Villeneuve's Dune

[JetJockey]

On 9/4/2021 at 3:33 AM, jenius said:

This is one of those things I got into later in life, after lots of people told me "Oh the Dune series is so great!" Honestly, I found it mediocre, completely bogged down by prophesy and messianic meanderings. If I'm right about where the movie splits, it will be kind of funny because the book is such a slow burn up until it gets to that point and what I'm guessing is a second movie seems to go by in a flash when you finally get to those events. 

This seems like a really dicey time to release this film. It's easy to view the story as racist, some elements as homophobic, and the primary strength of women is sex, weaponizing sex, and making the right babies... some elements may not have aged so well. I'm definitely going to see it in the theaters to see how they handled all the plodding story points and those sticky points above and hopefully get wowed by some visuals. 

Sounds like you were hearing the same sorts of things I was hearing about Dune back when I saw it.  I can't remember any of that stuff you mention though. I'm struggling to remember anything about the original movie. The only thing I remember is that the singer Sting is in the movie. I have a feeling that the new movie will be better than the old one. But I still might watch the first one soon.

[sh9000]

 

[Podtastic]

As a teenager I could never get into Dune as it seemed too cold and distant from the human perspective to me. It was all about vast sweeping changes in human society over great lengths of time. I never liked it, it didn't have Star War's heart.

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by Podtastic

[levzloi]

Please don't get this thread shut down.

[Bolt]

24 minutes ago, levzloi said:

Please don't get this thread shut down.

+1

[Podtastic]

Thousand apologies guys. I deleted the truthful but perhaps controversial comment.

The point was that heightened political consciousness makes Dune's power politics  more understandable.

On another note Dune also seems somewhat lacking in collectible assets. It has some interesting things like the ornithopter - and a proper ornithopter would be something - but is sadly lacking compared to some other franchises.

Edited September 15, 2021 by Podtastic

[CoryHolmes]

9 hours ago, Podtastic said:

On another note Dune also seems somewhat lacking in collectible assets. It has some interesting things like the ornithopter - and a proper ornithopter would be something - but is sadly lacking compared to some other franchises.

How about a Crys-knife?  Or a weirding module? 

[Podtastic]

1 hour ago, CoryHolmes said:

How about a Crys-knife?  Or a weirding module? 

Think about what a Crys-knife is.

If it has a uniquely crafted shape I can understand. But if it's just a sharp jagged shard - how could you suspend disbelief that you just bought a sharp jagged shard of whatever.

[pengbuzz]

10 hours ago, CoryHolmes said:

How about a Crys-knife?  Or a weirding module? 

Maybe one of those Hunter-seeker thingies that look like a flying syringe?

Or how about your very own Dune™ Harkonnen Heart-Plug Kit? Easy to install in 5 min--

Er...on second thought, skip that one...

Edited September 16, 2021 by pengbuzz

[Scyla]

Just saw the movie. Worry not the eyes are appropriately blue.

Worth seeing in the theater too.

 I think I like the movie but it is problematic that it just ends like that. It is somewhat of a conclusion even if they don’t make any more.

Spoiler

What I mean by that is that throughout the movie Paul has visions of the future so you can piece together how the story will probably end.

His visions are never 100% accurate so though.

I think it would be better if they followed the LotR approach and film everything at once.

Arrakis could be a bit more foreign and less like a dessert on earth for me.

I‘m also not a fan of the worm design. For me they need to have the three lips that they can close to a cone when they dive into the sand.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Scyla

[levzloi]

3 hours ago, Scyla said:

Just saw the movie. Worry not the eyes are appropriately blue.

Worth seeing in the theater too.

 I think I like the movie but it is problematic that it just ends like that. It is somewhat of a conclusion even if they don’t make any more.

  Reveal hidden contents

What I mean by that is that throughout the movie Paul has visions of the future so you can piece together how the story will probably end.

His visions are never 100% accurate so though.

I think it would be better if they followed the LotR approach and film everything at once.

Arrakis could be a bit more foreign and less like a dessert on earth for me.

I‘m also not a fan of the worm design. For me they need to have the three lips that they can close to a cone when they dive into the sand.

Make sure you lucky people able to see this earlier than us in the USA follow Scyla's example for the next few weeks and hide spoilers. 

[CoryHolmes]

21 hours ago, Podtastic said:

Think about what a Crys-knife is.

If it has a uniquely crafted shape I can understand. But if it's just a sharp jagged shard - how could you suspend disbelief that you just bought a sharp jagged shard of whatever.

Meh, if they can make and sell lightsabers as toys, they can make and sell Crys-knives as toys.

[CoryHolmes]

12 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Maybe one of those Hunter-seeker thingies that look like a flying syringe?

Or how about your very own Dune™ Harkonnen Heart-Plug Kit? Easy to install in 5 min--

Er...on second thought, skip that one...

That's the spirit!  You get a spot on the marketing team!

[Podtastic]

 

19 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Maybe one of those Hunter-seeker thingies that look like a flying syringe?

Um...now might not be a good time for some thing like that...

