For some reason I thought this was debuting today. Pfft. I guess I got it mixed up with The Many Saints of Newark.
Holy shit is this movie beautiful. It looks so good. Hats off to the filmmakers. And yet... and yet... It's. So. Fucking. Boring. Never have I seen something so beautiful but so fucking boring. I made it 45 minutes before I passed out. Not joking. As I've said before, IMO the problem is the source material. Anyway, to each his own. I suspect the hard-core geeks and Herbert fans will lap it up, and the critics seem to be really liking it. But I also think the Lord of the Rings (both books and films) are vastly overrated, so what do I know.
Oh, and in case anyone tries to make the dumbass argument that I'm all about the action, two of my top ten sci-fi films of all time are Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Villeneuve's Arrival. (Villeneuve is also the director of Dune.)
Greatest movie of all time. OS+Sound track was littl.e like lawreebce if arabua, got dubenubu wruters oridycers durecitirs too.
Villeneuve also directed the Blade Runner sequel, which had much the same look. Spectacular to look at. Great job of boiling down the book into a workable script. But I also don't know what someone who isn't a fan of the book (which I am) will make of it.
I liked it. There were a few minor quibbles. I don't think they did enough to establish how horrible the Harkonnen's were, and I don't think they did enough to establish exactly how absolutely imperative it is that spice production continue on Arrakis, but overall, I really enjoyed it.
It was beautiful, and I get why they avoided endless reams of exposition... but it felt more like the extended pilot for an HBO series than a proper self contained movie. Zendaya getting all stabby tho
This is by far the best workout my home theater system has had Polk center, left/right speakers and subwoofer in front. Decent Radio Shack speakers in the back with Denon Receiver. 65" Samsung TV. Dolby digital surround was fucking awesome. The sound designer should get an Oscar nomination. The Cinematography is breathtaking and Oscar worthy as well. My only quibble is that a 65" inch TV really isn't big enough. It was the first time I've sat down with the lights dimmed and really watched a really big movie. "Foundation" looks and sounds great as well.
Sounds like I will enjoy it when I see it next week in a quality theater. One questyion for those who have seen it, should I make an effort to see it in Imax because it is so visually grand? I am thinking I am going to go Imax since I want to see it big and grand. It is probably worth the extra couple of dollars for a big chair, some booze, and some real treats.
Saw it on HBO Max, but I may try to catch it in IMAX. I thought it was mostly terrific, a very solid adaptation of the first half of the novel. If there's a fault, it's that it's perhaps too straight an adaptation. No, it doesn't feel like a self-contained film because it ends without any resolution. I'll let that pass because it really won't be a complete film until Part Two arrives. The cast was excellent down the line, though Dave Bautista only got a minute of screen time. I'm starting to get the buzz around Chalamet. Rebecca Ferguson may be the biggest standout here, though. The ornithopters are cool. I totally believed those could work. I loved the nod to Brando in Apocalypse Now when we first meet Baron Harkonnen. I agree with @Chaos Descending that the importance of spice was not sufficiently communicated. Yes, the film mentioned space travel was impossible without it, but compare the Lynch version where the critical importance is really driven home ("He who controls the spice controls the universe", "The spice must flow", etc.). The political intrigue is much better established in the Lynch film. The film needed to draw a starker contrast between Harkonnen and Atreides rule on Arrakis. We hear the Harkonnens are brutes, but see very little. The Atreides seem like they're on Arrakis for all of a day or two before things go to complete shit. The visuals are beautiful, and the effects superb. I'm confident people who know Dune will at least like it, but newbies may be a bit perplexed. Bring on Part Two! 7.5/10
Not sure what movie he watched. There seemed to me to be substantial effort to avoid exposition dumps. To the point where I wondered if anyone new to the material would be able to "get" it.
Agreed. I really liked it, but think it could've had a bit more exposition. New players are apt to be a bit confused. And I think the new one could've benefited from a scene like in the Lynch version where the guild navigator questions the Emperor. The political manuvering and the importance of spice are not as front and center as they should be in the new one.
I'm hoping that this all is explained more in Part Two when the Fremen under Muad'Dib grind Harkonnen spice output to a halt.
It will certainly become evident how important it is. It would be better for the audience to have that firmly in mind from the outset.