Like many of the new big releases, DUNE has been delayed a number of times over the past 12 months
but its finally here. There was a lot talk of it hitting HBO max and theatres at the same time
which caused a lot of drama in Hollywood upsetting the director, Dennis Villeneuve and other big
names in the industry such as Christopher Nolan. Denis wrote, "Streaming can produce great content,
but not movies of Dune's scope and scale. Warner Bros.' decision means Dune won't have the chance
to perform financially in order to be viable and piracy will ultimately triumph... My team and I
devoted more than three years of our lives to make it a unique big screen experience.”
But Warner Bros wouldn’t back down in efforts to push their streaming service,
so for the USA it’s been released in theatres and on HBO Max. For countries that didn’t have
the streaming service it was released a month before in Europe for example during September.
Costing in region of $170 million, the film will need to generate a healthy profit for
the studio to continue with part 2 of the story as the director couldn’t cram the
entire book into one film like David Lynch did back in 1984, which suffered as result.
Once Villeneuve was on board to direct Dune he stated that his goal was to adapt the novel into
a two-part film series very much in the same style as the two-part adaptation of Stephen King's It
in 2017 and in 2019. He stated that Dune was "too complex" that a single film would fail to capture.
While Villeneuve had seen Lynch's adaptation of Dune, he respected both Lynch and the film,
but did not expect to build upon any elements from that, saying that "I'm going back to the book,
and going to the images that came out when I read it" when he was a teenager.
Villeneuve’s reaction to Lynch's adaption was that "there are parts that he loved and other
elements that he was less comfortable with. He remembered being half-satisfied", and that there
was "still a movie that needed to be made about the book, just with a different sensibility.
With this new adaptation Villeneuve wanted to reflect on realities that have happened
related to overexploitation of the Earth, and considered his screenplay "a coming-of-age story,
but also a call for action for the youth". including alterations to some of the arcs of
the female characters in the book and also wanted to move the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
from being a caricature as he was presented in the novel to a more complex antagonist.
Set in the far future of 10191, Duke Leto Atreides accepts the duty of mining the spice
on the dangerous desert planet Arrakis, know as Dune which is also home to giant sandworms.
The spice is the most valuable substance in the universe, a drug that extends human life, provides
superhuman levels of thought, and makes travelling at light speed across space possible. Leto knows
this position is a trap set by his enemies, he takes his Lady Jessica, and his son an heir Paul,
to Arrakis to get production of the spice back on track. Paul has been having visions of a young
girl on Arrakis with blue eyes and questions his future on the planet. Their enemies the
Harkonnen’s who were forced to leave the planet by the emperor, as they were becoming too powerful,
they want to take back control and are conspiring to take to plan their attack and kill the Duke.
Now I love science fiction and so I was looking forward to see the new adaptation of DUNE.
Denis Villeneuve is an amazing director, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 are fantastic films,
so I knew DUNE would look amazing, there’s was no question about that.
The funny thing is, is that because I’m very familiar with David Lynch’s version from 1984,
and I also started reading the original book during the summer which I’ve not finished yet,
I find it tough read, but I am familiar with its story, so going into this film, I was foolishly
expecting something very different, shortly into the film It was following the exact same story
beats as Lynch’s version, which of course it would, because its an adaptation of the book,
its not going to deviate too far from the source material, so there was no real surprises for me,
So It felt like a movie I had seen before but it had an expensive new lick of paint,
and adjustments here and there to the characters, it was certainly enough to warrant watching it
especially if you love DUNE and for those who are totally new to it then they will be wowed
but its production values and the world that Denis and the production team have created
but its was a strange experience for me watching it and also I don’t think DUNE is for everyone.
Now the 1984 film was heavily criticised at the time for being confusing and difficult
to follow with its story, they threw on a prologue to explain what the spice is
and who are the families governing the planets under the rule of the Emperor of the Universe,
and the Fremen who live on DUNE and their belief of a messiah that would free them and lead them
on a new path. So a lot of information to take in. Then you have loads of characters who are
introduced with strange names you had to remember, and at its core is a political struggle to gain
control of the Spice. It’s not an action adventure film, it’s a political drama set in the future
with religious themes thrown in. So anyone going in expecting something like Star Wars
were very disappointed. It was a slow movie that had a strange body horror elements to
it and with a mix of experimental visuals. Not everyone’s cup of tea and not easy to watch.
Now this new version is different Lynch’s 84 film, tonally it’s a lot different, its not
played so seriously, there is elements of humour to lightened the mood, some of the characters
are given more screen time and in some cases and others have been reduced. To avoid confusing the
audience the script does streamline a lot of the dialogue and makes it easier to follow, now for
hardcore fans, the amount of information provided and lengthy dialogue and what could be perceived
as a somewhat of a confusing story, would seem very clear to them but to a general audience,
it can be tough to follow, so I credit the writers for a finding a nice balance of adapting what’s in
the book and adjusting the dialogue so the characters felt more human and relatable,
the relationship between Paul and his parents feels more natural and Pauls relationship with
Duncan is far stronger, and also Duncan gets more screen time to demonstrate his skills as warrior.
