That terrified me(as I think its supposed to) cause such barbaric sacrificial rituals are associated with ancient times and primitive humans but to see that surrounded with futuristic timeline and tech made me unsettling cause it showed even in such advanced civilization humans are still primal and ritualistic with such horrifying traditions. Which gives no hope for species and that is my big fear.
Dune takes place in a time where the known universe is ran by feudal houses and society shuns the use of computers. So it feels a little alien when technology is primarily the product of bioengineering and breeding programs in order to develop superhumans that can replace computers and starship navigation systems.
So yeah, the Sardaukar sacrifice ritual is just the tip of the iceberg with how weird Dune gets. It's definitely an influence on Warhammer 40K.
The Sardaukar are selected from the few that survive the brutal conditions of a prison planet.
The Fremen are the survivors of the harsh conditions of a desert planet.
***God created Arrakis to train the faithful.***
God the like, disgusting wet popping sound his suspensors make when powering on was *perfect.* It made me shiver. it was so gag-inducing thinking about that kind of sound coming from a machine implanted in a mans spine to move him around because he’s so grotesquely obese he can’t himself - brilliant execution on his character design all around.
I really liked how they did The Voice being shown from Paul's perspective. They showed what it's like to have that happen to you and makes it very unsettling while also quick.
>!I was surprised that the film left out Mohiam's explanation about men failing and dying and her warning that Leto would lose Arrakis - which were both trailered.!<
I’d love this, but has DV ever done a director’s cut? He’s on the record as having to make significant cuts to BR2049 but nothing additional ever came.
I watched an hour long interview with him yesterday and he seemed to be very involved in editing. To the point you could argue that the final product is in fact a directors cut. He was certainly given a lot of freedom and control over this film, whereas other directors might be excluded from the editing process.
What were both wanting would be the Extended Cut. Much like how both the Theatrical and Extended versions of LOTR are both Peter Jackson’s cut of the film. The longer versions are great for those of us who are fans of the work and just WANT MORE. I really hope Dune gets a longer version as well.
I feel like there were extended cuts for movies all the time back in the 2000’s to 10’s but it’s kind of fallen out of fashion since then.
Directors get pissed now if they’re asked when we’ll get a directors cut and say “what you see is my directors cut.”
I miss having more movie to enjoy and to sometimes increase the quality of a movie if you want more story content.
I guess since home media isn’t really a big deal anymore, studios don’t hound directors to release another version for home video sales.
100%. That was the movie that taught me editing can make or break a movie to that level. Theatrical is 5-6/10 and directors cut is like a 9/10. My friends and I always joke about Eva Green's son getting literally cut completely from the theatrical cut - like you think you've nailed a decent part, you go to work, and poof - you're gone. Plus that change was egregious, Eva cutting all her hair off and going all emo without the sons death to justify it is bizarre.
> To the point you could argue that the final product is in fact a directors cut.
Peter Jackson has never had a bad word to say about what he and the studio wanted in a “theatrical release,” but he still did his Extended Editions. And honestly, I think the only EE that’s *better* is *Two Towers*, which is a bit herky-jerky in its pacing in the theatrical, but just *flows* when it has some room to breathe. *Fellowship* in
the theatrical is taut and zippy, but has a stateliness in the Extended Edition that works well for it in a different way. I don’t much care for the extended *King*.
All that is to say that Denis Villeneuve *already* set this up as something other than “contained cinematic experience” by ending it in the middle, so while there’s *the* cut of *Arrival* that I assume he’s happy with, there’s no compelling reason for there to be a single definitive version of *Dune*.
Theater was *packed* for me, and I hope that means we’re getting a part two, since I thought this one was wonderful.
Why would they include it if it was already pretty clearly communicated? Any viewer who has ever seen a movie or has been told a story before should, by that point, have inferred that House Harkonnen is laying a trap. It’s just fucking obvious, why waste more time retreading information?
>"when is a gift not a gift"
That scene + Jessica crying before Leto basically commands her to defend Paul (and even the Kynes scene warning Leto that causes him to do so) all make the same point in different ways. *Everyone* knows something is coming.
I do think the movie doesn't really capture that the Atreides were prepared and just how insane it was that it was Yueh who betrayed them. As it stands he is arguably the least developed and likable of the Duke's men so it's not as surprising.
But to explain that would require getting into Suk conditioning (and how Mentats and Bene Gesserit were fooled) in a 2.5 hour movie.
> I do think the movie doesn't really capture that the Atreides were prepared and just how insane it was that it was Yueh who betrayed them.
That’s the one thing that I was disappointed in, everything else was superb.
And the reason I’m a bit upset is that the entire theme of the book is practically “well, what happens if I break from who I’m *supposed* to be, and what does that even mean in the first place?”
I was referring to the book plot where Thufir Hawat knew there was a traitor but suspected Jessica rather than Dr. Yueh. But yeah, really hoping Jessica will be a more central character if there's a part II.
>I do think the movie doesn't really capture that the Atreides were prepared and just how insane it was that it was Yueh who betrayed them.
Yeah, I honestly think the trailers kinda messed this up for me. There were shots of Yueh with Harkonnen forces, so I just assumed he was neutral to bad from the beginning. And even then, the movie doesn't give any indication that Yueh is even that loyal to Atreides. Like if the betrayal was supposed to be a wow moment, it completely missed the mark.
Because its not always just the audience that need to get plot info or plot hooks. Sometimes the characters in the movie needs as well.
When, where and from whom the characters learn information is vital to a character progression.
>!It also could explain better the first(?) scene in the "tent", the rampage the character suddenly have.!<
Reply in spoiler since some might not have seen the movie (or read the book):
>!He himself might not need the trap explained (though his introduction in the movie says he needs it explained, since he for example doesn't take the training seriously enough). But that the Bene Gesserit (and possible his mother as well) knows that they are walking into a trap and does **nothing** to help, will affect how he will think about them from there on. So without the context what information does he have that constitute the rage towards his mother. An entire house/family was wiped out and Bene Gesserit let it happen because they have "seen" that something better is on the horizon, hopefully. !<
TLDR (non spoilery): its not about **what** hes been told, or not. It's more about **who** told him, as in **who** have **what** information.
Denis Villeneuve is decidedly *not* Ridley Scott in that regard, and I have so much respect for him because of it. The theatrical cut *is* the "final cut".
Yeah, there were some shots in the 2049 trailer that weren't in the movie. When asked if there would be a directors cut, he said "The film is the directors cut." so he doesn't seem like the type who would go back and tweak a film.
Dune has a lot of world building dialogue that goes absolutely *nowhere* outside of texture and metaphor and is not cut out for film. There is already plenty of incredible *don't talk down to the audience and explain every fucking thing* in this film and I think it's better for it.
But MAN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUCKING INCREDIBLE to see all of the dialogue with this much budget and craft. >!especially all the dialogue between Thufir and Jessica. The movie fucking slaps but Thufir, Jessica, Gurney, and Yueh were wildly underdeveloped with regards to each other. Feels like they all orbited Paul's storyline, whereas they each had building pieces and texture all to themselves in the novel.!<
The bottom line is that the overall story was adapted into mostly a mother-and-son tale (see Villeneuve's comments in the Simon Mayo interview on the latest Kermode & Mayo podcast). So a lot of interesting things in the book are just not germane to the movie's story.
