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Dune 2021: hit or flop?

never read Dune. Turned the movie on last night, made it about 15 minutes and turned it off. maybe I need to try again in the room with surround sound/better visuals
 
Saw it tonight.

Like any other Villeneuve film, the music chills you right down to enjoy the scenery. But you already have to know the background.

I read Dune way back, and yes, it is very good.

These days none of these kids can read more than a few pages without getting distracted. They (most) couldn't read Dune and understand what their eyes are running over (Oh yeah! I read it!).

No. No, you didn't.

If money were no object, Part 1 should have been 12 hours long.
 
Ok so I never read the book and only watched the 2021 version of the movie.. So I have some dumb questions.. What is the spice used for? The movie claims it is the most valuable commodity in the universe but never says what it's purpose is other than turning the natives eyes blue?
 
Wades_76_cj7 said:
Ok so I never read the book and only watched the 2021 version of the movie.. So I have some dumb questions.. What is the spice used for? The movie claims it is the most valuable commodity in the universe but never says what it's purpose is other than turning the natives eyes blue?
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without spice, interstellar travel not possible. also health healing etc iirc
 
Wades_76_cj7 said:
Ok so I never read the book and only watched the 2021 version of the movie.. So I have some dumb questions.. What is the spice used for? The movie claims it is the most valuable commodity in the universe but never says what it's purpose is other than turning the natives eyes blue?
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It enables people with mental abilities (seeing into the future, reading minds, etc) to unlock those abilities and make them 100x stronger.
FTL space travel is possible because the Guild Navigators see into the future to pick a safe course from planet to planet and they literally swim in the spice.
The Ben Gesserit "witches" use it to see into the future, transfer memories from one of their "Reverend Mothers" to the other (literally a memory dump from one person to another where the person receiving the memories gets access to "Other Memory" with the collected memories of thousands of years of Reverend Mothers), etc
The Mentats (aka "human computers") also use it to increase their brain function.
The downside is that its addictive and once you are addicted to it, you cannot live without it.
Note that at one time the human race was ruled by robots and since they made a law that says "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind" (hence Mentats, Guild Navigators, etc).

Aaron Z
 
Watched it on HBO Max last night.

Excellent film. Very close to the book with the exception of Feyd-Rautha which I find a little odd. He plays an important part in the book, but I suppose only if they decide to include the Thufir subplot with the Harkonnens. If not, they can wipe that whole bit away and change Rabban's part a little to make up for it.

Still, for a 2 hour 36 minute movie, I thought it moved along nicely.

The greater Universe isn't explained very well, or maybe it's just not spelled out for anyone, not that it's not explained. We know there are many great houses, we know that there's a galactic empire with an emperor at the head and we know why Arakis is of paramount importance. Economically, politically and in the Universe at large, as they say interstellar travel is impossible without the Spice, which makes it the most important commodity in the universe.

A lot of that isn't spelled out directly, but all of that information is available to those who watch the film carefully.

Knowing the background is a big help though.
 
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Mikel said:
What does IBB think of the Lynch movie?
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Eh... It's an 80's movie and it suffers a bit because of it. There's a reason Dune was said to be unfilimable at one time and Lynch proves it with his attempt.

Since Dune Part II has been greenlit by WB and Legendary, this version (Villeneuve) I believe will easily blow that away in terms of quality in every measurable way.
 
I enjoyed this version.

I will probably read Frank's books again. I did way back when, but the 60's style of writing was not my thing in my teens in the 80's.
 
Read this entire thing, but still don't really know what Dune is about. I saw the trailer a week or so ago, and I thought it was another Disney Star Wars thing, so I blew it off because fuck Disney. 4,5, and 6 are still the only good star wars. Guess I need to read these books, but still don't know if I'll watch the movie afterward. I loved the Dark Tower, and still haven't watched the movie of that because the movie can never match the books.
 
Watched it when it came out. Haven't read the books, but I really enjoyed the movie. Sucks that we'll have to wait 2 years to get part 2. Think I'll get the books and do some reading to help hold me over.
 
Mikel said:
What does IBB think of the Lynch movie?
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Its a cult movie. Ahead of its time. One of those movies that takes you into a trance. I never got it, and then one day I got it. And I loved it. Going to rewatch the 1984
 
Dead Pool said:
Read this entire thing, but still don't really know what Dune is about. I saw the trailer a week or so ago, and I thought it was another Disney Star Wars thing, so I blew it off because fuck Disney. 4,5, and 6 are still the only good star wars. Guess I need to read these books, but still don't know if I'll watch the movie afterward. I loved the Dark Tower, and still haven't watched the movie of that because the movie can never match the books.
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DO NOT EVER watch the Dark Tower movie. Absolute, utter nonsense. Pure garbage.

