"Rapid" Review - Dune (2021)
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- Опубликовано: 30 дек 2021
- Welcome to another Rapid Review. The first few minutes are spoiler free and I'll give you a few pros and cons as well as my overall rating of the film.
After which, I will go a little more in depth about aspects I like and dislike and won't avoid spoilers as I talk about the film. 
Развлечения
If any adaptations of your work end up as beautiful and brilliant as Dune, I'll die a happy person. Fantastic review!
When I finished watching Dune, I had the same feeling. I want to one day see a Stormlight show or movie, but know it would be very hard to do it live action. If it could be handled like this movie, though, than it's totally possible.
Great channel!
@@liamhemmings9039 what
Being a book that spends most of the time inside people minds, this is as good as an adaptation can be. I love it. I just hope it gives people the will to read the books. All of them.
i'm inclined to agree, it's as good as an adaptation can be *provided* that adaptation is a movie and not some other format.
After people started watching the movie, The books Dune and Dune Messiah reached #1 and #4 in the top sells chart
agreed that's quite difficult, but for me the previous film managed it far better
totally. Dune is incredible, as a book, and they adapted it perfectly. I was blown away.
absolutely
My favorite part of the film is that the two "quips" of the movie are incredibly in character and point to the original lore in such a clever way. When the Duke Leto tells Gurney to smile in the beginning of the film, and Gurney replies that he is, he isn't being totally sarcastic. The side of his cheek displays the inkvine scar given to him by a harkonnen whip at the hands of Rabban, and the thing about inkvine whips is that the pain from that whip doesn't go away, so for the rest of his life, he can't smile painlessly. The duke knows this, but they've been friends for so long, that he has made it a point to poke fun at him for it during moments like these.
The second scene where the Tlielaxu creature is forced out by the Reverend Mother Mohaim, its a subtle play of intrigue between the Bene Tlielax, the Harkonnens, and the Bene Gesserit, where a test is conducted to see how much the Voice affects certain creations at their hand. That, and the creature is likely a messenger for the Tlielax, used to confirm what they want from the Harkonnens, like a recording-creation similar to what Bijaz did in Messiah. It might also be that the Reverend Mother Mohaim also knew that the voice extended to an unholy Tlielaxu creation, and made it a point to utilize the voice to confirm that their experiments had failed to yield fruit.
I love that Dune takes itself so seriously, and that Marvel does not. I’m glad we get both.
Marvel should ton down comedy, just a bit, it is fun, but sometimes i feel like im watching parody
@@worlddd7777 it's like you're waiting for the punchline to every scene
@@worlddd7777 In Hawkeye in particular, it was so over-the-top and goofy in some aspects that it was hard to take the emotional scenes seriously.
In my opinion Marvel is the worst thing that has happened to cinema. Not only the ridiculous cringeworthy forced humor that completely undermines any stakes and tension that the movie is trying to build up but mostly the fact that they make the same movie with the same type of character again and again. Its Just so formulaic and predictable and infects any other movie that attempts to do something different. Just look at how difficult the production of Dune was because of the fear it would be to serious and dark for the mainstream audience
@@slinksjoch I don't know. If you can make billions of people around the world cry for the death of a character, you gotta be doing something right. And I can't get behind the characters feeling the same. Their arcs, flaws and personalities are easy to point out and identify. Cap's blind love for authority isn't the same as Thor's childish ego or Iron Man's narcissism. Does Marvel overdo the humor. Yeah. But there are multiple characters in the MCU that were taken seriously, like Wanda and Bucky and Black Widow. Marvel is not destroying cinema. Let's get a grip.
I think that it's important to note that Jessica only shows her emotional vulnerability when she is alone or with only the family. The fact that she goes from her panic attack back to completely composed poker face as soon as she walks through the door actually made me feel more impressed with the character than I was in the books. I don't think this movie would have been as fun to watch if they kept the cast in the deep political mind game emotionless mask that Dune characters use for the entire film.
I had a discussion with a friend about it - I think that allowing the character to have emotional vulnerability does not undermine their strength - and it's kind of necessary to make us care about what happens. It's kind of unfortunate though that Denis defaults to using the female character as emotional support for unemotional males in his movies - in that respect, the way he justified why kynes was a woman in his adaptation is kinda revealing: he says women are nurturers and guardians, which is fitting for an ecologist.
i'm really split on that : on one hand, archetypes are powerful narrative tools, on the other hand they can turn into shallow stereotypes. I'm not really a fan of a form of "feminism" that consists of putting women on a pedestal as supernaturally kind or nurturing or whatever.
