sci-fi previously known as the sci-fi channel went through a minor renaissance in the late
90s and early 2000s producing television that set the bar for a lot of fascinating entertainment to
come without shows like battlestar galactica and stargate it is doubtful that the current
television world where shows like westworld and game of thrones are released would exist in the
same form but this was also the same era in which they developed two dune miniseries with
the first being released in 2000. in this video i'm going to be discussing this first
miniseries and talking about the faithfulness it expressed to the original novel this latest video
essay continues my road to june series where i create content on all of the june adaptations
frank herbert's original novel denis villeneuve's filmography and his upcoming 2021 film during the
build up i will also be covering any news and information surrounding the director's latest
project to stay up to date with all of these videos then subscribe to the channel and turn on
your notifications also if you enjoy it remember to leave a like rating but without further ado
let's dive into the june 2000s mini series so frank herbert's june was a massive production for
a television project with an estimated 20 million dollar budget for free film length episodes of
about an hour and a half that broke down each individual book within the first june novel
it featured an international cast and won emmys for effects and cinematography it was a massive
undertaking for the network and to this day it remains along with its sequel children of june
among the highest of rated programs that sci-fi has ever produced the miniseries is a fantastic
place to discuss the line between how close an adaptation of a book should run in order to make
for a good viewing experience this is a question that always needs considering when literature
makes the turn to cinema but the balance is rarely achieved and while in my opinion the
sci-fi miniseries is better than any other version to offer it doesn't reach spectacular heights due
to the desire to be as close to the written text as possible among the elements that integrate
strangely is the pacing of the whole series while the idea of giving each section of the book its
own film length treatment seems great the story naturally drags at certain points in the book
that works in writing but not on screen there are also places where it seems as
though the narrative gets over explained in an effort to be sure that no one who's watching
is left behind it's a good instinct with june but it can get difficult in places there is a lot to
love about this june adaptation and how it brings to life the world that herbert created but the
question of faithfulness and the choices that were made also brings the miniseries its own problems
in particular the cast is a fascinating array of performers with some fulfilling their parts better
than others alec newman was selected to play paul atreides and he isn't quite eerie enough when the
occasion calls for it he's also too old to play the parts but that was a conscious decision on
the part of the writer and director john harrison who was concerned that he wouldn't be able to find
the right talents if paul were cast as a teenager the problem with making that choice is that the
script actually pens him as more teenager-like than the book ever did paul has plenty of
moments where he is bad tempers and overly stubborn and fails to discern the motives of
others the way paul does in the novel making that change would have been fine with a teenaged actor
but it's odd coming from someone who is clearly a bit older however he does gain his footing more
and overall they do a decent job of representing paul in this series moving on william hurt
is not the person that many would consider for juke lato but he brings a certain reserved calm
that works for the character saskia reeves on the other hand embodies everything that you would
expect from lady jessica in both her posture and commanding presence barbara kodatova is
brilliant as charney in both her sensitivity and fierceness and ue makes a wonderfully rough stilga
somehow matt kessler is playing fade raufer and it's the strangest casting choice you will see
but it's also hard not to love the strangeness of it giancarlo giannini was an excellent pick for
the emperor and it's always amazing to see him act through an array of increasingly improbable
costumes but in my opinion the standout of this series has to be the role played by ian
mcneese who manages to make the baron harkonnen easily one of the most despicable characters
in science fiction literature every bit as vicious as he needs to be and also very fascinating
mcneese has a superb sense of how to make the baron mesmerizing to watch no matter how weird
he behaves when so much of the narrative turns on paying attention to the schemes of the harkonnens
it is desperately important that their plotting holds our attention every time he ends his scenes
on one of those rhymes you feel satisfied yet also uncomfortable at the same time so although there's
minor differences in most of the casting in this adaptation the characters all seem to be there
in what we'd expect from a faithful adaptation of the book however one of the only places where the
miniseries deviates from the novel is arguably the smartest change it makes in the adaptation
the choice to make princess irulan an active participant in the narrative making her way
