Dune

Muaaaaaaaaa'dib!!

haha, the Dune movie is lovably not-great at times.

Anyway, I'm excited for the new thread! I never read Dune, only one of the sequels. It had Dune in the name, and there was a pretty big plot all about a robot who was some kind of tyrannical figure and owned human slaves maybe. I don't know if that makes any sense. The reason I read that one was that the library was out of Dune copies, so I settled for a sequel or prequel or whatever.

Ah, yes it was! I was mixing my books up though, I've also read Children of Dune. The scene where whatshisface melds with sandfish, that stands out in my memory.

Haha, so much for reading in series.

I'm pretty sure I started with Children of Dune, and then moved on to the only other Dune book they had in-stock: machine whatever. Of course this was back in 2007 or so, so it's been a bit.

Yes! Original "DUNE" by Frank Herbert.
It was originally published as a stand-alone, and that's the best way to read it, at least the first time. It's one of the few books that can make me feel like I'm dying of thirst while I'm in the middle of a soggy Pacific NW winter.

If for some reason you then feel the need to watch the story told on a screen, then track down the Scifi channel miniseries. Otherwise, fight the urge and just reread the book...

It isn't half bad. It follows the characters and plot of the book pretty closely. The acting is pretty good for a miniseries to as I remember, but the budget wasn't huge and it shows in some of the sets and locations. Also, how do you capture melange dreams, Guild navigators, or Bene Gesserit prophesies properly within a tight narrative? Yep, I think "Not Half Bad" covers it.

{{I saw the Dune and Children of Dune miniseries- there is a marked difference between them. Dune is, well its pretty close the book for the most part but its got the budget of a Doctor Who episode, circa 1970. And unlike Dave, bar a few big name stars for some key (but short-lived roles) I thought some of the acting was pretty dodgy.
Children of Dune was much better in all ways, looked pretty good, performances were much better and the script had more umph to it.
Downside is (Eru knows how you managed Forest) you really have to start with Dune to have half a clue whats going on in Children.

Regards this new one- lots sound promising, but some of the casting is a tad worrying for me.
They just cast the guy who plays Aquaman as Duncan Idaho- not only not how I envisioned him but by all accounts the guy doesn't exactly act so much as he is just himself in every role. That's fine if they only ever make Dune, where Duncan is an important but not a central character- but if they get to make sequels not having a 'proper' actor might be an issue as Duncan is in every book (the only character who is).

The other worry I have is that its being pc'd. When I read them (and reflected in the tv miniseries versions) there are some distinct racial/religious lines drawn for different peoples- Fremen with their desert lifestyle, J'hads and the like are Arab-like. The lot who make all the non-thinking machine stuff and the Golas (cant remember their name offhand- Talaxians?) had Jewish aspects to their culture ect. I am not seeing any of this reflected in the casting so far.
And I don't want another non-Arab, whitey Stilgar either.

The Lynch version looked absolutely right. - Halfy

Oddly I don't actually agree here. I think Lynchs version looked incredible in terms of sets and costumes, but bar the Benet Gessirit and the Emperor sets I was not so keen on a lot of the rest in terms of it being Dune. }}}

As you'll see in my first post...- Halfy

{{Apologies Halfy, my time right now is as brief as my crabbit is infinite at how little free time I have right now!!   (But at least, partly, there is a REASON!)

I missed the Stilgar casting- is he an Arabic actor? Or at least a bit brown?
Agree Gurney should be more brutish, especially in a visual version its a particularly good juxtaposition with his gentler musical side and love of songs. Patrick Stewart was also miscast in the role in my view- though he did at least try to bring the gruff side out in his delivery- but he does not have the visual stature for the role in it and I actually think a classic trained RP English accent does not suit Gurney. I'd still go for a Brit though, a out the box choice at first glance- Robson Green- but I think he looks the part or could be made to for Gurney, he can act and he is also a singer.



For Leto, I'd go for an Irish actor, who can do a non-Irish accent to match whatever accent they give Paul. I like Jurgen in Lynch's version, but its weird he sounds so foreign compared to everyone else we hear speak on Calladan, including his own son. I'd choose Ciarán Hinds. He was apparently in Deathly Hallows- but he is a highly acclaimed character actor with a decent resume on film including, Road to Perdition, Munich, There Will Be Blood. }}

Well, he is pretty.

Hey, nice! Quality trailer actually.

I've read the book only once, but I didn't catch any grievous alterations. Of course, they could be cherry-picking book-alikes for the trailer.

I too don't like the music choice there. Is that a... Pink Floyd cover?

Right yeah it is. I knew that.

My main criticism is that the desert looks far too drab. It lacks the vibrant-sand of a real desert thanks to their filter choices.

{{ Interesting trailer- first its good trailer. But it leaves out controversey- we dont even see the Kynes character who was a man and is now a black woman (for, no reason I can see other than to have a black woman in the cast), nor does it hint at the alleged change to make Chani Stilgar's daughter, or the greatly expanded 'action' role for Lady Jessica- all still concerns, but all absent from the trailer- I dont know if thats because they arent given as much focus as feared or if they are being deceptive in presenting stuff thats closer to the source in the trailer than the rest.
What is in the trailer which worries me is dialogue, particulary the dialogue from the pain box test scene.
The quote in the film is - "An animal in a trap will gnaw off its own leg to escape, what will you do?"
This worries because the quote in the book from memory is something more like "an animal will gnaw off its own leg to escape, thats an animal sort of trick. A Human would wait to trap the hunter and so save more of his kind from the same fate."
The point of the scene in the book in to show how the Bene Gesserit see people- as either animals who act solely on instinct, or as 'humans' with the capability to use will and intillect to override instinct. Its the whole point of the test- to see if hes human or animal.
The dialogue in the film however seems to have just turned t into some sort of pain test with only a shallow nod to the book spurpose? That worries me, as the Dune story without all the social and societal commentary is just ok, the story is merely a vechicle to discuss these things. If you take them out, or simplify them too much you lose the point and the surface story on its own is not enough to sustain it. }}