@@maximeteppe7627 This is largely the case of the source material too (I've been reading through the beginning of Dune, and Jessica seems to cry or be on the edge of a breakdown constantly - not unsurprisingly, given the circumstances. But it does make me wonder why people complain about her in the film). Denis doesn't really tend to write his movies. He also has a lot of female protagonists, so I wouldn't put him in the Chris Nolan camp of writing 'men in suits' movies. I'd say you're not too wrong about there not being that many emotionally vunerable men in his films though (Prisoners might buck that trend a little, as the other father represents a ton of emotional vunerability - moreso than I think the other female characters necessarily do), but that seems more like an issue of script selection.
@@GrandHighGamer I should clarify, I don't think the men in Villeneuve movies are unemotional, but they tend to bottle up until reaching a breaking point - an in the meantime it's up to female characters to express what's going on under the surface for them, to a degree. I'm mostly thinking of K in 2049 here.
I must admit Prisoners is a hole in my Villeneuve filmography. My understanding is that Jackman's character starts off as a stoic hypermasculine man before tragic events force him to break in rage, and hopefully change a little before he reaches a point of no return. If that's the case he'd fit that pattern of destructive men vs nurturing women.
Well in the book she never shows emotion externally but has internal struggles.
For a movie without Lynch style voice-overs there is no way to portrait that really.
Same reason why the dinner scene is left out.
I will say, the one Jessica change I felt hurt her character is by her saying she bore a son to get the KH instead of doing it out of the love of her Duke. It hurts their relationship too. Besides that I adored her adaptation
I really enjoyed having Jessica recite the "fear is the mindkiller" mantra during the Gom Jabbar scene where it's in Paul's mind during the book. Neat way of handling the transition from a book to a movie. Bit sad that we didn't get the full bit about "human vs animal", how each would handle being trapped, but it's already going to be effectively a 5 hour movie, so things had to be cut.
Very poor stillsuit discipline, though, they should all be dead.
The God Emperor would be appalled by the numerous uncovered faces.
Sooooo is Villeneuve going to adapt Mistborn? =P
Yes please!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMG It would be so amazing ...
No, save Villeneuve for Stormlight. I know, it's more likely to be 'tv' series, but a man can dream.
@@rhystaylor6939 or better yet for the entire cosmere ☺️
I actually don’t think Villeneuve’s style is as well suited to the Cosmere.
If I could have one wish, it would be that every adaptation of beloved books remained as faithful as this movie.
Indeed...
Cough wheel of time cough cough
It's striking, comparing this review, to the watch party of episode 8 with Brandon and Matt....
In one hand, pure enthusiasm and elation, on the other, tortured face and hands, Brandon doing his best to remain calm and polite. Low key passive aggressive jabs at the production, beneath the open "praise".
Zero enthusiasm. Mostly anxiety on full display.
Probably the best movie I've seen in the last number of years. I never once thought things were going slow, if anything it almost felt like we were rushing through the plot and I wouldn't mind if it had taken it a little slower. I think this is a shining example of what adaptation done right and treating the source material with respect can create something amazing, and is a clear point against other adaptations who say thing like; 'this' can't be done/adapted, or audiences don't/wouldn't enjoy 'this'. I sincerely hope that if we ever get Cosmere adaptations that they go the route of Dune.
The only time it felt slow to me was when I had...drank too much soda...
Let’s hope for that Villeneuve EXTENDED cut… 🤞
Probably the worst movie I’ve seen in the last number of years.
@@markymarkzero wow. What IS the best movie you’ve seen in the last number of year?
@@markymarkzero yeah, well movies are subjective. I personally cried of joy several times the first time I saw it
I have come to terms with the fact that movies are shorter than books and because of that things will just have to be cut. That being said if a director is going to cut a scene I really liked in a book it bothers me a lot when they add in a scene that wasn't in the book instead, especially when it changes the nature of a character.
Dune did a great job at cutting things and combining scenes but not adding in new scenes for seemingly no reason.
Having never read the book, but immensely enjoying the movie, I am glad to hear this. Just wish that the adaptations of some of my favorite books would do the same...
As someone who was firmly of the opinion that a Dune visual adaptation should never have been made I have to say that I consider it a damn miracle that it turned out so well and the fact that I actually enjoyed it and it visually represents Frank Herbert's writing in such excellent fashion is something that makes me very happy. Along with everyone else on the planet I say bravo Mr. Villeneuve.
The biggest thing I missed having in the film was the tension between Jessica and Leto where he was pretending to suspect her of being the traitor, due to the Harkonnens.
10/10, tho. Very much loved the movie!
I think it gets replaced by a slightly different tension where Leto knows that Jessica knows things that he doesn't - like where he says "I'm not asking you, I'm asking the Bene Gesserit." and he knows he's in trouble.
Dune gives me hope that your books can be adapted and adapted the way they deserve.
I would give it a 9.5/10. Everything in the movie is drop dead gorgeous and well-written, but there were a couple cut scenes from the book - including a couple with Yueh - that I felt added more layers to the story. That said, this is definitely my favorite movie of the year and it's not even close.
