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OT: Dune (2021)


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I read the original trilogy in college, but kind of left it with my youth and hadn't really thought about it much since. Out of curiosity I checked out Denis Villeneuve's new take on Dune yesterday. Totally blown away! Just an amazing cinematic experience.

 

I saw it in IMAX, and would really recommend that format if you can. Villeneuve shot it with IMAX cameras, and most of the movie (and all of the exterior shots) expands to fit the IMAX screen. Hans Zimmer's score is appropriately majestic, and (as usual with him) mixed quite loud. That may bother some - to me it was a positive.

 

I could barely remember the story but found it quite easy to follow. If you don't know anything about Dune you may have a different experience.

 

If you want to see it, do so before next weekend - when a Marvel movie will grab the premium screens. This movie is built for the big screen like few others.

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I streamed it on HBO MAX as I had just seen "No Time To Die" at the theatre and have to wait for my next allowance to go back to the theatre again. It has already done so well that the production company has already greenlighted Part 2, due in theatres fall 2023.

 

Agree about wanting to see it on as big as a screen as possible, but I was intently listening to Hans Zimmer's soundtrack through high end Sennheiser headphones. Absolutely fn amazing.

:nopity:
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It's an entirely different beast than the De Laurentis version from '84 - which got edited to what we ended up with for all these years. It's also far better IMHO than the SciFi channel miniseries that came out a while back.

 

Hans Zimmer's soundtrack work adds a great deal, I thought, as well. I was pleasantly surprised and ended up liking it, although I went in with a fair bit of skepticism. The novel simply is too full of depth to translate well to the screen, in my opinion.

 

Still, this movie I think is worth seeing, even to those unfamiliar with the original source material. While I adore the book, which offers so much intelligent consideration of a wide array of topics (politics, religion, economics, ecology...) - the movie as a 'stand alone' piece of cinema will, I think, stand up as a pleasing adaptation.

 

Of course, so much great material from the story doesn't make it into the script, or onto the screen - but then that would prove essentially impossible for any director. I also didn't mind the liberties / departures they took for the sake of dramatic license - it's still a story well told, IMHO.

..
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The visuals were nice. I had a few issues with chronological errors and omissions but my 28 year old who doesn't know anything about Herbert loved it. Casting for Duncan was better than I expected. Gurney was a cool. Leto was good. The Baron and Rabon I like better than the Lynch attempt. Kynes I didn't like because they left out all the cool stuff. Feyd was non existent. etc...

 

But the visuals were great and I'm assuming the movie is a success because I think it was aimed at people like my son who is now interested in Dune and not meant for an old an old fart that read the first 7 novels multiple times. The first trilogy unknown times and read the prequel trilogies. There aren't enough of us.

 

It was good considering I didn't think a good Dune movie was possible due to the plots within plots within plots. They announced Dune 2 today. With modern effects Leto II will be cool in ... probably Dune 6 or 7 and 8. ( depending on how they split the novels. The Honored Matres are really cool but that is post scattering and I am really getting too far ahead now. :D

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Really interesting to see Hollywood take another big budget chance on these books.

I"m interested to see it but I won"t be surprised if they once again have difficulty translating a novel into a screenplay.

 

They couldn't do it. There are huge omissions BUT ... the movie audience may not miss them if they don't know they exist. It was a fun movie as long as I kept my OCD shut off.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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My wife and I watched it on HBO this weekend. I read the first 3 novels in High School, loved them, saw the Lynch movie in 1984, hated it, and have been pretty much over my Dune obsessiom ever since. My wife had never read the books.