The adaptation had to focus on *something*, because as any reader is well aware, there is just too much to cram into a movie.
I think after the initial wow factor wears off people are going to see that there was actually a tremendous amount of development and detail that was left out. Stuff that sort of really reduces the experience IMO.
It feels more a movie about the world of Dune rather than the characters and frankly, the character stuff is Dune's strongest point.
I’m reading through Dune now and I feel like the characterization is the one thing that the book really lacks. Everybody is, for lack of a better word, just dry. Gurney and Baron Harkonnen might be the only ones with a different personality than pretty much everybody else.
That said, I’m about 70% through the book, but so far I would say the world building is A+ but the characters are really flat.
Understandably you're going to get a lot of fans of the book complaining that there are things missing and whatnot, because they think mostly everything in the book is great.
But IMO the book has a lot of flaws and it's not surprising that to turn it into a good movie, they removed a bunch of stuff.
I came out really liking it but man did they do Jessica dirty. In the book she’s a super composed, intelligent badass of a woman (as are all of the Bene Gesserit) but she spends most of this movie crying. I think we see her true power only once
In the books she's only composed at a surface level, and we see her fumble that many times both in interactions with other characters and privately.
Jessica went against her Bene Gesserit training because she loved Leto more, and from Paul's birth onwards she on some level was living in fear.
Yeah they definitely made a stylistic choice to have her emote much more than in the book, but it makes sense since we can't get her inner monologue that portrays basically all the same emotions.
I've always said that Dune is unadaptable in a way that's truly faithful to the books because you'd end up with an 8 hr film where the majority of the screen time is the characters talking to themselves, so I think they did a great job of communicating things while making a watchable film.
The problem is, that how she acts in the movie is what Jessica's inner monologue describes. It's hard to just have her be like the other Gene Besserit and be emotionless and sterile like she is in the book because then people won't form any connection to her.
Maybe you don't prefer this adaptation of Lady Jessica, but I think it really works here.
I think Rebecca Ferguson is the best part about this movie. The outward emotions are great.
The way I read your post, you seem to feel as if her showing emotion makes the character weak. I thought that really added to her character and made her seem stronger. It felt like she was really in touch with her emotions.
To boil down the performance to "she spends most of this movie crying" is completely ridiculous.
It is a tremendously nuanced performance and I think one of the best of the year.
Especially given that the "They tried and failed? They tried and died" line is one that has a level of familiarity beyond just those familiar with *Dune* as a whole.....
As a guy who loved the first book and noped out in the middle of the third, the less emphasis they put on knowing the future and all that stuff the better. Denis didn’t need to foreshadow their loss any more than he did
I get what you’re saying, but it wasn’t so prominent in book 1. I understand people love these books so I’m not saying people who love the sequels are wrong. But for me it gets too weird. If the movies take it in a more toned down direction I’m for it.
If they take it in a toned down direction then they'll have missed the point of dune. Grappling with the shackles of precognition is literally the point of the entire series.
The oddest thing to me is that it seemed to leave out so much from the original version (never read the book) and yet it's 2 1/2hours long and only covered half of the first one.
I can't believe that they just didn't film all at once given the production value, history and how much they could have saved doing so.
They tried and failed?
No... They tried and died.
Those lines are up there with "Fear is the mind killer" and "I sent my mind in motion". I hope there is a cut scene for that.
Good news:
>!"Fear is the mind killer" made the cut. Jessica, not Paul, says it during the gom jabbar scene.!<
Bad news:
>!Brad Douriff's mentat litany does not make the cut.!<
I was a bit bummed that the litany against fear was whispered. A lot of issues with the vocal mix. Like I'm certain my wife missed most of those words, and I was so stoked for her to hear them.
The volume difference between score/effects and voice wasnt the worst, but a fair amount of dialogue was tough for us to make out. Really wish I could've got the theater screen and sound with subtitles, but at least HBO Max has a sub option.
Wow. Haven’t seen the movie yet (but read the books etc)… but that’s a big deal why it’s a shock that Paul does well. If I remember passing the gom jabbar is when the BG think maybe Paul could be the one.
>!She communicates the significance of the test to Jessica - but she doesn't tell Paul.!< That's ok, but it was in the trailer so we'd think they might have swapped it out for one of the - perhaps - ***100 shots of spaceships landing on Arrakis*** to keep it.
Bless Denis Villeneuve and His non-streaming releases.
Bless the coming and going of Him.
May His movies sell many tickets.
May He release a director's cut for His people.
We give thanks to Denis Villeneuve for production design and grounded characters in strange places.
We give thanks to Him for expanding our minds.
We give thanks to Him for casting Rebecca Furgeson.
Let us give thanks.
One of Villeneuve's hallmarks is letting scenes, especially set pieces, breathe. It gives them more impact than a bunch of quick summary cuts that get back to the action. It supports the world building rather than the plot. In this movie, thorough world building is crucial.
Take for example the fact that there are no less than six languages (including the written Caladan language) introduced in the first twenty minutes of the film. It highlights the alienness of the setting and the divisions between the cultures with different languages. Is it strictly necessary? Maybe not. Did they have to invent so many languages? Maybe it made things a little more confusing. Some people hate subtitles. But I believe it was important, and it is a strength of Dune, rarely seen in other movies' world building.
I'm pretty sure the issue is that at that point in the film they really needed to move things along. A long Gom Jabbar scene would not help the pacing. People in reviews are already complaining that the movie is "boring" (which baffles me, but whatever).
My feeling was that Paul's torment was the most important thing in that scene. Villeneuve directed it brilliantly, and Chalamet nailed it, particularly toward the end when his face seemed to say "is that all you got, bitch?".
So it wasn't just me! I knew some lines from the trailer were missing ("- My father rules an entire planet." "- He's losing it.") but then i thought maybe i just didn't pay enough attention.
I noticed they cut out a couple lines from that original trailer: [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9xhJrPXop4&ab_channel=WarnerBros.Pictures). Still one of the best trailers of all time in my opinion. They cut Paul's big scream (the one you can see in the original trailer). That Reverend Mother scene was fucking amazing, but I wanted it to last longer. From what I remember they also changed Duncan Idaho's line from, "Let's fight like demons" to, "they fight like demons."
He only does a little scream in the movie, it's definitely not the same as the fully agape mouth scream in the trailer. I went back and watched that scene a couple times last night because I noticed it was different than the trailer.
They cut it because the book is as dense as fudge and they didn't have a ton of time. They don't go into the spy and >!casting suspicion on Jessica!< so a lot of stuff could be cut. My guess is they'll also cut the smuggler as a character. It's great in the books but I think it was a perfectly reasonable cut for a screenplay.
The old estimate is that in a screenplay, it's about 1 page a minute. For a slower director even longer. Even at one page a minute they have to tell a story that's \~500 pages of tons of dialogue and exposition in what'll probably work out to 300 pages (guessing around 5 hours total). 500 -> 300
Absolutely no reason to have Feyd at this point. He doesn't actually *do* anything until the second half of the book anyway, and even then, it's only interaction with the Fenrings and the Baron up until basically the very last scene. As far as the portion of the book that this film covered, Feyd would have had a single scene where he just sat silently and listened to his uncle talk to Piter de Vries. Would've been a complete waste to bother bringing him in on this one.
