Dune: Book Vs film Vs TV

[Stephen Palmer]

Apparently that's never going to happen. We'll just have to content ourselves with the original film vision.

 

[BenSt]

For me I found the two Miniseries adaptations superb, but the books (except Dune messiah) are quite a cumbersome read. I loved Dune, loved even better Dune Messiah (the two are just written differently, to me). I'm currently getting through God Emperor, which is an uphill battle. No one can say he couldn't create and write a fantastic world, and his characters are very well developed... but I almost feel like they are more philosophical works than prose narratives. His son's works are entirely different, the focus with them is action whilst using the story his father created so, to me they don't amount to the calibre of excellence philosophy wise, but they are certainly easier to read.

 

[Devon.Q.Ly]

My Dune journey was a bit different. Played Westwood studio's Dune 2, then Virgin's Dune. Loved both so much I watched the movie, which I enjoyed. The recent miniseries is ok too.
Got enthused about reading the book, found it esoteric, especially with all the terms Frank throws in. So put it down for a long time.
Then got into Brian Herberts and Keven J Anderson's prequel, I couldn't put the book down, read through all those.
Then gave Frank another chance, on the second try found it wasn't bad.

 

[clovis-man]

My Dune journey was a bit different. Played Westwood studio's Dune 2, then Virgin's Dune. Loved both so much I watched the movie, which I enjoyed. The recent miniseries is ok too.
Got enthused about reading the book, found it esoteric, especially with all the terms Frank throws in. So put it down for a long time.
Then got into Brian Herberts and Keven J Anderson's prequel, I couldn't put the book down, read through all those.
Then gave Frank another chance, on the second try found it wasn't bad.

Being older than dirt, I pursued the Dune manifestations the opposite of what many younger readers/viewers have done. I read the serialized novel in Analog as it came out in the 1960s. Then it was something of a mission to compare Herbert's books to cinema and tv. I'm afraid they all came up short for me compared to the printed word.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

The film is a version of the wonderful book. If you approach it like that, it's good, I think. There's no shame in enjoying a "version" !

 

[JoanDrake]

I wonder why the Sci-Fi channel stopped making these after Children of Dune?

Haven't they just about ceased to make serious movies at all?

I liked Feyd Rautha in the movie. That's about it.

The TV series did try it's darn best. But, alas, only a true visionary director could probably match the vision of Frank Herbert.... calling Peter Jackson? Chris Nolan?

Or Joss Whedon? I can't help but think he'd be near perfect, but others may disagree, DUNE is a rather serious work and, to me, probably the best genre fiction story written. It was unfairly overshadowed by LotR which came out at about the same time, if I remember rightly.

 

[Vince W]

The only reason LoTR has overshadowed Dune of late is that Jackson took the time to make some semi-decent films about them. If Dune were to get the same treatment I've no doubt there would be a huge upswell in interest.

There were some rumblings a few years ago that Jackson would attempt to give Dune the same treatment he's given Tolkein. That may have been wishful thinking on my part.

 

[Tulius Hostilius]

Newbies generally tend to resurrect some old threads… and sometimes is not so bad… so here it goes…

I stated several times that for me “Dune” is one of the best science fiction books of the 20th century. We can like the book or not but it is a milestone to science fiction, as in a similar way Lord of the Rings is a milestone to fantasy.

Unfortunately there is really no high budget intelligent adaptation to a movie/TV series. Like we had with Lord of the Rings or recently with Game of Thrones.

I was introduced to Dune universe with the David Lynch movie, when I had some 14 or 15 years old, and even if I like the movie, and didn’t know the book, I found some gaps in it. We just need to consider it a parallel work from the book. Later the Syfy TV series were an honest effort. Just that “an honest effort”.

But the ones that read and enjoyed the book can in some part of the brain envision is immense capacity to engage a dreaming audience and lead them to other planet, other society. Dune has that capacity.

Who doesn’t want to see on big screen the terrible Sardaukar, or the Fremmen? Dune needs a master piece.

As one of my last notes I have some doubts about what would have been Jodorowsky. There was some interesting cast: JESSICA ATREIDES - Charlotte Rampling; LETO ATREIDES - David Carradine; IRULAN CORRINO - Amanda Lear; VLADIMIR HARKONNEN - Orson Welles; DUNCAN IDAHO - Alain Delon; GAIUS HELEN MOHAIM - Gloria Swanson
FEYD-RAUTHA/RABBAN - Mick Jaggar; SHADDAM IV - Salvador Dali.
(side note, for me today, I think that Lena Headey would give a good Jessica. She is good in the mother’s role like we saw in Game of Thrones and The Sarah Connor Chronicles)

And adding that to the presence of names as Moebius, Dan O'Bannon, and music by Pink Floyd the thing would be huge!!! But then if we see a Jodorowsky movie we begun to have some doubts!!!

Maybe Ridley Scott is not too old to get back to the project.

Also, here was already noted the similarities between Dune and Tatooine. See here some similarities pointed: www moongadget.com/origins/dune.html

 

[Vince W]

Jordorowsky's Dune would have been a mess. A wonderful, glorious, mind bending mess, but a mess all the same. He wasn't going to film Dune, he was going to film an acid trip set to Dunesque themes. Personally, outside of Orson Welles, I think his cast would have been terrible. Using Giger, Moebius, and O'Bannon, however, was truly inspired.

As much I want to see Dune on film, I don't see it happening any time soon.