 

I'm rather glad we streamed it. We have a stupidly huge TV and a great sound system, so it looked and sounded fantastic. We were pausing the playback every 5-10 minutes in the first hour, because my wife had questions. After the first hour, she felt she got it, and enjoyed it a lot. She generally isn't a fan of sci-fi, but she loved Villenueve's Arrival (I did too). I thought it was gorgeous, and stuck pretty close to the original material. And, even though I generally don't like Zimmer, I though his score really worked here (I liked his score to Bladerunner 2049 as well). I generally thought it was great, I liked that it took the tone of the source material seriously, there were no audience-gimmees like silly talking robots or other comic relief. I though it was a brave move to basically end the film at the lowest point in the book. Even given that it was a long film and only covers half of the book, I felt it actually could have been longer, it rather felt like it was rushing through some of the plot. I really look forward to the 2nd film.

 

The next night, we watched the 1984 David Lynch version, which we have since referred to as "Bad Dune." It was just as bad as I remembered, terrible acting, laughably bad SFX even for the time, and a set design that seemed straight out of Dynasty.

 

The next night, we re-watched the new Dune, and I enjoyed it even more.

 

Tonight we are re-watching the Jodorowsky's Dune documentary. We can be kind of obsessive sometimes.

Turn up the speaker

Hop, flop, squawk

It's a keeper

-Captain Beefheart, Ice Cream for Crow

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Long as we are talking Dune,

 

I still enjoy watching and have seen the David Lynch Dune many times. It did take a number of times to warm up to it. I must be accustomed to bad acting and cheesy CGI.

 

I would like to see new one but it will be awhile since I have no intention on paying for HBOmax at this time.

AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251

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As long as you think of it as David Lynch's Dune, not Frank Herbert's Dune, the 1984 film can be enjoyed as a piece of cinema. If you're an aficionado of the book(s), and/or not a fan of Lynch's dark/quirky/humorous/surrealist vision, you may have trouble with it. Serious trouble.. For myself, I mostly like him. He's just disturbing enough. ð
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I watched it at the cinema with my wife last weekend. Neither of us are familiar with source material (although I remember the computer games...).

 

I thought it was absolutely stunning.

 

The other day I watched this scene breakdown with Denis Villeneuve - he's a genius.

 

Note that there may be spoilers in this video.

 

[video:youtube]

 

Cheers,

James

x

Employed by Kawai Japan, however the opinions I express are my own.
Nord Electro 3 & occasional rare groove player.

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I'm hoping to go to see it in IMAX with my brother this week. This is a movie I think where I really want to see it on a huge screen. I regretted not seeing Blade Runner 2049 in the theater, that movie is one of my all-time favorites. I love every movie by this director. The sci-fi ones are great but if you haven't seen Sicario (first one) check that out. Prisoners was excellent too but a really tough watch as a parent.

 

Most books are going to have to be chopped up for the screen. A series like Game of Thrones can take more time, partially because the budgets are lower so more talky and less massive armies on a battlefield! Even the Harry Potter books, as relatively simple as they are, had quite a bit of the backstory and depth (such as it was) removed.

 

The main thing that irritates me in adaptations is when they not only remove stuff, but add new stuff to take it's place. PJ's Lord of the Rings did this quite a bit. I tended to enjoy those movies where he stuck to the novels and disliked the "extra" WTF stuff (like surfing on staircases in Moria instead of letting the Balrog scene build up tension like it did in the book...that was a scene I was really looking forward to, Gandalf and the Balrog facing off at the first door.) And of course everyone has their own idea for how things look, but that doesn't tend to bother me unless it just goes all wacky. Like the first Dune, and the miniseries Dune did on costumes for various players...I mean, what the heck were those Bene Gesserit outfits supposed to be in the miniseries?

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I'd love to see it in IMAX but unfortunately the mall property in which it's located has become a hotbed of criminal activity, most of which involves gunplay. I'll watch at home and sit real close to the screen. It'll be ok.

9 Moog things, 3 Roland things, 2 Hammond things and a computer with stuff on it

 

 

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Wow, really? Is this in Murfreesboro (I went to college there in the early 90s) or somewhere near there? That seems nuts.

 

Opry Mills mall, formerly Opryland theme park. They should bulldoze it and put the park back up.

9 Moog things, 3 Roland things, 2 Hammond things and a computer with stuff on it

 

 

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