The moment I saw Dune I understood how Stormlight could work as an adaptation. As a newly graduated film student there's literally nothing more exciting!!!
(Edit: Obviously Stormlight is too large to be a feature film, but the way Villeneuve handled the characters and world building kind of put the puzzle together in my mind.)
I would LOVE to see a Stormlight adaptation, but as you said it couldn't work as a film.
However, it COULD work as a TV/Streaming series, but it MUST IMO follow 2 criteria which I doubt could be achieved:
1) 16-20 Episode per season (Either 1hr to 1 1/2hr per episode) . Each book is huge and IMO requires enough episodes to get enough world building in and character development without rushing things.
2) Each season needs a budget of AT LEAST 300-400 million. This is a lot of money, but again to really do it justice you IMO should have great cast not necessarily all A listers either. Need a great Crew, Director and DOP for sure. You defiantly want to do location shooting if at all possible and big sets for indoor shoots. As much practical effects as possible and obviously a big CGI budget. Also you are going to need a lot of extras for the big combat scenes.
I am probably missing other items for sure but a quick summary. I would love it to happen, but you need someone (studio's) with the courage to take a big risk and go all in with it.
@@Thrawn878 My initial thoughts were quite similar, but I think realistically for a first season the most one could expect is 10-12 episodes and a budget of $10-15 million per episode. I think that's quite achievable ESPECIALLY if you don't cast many A listers and are intentional with how you use the camera to give the sense of scope/scale without needing an actual army of extras. One of the things Dune did incredibly well was limiting the camera movements to what is physically possible and not having the crazy untethered CG flying camera that a lot of sci-fi films overuse. I think doing something similar both grounds the story visually, but could also allow for some incredibly striking frames during certain moments where, for example, characters find themselves windrunning through a highstorm.
@@KevinChukel Upon further thinking about it I think you got a point there.
Though I would add is it possible to have 90min episodes to again get a little more meat on the bone?
Your executive producer/ show runner needs to have a vision and stick to it (like Denis or Ridley Scott)
The studio (s) need to be hands OFF and stay out of the kitchen.
Brandon Sanderson must be involved and maybe .... (not sure on this) have final say on things or at least a strong input though this does contradict the let the showrunner do there thing, but Brandon stamp of approval would be critical for me.
This is off topic but this is the only way to interact with you, Brandon. I wanted to quote something of yours in The Way of Kings (by Wit, if I remember correctly). "The purpose of a storyteller is not to try and tell people what to do, but to give people things to think about."
I found this very profound and I also think it's the reason that your books, as well as this Dune adaptation, are incredible. I feel that overall too many people try to tell you what the moral of the story is, rather than let you make up your own mind based on the characters and events.
Thanks! I have always tried to follow that idea in my stories.
they definitely didn't combine rabban and feyd ratha, the latter will simply be introduced in the second movie to not overload the audience with too many characters at once.
I agree. With everything being faithful it would be weird without Feyd. He's the anti-Paul. It seems like in the books you get Feyd fighting in the pits at Geidi Prime. Maybe that just didn't fit in the scope of the first film. I could be misremembering that. It's been a while since I read it.
I mostly agree with you. I've read the books several times and love Dune as one of the major scifi works of all time. I was a bit frustrated when it ended though and I wonder if non-readers will be interested in part 2. We who read the books know that part 2 will be more action filled. But i was frustrated knowing i have to wait at least 2 years for the conclusion.
I loved the visuals and the set design and the story telling and the actors, most of them, did it very well. I think i'd give it an 8 or 9 out of 10.
This movie adptation is in my opinion the best movie of the last decade for me. When I imagine Mistborn having an adaptation I imagine it a little bit like that, with a big emphasis on architecture/background, music and very "intelligent" (is it the right word?) cinematographic shoots that make us so immerse in it, that once the movie is over you can't go back to reality.
Gad I hope you're right.
The biggest issue with adapting Mistborn is, well, the mist. It'd be very hard to convey that people can't see through the mist while the audience can.
I’m so happy to hear how much you loved the film. I read the first book in preparation, and after I saw the movie I was blown away. It was as if the movie confirmed all these things that I imagined in my mind’s eye but at the same time solidified them in a way that I understood Dune even more after having watched the movie.
Thanks for putting your voice forward on this. I feel like you properly represented all of us Dune fans that are so content in this movie. I was so comfortable leaving the theater knowing the world would see what I had just seen. Absolutely magnificent movie, incredible cast and acting, the best cinematography I've ever seen.
I may not be a respected writer like you are Mr. Sanderson (agent Smith voice) so being able to share this video to speak for me is invaluable. Thank you.
I had the distinct pleasure of taking my dad to see this film. He read Dune when the book first came out, has been a fan for decades, and this was probably the best cinematic experience I've had since the Lord of the Rings films came out.
