I really liked the first three books. After that it went downhill for me. I think I gave up at the beginning of book 5.
I'm a Sci-Fi action nerd, and I've been trying to figure out why this movie and trailer doesn't do it for me. And I think there are two answers. 1. The lead. Unless they're going for a the tween/teen/early 20's girl swoon audience, this guy is just a little too 'Disney' for what I consider a lead in a Sci-Fi Action movie. Maybe there's a reason based on the books, which I found boring and put down 30 years ago. Whatever the reason, I hope the kid nails it, but I have my reservations. 2. The specter of the original Dune. There are just too many similarities in the trailer to the original movie from the 80s. I guess they can't help if both movies are true to the book. Anyway, I'll watch it but not in the theater, and I'll even pay VOD to watch it because my wife and oldest son would enjoy it, but not super hyped for it.
If you could not finish the book, or even the series, you probably will not appreciate the movie as much as others. It depends on what one calls Sci-Fi. Unfortunately futuristic pieces get dumped into Sci-Fi, as do techie presentations. First, Dune is not techie. At all. Its primary story is about politics, religion and in part, sociology. Herbert had enough insight into Sci-Fi to wisely bury the techie stuff into the past so his work did not seem dated a decade after it was released. The biggest example is the Butlerarian Jihad, AK the Machine Wars. Think of Terminator/Matrix with the machines losing and humans forever banning thinking machines. He essentially eliminated the need for futuristic gadgetry that would be extremely dated to the reader. He also eliminated the use of WMD's like nukes by also burying it in religious dogma. Again, this removes the nonsense like we find in Independence Day. His series is telling a story about humans in the future, not what technology would look like in hundreds or thousands of years. I really hope Dune takes off and they doesnt go the route of HBO's GoT. GRRM's ASOIF is about the conflict between the Targarians of Fire and the the icy dead of the immortals in the North, not the stupid throne. While in the initial Dune book, Paul Ateides seems like the savior of Dune seeking revenge against his family, the series goes on into a much darker direction. By the obvious names of future books, he becomes a Messiah and indirectly unleashes a great jihad that results in the annihilation of many worlds, whether he intentionally or unintentionally unleashes this brutality (this is a pretty common discussion in this series). The pain Paul receives when he puts his hand in the box is not physical pain. Its him feeling the pain to come from everyone in the universe resulting from his actions. If he can't handle this pain, then he is obviously not the chosen one thus the threat of death if he tries to remove it. This is analogous with modern religions with the initial intent of Messiahs bringing promising redemption but ultimately great death and destruction. Its a story of chaos vs orderly that is routinely found in fiction and non fiction. Dune is such a book that you could have 10 of the best directors of all time and each would present a very different story. Jodorowskys script was more about a rise of a Messiah, very dark and messy. Lynch's 1984 movie was mostly about revenge and rise of a great leader. the 2000 series was more of an attempt of a literal script lift from the books. Im not sure where the 2020 series is going. I feel like its mostly world building and giving an actual visual conception and focusing on the interactions of each character, leaving the nuanced story left up to the viewer. If this goes well, it could very well be the next franchise.
Great perspective! So the gist I'm getting is that the books are science-fantasy, which I have no issues with. There are very few pure, hard sci-fi books out there these days. I think you sold me on giving the books another try.
Just FYI. Many others shared this trend with me in regards to the books; Dune (book 1) a great read and a great stopping point. Book 2 was a good read too. Book 3 was a bit of a chore. Many people found it hard to finish Books 4, 5 and 6, including myself. Here is a good quick synopsis of the books. https://www.howtoread.me/dune-reading-order/ My overly simplistic explanation of Herberts theme is history is doomed to repeat itself. This is MY interpretation: The Chronicles of Dune state very little is known about origin of life, except it came from Earth, and very very little is known. A great messiah (JC/Muhammed) rises out from Dune (Paul Atreides. Middle East. Spice is Oil) and leads great jihads that end up going terrible (The crusade wars, ect). Dune is terriformed into a green hospitable planet and a new God (Pauls son) emerges who lives on for centuries, realizing absolute power is the only way to keep the true religious heretics at bay.(I would say this the modern belief of Science over ignorant religion). Eventually the God (of science) is overthrown and the heretics return in attempt to bring back the old ways of Dune. I believe Herbert was starting to see religious dogma entering science in our modern times.
Thanks. I'd rather read it than a synopsis. If I choke on it again I'll check out your link. Re: religion & science: Check out Daniel Suarez's Change Agent. It's based in the near future and the next Industrial Revolution is gene editing, but since the US is so steeped in religious turmoil, the gene editing 'silicon valley' switches to Singapore where there are far less religious compunctions.
This may or may not concern you and your experience with it: I started it back in January as an audiobook and failed after a dozen+ chapters. Just an FYI/suggestion to try it as a hard copy, which is what I’m restarting with now. I’m persevering through this time because I’m desperate to know why it’s got such glowing reviews. Coming up with my own pronunciation of the names, being able to flip pages back and forth, both are helping me stick with it more than just audio.
I’m 75% through and I feel bad for not reading it slower. There’s so many things happening, so many characters that are going to become important through the series, and so much lore to absorb, that it must be read slowly and pondered to do it justice. I refuse, however, to get sucked into reading the rest of the series. It may be worth it but I can’t afford to give it the mind space at this point. Parts of it are straight up making me feel sad, while others make me angry. I can’t identify the reason, but it reminds me of feelings drawn out by Rick & Morty. I now actively avoid Dan Harmon stuff as a result. I think it’s hopelessness, but I can’t say for sure.
I agree with this and to add there is a lot of technology and future stuff in it such as the Guild Ships, ornithopters, lasguns and etc.. but the story isn't about that. The technology is more there to flesh out the universe that Herbert creates. Certainly multiple directors could make very different movies from the book given how dense and complex it is but that's also why it is so difficult to make a movie out of it. Personally I think if you do Dune justice in other media it needs to be a drawn out series.
this movie is still dope, visually it's awesome even with the Intellivision graphics. Sting, Captain Picard classic
I agree with you about Herbert’s novels going “downhill” after the initial 3. In fact, the three were marketed as a trilogy for a good stretch of time, from what I remember. I first read Dune in 1965 when I got my SF Bookclub copy and read it again in 1977 in paperback while traveling. It was mind blowing in ‘65 and has held up very well over the years, in my opinion. I was very disappointed with the ‘84 movie. I thought it was almost comically wrong in so many ways. I’ve been waiting a very long time for someone to do it justice, and after watching the trailer again recently via HBO/Max, multiple times at home on a good display and excellent sound, I’ve changed my opinion. I’ve become really excited about it. I like Timoth’ee Chalamet in the role of Paul. @rocketsjudoka made several good comments about the cast and the appearance of Arrakis in the trailer and I think he’s on target. Paul is very young in the novel and Chalamet fits the description. It would be hard to cast a better actor for the role of Paul’s father than Oskar Isaac as Duke Atreides, in my opinion. In fact, the entire cast, from what I’ve seen (and I watched the excellent 17 minute interview by Steven Colbert), is a huge improvement over the cast of the ‘84 film, as are the special effects. The Worm has turned!
