakeen with the Emperor and the Baron as Paul attacks the shield wall with nukes and sandworms, Alia (who appears to be a small child) reveals herself to be Mua'dib's sister (and thus a valuable hostage), but also that Paul is the leader of House Atredes come to exact revenge and depose the Emperor. Alia kills the Baron with a gom jabbar (poisoned needle) a favourite assassination weapon of the Bene Gesserit.

Paul deposes the Emperor. Paul threatens to kill him and his family, unless the Emperor abdicates, and seizes the throne. To legitimise the claim he marries Princess Irulan (Emperor Corrino's daughter) and effectively becomes the official heir. It's a purely political marriage to stop any sort of argument amongst the other great houses of the Landstraad regarding Paul's right to take the throne. This way there will not be a civil war. Paul also get the other factions (such as the Bene Gesserit, CHOAM, and Spacing Guild) on side because he threatens to continue to block all Spice production until they accept his new authority. They have no choice because the Harkonnens and Emperor Corrino are a spent force, unable to do anything about Paul's power in charge of Arrakis.
 
ci_newman said:
Reading online, I'm not the first person to report this either. Large parts of the dialogue were lost, in particular the "fear" mantra.
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I'm torn on this as you say, it is hard to make out and that's sort of what I was referring to in my post. However the times it is repeated, it's virtually a personal prayer and as such, is never going to be spoken too loudly so see it from both angles.
 
6.5/10 imo for part 1

kinda boring really but I guess it was kinda expected

you can probably just watch the trailer and skip the film, the trailers more like a recap :rolleyes:
 
I think the sound mix in some cinema's are worse than others, so while I am like @SixTwoSix and my audio was mostly clear (maybe 2-3 places where the score vs the actors was too loud) at the Odeon in Stoke, I've also been to other cinemas which blew my eardrums out like I'd been to a gig instead (Beowolf was the worst, actual gig-style ringing ears afterwards from the Telford cinema I saw it at!) so I can see that the mix could sound different depending on the individual cinema you see it at, with some cinemas going for the deep bass sound in the mix which screws with the clarity of the vocal mid-range tones of the actors speaking.
 
Good job I knew what Dr Yueh's role was from the book and the Lynch version, otherwise I would be scratching my head. I thought overall it was a pretty good film, not spectacular or anything but decent. My biggest problem early on was adjusting to how they pronounced Harkonnen, although the Villeneuve version is the correct way apparently, it just sounds weird the first time you hear it.
 
Enjoyed it for not reading the books or seeing the original version, glad it's been greenlit for part 2 and looking forward to it.
 
I found it to be a bit slow, albeit stunning to look at, now oddly I cannot wait to see it again. I agree the sound mix was off in places, the main reason I have no 5.1 at home always found movies sound plenty good enough though my amp and stereo speakers. Really happy the next one or two have been green lit.
 
Semi-regular plug for Like Stories of Old’s YouTube channel, which explores the meaning and depths of storytelling delivered by the medium of cinema. Just put out one about Denis’s work which includes Dune, through which you might get more out of his work on repeat viewings.


EDIT - although not explicit, if you haven’t read Dune or Dune Messiah this video sort of lays out why it’s a story Denis was attracted to as far as expectation vs reality when it comes to the main characters in his films. ;)
 
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Can't really give a score with it being the first part but I did find it heavily padded out and the constant dramatic music yet not actual drama was annoying.
 
Booked myself a little day trip to Manchester to watch it at the IMAX screen there. I was hoping to go to London, but it's all booked up and IMAX screenings end on 4th Nov, so not much choice. Looking forward to it though :)
 
alchal said:
Our local Cineworld IMAX is like this, need earplugs! Think this was bad try watching Dunkirk, dear god I was dead for a month afterwards!

I too thought the volume could do with dialing down a notch as it starts to make you fatigued after a while.
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Sound mix at the Imax I went to was good though there were a couple of bits of dialogue that was difficult to hear.

Interstellar however made my ears bleed. I actually put in a complaint to the cinema about the sound levels in that one. I enjoyed the film far better on Bluray when I could watch it with the volume at a reasonable level.
 
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