I haven't actually read Dune myself though, so I just picked it up and will correct that next year!
what did he think of it
He really enjoyed it, though he didn't know ahead of time that it was only half the book so that took him by surprise.
He did mention a few ways the characters were different and some things that were more explicit in the book, but still liked the film.
As a former art student, hearing you talk about the use of negative soace just... oh my heart! Art and film literacy are so important. It really broadens the scope of what you see when you watch a film.
I'm so glad that you did this review! I love the book AND I love the 1984 movie too... So much that I even have the original Dune video game for PC (circa 1992-3ish) Thus, I was VERY afraid that this movie was going to be "Hollywoodized" (a thing that substitutes story "set pieces" for a plot that has logic) it's a problem which is making movies unbearable for me to watch anymore.
...BUT with such a powerful endorsement from the master of storytelling AND master of articulating the processes of storytelling, I honestly just purchased the movie! Thank you Brandon! "Stars Guide YOU!" (and your fabulous team!)
Fayd-Rautha also did not make his appearance until the 2nd half of the book, and I am happy to report that his role has been confirmed for the Dune Pt. 2 movie!
As someone who is obsessed with the Dune books, this is an excellent review of the new movie. I have been recommending this movie to anyone who I know who has a hard time "getting into" the first book. You are completely right in saying that it is still a bit slow by modern standards. However, the movie was filmed in such a beautiful manner that my friends have been able to watch it and enjoy it.
One thing not you did not heavily mention (but did in passing) was the music. The score for the movie was per-fec-tion. Bagpipes and all. Each piece was used in an appropriate place and gave viewers an emotional response. It was all music that I could easily see existing within Frank Herbert's world.
Long live bagpipes!
Hearing Brandon talk Sci Fi as opposed to Fantasy, I am so ready for the Space Opera era of the cosmere
I couldn't stop thinking about Brandon's BYU lessons while watching the film: it seems as if Villeneuve is following them step by step in order to introduce the worldbuilding elements in a dynamic and enticing way.
@Day yeah, pretty much that :)
I was in a trance watching this at the theater. When it went black at the end I literally thought to myself, "alright we're half way through this movie, can't wait for what's next." I had no idea 2.5 hours went by lol
"atmospheric mood piece" is the description I was looking for, thank you.
Too bad WoT got Rafe and not Denis or at least a lesser known version of Denis :(
Love this review. Always great to hear your take on varied media.
We have waited SO LONG for this, and it has paid off. This *is* the pay off of the promise made to us as fans of this book.
Personally, I have a large tolerance for changes between media, and I think you touched the one point that puts this movie above previous attempts - it gets the *mood* right.
Watching the film I got the same *feelings* evoked in me as I did in the book, which for me means the translation did it's job. The visuals are spot-on, and they evoke the theme of a broken empire so well.
I love this, I really hope they don't mess with the second part.
I love analog sci-fi. Buttons and levers and blades and triggers over neural-linked holographic magic controlling everything. I love that sci-fi has those cool hologram interfaces and things, but it started to feel like every movie was doing that for the past decade. Part of Dune's charm to me is the same as early Star Trek, Star Wars, Blade Runner and the rest. The technology was good but not utopian. Flying cars that still run on fossil fuels. Space travel made possible by giant sandworm cocaine. Ornithopters with moving wings are not practical in a sandy environment, but it said "these people aren't native" without saying it out loud. They could have copped out and made some anti-grav engines, but they went with wings. Man's struggle against nature instead of working with it reflected in a background aspect.
The whole thing felt human and believable. Feudal dukes and barons fighting over power, charismatic leaders that aren't necessarily the good guys, and settings that didn't rely on a overdone CGI to exist. It's refreshing to see focus on the human characters rather than shiny futuristic tech. Even the computers are human, as they were on earth originally. Thufir was a big teddy bear and I want to hug him and his cute little parasol.
I love your comment about analog sci-fi. Every movie and TV show now has those big see-through touchscreens suspended in mid-air that the characters have to tap at with their fingers. So obviously fake CGI. I prefer to see characters have to press buttons and turn control knobs. Makes it more real.
Great review, sir! Thank you. Happy new year!
Please more reviews of movies and series! Love them all!
It's always interesting to see a review / analysis of a professional writer.
My favorite author gushing about my favorite film of 2021 which was an adaptation of my (2nd) favorite book of all time! He nailed it when he said this was an adaptation on the level of the Lord of the Rings series. Its not a scene for scene adaptation, but it is one of the most faithful. I'm praying the second film is on par with the first and we can have a true classic.
The only nitpicks I had about this film was Mapes sheathing the Crysknife without drawing blood, and a little disappointed they cut the 'Jessica could be the traitor' subplot for time. I wanted more Thufir Hawat!
Great review, Brandon. Happy new year to you and yours!
Never read one of your books...
