Denis Villeneuve’s Dune

o1s1n · 26-10-2021 10:28AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118073556#Comment_118073556

Have you ever watched the documentary about the failed Dune project by director Alejandro Jodorowsky?

Artwork and design by Moebius, Salvador Dali as The Emporer, would have been insanely trippy and surreal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodorowsky%27s_Dune

26-10-2021 02:51PM

Its many years since I read the books but I did love them. I didn't see them as Sci Fi but..I don't know really. The political and religious goings on within important families and how their lives intertwined with such things. The film didn't hit that note for me and that's probably due to its limitations as a medium.

I did like it but certainly didn't love it. Timothee Chalamet was a poor Paul. I got no sense of his character and his struggle. Liet Kynes was an unnecessary gender change. Ferguson was brilliant and the only one that showed depth.

The world itself was in keeping with how I imagined it to be. Massive and empty. Even Caladan felt barren even though it was green. The Harkonnens gave me the heebie jeebies just like in the books.

I've seen most of Villeneuve's films and liked them all. They do share a sort of emptiness though. They look great but I think the characters need to be very capable in order to lift the film and create more emotion. I loved Arrival because of how Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner portrayed pain and their connection with each other.

banie01 · 26-10-2021 03:06PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118073556#Comment_118073556

On the psychoactive aspects of spice. Yes the effects of foldspace, trippy navigators and crazy Water of Life ceremonies weren't touched on (though I do think the latter will be a part of 2nd movie, I mean it HAS to be right?)

I do think what Villeneuve has driven home in his handling of Spice so far, is its psychoactive effect on Paul. It places the effect on him at the centre of the story, rather than its necessity to the Universe and it's ubiquity as a means of longevity and mind expansion.

2 instances in particular, the sandcrawler scene, and the tent scene. The effects of the spice upon Paul are immediate and the presence of spice in the air is highlighted by a sort of sparkly homage to the Dredd broken glass scene on Slo-Mo.

buried · 26-10-2021 07:00PM

Thought this was absolutely fantastic work within the current ocean of mediocre, mainstream output. Sound design is absolutely out of this world good. Will definitely go see this again real soon. Loved it.

The Nal · 26-10-2021 07:04PM

Sound and visuals are incredible. As good as it gets.

The movie is a total snoozefest though.

Sad Professor · 26-10-2021 07:13PM

Part Two officially greenlit for release October 2023 - with theatrical window!

https://deadline.com/2021/10/dune-sequel-greenlit-by-legendary-warner-bros-theatrical-release-1234862383/

peteeeed · 26-10-2021 07:13PM

Part 2 is a go

https://twitter.com/legendary/status/1453058884516466691?s=21

https://deadline.com/2021/10/dune-sequel-greenlit-by-legendary-warner-bros-theatrical-release-1234862383/

Tails142 · 26-10-2021 07:19PM

I dunno, story seems weak to me, never read the book but...

What... they get the contract to mine the planet and think hey ho happy days, those harkonnens aren't going to mind sure they're a sound bunch... When they're clearly psychopathic warmongers, likewise the emperor apparently, and they never consider it might be a set up and that they are being used like pawns.

We then see a failed assassination attempt, the machinery apparently sabotaged and sure, they all tuck themselves into bed, sure what's to worry about.

OH, one guy on his own betrayed them and managed to lower defenses on the entire city/planet while everyone was asleep at night? In a desert planet when most things are probably easier done at night as opposed to in the heat during the day.

Was nobody even looking out with a basic telescope into the sky to check whether the harkonnens might show up with a massive space fleet and a bone to pick.

Uh... How did these House Artreides lads manage to get by for so long, seems to be no strategic thinking, wisdom, common sense etc at play.

Guessing it's all in the books and the detail gets lost when condensed into movie format, or maybe the story is just showing it's age, but the film didn't grab me, not intrigued in the slightest.

Also, I saw a trailer or something a few months back, feels like I saw the whole movie basically in that few minutes, nothing came as a surprise at all and a lot of the major scenes gave me deja vu, except it wasn't deja vu because I had essentially seen them already in that pre release teaser.

JP Liz V1 · 26-10-2021 07:21PM

Has it done big money box office?

EltonJohn69 · 26-10-2021 07:25PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118076568#Comment_118076568

Over 200 euro !

johnny_ultimate · 26-10-2021 07:28PM

Can’t believe they got Sting to sign on for a sequel!

Beechwoodspark · 26-10-2021 07:49PM

I know some are saying we saw the effect the spice had on Paul (he staggered around in a sand dune for a few minutes like a lad at a debs after a few pints of coors light?!)

but come on like that is so pale in comparison to what the books say the sheer Power of the spice (melange) psychoactive effects are !!