through the plots of the other houses to learn the truth about what is going on between her father
house harkonnen and house atreides it doesn't always work especially during the point where
she goes to see fade as it couldn't be more obvious that she's attempting to get information
out of him but when it does work it helps to keep the audience in tune with what's going on
irulan's position prevents a lot of unnecessary info because she learns as she goes and informs
the viewer as a result preventing the need for a lot of voice over work like what we saw
in david lynch's version her appearance at the dinner party hosted by house atreides in the first
episode is such a smart reworking and julie cox is elegant and cunning with the parts
making her own journey every bit as interesting as paul's on the flip side of the political machine
moving on the effects of this series are presented as a master lesson in making a relatively small
budget for the scale of the project of course work extremely well while plenty of the special
effects shots are clearly reused throughout they are still well rendered the map backdrop paintings
used in the desert sequences are beautiful and while an occasional sound stage effect is visible
from not shooting the desert scenes outdoors it is still an impressive feat the fremen blue eye
effect was also achieved in a fascinating way as the actors were given uv contact lenses and then
filmed with special cameras to catch the light as a result the glow of fremen eyes is particularly
riveting in this version and definitely one of the standout visual effects that i've seen from a show
in that time period the soundtrack is also beautifully evocative of the atmosphere which
was an impressive composition by graham revell but the real greatness of this miniseries are the
people who did the design work the costumes and sets are gorgeously appointed and at the same time
reflective of the characters that bear them the beni jesuit clothing is utterly unique but still
has a vague sense of none about it the complicated construction of uruland's hats and gowns
are illustrious activities shown in the sieges are diverse and vibrant the separation of various
groups by color selection and fabrics and symbols is clear and accurate the fight choreography
positively sparkles in all the places where it counts and the still suits actually look like
decent interpretations of what it should look like mixing into the desert surroundings appropriately
and built like functional everyday clothing the people who were constructing this world
clearly cared about it and it shows in every frame for so much detail to come through in a television
miniseries on a cable network during the early 2000s is quite astounding and it's presented like
a much bigger project with the effects being a standout it can be said on the other hand
that the thematic resonances get lost in this version despite wanting to stick close to the book
it seems as though effectively communicating how dark paul's journey becomes is difficult for most
writers and directors to think about paul doesn't make it rain in this version but he does have
abilities like in the waterfall scene with no indication of where that ability suddenly comes
from the indication that paul's victory will lead to an endless war and suffering is never
carefully communicated in this version likely to prevent the audience from coming away with a poor
opinion of their protagonist or one that at least questions him more knowing all of that though
i would argue that while this version of june is impressive to look at its successor
the children of june miniseries outpaces it in the end i will be covering this next
month but for now this miniseries is probably the best possible version of the original june novel
that you can find on screen and it's a great tool for getting into the doom world
itself it is hard not to love any adaptation that clearly has so much love for its source material
but then the question we leave on is how much faithfulness do you adapt a project with june is a
difficult one that definitely needs more faithful adaptation than most this is why i think the denny
villeneuve adaptation is going to be spectacular he has a proven track record of adapting projects
faithfully while at the same time he can add his filmmaking style and presence into the mix he
always brings something that is authentically his creative vision but one which celebrates
what is primarily important to the story he is adapting we'll have to see how he does but after
watching this june mini-series the question of faithfulness is one that has stuck in my mind
while thinking about the world of the book but let me know down below what you personally thought
of the june 2000 miniseries alongside things that you find intriguing about this particular
adaptation my next video in this road to dune marathon continues with the children of june
miniseries which was the sequel to the adaptation i have covered in this video again this will be
released next month alongside much more content on the 2021 film coming over the next few months to
stay up to date with this series along with all the latest news on june 2021 then subscribe to
the channel and turn on your notifications also if you enjoyed this video remember to give it a like
rating but anyway i hope you guys enjoyed it i've been cortex and as always make some noise