I'll get there, but I must say...
I've been following your reviews recently and you are getting much more natural on screen.
Kudos!
You're already the best movie reviewer on youtube lol. Loved your analysis. It would be awesome if you did this same format review for the 1st season of the Wheel of Time show.
Best movie of the year easily
Never read Dune but this is one of the best scifi films I've ever seen. It's kind of what I always wished Star Wars was. The amazing set design and galactic spanning politics of those movies but spacious, quiet, with room to breathe and soak in the atmosphere. Not a lot of dialogue. I love, love, love how quiet the movie is.
Agreed, and Dune story in general is great because there are no good or bad guys or hero to save the day
@@worlddd7777 I love dune, but if you dont call the Baron Harkonnen a super stereotypical badguy you are blind honestly. The torture, sadism and mustache twirling evilness of the Baron in the books is very on the nose. The fact he is still an AMAZING character speaks more for Herbert's writing ability than it does for Harkonnen's character.
@@ProvidenceNL Sure, but who exactly is good guy? Paul, future Hitler, or Fremen future genocidal faction, mad sister Alia or maybe God Emperor and his tyranny
Did you like how paul kills a man at the end of the movie... thats dune... no mickey mouse super hero shit.. these are all humans , in a human world ... just in the future. Lol
One of the issues of the movie when I saw it was the first few seconds when the titles ran and you read "part one". At the time, it was questionable if we would get a second half and it really put a downer on the experience. I loved the movie (read the series but not the biggest fan) and I'm so glad the studio has got behind finishing the first book. I hope we get Messiah and Children on the big screen.
The Sardaukar Hamburger chant was the most faithful adaptation to the books
Great review. :-)
I'd just point out they haven't removed Feyd-Rautha as a character, Villeneuve has mentioned he will appear in the second half of the adaptation. They just didn't want to overburden the story with too many characters, hence a focus on Glossu-Rabban and the baron in this first half.
This!!!
I loved this movie. I've read the original Herbert books a couple times now and grew up on the Lynch version. That being said, I wish they would've made the desert look more interesting, especially where they filmed this at. I have spent months hiking and backpacking through deserts in southwestern America and deserts can be extremely diverse and colorful. Wadi Rum where they filmed this is extremely deep and rich in color, it seems they specifically toned down the natural color for this version of Dune when the books always made me feel like the varied deserts on Dune where full of rich color and multitudes of textures. Hope we see more of that in the sequel. Acting and plot adaption was some of the best Ive seen in a very long time though.
The desert *should* feel muted and unfriendly because it's a foreign land for Paul and Jessica at this point in the story. No doubt the Fremen will show the natural beauty of the land in Part 2 and then it will be more visually inviting to the audience because the desert is now "home".
I'm not sure if they combined stings character with Dave batista, they might just be saving feyd for part 2. He doesn't do anything in the first half of the book anyways
Such a great review Brandon. This was as perfect an adaptation of the book that I think we can get as well. 10/10 for me too.
Rapid review. 16 minutes. Never change Brandon. Never change.
Great analysis, resonates a lot with me! I read Dune right away (for the 1st time) after watching it. Then, when I got to the part where the movie ended, I watched the movie again. And I was astounded by the transfer of the soul from the book to the movie.
I have been waiting for this video so long! Thank you!
Please get the director of Dune to make one of your book adaptations, Brandon!
you know what's not respectful to the source material? rafe's adaptation of the Wheel of time...
This was the best movie I have seen in years, It was the best experience in a movie theatre I've ever had. Wonderful. I am happy Brandon Sanderson liked it, he is one of the best writers nowadays and his opinion worths quite a bit to me.
Best regards and happy holidays!!
Same. I absolutely love hearing him pick movies apart. His thoughts are so intelligently laid out. It is also always extremely respectful of what and who he critisizes.
I don't know if they are necessarily combining the two nephews. I think they are just saving Feyd for the second film. In the first half of book he doesn't do much. He has one scene where he is just hanging out and the Baron tells him that he needs to be ready to take over one day. And that's it. I think he will be introduced in the second film where he has much more to do.
Brandon, great video! I also loved Dune. We spoke on reddit once about the nature of adaptation and how it often requires changes to be made to fit the medium. (In reference to the Wheel of Time series) The Harry Potter movies were mentioned as the third movie is often regarded as a highlight of the franchise despite being probably the most different from the novels. Some say this is due to the difference, being that it gave fans a fresh experience; I believe it's that Alfonso Cuaron just gave the films a more creative directorial style. This Dune movie seems to hit the sweet spot. Thoughts?
(Also loved Wheel of Time! Especially the first episode. I defiantely see what you mean about it being adapted like Harry Potter.)
HAVE they combined the two nephews? Or did they just not include Feyd Rautha because he would have nothing to do in this film. It's been confirmed that we will get the gladiator scene in Deuxn 2: Dune It Again. I suspect they will introduce Feyd with that ritual combat at the start of the movie.
