Is Dune any Good?

[zekko]

I have this impression that Dune has a very good reputation as a sci fi novel, but I've never read it. I did watch the original movie and then later I saw the mini-series. I have to say that I found none of it memorable, I couldn't get into it any point. But I have HBO Max and the opportunity to watch the new Dune movie, so I was thinking of giving it another chance. Is Dune actually a good book/movie/franchise, or is it just garbage?

 

[Billtx49]

If you didn’t like the first movie, you will definitely not like the current one. Mediocre film work, acting talent, and scripting all combined with a leave you hanging ending…
I thought it was Hollywood’s latest attempt to waste good quality film.

 

[metalwater]

Love the two-part mini on this. Very intense story. I would usually expect a trekker to love it, but no ??

 

[zekko]

I would usually expect a trekker to love it, but no ??

Not so far, but I may give it another chance with the new movie. The look of it reminds me more of Star Wars than Star Trek.

 

[Kotaix]

It's probably the best translation of the story to film so far, although I really did like the set building from the 80's version, which is about the only good thing I can still say for it. I tried watching it again recently and it's cringe.

Some parts of the newest movie are a bit stupid, but overall it's good.

 

[HaleyBaron]

No movie coming out these days is good, but what really kept me from watching it is that they included this talentless b*tch in it.

 

[Bokanovsky]

Not as good as the original movie. Of course, they had to inject a dose of hollyweird wokeness by making the fremen black/mixed race and basically making it a story about white people oppressing black people, which has absolutely nothing to do with the original source material.

 

[B80]

Read the first book, it's incredible. Highly recommend it.

Didn't bother with the others as read very mixed reviews.

Saw the 80's film when relatively young and didn't really enjoy or get it. Gets mediocre reviews in general.

 

[zekko]

@B80 I'm really not interested enough to read the book. At this point I might be willing to sit through a movie, and if that interests me enough,then maybe I'd consider looking at the book. At this point, I'm just not invested enough.

I've alaays heard that fans of the boom hated the original movie.

No movie coming out these days is good, but what really kept me from watching it is that they included this talentless b*tch in it.

Not a fan of Zendaya, I take it?

 

[zekko]

Not as good as the original movie. Of course, they had to inject a dose of hollyweird wokeness by making the fremen black/mixed race and basically making it a story about white people oppressing black people, which has absolutely nothing to do with the original source material.

Yeah, because we need more of THAT message spread around.
But Hollywood types think it makes them relevant.

 

[SW15]

Read the first book, it's incredible. Highly recommend it.

I read the book too. Good book.

 

[Zimbabwe]

Not as good as the original movie. Of course, they had to inject a dose of hollyweird wokeness by making the fremen black/mixed race and basically making it a story about white people oppressing black people, which has absolutely nothing to do with the original source material.

That's really disappointing, Denis Villeneuve is one of my favourite directors after he made Blade Runner 2049 and Prisoners. Looks like I won't be watching Dune of it's a wokefest

 

[Bokanovsky]

That's really disappointing, Denis Villeneuve is one of my favourite directors after he made Blade Runner 2049 and Prisoners. Looks like I won't be watching Dune of it's a wokefest

I like him too, which is why I was surprised by the woke aspect of the movie. I'm guessing that his hands were tied and he was told by the producers that the film would not see the life of day if it wasn't sufficiently woke. As an aside, the androgynous dude (previously best known for playing a gay teenager in another movie) is a terrible choice for the role of Paul Atreides. He's got less masculine energy than a bag of tampons.

 

[CAPSLOCK BANDIT]

Hollywood isn't weird enough to do Dune, this franchise was on like the cutting edge of creativity when it came to aliens, people, like Dune just had this weird, alien outlandishness to it that I struggle to capture myself, back in the day it was easy but now you need like a mind like Marilyn Mansion or something just hard core I don't give a ****

 

[zekko]

I'm guessing that his hands were tied and he was told by the producers that the film would not see the life of day if it wasn't sufficiently woke.

