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Dune - Denis Villeneuve — Page 2

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JadedSkywalker said:

I think Villeneuve is deliberately going for a sort of real world realism, rather than the over the top ridiculousness of the Lynch version. I respect that. So far he hasn’t made a bad science fiction film.

It’s fitting that Villeneuve should make this his next project after Blade Runner 2049. Ridley Scott was the original director attached to the Dino De Laurentiis production in the late 70’s / early 80’s, and he ended up leaving the project to go direct Blade Runner.

Ridley Scott’s version, it’s worth noting, also would’ve split the book into two films just as Denis is doing here, with a style greatly influenced by Battle of Algiers.

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I have one question.

Why is Doctor Kynes a woman? I consider it a fundamental change to a character.

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Apparently downloads of Dark Side of the Moon have tripled in a week.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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fmalover said:

I have one question.

Why is Doctor Kynes a woman? I consider it a fundamental change to a character.

I don’t see how Kynes’ gender is relevant one way or the other. It really doesn’t matter.

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It’s been years since I read the novel, but Stilgar was something of a father figure to Chani, no? Changing Kynes’ gender may serve to streamline things, making Kynes Stilgar’s lover and the two of them Chani’s parents.

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That actually makes a ton of sense, I hadn’t even thought of that.

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The movie has been delayed all the way to October next year.

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on the positive side ,the delay gives me time to re read the book . I just watched the Spicediver Redux edit again the other day and the first part of the first sci-fi mini series . To me ,they are like comparing apples to oranges . The Lynch film is my fave ( the spicediver redux is my go to version ) and the sci fi miniseries is more like a stage play with early cgi backdrops . Neither project really gets Baron Harkonnen right imho , both versions are over the top . The Lynch version is very maniacal cartoon villian with Lynchian weirdness and the sci -fi version even has him breaking the fourth wall at one point and they also use too many tilted camera angles for the Harkonnen scenes . I get it , they are the bad guys …but it was shot too much like the Adam West Batman series . I hope the new film makes him more menacing and serious . I have been thinking of doing my own personal edit of the Lynch film where Baron Harkonnen and his crew don’t show up until the attack on house atreides …seems like all you need to know about them is told through dialouge beforehand anyway and it would cut down on the cartonishness in my opinion ( your mileage may vary ) . I would also do away with Thufir milking the cat scene .

https://screamsinthevoid.deviantart.com/

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I finished rereading the book last night watched the Lynch movie this morning. I’m all set for this. Too bad it’s a year away now. 😦

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Given the long wait, may I suggest renaming this the Dune General Discussion Thread?

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Because I feel this would be the perfect place to discuss the Dune saga in general. The books, the adaptations, etc.

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Just finished reading the first Dune book, and I want to share my thoughts in relation to adaptations past and future.

Before reading the book I was familiar with it through the 1984 film adaptation, which I have seen quite a few times and am rather fond of. Suffice to say it was pretty easy to navigate through the pages of the book, as the movie is an accurate recreation of the broad strokes of the story (minus the ridiculous happy happy ending where Paul becomes a literal deity that can summon rain).

Which makes me question those who criticize the 1984 film for not being faithful to the source material. If anything this is one of the most faithful adaptations I’ve ever seen of any book, with a few instances of casting that are spot-on, like Max von Sydow, who’s perfect as Liet-Kynes, as well as Sean Young who matches Chani’s elfin face as described in the book, and Virginia Madsen is Princess Irulan, period. As for the actors who are miscast I would say Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck, who looks far too stately for a man who’s been to hell and back, but the blow is softened by Stewart’s outstanding performance.

I found Baron Harkonnen to be an oddly charming character, and since he’s described as having a basso voice, in my mind he speaks like James Earl Jones. Kenneth McMillan as the Baron Harkonnen is so over-the-top I don’t buy him as an evil genius.

Emperor Shaddam IV is described as being in his seventies yet looks no older than 35. Why did both adaptations insist on casting actors in their sixties? (José Ferrer and Giancarlo Giannini)

I’ve never seen the 2000 Syfy miniseries, but both the movie and the TV miniseries IMO got it right in having a baroque aesthetic, although from the few screenshots I’ve seen the costumes are a bit too flamboyant in the miniseries, and there are some things that don’t fit in the movie as well, such as having the Bene Gesserit women having their heads shaved completely bald, or the Sardaukar having black hazmat suits for uniforms.

Which brings me to my final point, the upcoming 2021 movie. Dune is a book that can get quite trippy and invites the reader to imagine some pretty astounding visuals. I’m not getting any of that vibe from Denis Villeneuve’s movie, where everyone is dressed in black, a bit of white or any shade of grey. Speaking of colours (or lack thereof), I don’t like the muted colour timing. From an aesthetic point of view, the sets look barren. I’m sorry, but visually, this movie looks bland and boring.

Apologies for the long post.

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New character posters have been released. I’m so hyped!

“Heroes come in all sizes, and you don’t have to be a giant hero. You can be a very small hero. It’s just as important to understand that accepting self-responsibility for the things you do, having good manners, caring about other people - these are heroic acts. Everybody has the choice of being a hero or not being a hero every day of their lives.” - George Lucas

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Honestly I don’t like the drab muted colour palette Villeneuve is going for.