The new version of DUNE, scraps the inner monologues that dominated Lynches version, which
I think was wise, as he was a bit confusing when watching it, as some character could communicate
telepathically, so it made it unclear if others could hear them or it was just in their head.
The villains the Harkonnen’s, who’s name is pronounced differently in this version, with
Harkonnen’s, did the 1984 film pronounce it wrong? No idea. Stellan Skarsgård, is really good as
the Barron, his role is somewhat reduced in this update, I imagine having a bigger role in part 2,
but is less over the top and crazy, far more unpredictable and like a very seedy politician who
is pulling the strings behind the scenes and lying to those who trust him. The villains still retrain
a scene of being alien and creepy, the David Lynch approach has been completely dialled back to keep
it in the sci-fi routes and less of the horror or just plain weird stuff of Lynch’s interpretation
has been removed. The Emperors personal army have this really eerie sound on their world
when they communicate, it plays up the bigger threat that is coming for the Atreides.
There are parts of the 1984 I think are better than the remake, I think the film
is more visually interesting, especially with the different houses with the Emperors thrown room,
Harkonnen’s and Atreides home worlds, the detail is crazy and very elaborate, this new one,
is certainly great to look at but more subtle and slick and less glamourous you could say.
Granted Everything looks bigger in its scale but personal I like the
mix of cultures in the lynch version that produce some wonderful eye candy.
The first half of the book or say part 1 of this movie, there is isn’t really much
action, this new one does make attempts to offer a bit more in areas, the spectacle is
there and grand in its scale especially the attack on the Atreides on DUNE, the 1984 film
had very clunky action sequences that seemed a bit jumbled and incoherent but in all there
isn’t much on offer for those looking for some crazy explosive action, that’s all for part 2.
Hans Zimmer composed the score to DUNE, after working on Blade Runner 2049,
Denis wanted him back for his next feature, Zimmer was a big fan of the book and chose
not to work with Chris Nolan on Tenet wanting to work on DUNE which was more personal to me.
Zimmer was inspired to look at the film's music "in a different way",
"to take the audience on [a] journey beyond the movie", and felt it "must be available
via an immersive technology in order "to fully showcase" the "unique sounds" of the
soundtrack. Villeneuve said Zimmer spent "months and months creating new instruments, defining,
creating, and seeking new sounds, pushing the envelope" and praised his work on the film.
One of the best things of David Lynch’s version is the score by the band Toto, incredible piece
of music and one of the most fondly remember parts of the film, Hans Zimmer doesn’t ignore
what Toto did and their approach, he doesn’t bring back those themes of course but takes on a
familiar style, we’ve got the synth, the electric guitars, and fully expands the scope of the sound,
creating some of his best work for years. seeing it in the cinema, the music does an incredible job
pulling you into the world of DUNE. The visuals are epic and the music equally matches it.
This is a good film there’s no doubt about that, its certainly a better adaptation than Lynch’s
1984 attempt, because it has the benefit of being split into movies but also Denis
is a better fit for the source material having already directed two well received sci-fi films.
The genre is in his wheel house for Lynch however its not his forte and he has
somewhat disowned his movie since making it, he considers it the worst film of his career.
He was battling the studio and producers with his vision and struggled to get what he wanted.
Despite him being a great director, I think he was the wrong guy for the material.
I felt more invested in this new adaptation compared to the original movie, the casting is
spot on and the performances keep you interested, but once we get to the 3rd act with Paul and his
mom out in the desert, I was starting to tune out a bit, feeling it was dragging on.
I think maybe 15mins could’ve been trimmed to get create something tighter and with a quick pace in
areas. Despite the hype and the names involved with the cast and those behind the camera,
the film is not for everyone, im not including myself in that group, I like the story and its
world but im sure some will wonder what the fuss is all about and may find the experience
of watching it a bit heavy handed. The book is considered the greatest sci-fi story ever written,
but because many films and even tv shows have been inspired by DUNE over the years,
it makes it tough to offer something more than what has already been explored before.
DUNE, is epic, clear with its story, has a fantastic score and wonderful directed
but lacked little surprises for me. I am looking forward to part 2 and I just hope this performs
well for them to proceed with the conclusion to the epic tale. Some my find the movie boring and
slow but its great to see smart sci-fi stories on the big screen with money well spent and DUNE
deserved a great adaptation and I think Denis Villeneuve has managed to achieve that. Make
sure you see it on the big screen because watching it on your TV won’t do it justice.