Feyd exists only to be exposited at with Piter. He advanced no plot, has no agency (in the part of the book that this film covers). Rabban is the same. We didn't need three Harkonens who don't do anything but be there to bounce world building info dumps off of.
I heard we get Feyd next movie, and if we going to have the book sequels also made into movies I think it's important to have him to beef up understanding of
Spoiler alert
How much of a creep the Baron is. I don't want him to be essentially possessing a person later without knowing the type of character he is, it won't have the same weight.
I think the pros and cons you have are spot on -
I would love to have had one complete movie.... ..... but I think that is what also hamstrung the earlier movie .... there's just too much to cover while also spending time on the details that give the whole thing narrative cohesion.
Denis brings a perfect atmosphere to the film from the visual art, to the sound, to the scale and placement of the characters art and sound all within a space that dwarfs everything.
It is by far the best representation of the book.
And just to lean into it again - the art/visual stylization! it's just so incredibly well put together and beautiful.
The score and art blend together seamlessly without ever being generic and having that kind of partnership between so many different creators to achieve something that has this deep and rich of a character is rare.
Honestly, Dune is definitely not my favorite sci-fi universe, I don't think it's bad in any way, but not my favorite cup of tea - this movie easily managed to overcome my often 'meh' feelings about Dune in general and I think that said a lot to me about how expertly the film was made.
And to that point, anything in the movie I didn't like was something that I didn't like in the book / overall setting of Dune. I think that again really speaks to the quality of it as an interpretation. It doesn't matter is there are parts of the universe I don't like, it matters that it was captured well for the film. One example being the hand gesture language stuff, there's nothing inherently bad about it, just not something I love - but the movie captures it exactly as it was and keeps it in context excellently.
I loved it, and agree with all your points. Such a huge book, in so many respects. Also love Lynch's version - I watched it so many times at throughout my teens and through my 20s. Its bonkers in a wonderful way.
I also loved the David Lynch version. It came out when I was in 8th grade, and because I liked it so much, my mom bought me the books for Christmas. I've read the first Dune novel many times throughout my life.
Loved your review. Please do one for the Wheel of Time Season 1!
Ive been waiting for this review for a while. The only Dune review that holds any weight in my book
Now we want Villeneuve to take Raginors place as show runner of WoT.
I never read the books either but absolutely adored the movie, couldn't stop thinking about it and going back to the powerful soundtrack that was perfect and so enhanced the atmosphere. It was all just so powerful. I didn't feel lost in the plot either, it was a well executed introduction to the world, I think. Villeneuve is a master at his art.
The way they say Harkonnen in the film is how a finn would say it, (since it seems to come from a finnish influence) and personally I think it sounds way more natural than Har-kOnan. It just rolls off the tongue.
The name does follow the pattern in finnish naming conventions, with a headword (bull/härkä) and a -nen, which denotes a surname or the diminutive. Wiktionary also adds that Harka in English is used to refer to punitive military campaigns against insurgents in the Maghreb in north Africa. A neat relevant footnote I hadn't spotted before
After I Left the theater with my Dad I asked him if this was what it was like seeing Star Wars for the first time when it came out. It Totally blew me away how good this movie was!
Brandon hit the nail on the head, Dune truly is a fever-dream of a book. It becomes more so with every sequel.
Great review! I felt exactly the same way about it. I have been telling everyone that it is the best screen adaptation I have ever seen. But it is in a style that some people won't enjoy. Great video. Thanks!
YES -- so happy to see this review. This movie blew me away. I've rewatched it twice already and love it more each time. :)
I feel I can most definitely say that Sting’s character isn’t combined but being saved for the next movie. It would be a good way to have their rivalry developed as we see them progress through each of their arcs for the final showdown at the end. However I do worry that the level of political scheming will still be stunted in the next film in order to develop the fremen characters.
Honestly I don't think we'll see Feyd-Rautha at all, or the Fenrings. We know the conservatory scene didn't make it in and (I assume) wasn't shot, and the cone of silence scene was adapted to include the Reverend Mother. Plus by having Rabban take Feyd's place, it'll be Rabban in the final showdown which makes the brief argument between Paul and Gurney more meaningful.
glad to hear you love the books and the movie - i was excited about but ultimately disappointed with the 80's version and was worried H-wood would mess up this version too - am so glad they did it right this time... Thank you for your Rapid Review - enjoyed your take on the movie and your insightful comments...
Was just reading the book today for the first time! Great so far. Funny that you upload this today.
Which book btw? Mistborn or Way of Kings?
@@leviackerman1799 probably referring to Dune
@@leviackerman1799 Dune. I've already read all of Brandon's books haha. The Way of Kings is my favorite book from any author
@@kermitthefrog9623 ah okay..