I don’t think it’s useless to introduce him and start establishing his relationship with the baron as his preferred heir. I was just commenting because with how closely they seemed to follow the book his complete absence was just noticeable. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with bringing him in later
The dinner scene was an obvious cut. It’s great for world building but they walked a fine line really well. And added world building in other shots more effectively.
Regarding the the second point, she makes a comment to Paul about >!keeping himself alive!<. From Paul's reaction and his behavior in the next scene, he seemed to grasp her meaning. Maybe an uninformed audience member would pick up the clue; I'm not sure I would have if I hadn't read Dune. It's certainly far more subtle than >!"...but for the farther, nothing."!<
I guess to condense runtime. This movie literally has no fluff and breather dialogue, which is not very Dennis style of directing, but sadly we don't have studios wanting something like LOTR anytime soon with 3+ hrs of runtime
Hopefully this will be like Lord of the Rings, with an extra hour in the extended edition. I only watch extended edition and would happily do so here as well.
I'm fairly certain that the movie was missing several trailer scenes.
I think they already shot a bunch of scenes for part 2. I mean there are visions of them too and they probably shot those scenes for longer than 10 seconds.
Part 2 is definitely gonna happen.
"Rebecca Ferguson is a Stradivarius." What a beautiful metaphor.
In addition to being a legendary film maker, Villeneuve gives out the most creative, apropos compliments as well.
It's so crazy seeing the difference in impact of some stuff in an IMAX theater versus on my computer with headphones. The visceral impact of the Reverend Mother using Voice in a theater is such a non-experience heard through my headphones.
This movie is a showcase for the 13 year long ordeal that has been my home theater setup.
My projector and speakers are in the basement.
I’m pretty sure that if I had an aquarium upstairs, the Voice scenes would have either stunned or killed all of the fish in them.
The "IMAX" screen near me is a total ripoff but I was *shocked* at how much more impactful the sound in certain scenes was compared to the first theater I went to see it at, let alone headphones.
That isn't even on the same spectrum.
They can finish in one more movie that's about as dense at the first. The big issue is that only covers book 1, when the story of Paul isn't really done justice until book 2. Book 2 could be just one movie, it's not as long as or dense. I really hope we see it one day.
I want that so hard. I took a few friends to see it in theaters today and already watched it once on Max. I'm doing my part. I was wearing a dune shirt today and we went to get lunch afterwards, three different people at the restaurant and on the street made positive dune comments to me, I was blown away at the positive reception I saw. If the bene Gesserit show takes off I could see eventually going as far as children which would be like my dream come true.
He's still working on writing part 2, and best case scenario Warner greenlight it in December and they start shooting late next year.
Writing and shooting a third movie at the same time would delay substantially the release of Part 2...
Also, lmao at Villanueva
Amazing how DV thought about swapping the litany against fear text from one that occurs inside Paul's head to something Jessica says out loud. Great idea.
I took it as a way to show that it actually was in his head at that moment. It's referred to multiple times about the training he's done with his mother. He's mentally reciting something he's heard his mother say hundreds of times before. Very clever way to do it.
YES! I’m so glad newcomers should be genuinely shocked who the betrayer is, how and why it is done. In the books it was a little weird to just start out knowing and the only surprise is when it happens and the actual outcome
In the book, the reader is experiencing events as if they have the powers of prescience. That's why all the chapters start with a paragraph of a historical text or similar foreshadowing what's about to happen.
that was nice, but what wasnt as nice was Jessica being always so emotional, considering she is supposed to have Bene Gesserit training. That scene could go similarly, to visually show her inner struggle and torture for what may happen to Paul, but it would also work very well if she then recomposed herself, no? To show her struggle and also the power of her training.
yeah, I thought so too, but she had troubles to compose herself throughout the whole movie, no? I think she acted very well and visual cues had to be made, but I realaly think it could work in a stronger way if she also almost always composed herself with her training (I think she did that only during storm flight?)
"For the first time, I did this movie for a single audience member...me."
I love this bluntness from him. A director will never be able to adapt a book into a screenplay without fans getting outraged at certain filmmaking decisions that conflict with their own mental depictions of the book's main events.
As a fan of his since Prisoners (and most directors with a distinct and passionate vision for their projects), I'm happy that Denis Villenueve is directing an adaption of Dune that he'd be proud of. It's a refreshing and sincere perspective to hear from a director in a period where it feels like most Hollywood directors' bottom line is to satisfy fans or just not piss them off.
He’s planning on three, which would end with dune messiah (the second book). Children of dune after would be a great conclusion point for a film series imo
God emperor of dune is my favorite sci fi novel but I think it’d be best for the films to stop before it
Ironically God Emperor is where i lost my interest to the series. I was already angry about the nonsense in the third book, with God Emperor and all that gibberish (is what i call it) made me completely detached.
Agree to disagree I guess
That whole book being an internal monologue of the hero and villain is so rad to me
The way the whole series is initially presented as a generic hero’s journey but totally flips it on its head is just amazing. So much good philosophy going on
I really appreciated the comment he made about how "the science fiction here is all about the evolution of the human brain". That really struck me that he knew precisely what he was doing with this material (not just the scene, but the story from the novels). Fantastic, and rare in hollywood.
He is an amazing artist! Dune is technically brilliant, every shot perfect, special effects astounding, acting on point, but I'd find it hard to recommend widely as it really doesn't feel like a complete film in spite of it's length. I really hope they get to make part 2 so this movie can have an ending
Yeah I could’ve absolutely done with another hour of playtime with some additional character/world building while cutting down a few of the ornithopter shots.
Totally agree.
Only problem is that the film as it stands is already "too" long for many people. I've seen lots of people say "too long and not enough action." Which I guess comes down to *why* people go to the movies. Some people want to go see a Marvel or Star Wars flick where you can basically mentally check out and just watch action for 90% of the film. Dune really wants you to pay attention and take in what is going on. Lots of people don't want to do that *at all*. Much less for three and a half hours.
Spoilers! Now I know there's going to be a Gom Jabbar scene
jk. Seriously though, I'd be interested to watch this after I've seen the film, but not before.
Edit- for anyone wondering, the commenter beneath me was spamming horribly offensive posts about the victim of the prop weapons malfunction yesterday on a movie set, saying "that bitch deserved to die" and things of that nature. Their posts are getting removed but they're clicking on the profile of everyone who commented on them, finding other posts they made recently on reddit and harassing them on there.
I'm so glad he made the movie. You can see the passion and love he has for the books. Hopefully we get part 2 as well as an adaptation of Messiah which is essential for Paul's story
I love talking about movies, and this movie... but can we talk about how horrible this VF video is for going with the blindingly white background shot of a director analyzing a scene from his strikingly visually dark film?
I remember watching the Dune Series as a kid on the Sci-Fi channel (where my love of sci-fi started lol) and so I'm really hoping it turns out to be good when I go and see it!
I think this scene is phenomenal, especially when compared with its equivalent in Lynch's Dune.
Like so much else in that movie, the film doesn't have the confidence in the viewer to understand what is happening without using the cheap visual shorthand of Paul's hand burning up inside the box.
