DUNE is a Dud.

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didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
9,894
31,619
34
Burlington WI
I had a friend send me a heartfelt text about him going to see his "destiny". 3 pages later of love struck compassion, I learned that he's going to see ....this movie.....

I should give him the bad news.

I've never heard of it till yesterday.
 

geopiper

Can't Leave
Jan 9, 2019
373
609
I saw the original Dune movie as a young teenager and loved it. It left a big impression on me. Thought it was a great film. Not sure how the "real" critics rank it though. I subsequently read the book.

I don't plan on seeing this remake.
 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
I have watched Dune twice now looking for the story that I love so much. I have read the first 6 Dune books a few times now and some of the other books a couple of times and know the story and characters fairly well even with my memory issues. I got to watch it for free on HBO/Max, so I got to scream at the tv and no one could hear me. I give this version a 1 out of 100. For me it sucked that freaking bad.

The David Lynch version was so much better even with limited CG back then. I believe that they are going to have to make the second version make up for the first and be all it can be. If they make the second like the first, there is no future for more movies.
 
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telescopes

Pipe Dreamer and Star Gazer
This is what happens when an old story is run through the WOKE filters of today's Hollywood. The Baron becomes just a brooding bad man who rises out of hot oil and looks menacing with his silence. Lynch's Baron was a true psychopath, but today's director felt that a homoerotic rapist of young people was not keeping with the times so he just made him an insensitive bad man. Paul becomes a child-man who is in touch with his feelings and scolds his mother for making him "this way". He's angry because everyone manipulated him.

But more to the point, anything truly sinister about the film is washed out in favor of scenes that are meant to suggest something sinister.

Where are the Guild Navigators?

Where is the exposition at the beginning of the story that explains what is necessary for the complex story to work with the audience?

Nothing about why spice is important and became important because of the fear of AI's threatening our existence.

Nothing, nothing, nothing, but scenes of desert and sand.

Woke isn't just about being a snowflake.

It is about sanitizing humanity so much so that when it's time to tell the story about how evil and terrifying we can be, it is impossible to do so out of fear not being PC enough.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,625
44,836
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Interesting how some of the victims see this movie. Some ascribe to this movie political leanings that would require more intelligence and awareness than I could possibly credit it with containing.
This is like spending 2 1/2 hours in bed with an incredibly beautiful corpse. Looks good but there’s no there there.
Villeneuve evidently forgot that he wasn’t directing another Bladerunner movie. I liked the Bladerunner reboot, which was a good 15 minutes longer, whilst feeling a quarter as long. But hallucinating and feverish reality is a more natural fit for Bladerunner.
Here, Villeneuve hands us the same bag of tricks, just pared down to pretty much a tastefully arranged series of atmospheric tableaux, populated with carefully lit mannequins. All the context is removed because it would interfere with the Botox. Nothing is more important than being pretty, right?
 

greeneyes

Lifer
Jun 5, 2018
2,126
12,193
Just saw DUNE. This edition of the Frank Herbert epic epitomizes everything I loathe about self important films. It is cold, soulless, and devoid of anything resembling characters to care about. Slow, bloated, crammed with filler, lacking wit, and barely skimming the surface of Herbert’s world.
It’s like watching 2 1/2 hours of screen savers.
If long stretches of “meaningful” stillness and vacant prettiness are your thing, DUNE is for you.
2 out of 5, and that 2 is for production design. The rest of this mess is a 0.
Is this the Korean version?

Jokes aside, thanks for the commentary. I was curious despite suspecting it would be a flop, and now I don't have to watch it any longer.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,398
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
Just saw DUNE. This edition of the Frank Herbert epic epitomizes everything I loathe about self important films. It is cold, soulless, and devoid of anything resembling characters to care about. Slow, bloated, crammed with filler, lacking wit, and barely skimming the surface of Herbert’s world.
It’s like watching 2 1/2 hours of screen savers.
If long stretches of “meaningful” stillness and vacant prettiness are your thing, DUNE is for you.
2 out of 5, and that 2 is for production design. The rest of this mess is a 0.
I personally like long stretches of meaningful stillness and vacant prettiness and yet you still haven't sold me on it.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,398
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
"It is cold, soulless, and devoid of anything resembling characters to care about. Slow, bloated, crammed with filler, lacking wit, and barely skimming the surface of Herbert’s world."

Sadly I think this could well apply to so many modern films. They are pumped out with increasing regularity that no time or thought is actually spent on character building, compelling storyline etc.