@@mistbornice1916 Cool..I'm reading Way of Kings for the first time..halfway through..I'm loving it so far..
I agree with your analysis 100%! I really worried that it would be unable to be put to the screen so well, but they did it! Put me back into the book and the world.
It's funny, I absolutely loved the film. I can think of clear things that I would change or thought were a bit cringe, but for some reason they feel kind of inconsequential? Other dimensions of the film I think were so brilliant these little moments are just so forgivable. A great work of art! Can't wait for next installments and to see further adaptation and exploration!
My only complaint about this movie is the fight at the end. Some spoilers. The guy he fights seemed to come a bit out of nowhere, like we didn't really get to know who he was and why they needed to fight seemed a bit confused. Almost like they needed something to happen before the movie ended. Other than that, amazing movie. I can't wait for part 2.
Who would have thought sticking to the beloved source material makes a good movie... I'm so tiered of adaptations that seem to want to "fix" the story, like they can make it better than what the author had envisioned... The Wheel of Time, just to take an example. I get that you need to change things to work on screen, but try to keep the character motivations and major events intact. And for god's sake, if you make a change, make damn sure it makes sense logically and as part of the greater story (again something WoT failed at every turn). Game of Thrones was great as long as they kept to the books, but utterly derailed when the showrunners thought they knew better. Dune and LotR just shows how important it is to take the source seriously. There is a reason why so many people love the books, don't go messing around with it thinking you can improve it.
Love your work Brandon, take care
Great review, couldn't agree more. You didn't mention the sandworms though 😭
Oh man I’d love to see Brandon Sanderson review Netflix’s Arcane. Felt like he could have written it himself.
So glad you saw this movie Brandon.
I hope it goes to show that you can get your works adapted and not have them hollywoodized. The possibility is there and I hope to see your works get the same treatment that lets the themes and characters breath!
Loved Dune when I saw it about a month ago. It captured the essence of the story fantastically.
However, I felt a lot of the nuance was lost, which is probably down to the fact they had to fit the story into a 2 hour film. Particularly I missed the subplots of characters like Dr. Yueh and all the emotional back and forth they experienced. It made the tension of the upcoming overthrow of House Atreides more human and gut wrenching. Some of the most poignant pieces of the story shines through what we consider side characters throughout the narrative, particularly Jamis.
Dune was absolutely incredible.
The story was great, the cinematography was amazing and the soundtrack was fantastic. Easily one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time.
I'm so interested to see how the second half goes! There's a lot skipped in the book that would be movie-worthy so I wonder if the movie will explore that a little.
To be honest, I didn't like the sequels to Dune very much and I couldn't get through the prequel I picked up either. I like to treat Dune as a standalone book. So glad I read it and no wonder the movie was so good from the director of Arrival!
Hi Brandon. I wonder how would you like your books to be adapted to the screen. Would you prefer movie adaptations or a high budget TV show adaptation? Do you have some directors in mind? What kind of visual stile would you prefer? What are you willing to sacrifice in terms of narrative so the adaptation could result smoothly? Is there a novel of yours would you prefer to be adapted first?
I'm really sad we didn't get the dinner scene its my favorite moment from the first half of the dune book. The movie was amazing though and I'm so excited for part 2.
Very interesting. I thought the movie pulled off dune "vibes" VERY well but kind of tripped on it's face when it came to plot and delivery of themes, personally. I want to watch it again, though. To be fair, I was VERY happy they didn't hollywoodize it, as you say.
My wife hated it with a fiery passion, lol. It was sad for me, so this might have affected my enjoyment. I think she'd like a more thematic movie since the Dune themes are right up both our alleys, but for someone that wasn't already fluent in Dune, I think it was VERY hard to follow at any real degree. As she said, and I was thinking but less intensely, "So, what? We're just supposed to know what this kid is thinking during this 30 second sweeping shot that JUST followed another 15 second sweeping shot?" And the sudden, jarring end without really any payoff in movie 1 was pretty upsetting for her.
I have a theory that, imo, Dune 2021 is NOT a great movie on it's own plot-wise, but the Dune completed trilogy or however many there will be is going to be THE best possible delivery of Dune in a visual medium. Kind of like the Hobbit movies. Not great to watch 1 of unlike LOTRO managed to pull off, but the whole series, if you're willing to sit down for like 10 hours, is a pretty good version of the source material as a movie.
I think a movie that reminds me of how I kind of expected Dune to be that I've just watched recently is Mr Nobody. Also Scifi but EXTREMELY psychological, first and foremost. With Dune being about Psionics which is basically just the 60s-70s version of Magic as Psychology was becoming mainstream, I expected more diving in the human psyche and philosophy, and a little less spouting of "DESERT POWER" like a puppet, lol.
It kind of seemed like everyone just sort of overcame challenges quickly, which, again TBF, is how WOULD look in the book if you didn't have the omniscient perspective.