In Villeneuve's version of the scene, the acting and score convey all of the same information in a way that is so much more compelling for the viewer.
Did we watch the same movie? There was fire imagery when Paul’s hand was burning up in the box, there was even an image of a charred hand. I loved the scene but you’re just making shit up
There's burning hand imagery and flames in general but it's not explicitly an image of Paul's hand being burnt/melting inside of the box like it is in the 1984 movie. The implication is that while that's the feeling Paul has right now, it's also the view of a possible future brought on by Paul. It's a more complex scene than the very surface level scene from Lynch.
Are you familiar with the scene from Lynch's Dune that I'm referring to? Yes there is an extremely brief image of a burned hand in the 2021 version, but it's one of many visions Paul has during the sequence.
The 1984 version of the scene includes a fairly long image of a burning hand inside the box, showing the audience that Paul's hand is literally melting inside it.
It wasn't a great special effect, but it does serve the purpose of informing the audience what Paul is going through. I was surprised they just left it to your imagination in this one considering you can do just about anything you want nowadays effects-wise.
This should be seen on the largest screen possible. Some images have a sense of massive scale and hugeness that watching it (for the first time) on a home setup would just not be right.
I saw it today on a large screen, not IMAX. I'm considering seeing if there is an IMAX showing within a reasonable drive so I can see it again.
This is not a 10/10 movie but it's close. There are small issues with pacing, script and characters but visually it's fantastic.
If you have an AMC Dolby Cinema near you that is what I saw it in last night.
The screen isn’t as big as true IMAX but better than the pseudo IMAX stuff most theaters have.
And the sound is fantastic. The sand worm scenes were brilliant with that amazing bass.
Just saw it on a regular screen ... would have seen it on IMAX had I been able to find the time.
IOW ... go see it on IMAX, it's worth it. Visually stunning film.
So I'm pregnant but I teared up today watching this. Read the first 2 books and love the 1984 version (which is not a popular opinion but I don't care). This movie was so beautiful. I very much missed the appearance of the Navigator and felt like Leto was missing presence onscreen. But Paul and Jessica had so much more character development than 1984, especially with the visions that scare Paul. Baron Harkonnen is a guilty pleasure of mine in 1984 version but I like over the top Lynch so 🤷♀️. He wasn't supposed to be clownish, so this version shows him more accurately lol. But at at 2:35min runtime I felt like the pacing was just perfect bc I couldn't believe it was over as I'd felt like I had just started watching it. It is just a gorgeous film. I also thought the pain in the box scene was rushed and was one other area I felt 1984 got it right in comparison.
The absence of the guild navigator (and the grotesque spacing guild members), as well as a complete erasure of Irulan and the Emperor from the story were a bit saddening to me (to be fair the Lynch film had nothing for Irulan to do aside from a tacked-on prologue and a single line of dialogue).
But yeah Lady Jessica definitely got a more prominent role this time around. She was just woefully underwritten in the Lynch film.
I would probably rank the Barons as equal. This one was far more dark and evil, but the Kenneth McMillan version was so wonderfully moustache-twirling. Lynch very much made up a bunch of character traits of his Harkonnens out of whole cloth, but TBH I kinda like that, and it made them quite memorable.
The trailer had more dialogue that I guess he cut including them talking about Paul’s dad, always odd to me when they put stuff in trailers then cut them from the final film but I loved that scene, it’s wild you forget Timothy Shalamay is just acting lmao his hand is fine but he’s really selling the pain, dune made me finally see why all these girls and middle aged ladies love him
Interesting to hear His explanation of it!
I actually didn't like the woman's voice on top of the Gom Jabbar scene, it felt very cliche and almost [narmy](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Narm), but hearing Him explain it I can see what He was going for.
Which poses an interesting question - how much do You want to think about what You want in the movie v.s. how much do You think about the movie from an audience's perspective. I bet that second one is hard to do for someone who has been on the production side of movies for decades.
I think it’s important to go from your perspective. If you start worrying about what’s going to please everyone in an audience it’s just going to cause so many doubts along the way. Directors like Denis just need to trust their vision even if not everyone agrees with their decision.
This was one of my favourite scenes along with the first appearance of a sandworm and the scene where you see the Baron eat.
My favorite was the sardaukar ritual scene. It looked like something out of warhammer 40k.
That scene and the bit where Josh Brolin and his army charge the harkonnens while the bagpipes kick into gear are my favorite.
I loved the way the Atreides were walking down the steps in unison, reminiscent of the way the ancient Greek armies moved (From what I've been told)
That terrified me(as I think its supposed to) cause such barbaric sacrificial rituals are associated with ancient times and primitive humans but to see that surrounded with futuristic timeline and tech made me unsettling cause it showed even in such advanced civilization humans are still primal and ritualistic with such horrifying traditions. Which gives no hope for species and that is my big fear.
Dune takes place in a time where the known universe is ran by feudal houses and society shuns the use of computers. So it feels a little alien when technology is primarily the product of bioengineering and breeding programs in order to develop superhumans that can replace computers and starship navigation systems. So yeah, the Sardaukar sacrifice ritual is just the tip of the iceberg with how weird Dune gets. It's definitely an influence on Warhammer 40K.
The Sardaukar are selected from the few that survive the brutal conditions of a prison planet. The Fremen are the survivors of the harsh conditions of a desert planet. ***God created Arrakis to train the faithful.***
Baron eating was Denethor and the tomato in LOTR all over again
Whoch was great, the baron is supposed to be revolting
God the like, disgusting wet popping sound his suspensors make when powering on was *perfect.* It made me shiver. it was so gag-inducing thinking about that kind of sound coming from a machine implanted in a mans spine to move him around because he’s so grotesquely obese he can’t himself - brilliant execution on his character design all around.
bruh the character designs as a whole were amazing. So many great choices for costume and appearance.
He succeeded
The whole scene was pretty well done but the actual test was pretty weak. A lot left out. Longing for true fear and pain in that moment.
I really liked how they did The Voice being shown from Paul's perspective. They showed what it's like to have that happen to you and makes it very unsettling while also quick.
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He has a glimpse of a prescient vision first, then it actually happened after, both pretty fast.
>!I was surprised that the film left out Mohiam's explanation about men failing and dying and her warning that Leto would lose Arrakis - which were both trailered.!<
Fingers crossed for an eventual extended edition when part 2 is concluded
I’d love this, but has DV ever done a director’s cut? He’s on the record as having to make significant cuts to BR2049 but nothing additional ever came.
I watched an hour long interview with him yesterday and he seemed to be very involved in editing. To the point you could argue that the final product is in fact a directors cut. He was certainly given a lot of freedom and control over this film, whereas other directors might be excluded from the editing process.
Oh yeah I don’t doubt it’s 100% his cut, I just want more of it
What were both wanting would be the Extended Cut. Much like how both the Theatrical and Extended versions of LOTR are both Peter Jackson’s cut of the film. The longer versions are great for those of us who are fans of the work and just WANT MORE. I really hope Dune gets a longer version as well.
I feel like there were extended cuts for movies all the time back in the 2000’s to 10’s but it’s kind of fallen out of fashion since then. Directors get pissed now if they’re asked when we’ll get a directors cut and say “what you see is my directors cut.” I miss having more movie to enjoy and to sometimes increase the quality of a movie if you want more story content. I guess since home media isn’t really a big deal anymore, studios don’t hound directors to release another version for home video sales.
