I'm half way through Dune the new movie. I'll watch the other half soon.
I was never a huge Dune fan. I've not read any of the books but I remember them clearly from my youth.
I enjoyed the first 1980's film largely because of the main actor from Twin Peaks and Sting, and the wholly gruesome part of Lord Harkannan.
The toys that were released with that original movie have always interested me too, although I've never owned any or indeed found any at boot sales.
The new film, with actors I can't name, looks like a lavish Star Wars. That's no bad thing but the story isn't as concise so its hard to follow at times. The amazing soundscape created by Hans Zimmer is probably the film's biggest draw, together with the fabulous sets.
Have you seen the new Dune?
Never been the one to fault David Lynch's Dune from 1984, whatever he might think himself. Enjoyed it immensely as a teenie, and Denis Villeneuve's take even more. For once a well-crafted and serious piece of science fiction.
ReplyDeleteOne reservation however: The book should have been made into a movie trilogy. There is a natural cliffhanger in the first part where Paul and Jessica flee Arrakeen. The Fremen should have been saved for part two of the trilogy.
A friend tried to get me to read Dune once, and I found it the most lugubrious, tedious, long-winded thing I ever suffered in the SF field. Those rambling narratives of Tribe A versus Tribe B, Planet X versus Planet Y, the Yoggers against the Schloggers, et al, never did a thing for me. Glorified cowboys and Indians, imho. SFZ
ReplyDeleteUnderstand your point completely, Rob. I read the novel after seeing the new movie, just to refresh my memory of what's coming up. I felt that the very un-editedness of this multireligiously-tinged textual mass of a novel is exactly the reason for its longevity.
DeleteI read it years ago and enjoyed it, part of my Lawrence phase. The second and third books got progressively worse IMO. I love the Byzantine skulduggery, but grew tired of the mysticism and Paul's fate was just gross. Lynch's movie had good and bad points. The SciFy Channel version was decent. I really disliked the new one.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly close to the original book -apart from making Liet Kaynes a woman and let's face it, Dune was never good for gender parity!
ReplyDeleteNo mention of the woeful William Hurt TV series version!
Interesting stuff guys. I've yet to finish watching the new Dune!
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