Really, and I've been telling everyone that enjoys it this b/c I do NOT want to harsh their vibe on a great series... I'm just sad it wasn't the book I guess, haha. I hadn't even read the book when I saw it, but I could tell things were missing due to my proximity to Dune as a 32yr old Nerd who has consumed D&D psionics books, read some of the same philosopher's Frank Herbert has, and played a number of Dune and Dune inspired board and video games. (40K is Dune parody, obviously) I never even realized Dune was more-or-less the Scifi granddaddy of Psionics until I started reading the audiobook.
Now I'm about 3/4ths through the Audiobook and I would say it's having the same effect on me some are reporting about the movie. Wonderful, life changing, life affirming, shaking, fist pumping in my car going "YEA!" at it's portrayal of making complex, systems-interacting thinking that are literally my FAVORITE thing to think about in all of life. The planetary ecologist's 'monologue' scene in the desert... OH IT'S SO GOOD! THAT is the magnitude what I hope to write someday. (And thanks for the access to the lectures, Brandon!)
If nothing else, as a fledgling author, it's REALLY making me reconsider staying away from Omniscient. I very much enjoy Frank's style and share a personality type with him, so that makes sense. I'm wondering/predicting that this will have an effect on young authors and we'll see more omniscient perspective books in the next 5-10 years.
Totally agree with your review and how amazing this film was. On a massive sidenote; Oscar Isaac screamed Dalinar in my mind
I liked the movie, too. It was well directed and cast was extremely good. Although, this is not a movie. As you said, it's a half of a movie. And a viewer must not read a book in order to understand the movie. Faithful adaptation of a unfilmable book. Should have adapted it , not just rewrite the book as a script. I feel like, Villeneuve makes movies only for himself, which is not necessarily bad. Only, it can get boring at times , imo. Maybe it should have worked better as a mini series, although would be too expensive for a tv.
My non reader friends didn't enjoy the movie at all. Real mess and generic, as they claim. Doesn't matter who stole from whom.
There are so few films that I feel accurately portray and are true to the source material when based off of a book. One of the few that isn't sci-fi that I adore was Life of Pi from Ang Lee. Hopefully Denis Villeneuve gets the opportunity to film the second part, and it will be just as true to the source material as this first film!
Remember in the David Lynch version where they just show someone's face and have monologue's go over it?
Well, I think they should've done something similar. Because most of the book happens in people's heads, I think this movie should've been shot Peep Show style.
I watched the movie 3 times and it lead me to reread the book. I read it when I was 10 or 11, but remembered next to nothing about it. I literally only remembered the spice. So I went into it with no prejudice. I absolutely loved it. On a related note I loved Arrival and didn't realize he directed both until after the first viewing. I agree with your review, absolute masterpiece.
Was definitely a visual and sonic spectacle. Personally I didn't really care much about the characters but I didn't really go into it looking for that. I went in for the visuals, the atmosphere, worldbuilding and the scale and that's what it delivers
I have a question for you Brandon have you seen the mistborn game prototype?
Hey Brandon,
listening to your respect for the respectfulness to source material, would you let Denis Villeneuve lay hands on your own material?
A rapid review clocking in at 15 minutes!!!!!!
I'd like to hear your take on Arcane. I say that, because of they adapted Mistborn or Stormlight in the same animated style, I think it would be awesome.
The only thing I didn't agree with in the movie was Paul not shedding the tear for the first person he killed after his duel. I felt like it had such a huge impact on the people around him and showing just who he is as a person. Besides that I thought the movie was perfect.
It's a masterpiece. It will be considered part of film history
An absolute work of art. My kids genuinely enjoyed it and that surprised but delighted me.
SPOILERS
I have two critiques for this movie
1: During the battle at Arakeen when Duncan escapes in the thopter, a Harkonen ship opens fire with a laser cannon. This is not something they would do, owing to the unpredictable effects of lasers and Holtzman shields.
2: They haven't shown a Baliset yet. I always look forward to seeing small things like that in shows or movies, and when they don't have them it disappoints me slightly.
OMG Brandon if you could get Denis Villeneuve to helm/direct the inevitable Stormlight adaptation... possibly the perfect choice based on what we've seen him do with Dune?
I'm absolutely in love with this movie. I never got around to read the book for some reason. I started reading it after watching the movie and I'm completely sunk into that universe. Masterpiece, both book and movie.
Villeneuve would be the dream director to adapt Mistborn to screen and launch the Cosmere. His ability to create an epic sense of scale and build a feeling of total immersion is leagues above other active Hollywood directors. Much of the Dune cast could slide quite seamlessly into a Mistborn trilogy as well. Zendaya could be the perfect actress to play a slightly aged up Vin and Timothee Chalamet could make an excellent
match for Elend Venture.