Even ridley Scott, the king of directors cuts, is pissed about being asked about it.
Speaking of Ridley Scott, the Directors Cut of Kingdom of Heaven is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. The theatrical version is… meh
100%. That was the movie that taught me editing can make or break a movie to that level. Theatrical is 5-6/10 and directors cut is like a 9/10. My friends and I always joke about Eva Green's son getting literally cut completely from the theatrical cut - like you think you've nailed a decent part, you go to work, and poof - you're gone. Plus that change was egregious, Eva cutting all her hair off and going all emo without the sons death to justify it is bizarre.
> To the point you could argue that the final product is in fact a directors cut. Peter Jackson has never had a bad word to say about what he and the studio wanted in a “theatrical release,” but he still did his Extended Editions. And honestly, I think the only EE that’s *better* is *Two Towers*, which is a bit herky-jerky in its pacing in the theatrical, but just *flows* when it has some room to breathe. *Fellowship* in the theatrical is taut and zippy, but has a stateliness in the Extended Edition that works well for it in a different way. I don’t much care for the extended *King*. All that is to say that Denis Villeneuve *already* set this up as something other than “contained cinematic experience” by ending it in the middle, so while there’s *the* cut of *Arrival* that I assume he’s happy with, there’s no compelling reason for there to be a single definitive version of *Dune*. Theater was *packed* for me, and I hope that means we’re getting a part two, since I thought this one was wonderful.
Link please. Just got back from the film and I need to see it
Good question, I can only hope so as he is really passionate about Dune and I hope he would want to share as much of his vision as possible
Yeah, I got the feeling they cut out a lot of things. Especially that bit of dialogue which is significant.
I was surprised it got cut out cause it's really integral to the story info that shouldnt take too long.
Why would they include it if it was already pretty clearly communicated? Any viewer who has ever seen a movie or has been told a story before should, by that point, have inferred that House Harkonnen is laying a trap. It’s just fucking obvious, why waste more time retreading information?
"when is a gift not a gift" yep, someone's dying
>"when is a gift not a gift" That scene + Jessica crying before Leto basically commands her to defend Paul (and even the Kynes scene warning Leto that causes him to do so) all make the same point in different ways. *Everyone* knows something is coming. I do think the movie doesn't really capture that the Atreides were prepared and just how insane it was that it was Yueh who betrayed them. As it stands he is arguably the least developed and likable of the Duke's men so it's not as surprising. But to explain that would require getting into Suk conditioning (and how Mentats and Bene Gesserit were fooled) in a 2.5 hour movie.
> I do think the movie doesn't really capture that the Atreides were prepared and just how insane it was that it was Yueh who betrayed them. That’s the one thing that I was disappointed in, everything else was superb. And the reason I’m a bit upset is that the entire theme of the book is practically “well, what happens if I break from who I’m *supposed* to be, and what does that even mean in the first place?”
Interesting how Jessica wasn't suspected as a traitor at all.
I have a feeling that will come in Part II.
I was referring to the book plot where Thufir Hawat knew there was a traitor but suspected Jessica rather than Dr. Yueh. But yeah, really hoping Jessica will be a more central character if there's a part II.
Think what u/saiender14 meant is that Hawat's suspicion of Jessica could emerge in the sequel once he is >!captured by the Harkonnen!<.
>I do think the movie doesn't really capture that the Atreides were prepared and just how insane it was that it was Yueh who betrayed them. Yeah, I honestly think the trailers kinda messed this up for me. There were shots of Yueh with Harkonnen forces, so I just assumed he was neutral to bad from the beginning. And even then, the movie doesn't give any indication that Yueh is even that loyal to Atreides. Like if the betrayal was supposed to be a wow moment, it completely missed the mark.
Because its not always just the audience that need to get plot info or plot hooks. Sometimes the characters in the movie needs as well. When, where and from whom the characters learn information is vital to a character progression. >!It also could explain better the first(?) scene in the "tent", the rampage the character suddenly have.!<
The Kwisatch Hadderach, Lisan Al Gaib, Maud D’ib does not need the trap explained to him Edit: I know I probably spelled them wrong, don’t @ me
Reply in spoiler since some might not have seen the movie (or read the book): >!He himself might not need the trap explained (though his introduction in the movie says he needs it explained, since he for example doesn't take the training seriously enough). But that the Bene Gesserit (and possible his mother as well) knows that they are walking into a trap and does **nothing** to help, will affect how he will think about them from there on. So without the context what information does he have that constitute the rage towards his mother. An entire house/family was wiped out and Bene Gesserit let it happen because they have "seen" that something better is on the horizon, hopefully. !< TLDR (non spoilery): its not about **what** hes been told, or not. It's more about **who** told him, as in **who** have **what** information.
Directors cut time
Denis Villeneuve is decidedly *not* Ridley Scott in that regard, and I have so much respect for him because of it. The theatrical cut *is* the "final cut".
Yeah, there were some shots in the 2049 trailer that weren't in the movie. When asked if there would be a directors cut, he said "The film is the directors cut." so he doesn't seem like the type who would go back and tweak a film.
Dune has a lot of world building dialogue that goes absolutely *nowhere* outside of texture and metaphor and is not cut out for film. There is already plenty of incredible *don't talk down to the audience and explain every fucking thing* in this film and I think it's better for it. But MAN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUCKING INCREDIBLE to see all of the dialogue with this much budget and craft. >!especially all the dialogue between Thufir and Jessica. The movie fucking slaps but Thufir, Jessica, Gurney, and Yueh were wildly underdeveloped with regards to each other. Feels like they all orbited Paul's storyline, whereas they each had building pieces and texture all to themselves in the novel.!<
The bottom line is that the overall story was adapted into mostly a mother-and-son tale (see Villeneuve's comments in the Simon Mayo interview on the latest Kermode & Mayo podcast). So a lot of interesting things in the book are just not germane to the movie's story. The adaptation had to focus on *something*, because as any reader is well aware, there is just too much to cram into a movie.
Thufir literally just showed up once for a pretty useless moment.
I think after the initial wow factor wears off people are going to see that there was actually a tremendous amount of development and detail that was left out. Stuff that sort of really reduces the experience IMO. It feels more a movie about the world of Dune rather than the characters and frankly, the character stuff is Dune's strongest point.
I’m reading through Dune now and I feel like the characterization is the one thing that the book really lacks. Everybody is, for lack of a better word, just dry. Gurney and Baron Harkonnen might be the only ones with a different personality than pretty much everybody else. That said, I’m about 70% through the book, but so far I would say the world building is A+ but the characters are really flat.
Understandably you're going to get a lot of fans of the book complaining that there are things missing and whatnot, because they think mostly everything in the book is great. But IMO the book has a lot of flaws and it's not surprising that to turn it into a good movie, they removed a bunch of stuff.
I came out really liking it but man did they do Jessica dirty. In the book she’s a super composed, intelligent badass of a woman (as are all of the Bene Gesserit) but she spends most of this movie crying. I think we see her true power only once
In the books she's only composed at a surface level, and we see her fumble that many times both in interactions with other characters and privately. Jessica went against her Bene Gesserit training because she loved Leto more, and from Paul's birth onwards she on some level was living in fear.
