Villeneuve's Dune: Part One (2019)

I love the look of Villeneuve’s movies but the pacing has always been a killer for me. They remind me of a person you ask a simple question of and get a long convoluted answer when a simple yes or no will do. Infuriating.

Looks like I’ll be able to buy a copy on Jan 11th. I’m looking forward to seeing it and making up my own mind. I‘ve got a soft spot for Dune so I’m hoping that combined with Villeneuve’s visuals will trump all other issues:)
You might want to rent it first. I've finally seen Villeneuve's take on Dune. My first thoughts are that it wasn't terrible but it didn't bowl me over either.

Villeneuve was perhaps a bit more faithful to the book but he managed to obliterate any depth the story has. Significant characters are paper thin and pointless (RM Mohaim, Gurney Halleck, Thufir Hawat, Piter deVries, Shadout Mapes). Villeneuve ripped the heart out of the gom jabbar scene, the hunter-seeker scene, the death of Jamis, and others.

I found the colour palettes used to be dull and uninteresting.

I think this film skimmed the surface details of Dune and just barely.
 
Going by the picture, I can't say I'm impressed by the sandworm toy.
 
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Going by the picture, I can't say I'm impressed by the sandworm toy.
Neither am I. I know there are Dune geeks out there that would have some prestige items, but back in the 80's that's what we got. It surprised that came out at the same year as all the other big ones, Ghostbusters etc.
 
First up, Denis Villeneuve needs to complete Dune. That’s next on the director’s to-do list. After that though, he’s just signed on to helm another sci-fi classic from an absolute legend, Arthur C. Clarke. Villeneuve will direct Rendezvous with Rama, based on Clarke’s award-winning 1973 novel.

Holy smoke. I know I've been one person to mention that particular book and for all this time, it has been unfilmable. Dune has had several iterations over the years, but Rama not even a cheap tv cheesy thing. Nothing. I wonder if he's going to approach Vernor Vinge next for making the Fire upon Sky "series" a reality. To be honest I think those books would me most suitable for him and he would get an equal chance of painting a huge canvas that stretches over the galaxy, but focuses on just few individuals, some who are very extraordinary.
 
I wonder if he's going to approach Vernor Vinge next for making the Fire upon Sky "series" a reality.
Funny, it occurred to me yesterday that Fire Upon the Deep would make a great series (I haven't read the other one yet). Fingers crossed!
 
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I haven't read the other one yet)
They are very different as where the first one crosses the galaxy and in the second one it focuses on a planet that is similar to us, but the whole thing is played from a different PoV. I also believe that he has third book for our favourite character in the works or out there somewhere. I haven't read it, but the other two, very good.
 
I agree with @ctg Very different books but both enjoyable in their own right. I looked for the third book but couldn’t find it. I’m assuming that it’s not yet released.
 
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I agree with @ctg Very different books but both enjoyable in their own right. I looked for the third book but couldn’t find it. I’m assuming that it’s not yet released.
I thought book two was sh*t.
I'd have much preferred another story in the faster zone of thought
 

Holy smoke. I know I've been one person to mention that particular book and for all this time, it has been unfilmable. Dune has had several iterations over the years, but Rama not even a cheap tv cheesy thing. Nothing. I wonder if he's going to approach Vernor Vinge next for making the Fire upon Sky "series" a reality. To be honest I think those books would me most suitable for him and he would get an equal chance of painting a huge canvas that stretches over the galaxy, but focuses on just few individuals, some who are very extraordinary.

A Fire Upon the Deep as a limited tv series could work.
 
I also believe that he has third book for our favourite character in the works or out there somewhere.
The third novel in the "Zones of Thought universe" is The Children of the Sky (2011), a direct sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep.

Neither having read it nor the means to read minds, I have no idea if "our favourite character" is involved.
 
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The third novel in the "Zones of Thought universe" is The Children of the Sky (2011), a direct sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep.

I’ve searched for this previously by typing in vernor vinge or anything related to zones of thought but couldn’t find it in Amazon.

As soon as I typed in the title, there it was - only a hardback copy available at a ridiculous price.

If I searched through Google, I found a link which then took me to Amazon, where it was shown as available in paperback and kindle. Very strange.

Meanwhile, I’ve pre-ordered Dune on DVD. Due out the end of January.
 
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For anybody thinking of buying Dune I thought I’d mention that the DVD arrived today.
At two and a half hours long, all I need to do now is find some time to watch it:)

Based on the clips, It looks quite impressive. :cool:
 
My thoughts:
I enjoyed the movie. It was long but didn’t feel as sluggish as Blade Runner 2049. Visually, I thought it excellent. Knowing from previous posts here that most of it was filmed in natural light, I thought it particularly impressive the way the CGI blended seamlessly. The score often reminded me of the score used in the TV miniseries. Both sets of music felt tinged by an arabic flavour (which always struck me as appropriate).

I loved the ornithopters and how the resembled mechanical dragon flies. They looked impractical until the wings folded back when they went into a dive. This, I felt, helped give the design some form of credibility. Another nice touch was the desert mouse (maud’ dib?) seen to be using its ears as dew collectors.

The one thing that I thought odd was the decision to ignore the most striking element of a mentat (red stained lips from the juice of sapho). Instead, they seemed to have a small, square tattoo on their bottom lip. Why, I wonder, was it so important to change this?

As for the bagpipes: I didn’t mind them but maybe that’s because, being a scot, I’m so used to hearing them.

Overall, a good movie slightly missing out on greatness. I have high hopes for part two.
 
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I’ve been pondering on the possible content and direction (beyond the obvious conclusion of the story) of part two.

The next paragraph might contain spoiler material if you haven’t seen the movie (but I can’t get the spoiler button to work)

One thing that I found strange was changing the manner of the death of Keynes. Whether meant or not, the original manner of his (or in the movie’s case, her) demise gave a telling hint at the ecology of the planet and the relationship between spice and worm. In Lynch’s version, Paul asks early on if there is a relationship there. In this latest version, nobody appears to raise this question, Instead, we have a rather simplistic, revenge form of passing for Keynes.

Is this change more than just pandering to a more simplistic cinematic alternative? Is Villeneuve deliberately trying to make us look in the wrong direction, and if so, why? The conclusion I draw is that much of the second movie will deal with the planet’s ecology as well as concluding the story.

Perhaps more importantly, will it leave a way open to a movie version of Dune Messiah?
 

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