7 hours ago, CoryHolmes said:

Meh, if they can make and sell lightsabers as toys, they can make and sell Crys-knives as toys.

Well if its a toy then all the child safety requirements kick-in.

Lightsabres can get away with not being hard and sharp.

Seriously a proper working ornithoper, .i.e. one that can actually fly by beating its wings, would really be something.

And the Sardaukar could have been collectible figures if their vaunted combat prowess was highlighted on screen and they had really spiffy uniforms, rather looking like guys come to clean up a toxic  waste spill.

 

Edited September 17, 2021 by Podtastic

[slide]

On 9/17/2021 at 4:59 AM, Podtastic said:

Seriously a proper working ornithoper, .i.e. one that can actually fly by beating its wings, would really be something.

Don't let anyone tell you it isn't possible:

 

it's just not cheap, or feasible on a mass scale... YET...

Edited September 23, 2021 by slide

[sqidd]

On 9/16/2021 at 5:08 PM, Scyla said:

Just saw the movie. Worry not the eyes are appropriately blue.

Worth seeing in the theater too.

 I think I like the movie but it is problematic that it just ends like that. It is somewhat of a conclusion even if they don’t make any more.

  Reveal hidden contents

What I mean by that is that throughout the movie Paul has visions of the future so you can piece together how the story will probably end.

His visions are never 100% accurate so though.

I think it would be better if they followed the LotR approach and film everything at once.

Arrakis could be a bit more foreign and less like a dessert on earth for me.

I‘m also not a fan of the worm design. For me they need to have the three lips that they can close to a cone when they dive into the sand.

How were you able to see it? I thought the release was a month off?

[technoblue]

17 minutes ago, sqidd said:

How were you able to see it? I thought the release was a month off?

The movie had an earlier release outside of the US.

[sqidd]

19 minutes ago, technoblue said:

The movie had an earlier release outside of the US.

[jvmacross]

 

[pengbuzz]

I wonder if they filmed parts 1 and two together, or if they are working on 2 now?

[azrael]

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

I wonder if they filmed parts 1 and two together, or if they are working on 2 now?

They are filming them separately. Hence why we reluctantly hopeful this movie will do good. 

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, azrael said:

They are filming them separately. Hence why we reluctantly hopeful this movie will do good. 

Ah...gotcha. It would be nice if this came out well; I do have my reservations, but I have also been wrong before.

One benefit of this would be telling the story without cramming everything into one really long movie.

[sh9000]

 

[electric indigo]

Spoiler

Ok the first half is probably my favourite SF movie ever, but then the thing

just

won't

end.

Afterward I felt like I watched Lawrence of Arabia twice in a row. The wife & I did the sand dance walk on our way to our car, which was a nice distraction from our bleeding ears.

 

[Podtastic]

8 hours ago, electric indigo said:

watched Lawrence of Arabia twice in a row.

So an entire hour of a speck approaching from across the desert then?

[danth]

On 9/16/2021 at 7:37 PM, CoryHolmes said:

Meh, if they can make and sell lightsabers as toys, they can make and sell Crys-knives as toys.

But...lightsabers are actually cool.

[sh9000]

 

[seti88]

IMAX awesomeness but the sound was tad too loud at times until you could feel the chair vibrate..

For those who played ye olde dune 2 on the PC, there is a certain harvester scene which will bring back memories. 😄

Overall, very very visually befitting sci-fi. Did I say very?  Greig Fraser (?) shld win an award for this..

[sh9000]

 

[jvmacross]

https://screenrant.com/dune-release-hbo-max-early-details/

HBO Max subscribers can start streaming it on October 21....at 5PM CST for me!

[seti88]

1 hour ago, sh9000 said:

 

Might even go for a second Imax viewing but to choose a middle of the theater seat instead.
I chose a higher up seat (read backrow) before but top of audience heads kept creeping into my line of sight at the bottom edge.

[jvmacross]

Just finished watching this.....I kept waiting for something interesting to happen (that I lost track of the time) and then it sort of abruptly ended.....I guess that happens in the sequel? 

It was not bad, just really slow and sort of boring...I really do not want to compare it to the 1984 Dune, as I really do not care for that movie either, but I can honestly say that I can actually remember more about that almost 40 year old movie than I do about the Dune I just watched...and I have watched the original Dune once...I guess it is just more "over the top" and weird and the new one just seems like standard sci-fi fare, nothing really spectacular....like I mentioned, perhaps they are holding out for the next one...a risk that probably would not have happened pre-covid and with the current film release options available to studios these days....

Anyway, I think if this movie had come out during pre-covid days, it would have been a complete flop....as it stands, the only way I could see a part 2 would be if ATT bankrolls it and makes it an HBO Max exclusive, a streaming service version of a loss leader...this strategy seems to have had some success for HBO Max with the JL Snyder Cut....so maybe they are looking to establish another exclusive streaming franchise...like all of the other streaming services seem to be doing these days...

[sh9000]

 

[sqidd]

I thought it was great.

I don't think it will do very well. Most people won't understand what they're watching.

Edited October 23, 2021 by sqidd

[505thAirborne]

Watching it right now, enjoying so far.