I read the books and while I have issues with some of what King did, the movie is an absolute travesty.
 
montrose818 said:
Its a cult movie. Ahead of its time. One of those movies that takes you into a trance. I never got it, and then one day I got it. And I loved it. Going to rewatch the 1984
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When I saw it back in '84 they had a 8.5x11 hand out with both sides filled with definitions of names and terms used in the movie that were from the books but not self explanatory. It was complicated for the average viewer to decipher. I think that was why it didn't catch on. Well that and Lynch! :laughing:
 
I never read the books. I watched the 1984 movie a couple of years ago and it bored me to tears.

I'll give this one a try.


I like Villeneuve's work. I find Blade Runner to be a flawed masterpiece, but Villeneuve's 2049 I found it to be much more balanced and enjoyable. We'll see.

Someone compared Star Wars (the original) to Lynch's Dune. In Star Wars, you get some short rolling text telling you about a rebellion and stolen plans. Then you see a tiny spaceship fleeing a gigantic starship that fills the screen for what seems to be an eternity. Without saying a word, that initial scene tells you everything you need to know about the balance of power between the Empire and the rebellion.

With Dune.... You need a ton of confusing exposition just to jumpstart the movie.

It wasn't good storytelling.
 
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I read all of the Dune books many years ago, and mostly remember that they got suckier as one book followed another.

I watched the new Dune on a rip with absolutely horrible sound and no closed captioning, so it was tough to make out the dialog.

I did recognize names and events from the first book as things unfolded. That was cool.

Overall, not bad but need to see it again with CC.
 
I haven't enjoyed going to a movie in years, but this one was really good. Was it perfect? Course not. But it stuck to the story as far as I could tell and minimum woke shit. They cut the first book into 2 parts & this is the first half, could have cut it much better. They have announced they are going to make part 2 (and maybe a 3rd one) but it will probably be 2 years min before it's out.
 
So I am a little confused why they are capable of interstellar space travel but everyone fights with swords and knives not guns? Not even laser rifles? :confused:
 
Wades_76_cj7 said:
So I am a little confused why they are capable of interstellar space travel but everyone fights with swords and knives not guns? Not even laser rifles? :confused:
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I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm guessing the no weapons things may have to do with Mentats and the banning of certain AI and tech.

I need to get down and see this. I can stream it at home, but I'd really like to do the IMAX thing. I'm a big a Dune buff.
 
Wades_76_cj7 said:
So I am a little confused why they are capable of interstellar space travel but everyone fights with swords and knives not guns? Not even laser rifles? :confused:
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personal shields are pretty strong. It's why the general talked about getting close with a smaller weapon and using shields against shields.
 
Basically because they all have personal shields that block high speed rounds. It's why they use knives and swords because the impacts are slower and can penetrate the shields. Same deal with the bouncing bombs, etc. High speed projectiles are worthless. The hunter/seeker shot at Duncan has to slow down to burrow through the shield which allows him time to swipe it away.

That's actually explained in the book better because the scene where Paul has to fight the Fremen, in the book it appears that Paul is toying with his opponent when in actuality, as Lady Jessica explains, he was taught to fight against shields and to slow down his attacks. In the movie that scene is a little different with a different explanation.
 
ah now that makes sense.. bullets would be useless with the personal shields.
 
Or I could be totally wrong. :laughing:
 
Also lasers react explosively with shields killing the shooter and the shielded.
We are soooo much a bunch of geeks.
 
aczlan said:
It enables people with mental abilities (seeing into the future, reading minds, etc) to unlock those abilities and make them 100x stronger.
FTL space travel is possible because the Guild Navigators see into the future to pick a safe course from planet to planet and they literally swim in the spice.
The Ben Gesserit "witches" use it to see into the future, transfer memories from one of their "Reverend Mothers" to the other (literally a memory dump from one person to another where the person receiving the memories gets access to "Other Memory" with the collected memories of thousands of years of Reverend Mothers), etc
The Mentats (aka "human computers") also use it to increase their brain function.
The downside is that its addictive and once you are addicted to it, you cannot live without it.
Note that at one time the human race was ruled by robots and since they made a law that says "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind" (hence Mentats, Guild Navigators, etc).

Aaron Z
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westracing01 said:
The greater Universe isn't explained very well, or maybe it's just not spelled out for anyone, not that it's not explained.
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This. Most of the stuff aczlan posted isn't made clear.


westracing01 said:
Dune Part II has been greenlit by WB and Legendary
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Woohoo!! I was going to be so pissed if that didn't get made.

Dead Pool said:
I saw the trailer a week or so ago, and I thought it was another Disney Star Wars thing,
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Kinda. A friend told me that George Lucas tried to buy the movie rights to Dune, was denied, so he made Star Wars instead.

re: Lucas:
b5153ab72f905aef51fe7bcfb250950a.jpg


I enjoyed it much more than the '84 psychedelic version. It felt trimmed down and basic, just a setup for the actual story...
 
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