Slydice · 26-10-2021 08:19PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118076568#Comment_118076568

Early days. Decent enough scores on the reviews websites but then the A- cinemascore.. that felt like a big win since it's cinema audience.. still though.. early days.

Slydice · 26-10-2021 08:21PM

Only the audio but..

Q&A - Denis Villeneuve And Christopher Nolan

(has some story spoilers for what would be coming up.. that I recognise from the books)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc6g3Jlxd9U

Nolan all about the in-theatre experience

banie01 · 26-10-2021 08:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118076697#Comment_118076697

In the tent with Jessica he had full on spice fuelled prescient vision.

The 1st encounter with spice is IMO framed to show the immediate overwhelming impact it has on him, and his sensitivity to it.

All of which is very pertinent to Paul's journey with the fremen.

Sad Professor · 26-10-2021 08:46PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118076562#Comment_118076562

They knew they were going into trap but the Atreides forces were stronger than the Harkonnens and they believed they could deal with them. Space travel is extremely expensive and controlled by the Guild and they thought they had time to prepare and form an alliance with the Fremen. However the attack that comes is massive and completely beyond anything they imagined. This is all in the film. The book goes into more detail about Thufir's failure to predict this (he was old, distracted etc) but the film conveys the basic point that they underestimated how threatened the emperor was and that he was prepared to send so many of his own forces. What's hinted at in the film and will be dealt with in part 2 is that there are other pressures on the emperor and the big power players - it wasn't just the Duke they were afraid of.

Wombatman · 26-10-2021 09:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118073556#Comment_118073556

To nit pick I think to importance of water on Arakas was more underplayed.

johnny_ultimate · 26-10-2021 09:51PM

Complete speculation, but there seems to be a lot of chatter that this vague, teasing tweet from Barry Keoghan is perhaps hinting that he might be in the running for Dune 2 (as Feyd i.e. Sting’s character)

https://twitter.com/barrykeoghan/status/1453072044451631111?s=21

For further context:

https://twitter.com/barrykeoghan/status/1441160657873801222?s=21

Sad Professor · 26-10-2021 10:14PM

Keoghan could work but I think I'd prefer Bill Skarsgard or Caleb Laundry Jones.

breezy1985 · 26-10-2021 10:28PM

I know it would be a carbon copy of his last big role but Charles Dance as the emperor would be fun

xper · 27-10-2021 02:01AM

Saw this on Monday on a big screen with good sound and it was a wonderful cinematic experience (which was a nice welcome back after 18 months). I had high expectations and they were met on pretty much all fronts. You know you're going to great imagery from Villeneuve but he has kicked on here in creating a complementary epic soundscape - I thought the use of sound and music just about overcame the fact that the soundtrack is, well, a little Hans Zimmery. He's overexposed at this stage, me thinks. Strong performances from the main cast members with Rebecca Ferguson really standing out. If anything, I think the film could have handled another few scenes in the first hour to flesh out a couple of the household characters and their relationships a bit more and maybe a bit more of the politics but I suppose the fact that the 2.5 hour running time flew by is a sign of good editing. And we were spared Josh Brolin singing.

I'm officially a Villeneuve fanboy at this stage. His last four films are crowding the upper reaches of my top ten for the last decade.

Delighted Part 2 is confirmed. Sting as emperor? You just know someone in WB is gonna suggest it!

Beechwoodspark · 27-10-2021 07:54AM

Not a fan of keoghan at all so it’s a no from me....

TheIrishGrover · 27-10-2021 09:39AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118077115#Comment_118077115

Well, you got to remember, this is simply part one. I'm trying not to give anything away but you have to remember, so far, Paul has had little exposure to Spice and they have been living in the Tyrell building... I mean, palace with access to water etc. I have confidence that they will delve into that later to a greater degree. As for the trippiness of the Spice visions, I liked what they have done so far. Very in keeping with Villneuve's style. I don't want to see lava-lamp blobs and tie-dyed backgrounds and sitar music :)

So really you have to remember:

Part 1: Fall of House Atreides/Pre Fremen

Part 2: Fremen/Usul/Muad D'ib/whatever

p to the e · 27-10-2021 10:24AM

Was very similar to Blade Runner 2049, which is okay in my book. I agree that there were some scenes were Zimmer's score took you out of the moment. As if it was being treated as its own character. I'm happy that a sequel has been greenlit. Even just to show that a film doesn't have to make a billion dollars to get a sequel. I haven't read the book(s) so I've no idea if the emperor gets some face time but how trippy would it be if David Lynch played him? I thought Rebecca Ferguson was the best in this and Stellan was suitably terrifying. The abundance of close ups of Chalamee and his angelic, sharply angled features left me bashful and very confused.