This woke stuff is absolutely ridiculous, as is the pressure on the studios to support it. I saw a video where they showed Rotten Tomatoes scores for various woke films. And the critics scores are very high while the audience scores are very low. Because they critics are afraid to say anything negative or they will get cancelled. For instance, Hannah Gadsby (lesbian comedian), her special is rated 100% by critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience rated it only 26%.

 

[typical]

Not as good as the original movie. Of course, they had to inject a dose of hollyweird wokeness by making the fremen black/mixed race and basically making it a story about white people oppressing black people, which has absolutely nothing to do with the original source material.

LOL you really need to read up on Herberts interpretation of his novel. The new Vision lines up with the Authors vision almost perfectly. Remember that Herbert borrowed extensively the traditions religions (especially Islam) and culture of the Middle East Arab people to create his "universe", most of whom, last I checked were of coloured and dark skinned decent.

His novel is most definitely a sci-fi epic BUT it draws comparisons to how our civilisation has raped the lessor nations in South America, Africa and the middle east to profit from their raw resources and turn the western world into global economies. Think of "Spice" as Oil or Gold or Diamonds or other precious metals and you will see the socioeconomic and political agenda the author had especially since Herbert was a Journalist in his career.

Also in this new movie instead of using boring voice over narrative the director has picked sweeping vistas to depict the setting and visually tell you the story. I suggest reading the novel and history behind writing the novel and THEN watching this new release its extremely good.

So it's not woke but now finally true to the source material

 

[Bokanovsky]

LOL you really need to read up on Herberts interpretation of his novel. The new Vision lines up with the Authors vision almost perfectly. Remember that Herbert borrowed extensively the traditions religions (especially Islam) and culture of the Middle East Arab people to create his "universe", most of whom, last I checked were of coloured and dark skinned decent.

I’m not sure where you checked but you may want to try a different source. “Middle East Arab people” are most certainly not black (and would likely get quite offended by the comparison).

 

[typical]

I’m not sure where you checked but you may want to try a different source. “Middle East Arab people” are most certainly not black (and would likely get quite offended by the comparison).

I read Herbert’s own writings in which he discusses the use of not only Middle East and Islamic traditions but also that of North African traditions.

He also mentioned it in a few of his interviews.

Honestly a lot of you guys need to take the “Merica” blinkers off and see the world for what it is.

Edit: also House Atreides speak a language derived from Mandarin and utilise plenty of sign language to converse secretly. Herbert also describes them as having a more “East Asian” look.

So sorry to burst your so called image that the movie should have had all white actors as it still fails to encompass everything Herbert wanted.

Herbert himself regarded his novels not as science fiction but more akin to cultural and religious commentary especially that of Islam. I could dive more deeply into exactly what themes and ideas Herbert wanted to write about but I reckon I’d be talking to people who wouldn’t be able to accept things as they were written in the novels and later explained by Herbert himself.

Even this current movie works extremely hard not to mention Jihad and instead call it Holy War.

 

[zekko]

I finally found time to watch it. Eh, it was okay. I forgot it had Jason Momoa and Bautista in it (small parts). Strikes me as a sort of poor man's Star Wars, but a little darker and more serious, but still kind of silly, if that makes sense. Seemed kind of slow. I don't know, I enjoyed it on some level, but it just doesn't seem to resonate with me the way it's supposed to. I'm not buying into it like they want me to. Just not my thing, I guess. But it was alright, I didn't think it was terrible, one of those "okay if you really want to see a movie" ratings.

 

[Bokanovsky]

So sorry to burst your so called image that the movie should have had all white actors as it still fails to encompass everything Herbert wanted.

Reading and comparison is obviously not your strong suit. I never said that the movie should have all white actors. I said that Hollywood made it a movie about white people oppressing black people, which has nothing to do with the original source material. I have no idea how you managed to make that leap of logic.