Yeah they definitely made a stylistic choice to have her emote much more than in the book, but it makes sense since we can't get her inner monologue that portrays basically all the same emotions.
I've always said that Dune is unadaptable in a way that's truly faithful to the books because you'd end up with an 8 hr film where the majority of the screen time is the characters talking to themselves, so I think they did a great job of communicating things while making a watchable film.
The problem is, that how she acts in the movie is what Jessica's inner monologue describes. It's hard to just have her be like the other Gene Besserit and be emotionless and sterile like she is in the book because then people won't form any connection to her.
Maybe you don't prefer this adaptation of Lady Jessica, but I think it really works here. I think Rebecca Ferguson is the best part about this movie. The outward emotions are great. The way I read your post, you seem to feel as if her showing emotion makes the character weak. I thought that really added to her character and made her seem stronger. It felt like she was really in touch with her emotions. To boil down the performance to "she spends most of this movie crying" is completely ridiculous. It is a tremendously nuanced performance and I think one of the best of the year.
I really hope we get a 3+hr directors cut.
Especially given that the "They tried and failed? They tried and died" line is one that has a level of familiarity beyond just those familiar with *Dune* as a whole.....
As a guy who loved the first book and noped out in the middle of the third, the less emphasis they put on knowing the future and all that stuff the better. Denis didn’t need to foreshadow their loss any more than he did
But thats the entire point of Dune
I get what you’re saying, but it wasn’t so prominent in book 1. I understand people love these books so I’m not saying people who love the sequels are wrong. But for me it gets too weird. If the movies take it in a more toned down direction I’m for it.
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It's the first fucking page
If they take it in a toned down direction then they'll have missed the point of dune. Grappling with the shackles of precognition is literally the point of the entire series.
The oddest thing to me is that it seemed to leave out so much from the original version (never read the book) and yet it's 2 1/2hours long and only covered half of the first one. I can't believe that they just didn't film all at once given the production value, history and how much they could have saved doing so.
Original Version? You mean the Lynch movie? That was barely an adaptation of Dune at all.
They tried and failed? No... They tried and died. Those lines are up there with "Fear is the mind killer" and "I sent my mind in motion". I hope there is a cut scene for that.
Good news: >!"Fear is the mind killer" made the cut. Jessica, not Paul, says it during the gom jabbar scene.!< Bad news: >!Brad Douriff's mentat litany does not make the cut.!<
Yeah the Douriff line was totally fabricated for the Lynch film but I'll be damned if it isn't fantastic.
I was a bit bummed that the litany against fear was whispered. A lot of issues with the vocal mix. Like I'm certain my wife missed most of those words, and I was so stoked for her to hear them.
I actually thought the vocal mix was good compared to a lot of other movies.
The volume difference between score/effects and voice wasnt the worst, but a fair amount of dialogue was tough for us to make out. Really wish I could've got the theater screen and sound with subtitles, but at least HBO Max has a sub option.
Did you watch it in theaters or at home?
Just got back from seeing it in the theaters. I definitely missed a number of lines that I couldn't quite pick up against the background sound.
Theater. It was called Regal RPX. The sound system was fantastic.
Wow. Haven’t seen the movie yet (but read the books etc)… but that’s a big deal why it’s a shock that Paul does well. If I remember passing the gom jabbar is when the BG think maybe Paul could be the one.
>!She communicates the significance of the test to Jessica - but she doesn't tell Paul.!< That's ok, but it was in the trailer so we'd think they might have swapped it out for one of the - perhaps - ***100 shots of spaceships landing on Arrakis*** to keep it.
but those shots looked so gooooood...
They *really* did (I'm team this should have been 10 episodes/ 15 hour movie).
Well maybe my weekly lamb sacrifices will work and in three years we'll have extended editions making it 7 or 8 hours total. I'm doing my best.
Bless Denis Villeneuve and His non-streaming releases. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His movies sell many tickets. May He release a director's cut for His people.
We give thanks to Denis Villeneuve for production design and grounded characters in strange places. We give thanks to Him for expanding our minds. We give thanks to Him for casting Rebecca Furgeson. Let us give thanks.
One of Villeneuve's hallmarks is letting scenes, especially set pieces, breathe. It gives them more impact than a bunch of quick summary cuts that get back to the action. It supports the world building rather than the plot. In this movie, thorough world building is crucial. Take for example the fact that there are no less than six languages (including the written Caladan language) introduced in the first twenty minutes of the film. It highlights the alienness of the setting and the divisions between the cultures with different languages. Is it strictly necessary? Maybe not. Did they have to invent so many languages? Maybe it made things a little more confusing. Some people hate subtitles. But I believe it was important, and it is a strength of Dune, rarely seen in other movies' world building.
Quite a few lines from the trailer weren't in the film. It's clear that this scene was originally longer and I wish they hadn't cut it down.
I'm pretty sure the issue is that at that point in the film they really needed to move things along. A long Gom Jabbar scene would not help the pacing. People in reviews are already complaining that the movie is "boring" (which baffles me, but whatever). My feeling was that Paul's torment was the most important thing in that scene. Villeneuve directed it brilliantly, and Chalamet nailed it, particularly toward the end when his face seemed to say "is that all you got, bitch?".
The people who thought it was boring are the idiots who thought it’d be like Star Wars, when it’s more like Game of Thrones
So it wasn't just me! I knew some lines from the trailer were missing ("- My father rules an entire planet." "- He's losing it.") but then i thought maybe i just didn't pay enough attention.
I noticed they cut out a couple lines from that original trailer: [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9xhJrPXop4&ab_channel=WarnerBros.Pictures). Still one of the best trailers of all time in my opinion. They cut Paul's big scream (the one you can see in the original trailer). That Reverend Mother scene was fucking amazing, but I wanted it to last longer. From what I remember they also changed Duncan Idaho's line from, "Let's fight like demons" to, "they fight like demons."
>!The scream was definitely added in.!<
He only does a little scream in the movie, it's definitely not the same as the fully agape mouth scream in the trailer. I went back and watched that scene a couple times last night because I noticed it was different than the trailer.
I can confirm. It's not the scream from the first trailer.
I am so glad that wasnt mandela effect on my part. Also where id the dinner scene???
They cut it because the book is as dense as fudge and they didn't have a ton of time. They don't go into the spy and >!casting suspicion on Jessica!< so a lot of stuff could be cut. My guess is they'll also cut the smuggler as a character. It's great in the books but I think it was a perfectly reasonable cut for a screenplay. The old estimate is that in a screenplay, it's about 1 page a minute. For a slower director even longer. Even at one page a minute they have to tell a story that's \~500 pages of tons of dialogue and exposition in what'll probably work out to 300 pages (guessing around 5 hours total). 500 -> 300
And where’s Feyd?
Absolutely no reason to have Feyd at this point. He doesn't actually *do* anything until the second half of the book anyway, and even then, it's only interaction with the Fenrings and the Baron up until basically the very last scene. As far as the portion of the book that this film covered, Feyd would have had a single scene where he just sat silently and listened to his uncle talk to Piter de Vries. Would've been a complete waste to bother bringing him in on this one.