jones · 27-10-2021 01:34PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118069539#Comment_118069539

Thats exactly how i plan on watching it TV wise. One question how are you accessing HBO max using a VPN i presume?

opus · 27-10-2021 03:36PM

God Emperor of Dune was one of the first sci-fi books I read as a kid which sent me off on the series. Saw the movie last night & really liked the way it handled the storyline, must admit it was quite the disappointment when it just sort of stopped very much mid-way through. Two years is a solid wait as well.

Tar.Aldarion · 27-10-2021 04:00PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118076562#Comment_118076562

They talk about how much danger they are in before they even go to the planet, the thing they did not foresee was the emperor and house breaking the law and getting military aid and attacking in full force, which also would have been a disastrous battle for both sides anyway with their defenses. If anybody found out there would be a huge war with countless billions dying.

In the book it mentions that the attack alone cost 80 years worth of spice profits (and those yearly profits are huge as mentioned in the film), that's literally a lifetime of the wealth of the wealthiest people in the universe to throw away on that one assault, space travel is expensive. And this is the most valuable substance in the universe (with the empire spanning multiple galaxies) and only available in one place.

After the assassination attempt the head of security does a full check of everything and finds nothing, of which was correct. The thing I'll agree with that annoyed me in the books is one guy randomly turning off all defenses of a planet. And for such an important house, surely they'd have a way huger network than just one planet of people. If they are only sending 150k troops to wipe out one of the biggest houses in a multi galactic empire it always seemed puny, the scale did always seem way off.

As for watching the sky, ships don't fly in Dune, they fold space and appear, so they'd just be there instantly essentially, still the defense thing didn't make much sense, but it's just a vehicle for the story, in some way they lose.

breezy1985 · 27-10-2021 07:28PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118080804#Comment_118080804

The Atreides do still have Caladan and the house atomics but the bulk of their army is gone and the line of succession shot to bits so pretty neutered. But as Jessica originally hopes if they can get Paul off world or get word out about the Sardaukar attack the Landsratt great houses will rally round Atreides so they ain't out of the game in Dune

Also it doesn't matter how many planets they have because as soon as it becomes clear the guild are in on the ambush all their off Dune forces are essentially dead in the water

Wibbs · 27-10-2021 07:36PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118080674#Comment_118080674

I liked it, but the emptiness while looking great and being "arty" swamped the characters for me. So when tragedy struck any of them I felt no real engagement. EG the Harkonnens flatten the city I felt nada. It wasn't a city of people, it was a "thing" they flew over once. The traitor guy had similarly no real backstory or connection to the family, so his betrayal was also a "meh". The dragonfly thopters were well cool though. I thought it was well cast as well. I thought Kynes' casting was better than any of the other flims/TV series.

Watching it I was a little bit pissed off with how it was paced and ended. If I hadn't known the general story I'd have been even more pissed off. It left you wanting more, without giving you that much in the first place. It would be like watching the original Star Wars and it ending after Luke and Ben meet Han and the hairy fella in the bar. Roll credits. The longest most lovingly shot first act in film.

Though I can see why on thinking about it. I'd not be too surprised to find the second installment will be the second act not the rest of the first book. Why? Because I don't think it'll work as a longer term franchise for modern "tentpole" audiences, or the studio thinks so. Not unless they stray from the subsequent books. Got rid of the spoilers because this site is so shíte editing is hit and miss. The following narratives are no Godfather 2 or Empire strikes back that's for sure. Now clearly it and subsequent books worked for a reading audience but I'm not sure it will for a viewing audience beyond fans of the book. They may not be enough.

So I can see the studio thinking the same and figuring we'll make our money by stretching the first and best and saleable book story over two flics, maybe even three(with some of the second book in the mix) and pretend that the greenlighting of the second flic was in doubt to get more publicity. I mean they put the Zendaya lass in all the publicity stuff and she's a blink and you might miss her character in it.

breezy1985 · 27-10-2021 07:54PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118081908#Comment_118081908

Messiah and CoD will at best be HBO Max TV series and GEoD will never be touched by a studio for fear it becomes a Highlander The Quickening style laughing stock that needs to be desperately erased from the history books.

I do kinda reckon Dune part 2 was always gonna happen unless it was a complete flop. Seemed like a lot of faked worry from the main cast and crew

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune

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