I also don’t like the look of Baron Harkonnen as some sort of cyberpunk villain. I the book the Baron Harkonnen is described as having red hair and dressing in flamboyant, brightly coloured robes.

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fmalover said:

Honestly I don’t like the drab muted colour palette Villeneuve is going for.

I also don’t like the look of Baron Harkonnen as some sort of cyberpunk villain. I the book the Baron Harkonnen is described as having red hair and dressing in flamboyant, brightly coloured robes.

I’ve not read the books. I’m thinking about waiting until after I see the film as it will help prevent further expectations. That’s interesting though.

“Heroes come in all sizes, and you don’t have to be a giant hero. You can be a very small hero. It’s just as important to understand that accepting self-responsibility for the things you do, having good manners, caring about other people - these are heroic acts. Everybody has the choice of being a hero or not being a hero every day of their lives.” - George Lucas

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Stardust1138 said:

fmalover said:

Honestly I don’t like the drab muted colour palette Villeneuve is going for.

I also don’t like the look of Baron Harkonnen as some sort of cyberpunk villain. I the book the Baron Harkonnen is described as having red hair and dressing in flamboyant, brightly coloured robes.

I’ve not read the books. I’m thinking about waiting until after I see the film as it will help prevent further expectations. That’s interesting though.

I read the book last year, and I’m currently halfway through Children of Dune.

Reading the book has killed any anticipation I might have had for the movie, because the books evoke vivid imagery in my mind that is far removed from Villeneuve’s vision. The movie looks like some sterile perfume commercial with minimalistic aesthetics and there’s a lifelessness to the way the movie looks. I think that’s one of the few things the 1984 film adaptation got right, with the elaborate costumes and baroque set design. I don’t know why so many book fans are so hyped for this movie.

I feel like other directors that would have been better suited from a visual standpoint are Tarsem Singh, Darren Aronofsky or Luc Besson.

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A new Dune trailer is here!

https://youtu.be/8g18jFHCLXk

“Heroes come in all sizes, and you don’t have to be a giant hero. You can be a very small hero. It’s just as important to understand that accepting self-responsibility for the things you do, having good manners, caring about other people - these are heroic acts. Everybody has the choice of being a hero or not being a hero every day of their lives.” - George Lucas

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I like this one a lot more than the first trailer. The movie still has that perfume commercial vibe to it, but now I’m warming up to it.

Still not a fan of the desaturated colours. I would crank up the colour saturation about 25%.

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Did anyone else go to the Imax event the other night?

They showed the first ten minutes, as well as a scene from later in the movie that was shot entirely for the taller aspect ratio. They also highlighted Hans Zimmer’s score and closed with the new trailer (this was still the night before it went up online for all to see).

Trust me when I say that this thing looks and sounds incredible in a proper theater.

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I also attended the IMAX event. Definitely looking forward to seeing the whole film in IMAX.

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Unfortunately I didn’t know about it until it was too late. Sounds like it will live up to the hype and exceed expectations.

“Heroes come in all sizes, and you don’t have to be a giant hero. You can be a very small hero. It’s just as important to understand that accepting self-responsibility for the things you do, having good manners, caring about other people - these are heroic acts. Everybody has the choice of being a hero or not being a hero every day of their lives.” - George Lucas

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Although I am quite excited for this film… It’s definitely a new take on the Dune story and although some of the special effects look great theres a part of me that looks at the Blue sky on Arrakis and thinks simple miss and could be better so I’m also expecting flaws built in to it.

I’ll go in with an open mind but I’ve gone from fairly excited to cautiously optimistic currently. I am expecting a good but flawed adaptattion like the others but It may be the best adaptation in some ways but worse in some ways than others.

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So far the only change that really irritates me about the movie is gender-swapping Doctor Kynes. I suspect it was done to increase the female presence, but that could have easily been fixed by including the Fremen widow (Harath I think is her name) that is placed under Paul’s care.

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screams in the void said:

on the positive side ,the delay gives me time to re read the book . I just watched the Spicediver Redux edit again the other day and the first part of the first sci-fi mini series . To me ,they are like comparing apples to oranges . The Lynch film is my fave ( the spicediver redux is my go to version ) and the sci fi miniseries is more like a stage play with early cgi backdrops . Neither project really gets Baron Harkonnen right imho , both versions are over the top . The Lynch version is very maniacal cartoon villian with Lynchian weirdness and the sci -fi version even has him breaking the fourth wall at one point and they also use too many tilted camera angles for the Harkonnen scenes . I get it , they are the bad guys …but it was shot too much like the Adam West Batman series . I hope the new film makes him more menacing and serious . I have been thinking of doing my own personal edit of the Lynch film where Baron Harkonnen and his crew don’t show up until the attack on house atreides …seems like all you need to know about them is told through dialouge beforehand anyway and it would cut down on the cartonishness in my opinion ( your mileage may vary ) . I would also do away with Thufir milking the cat scene .

Yeah putting the first scene on geidi prime after the atreides are on Arrakis was what I was also thinking pushing it furthur back… And moving Leto’s inner thoughts about marrying Jessica to an earlier point perhaps on caladan.