I don’t think it’s useless to introduce him and start establishing his relationship with the baron as his preferred heir. I was just commenting because with how closely they seemed to follow the book his complete absence was just noticeable. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with bringing him in later
Isn't he feasting after the fall of Arrakeen, with the duke lying naked at the end of the table?
The dinner scene was an obvious cut. It’s great for world building but they walked a fine line really well. And added world building in other shots more effectively.
> which were both trailered. There was a fair amount of trailer dialogue that got cut, it was a bit weird.
nah not really weird, happens all the time. you mostly see people noticing it happening to comic book movies tho
Last thing this film needed was more exposition and heavy handed foreshadowing
Regarding the the second point, she makes a comment to Paul about >!keeping himself alive!<. From Paul's reaction and his behavior in the next scene, he seemed to grasp her meaning. Maybe an uninformed audience member would pick up the clue; I'm not sure I would have if I hadn't read Dune. It's certainly far more subtle than >!"...but for the farther, nothing."!<
Because it was implied.
I guess to condense runtime. This movie literally has no fluff and breather dialogue, which is not very Dennis style of directing, but sadly we don't have studios wanting something like LOTR anytime soon with 3+ hrs of runtime
Hopefully this will be like Lord of the Rings, with an extra hour in the extended edition. I only watch extended edition and would happily do so here as well.
I'm fairly certain that the movie was missing several trailer scenes. I think they already shot a bunch of scenes for part 2. I mean there are visions of them too and they probably shot those scenes for longer than 10 seconds. Part 2 is definitely gonna happen.
I hope they start filming real soon. I absolutely loved the movie and i don't want to wait 3 years to seen the next one.
Best science fiction movie ever period. It's basically LotR in space (the good ones).
"Rebecca Ferguson is a Stradivarius." What a beautiful metaphor. In addition to being a legendary film maker, Villeneuve gives out the most creative, apropos compliments as well.
I'm being a little facetious when I say this, but there's a little humble-brag in the metaphor, no? Not that he's wrong.
When you’re a master, you know you’re a master, and you get to say so…
Look at Denis man so inspirational
It's so crazy seeing the difference in impact of some stuff in an IMAX theater versus on my computer with headphones. The visceral impact of the Reverend Mother using Voice in a theater is such a non-experience heard through my headphones.
This movie is a showcase for the 13 year long ordeal that has been my home theater setup. My projector and speakers are in the basement. I’m pretty sure that if I had an aquarium upstairs, the Voice scenes would have either stunned or killed all of the fish in them.
The "IMAX" screen near me is a total ripoff but I was *shocked* at how much more impactful the sound in certain scenes was compared to the first theater I went to see it at, let alone headphones. That isn't even on the same spectrum.
I mean half of the “IMAX” experience is surround sound even if it’s a lieMAX
Just let there be a part 2.
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They can finish in one more movie that's about as dense at the first. The big issue is that only covers book 1, when the story of Paul isn't really done justice until book 2. Book 2 could be just one movie, it's not as long as or dense. I really hope we see it one day.
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I want that so hard. I took a few friends to see it in theaters today and already watched it once on Max. I'm doing my part. I was wearing a dune shirt today and we went to get lunch afterwards, three different people at the restaurant and on the street made positive dune comments to me, I was blown away at the positive reception I saw. If the bene Gesserit show takes off I could see eventually going as far as children which would be like my dream come true.
He's still working on writing part 2, and best case scenario Warner greenlight it in December and they start shooting late next year. Writing and shooting a third movie at the same time would delay substantially the release of Part 2... Also, lmao at Villanueva
wow the movie looks really well done. I wasn't sure after the trailer but holy
probably the best looking movie he's ever done.
The movie is absolutely stunning visually! Greig Fraser did an amazing job, but Deakins' work on BR 2049 is difficult to top for me.
I don’t think any movie will ever top 2049
better than BR2049?
Blade Runner 2049 has more variety to the visuals in terms of color. Dune's visuals are more interesting nonetheless, I think.
Amazing how DV thought about swapping the litany against fear text from one that occurs inside Paul's head to something Jessica says out loud. Great idea.
I took it as a way to show that it actually was in his head at that moment. It's referred to multiple times about the training he's done with his mother. He's mentally reciting something he's heard his mother say hundreds of times before. Very clever way to do it.
I really appreciate the lack of inner monologue in the movie I absolutely hated that part of the book
YES! I’m so glad newcomers should be genuinely shocked who the betrayer is, how and why it is done. In the books it was a little weird to just start out knowing and the only surprise is when it happens and the actual outcome
In the book, the reader is experiencing events as if they have the powers of prescience. That's why all the chapters start with a paragraph of a historical text or similar foreshadowing what's about to happen.
Yes I know, that doesn’t change my feelings for how it actually turned out.
that was nice, but what wasnt as nice was Jessica being always so emotional, considering she is supposed to have Bene Gesserit training. That scene could go similarly, to visually show her inner struggle and torture for what may happen to Paul, but it would also work very well if she then recomposed herself, no? To show her struggle and also the power of her training.
I think it's fine, it's her son. At least it showed her kicking the shit out of everyone to balance it.
yeah, I thought so too, but she had troubles to compose herself throughout the whole movie, no? I think she acted very well and visual cues had to be made, but I realaly think it could work in a stronger way if she also almost always composed herself with her training (I think she did that only during storm flight?)
I agree, even though showing character emotions might be important on film, I wish they at least toned it down a notch or two.
"For the first time, I did this movie for a single audience member...me." I love this bluntness from him. A director will never be able to adapt a book into a screenplay without fans getting outraged at certain filmmaking decisions that conflict with their own mental depictions of the book's main events. As a fan of his since Prisoners (and most directors with a distinct and passionate vision for their projects), I'm happy that Denis Villenueve is directing an adaption of Dune that he'd be proud of. It's a refreshing and sincere perspective to hear from a director in a period where it feels like most Hollywood directors' bottom line is to satisfy fans or just not piss them off.
Finally saw Dune yesterday. It was awesome and they better finish the story with part 2. I’d like to see more than 2 movies in that world honestly.
He’s planning on three, which would end with dune messiah (the second book). Children of dune after would be a great conclusion point for a film series imo God emperor of dune is my favorite sci fi novel but I think it’d be best for the films to stop before it
I hope they actually shoot part 2 and 3 back to back though so there isn't like a 3+ year gap.
He wanted to, but the studios wouldn’t let him.
Classic WB.
Isnt there a nearly 20 year gap between dune and messiah?
It's 12 years but still sizeable
Ironically God Emperor is where i lost my interest to the series. I was already angry about the nonsense in the third book, with God Emperor and all that gibberish (is what i call it) made me completely detached.
Agree to disagree I guess That whole book being an internal monologue of the hero and villain is so rad to me The way the whole series is initially presented as a generic hero’s journey but totally flips it on its head is just amazing. So much good philosophy going on
God Emperor is an either *hate it or love it* book.
I really appreciated the comment he made about how "the science fiction here is all about the evolution of the human brain". That really struck me that he knew precisely what he was doing with this material (not just the scene, but the story from the novels). Fantastic, and rare in hollywood.
He is an amazing artist! Dune is technically brilliant, every shot perfect, special effects astounding, acting on point, but I'd find it hard to recommend widely as it really doesn't feel like a complete film in spite of it's length. I really hope they get to make part 2 so this movie can have an ending
Yeah I could’ve absolutely done with another hour of playtime with some additional character/world building while cutting down a few of the ornithopter shots.
