Videos
Before getting into the movie, the only prior knowledge I had of Dune was that it was the quintessential Sci-Fi Novel that pioneered the Sci-Fi Genre much like Tolkien's Hobbit + Lord of the Rings Novels were for High Fantasy. And that Star Wars was heavily inspired by Dune. Because of that, I expected something FAR different from the movie I ended up seeing. While I already assumed it wouldn't look like Star Wars based on the promotional visuals, wow this looked was such a fever dream to watch (I watched the Theatrical cut of the 1984 movie, I forgot to mention that).
The CGI... kinda looked better than what I expected it to? They didn't use it much if not at all and mostly relied on practical effects which impressed me so much since I'm someone who grew up in the age where most movies rely on so much CGI.
As for the actual story, it's really interesting. It wasn't at all like the Sci-fi grand epic that I expected. Things were far more grounded and a lot of it felt like I was watching a fever dream. Some scenes didn't make sense to me, but maybe that's something I'll only understand upon rewatch.
I found the very look of the world itself to be very nauseating. I don't know how the remake handles it, but the 84 movie had this set design that I saw was widely praised for being great on a technical level, but oh boy- I think the reason why it's so easy for me to view fantasy as beautiful is cause more often than not, it's based off of nature and medieval landscapes. These places look dreary and hopeless and I'd have a mental breakdown if I was put into the Harkonnen planet. Dear lord it looked dreadful on a human level.
I'm not sure if this reflects the books, but I found Paul to be a really "okay" protagonist in the films. It's entirely possible I'm just missing on some key details because certain aspects of the movie confused me, but from what I was able to gather, he felt like a typical hero's journey character without the same level of charisma as Luke from Star Wars or the inner turmoil as Frodo from Lord of the Rings. Though, I heard the novels are far more psychological and maybe there is something missing from the films.
The score is amazing. I truly felt a sense of scale while listening to it. The worms are cool, though I don't know how the Fremens were able to survive or even start living in such a hostile environment for what could've been thousands of years.
The monologue in the beginning from the Princess I got a bit confused. Was she just narrating the history like what Galadriel did in the LOTR movie or does she have some grander role in the book?
I'm also assuming the book must be SUPER dense if the remake films are going for a trilogy where this film was only one movie. Maybe there was a ton of cut content. Which I can understand. The 2nd half felt like it was jumping around way too much then just using voice overs to detail what had happened in the time skip.
I think the film could've easily used at least 30 minutes to just flesh out things more. Despite feeling like the world is so weird and nauseating (I really don't mean this as an insult, I just don't know what other words to use), I still am very interested in the culture of the world.
Also why was the Baron of the Harkonnen's attacking and (what seemed like) either cannibalizing or sexually assaulting people? Was that a culture thing or was he really just that weird?
The villains I felt were a bit too cartoony for my taste. If that properly reflects what kind of villains are present in the book, then I think this would've worked better as an animated series or something instead.
The costumes are really neat.
What else what else..... Overall, I think it's an okay movie? I didn't really feel much investment while watching. After this I do plan on watching the remakes to see how a director with a different creative vision handles the same book. Very interested.
Also, I heard there was a 2000's dune, is that worth watching?
So I've seen Dune Part One and I cannot wait to see Dune Part Two. However, I was wondering if the original Dune by David Lynch is worth watching? I've never watched it because I've heard that it's not a good adaptation of the book and that David Lynch himself hated the movie. However, if one were to put that stuff aside and watch it on it's own merits or demerits as a stand-alone Sci-Fi movie, would it be worth watching or is it something to be avoided?