Movies

JohnnyCashFan said:
In the original story Paul's character later morphs into a worm like creature. Is this something that could be at the end of part two or something totally different from the main Dune story ?
Click to expand...
I believe it’s his son Leto who becomes the God Emperor. Paul gets blinded by an atomic blast and wanders off into the desert to die.
 
yukbon said:
well,

re "realizing he's basically a plant might be a dramatic turn for his character" is actually pretty explicit in the books -- in the first book initially and explicitly when he confronts the Reverend Mother during the final confrontation and more subtly when he finds himself in front of Count Fenring, who would have been a Kwisatz Haderach had it not been for being a genetic eunuch -- and in the later books (2nd or 3rd? I don't remember) when he goes off the golden path into the desert.
Click to expand...
I mean that’s kind of the problem with bringing something like Dune to the screen, it’s a visual medium and it makes it difficult to be in everyone’s head - Lynch’s attempt to do this is one of the biggest problem with his adaptation.

I loved the movie, but it does come off as a summary…
like the politics are explained but the invasion of Arrakis almost seems abrupt because the film doesn’t spend enough time showing how all this is brewing

I think all we can ever really expect from a Dune movie is an attempt at coherency and it’s ability to get people to read one of the best books ever written.
 
Last edited:
Lee Newman said:
I mean that’s kind of the problem with bringing something like Dune to the screen, it’s a visual medium and it makes it difficult to be in everyone’s head - Lunch’s attempt to do this is one of the biggest problem with his adaptation.

I loved the movie, but it does come off as a summary…
like the politics are explained but the invasion of Arrakis almost seems abrupt because the film doesn’t spend enough time showing how all this is brewing

I think all we can ever really expect from a Dune movie is an attempt at coherency and it’s ability to get people to read one of the best books ever written.
Click to expand...
TIL: Frank Herbert was born in Tacoma and we have a park named after the Novel.
 
On tap for later, one of our favorites.

81LV6XeGKsL._AC_SY679_.jpg
 
zomgbear said:
Same. I kind of wish there was a bigger resolve at the end of this one instead of feeling like half a story but I'm not familiar with the source material to know if that's possible
Click to expand...
It’s not, really. It’s an accurate observation that the story of the book really lends itself better to a miniseries. But the scale and richness of the world is difficult to do justice except in film.
 
Lee Newman said:
I mean that’s kind of the problem with bringing something like Dune to the screen, it’s a visual medium and it makes it difficult to be in everyone’s head - Lunch’s attempt to do this is one of the biggest problem with his adaptation.

[...]

I think all we can ever really expect from a Dune movie is an attempt at coherency and it’s ability to get people to read one of the best books ever written.
Click to expand...

Have you read David Foster Wallace's piece on Lynch's Lost Highway? He gets into it as only a fan-boy of both Lynch and Dune can Lost Highway Article - Premiere Sept. 96
 
As a fan of the book and the David Lynch version of the movie, I thought this one was fine.


David Lynch version pluses:
Sting in a diaper. (I might have a problem)
Amazing Toto soundtrack
A better adherence to the source material
Character development of periphery characters

This Dune decided to take a Daniel Defoe, Last Temptation of Christ sort of take to early massiah-hood. Instead of the rather aloof manner Paul comes across in the book, this movie showed him struggle with the savior onus. Only embracing it at the end of the movie when killing Jamis. In this new movie, much of his certainty is stripped away, I guess so he doesn’t come off as a total narcissist which is what he can come across as in both the book and Lynch’s telling. I get that this director probably wanted Paul to be a bit more relatable. This director also got around some of the weird, awkward scenes Lynch immersed us in by changing the telepathic conversations Paul and Jessica had to sign language, but you do lose something here. You also loose a lot with the lack of internal dialogue as this is essential to the book. Again, I think this was an artistic choice to avoid some of the melodramatic scenes that were sprinkled through Lynch’s movie.

I think Lynch did a great job highlighting the politics of each setting. You felt the gravitas of the Reverend Mother and you felt that you understand the tension between the houses and the Emperor. I think that Lynch did a better job highlighting how upset the Reverend Mother was a Jessica for having Paul and I think he did a better job with character development. I think that in the new movie, we lose a lot of the character of the Baron for visuals. And I think that is my biggest gripe with this movie—it sacrifices character development and story telling for visuals of the world. They do a better job showing me the world than they did immersing me in the world of high stakes planetary posturing, interstellar economics, and genetic manipulation to produce an Ultimate Being. This director was too busy showing me shots of sand dunes and visions of the future, with an incomplete picture of the politicking—what makes the book so interesting.

It was a pretty movie but the cinematography was expected. For better or for worse when you’re watching a Lynch, you know you’re watching a Lynch film. Pair that with what some call a Flash Gordon-esque soundtrack and you get an experience. This movie is a nice sepia toned…movie. There is no real character development for any character but Paul. Amazing characters like Doctor Huey become competition with the wall paper. The tooth scene is rushed as is everything during the siege. I really hope that in the next installment there is more character development and a better outlining of the politics happening “behind the scenes “. I hope the next movie isn’t all fighting and worm riding.
 
folsom_lives said:
Once again @nolalady nails it. 100% agree.
Click to expand...
The tl;dr of my post is : I think the director focuses on the most boring parts of the book while throwing away the political intrigue and inter-galactic economics which is really what makes Herbert’s world epic. Stunning visual shots were substituted for actual world building. Hopefully, installment two will see more of the entire world instead of just a troubled Messiah story.

ETA I did think it was cool to see the throppters. That was cool.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top