Regards,

Jay.
it can be applied to lots of films. It just seems like it's a modern thing, because this kind of movie fades back into obscurity pretty fast. Or at least that's my take on it.
And while artists might want to make something for the ages. The people who are putting it together seem to view cinema as a mostly disposable commodity. How much can we make now! And it's pretty much been that way from the start. Well at the start artists didn't know if this film thing would stay either.
 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
Jesse, how could you possibly like the second blade runner? It had no feel, no texture, it was shit compared to the original especially the directors cut. Sequels have been shit for a while.

The sequel to Prometheus was an abortion. I have no idea how Ridley Scott thought that script was a good idea. They should have focused on David and Shaw and their experiences trying to find the engineers and their home world. How they came up with the stupid planet of death and David just had to be there and he had to kill Shaw? Fucking trash. I loved Prometheus and wanted the second movie to follow the time line, how tough is that?

My disappointment of the new Dune is right up there with the second Prometheus. A shit script will always kill a movie faster than anything. The director is a moron and should be taken off the project. Let someone else try to salvage the series. Hell get David Lynch back as he knows how to tell the Dune story.

No folding space, nothing about the spacing guild. The casting was also not that great, especially the woman and the Gesewitt's. Did I miss the Emperor and his daughter. His daughter is a huge character in the books as is her father. I seriously have no memory of them. What about the scene where a Guild Navigator tells the Emperor they want Paul dead. Very important scene that never made it in the new version. I should have known better as that director killed the reboot of Blade Runner. He had no business getting the Dune gig after he did what he did to Blade Runner. Sorry Jesse, as much as I wanted to love Blade Runner and I have watched it three times already and will watch it again to see if I can squeeze a few morsels of decent cinema out of it.
 
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alaskanpiper

Enabler in Chief
May 23, 2019
9,348
42,245
Alaska
Haven’t seen it yet. I thought Peter Jackson should have done the new one. In an LOTR way though, not like that bloated money grabbing mess of a hobbit trilogy.

I have seen the 1984 version. Definitely falls into the “so bad you can’t stop watching” camp. Hoping the new version is less bat shit crazy.

I will watch it regardless, as I have hoped for a modern film version of the book for many years after being so thoroughly shocked and disappointed with David Lynch’s “adaptation”
 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
If anyone seriously likes the new Dune then you have never read the books or even watched David Lynch's version. When a movie fails to tell the story from the book you are left with a disjointed piece of cinema swill. The director tries to show how smart he is instead of going by the book.

As poorly written as were The Fellowship of the Ring and the other books, at least they followed the story.



I
 

SoddenJack

Can't Leave
Apr 19, 2020
431
1,285
West Texas
I’m a fan of the first film with all its 80s David Lynch weirdness. Not sure if anyone has mentioned it, but Jodorowsky’s Dune is a great documentary about the Dune film we could have had Salvador Dali as the emperor, and art direction by Moebius.

The new one…meh. Just doesn’t pique my interest. I’ll pass.
 
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sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,625
44,836
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Jesse, how could you possibly like the second blade runner? It had no feel, no texture, it was shit compared to the original especially the directors cut. Sequels have been shit for a while.

The sequel to Prometheus was an abortion. I have no idea how Ridley Scott thought that script was a good idea. They should have focused on David and Shaw and their experiences trying to find the engineers and their home world. How they came up with the stupid planet of death and David just had to be there and he had to kill Shaw? Fucking trash. I loved Prometheus and wanted the second movie to follow the time line, how tough is that?

My disappointment of the new Dune is right up there with the second Prometheus. A shit script will always kill a movie faster than anything. The director is a moron and should be taken off the project. Let someone else try to salvage the series. Hell get David Lynch back as he knows how to tell the Dune story.

No folding space, nothing about the spacing guild. The casting was also not that great, especially the woman and the Gesewitt's. Did I miss the Emperor and his daughter. His daughter is a huge character in the books as is her father. I seriously have no memory of them. What about the scene where a Guild Navigator tells the Emperor they want Paul dead. Very important scene that never made it in the new version. I should have known better as that director killed the reboot of Blade Runner. He had no business getting the Dune gig after he did what he did to Blade Runner. Sorry Jesse, as much as I wanted to love Blade Runner and I have watched it three times already and will watch it again to see if I can squeeze a few morsels of decent cinema out of it.
Hi Harris,
The first Bladerunner had a very well developed visual esthetic, which the second film continued to develop, rather than destroy, so I was happy for that. Neither is a cinematic masterpiece.
I hated Prometheus, cold, ugly design, whose message can be condensed as “Daddy hated us and tried to abort us.”
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,625
44,836
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
I haven't watched it yet, but I see the new Dune is 83% certified fresh with a 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Which I find exciting, because I now get to watch it to find out if you all actually know what you're talking about, or are just a bunch of grumpy old men. ?
Enjoy. You have more lifespan to waste than I do.
The ratings prove that H L Mencken was right.