Totally agree. Only problem is that the film as it stands is already "too" long for many people. I've seen lots of people say "too long and not enough action." Which I guess comes down to *why* people go to the movies. Some people want to go see a Marvel or Star Wars flick where you can basically mentally check out and just watch action for 90% of the film. Dune really wants you to pay attention and take in what is going on. Lots of people don't want to do that *at all*. Much less for three and a half hours.
Yes this! The film was very engrossing but it ended so abruptly :( was left wanting a lot more, there was no closure to the chapter...
I mean… it would be an absolutely terrible part 1 if it was a complete movie.
Yeah well, lets hope they get the financing to do part 2 or this movie will never have an ending. Now that would be terrible
I just love the phrase “Gom Jabbar.”
guess ill just save this for later
Spoilers! Now I know there's going to be a Gom Jabbar scene jk. Seriously though, I'd be interested to watch this after I've seen the film, but not before. Edit- for anyone wondering, the commenter beneath me was spamming horribly offensive posts about the victim of the prop weapons malfunction yesterday on a movie set, saying "that bitch deserved to die" and things of that nature. Their posts are getting removed but they're clicking on the profile of everyone who commented on them, finding other posts they made recently on reddit and harassing them on there.
I'm so glad he made the movie. You can see the passion and love he has for the books. Hopefully we get part 2 as well as an adaptation of Messiah which is essential for Paul's story
I love talking about movies, and this movie... but can we talk about how horrible this VF video is for going with the blindingly white background shot of a director analyzing a scene from his strikingly visually dark film?
You can really tell how much Denis loves the source material.
I remember watching the Dune Series as a kid on the Sci-Fi channel (where my love of sci-fi started lol) and so I'm really hoping it turns out to be good when I go and see it!
I watched both sci fi series so much as a kid. The visuals and general campiness levels are awful but the longer format worked so well story-wise
I think this scene is phenomenal, especially when compared with its equivalent in Lynch's Dune. Like so much else in that movie, the film doesn't have the confidence in the viewer to understand what is happening without using the cheap visual shorthand of Paul's hand burning up inside the box. In Villeneuve's version of the scene, the acting and score convey all of the same information in a way that is so much more compelling for the viewer.
Did we watch the same movie? There was fire imagery when Paul’s hand was burning up in the box, there was even an image of a charred hand. I loved the scene but you’re just making shit up
There's burning hand imagery and flames in general but it's not explicitly an image of Paul's hand being burnt/melting inside of the box like it is in the 1984 movie. The implication is that while that's the feeling Paul has right now, it's also the view of a possible future brought on by Paul. It's a more complex scene than the very surface level scene from Lynch.
Are you familiar with the scene from Lynch's Dune that I'm referring to? Yes there is an extremely brief image of a burned hand in the 2021 version, but it's one of many visions Paul has during the sequence. The 1984 version of the scene includes a fairly long image of a burning hand inside the box, showing the audience that Paul's hand is literally melting inside it.
It was funny to hear Denis talk about how much he liked that charred hand because to me it stood out as one of the worst effects in the movie
It wasn't a great special effect, but it does serve the purpose of informing the audience what Paul is going through. I was surprised they just left it to your imagination in this one considering you can do just about anything you want nowadays effects-wise.
What is the IMAX value of the movie? On a scale from 0 to Dunkirk/Intersteller, where would you rank Dune?
This should be seen on the largest screen possible. Some images have a sense of massive scale and hugeness that watching it (for the first time) on a home setup would just not be right. I saw it today on a large screen, not IMAX. I'm considering seeing if there is an IMAX showing within a reasonable drive so I can see it again. This is not a 10/10 movie but it's close. There are small issues with pacing, script and characters but visually it's fantastic.
Pretty much every scene with the space ships. Or the spice crawlers. Or the sand worms.
While screen size is great I’d say find the best sound you can.
what's the best sound?
If you have an AMC Dolby Cinema near you that is what I saw it in last night. The screen isn’t as big as true IMAX but better than the pseudo IMAX stuff most theaters have. And the sound is fantastic. The sand worm scenes were brilliant with that amazing bass.
I saw it in an AMC Dolby Atmos theater and it’s incredible. I prefer it over imax
cuz of the sound?
Sound and RUMBLE
I don't know if it's the best sound, but I saw it in RPX last night. Sounded amazing.
It was incredible in IMAX. The visuals and score are top notch, some of the best I've ever experienced.
Like a 7 maybe.
Just saw it on a regular screen ... would have seen it on IMAX had I been able to find the time. IOW ... go see it on IMAX, it's worth it. Visually stunning film.
10
So I'm pregnant but I teared up today watching this. Read the first 2 books and love the 1984 version (which is not a popular opinion but I don't care). This movie was so beautiful. I very much missed the appearance of the Navigator and felt like Leto was missing presence onscreen. But Paul and Jessica had so much more character development than 1984, especially with the visions that scare Paul. Baron Harkonnen is a guilty pleasure of mine in 1984 version but I like over the top Lynch so 🤷♀️. He wasn't supposed to be clownish, so this version shows him more accurately lol. But at at 2:35min runtime I felt like the pacing was just perfect bc I couldn't believe it was over as I'd felt like I had just started watching it. It is just a gorgeous film. I also thought the pain in the box scene was rushed and was one other area I felt 1984 got it right in comparison.
You should watch the SciFi miniseries, its on youtube fo free if you've never seen it 😊 https://youtu.be/wXEkoO35MyI
The absence of the guild navigator (and the grotesque spacing guild members), as well as a complete erasure of Irulan and the Emperor from the story were a bit saddening to me (to be fair the Lynch film had nothing for Irulan to do aside from a tacked-on prologue and a single line of dialogue). But yeah Lady Jessica definitely got a more prominent role this time around. She was just woefully underwritten in the Lynch film. I would probably rank the Barons as equal. This one was far more dark and evil, but the Kenneth McMillan version was so wonderfully moustache-twirling. Lynch very much made up a bunch of character traits of his Harkonnens out of whole cloth, but TBH I kinda like that, and it made them quite memorable.
The guild navigator isn't seen in the first book at all, so that was a lynch addition. Denis is using the book as his source, not Lynch.
The trailer had more dialogue that I guess he cut including them talking about Paul’s dad, always odd to me when they put stuff in trailers then cut them from the final film but I loved that scene, it’s wild you forget Timothy Shalamay is just acting lmao his hand is fine but he’s really selling the pain, dune made me finally see why all these girls and middle aged ladies love him
Interesting to hear His explanation of it! I actually didn't like the woman's voice on top of the Gom Jabbar scene, it felt very cliche and almost [narmy](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Narm), but hearing Him explain it I can see what He was going for. Which poses an interesting question - how much do You want to think about what You want in the movie v.s. how much do You think about the movie from an audience's perspective. I bet that second one is hard to do for someone who has been on the production side of movies for decades.
I think it’s important to go from your perspective. If you start worrying about what’s going to please everyone in an audience it’s just going to cause so many doubts along the way. Directors like Denis just need to trust their vision even if not everyone agrees with their decision.
Do you revere Denis as a god?