Dune

Denis Villeneuve's DUNE has Campbell's monomythical framework storytelling structure. In fact, George Lucas used this model to build the stories. It has been redesigned to have the simplicity of the Story Circle. That's why almost everyone has the impression that they watched "DUNE: A Star Wars Story". For this reason, Greig Fraser as Cinematographer was deliberately chosen. If I had never read the book and I new nothing of Dune I could miss the opening credits and watch this film thinking it was a new Star Wars movie and I would be completely none the wiser.

The story is so adapted and simplified visually that a wide range of people can follow it, and further spreads the impression by words of mouth and camp in the front of the cinema.

This is a global phenomenon. It's incredibly viral. It affects.

The result is not to impress us who know the book by heart. Than to become a very viral film for a wide audience. It was made with the intention in advance of breaking the Box Office. But they didn't count on a pandemic and a be shown on HBO. This is the visual bible of Dune's book. And let's say the first 300 pages literally. Denis explains more with pictures than with words. This is the experimental exercise of cinematography. There are many parallels with George Lucas' way of expression, but Ridley Scott influence on "world-building" is also clear.

The film can literally be watched on MUTE and get to know the plot. Like a silent film literally. A similar feeling as with Odyssey in the Kubrick universe. The film is dead serious in the same way. Too serious for my taste. There are no jokes in it at all. There is no slang and bad language either. It's not a movie to watch with popcorn. You don't have to blink here to be able to absorb all the visual information. The disadvantage is that those who are not concentrated and rested can fall asleep in the cinema because they cannot process all the densely compressed information they receive.

I'm a long time fan of the dune universe. Have read all the books multiple times and of course I've seen Lynch's version. This version is a lot better. Excellent world building, visually stunning and full of star power. It moves slow, which on the plus side gives it the chance to go into detail, but on the negative side means by the end it's not even at the halfway point of the first book. So it ends at the moment the mythology is just picking up. Which made me leave the cinema wishing to see part two, which unfortunately they haven't even started filming.

So IMHO the reviews giving this movie a 10 or calling it the movie of the year are overly positive. It's a visually stunning start to a potentially mind blowing universe, but mainly an introduction to that universe. Maybe when the story is finished (wouldn't surprise me if they need three movies for the first book) it will be mind blowing and perfect, but for now this movie is a great introduction to the duneverse. Good, but not great. Yet.

Before I start, I am not very knowledgeable of Herbert's saga, having read only the first DUNE book when I was a kid.

Denis Villeneuve has really delivered an interesting, character building, and visually spectacular sci fi opus. While he had already proven himself in handling delicate material with Blade Runner 2049, I think Dune strikes an even better balance, partly due to the phenomenal source material, which however poses more challenging tasks to the writers and director due to the inherent political backdrop of the storyline.

Even the stellar cast, which are all very recognizable faces and could take away from the world building of the movie deliver excellent performances, and Timothee Chalamet (of whom I am not always the biggest fan) seems born to play the role of Paul Atreides.

DO NOT listen to predominantly American professional reviewers who accuse the movie to be a slow burner and a slog towards the end: in the last few years the "Marvel pocorn" movies have dominated the big budget landscape and the reviewers are just not used to immersing themselves anymore in an actual story.

I love the David Lynch movie and did see it a lot of time, because of the atmosphere and the epic story. The intro with the female voice gave me goosebumps. The new adaption by Villeneuve takes the visual impressing part a bit further and makes you "feel" the scale of the unsiverse, the political connections and the story itself.

This movie visually is a masterpiece and you can sit, watch and be amazed, how they made it feel so incredibly real - even for the 155 minutes it runs. I only missed a bit of the "darkness" i felt in the Lynch-movie and they seemingly moved away from explicitly showing violence and gore overly. Baron Harkonnen e. G. feels more like a greedy, intelligent gangster boss then the schizophrenic sadist i remebered from the first movie. Anyways - the movie is actually the most interesting sci-fi flick i've seen in the last few years. With an incredible score, an immersive story, most impressive views of landscapes, mass battles and not to forget: the Shai-Hulud.

If you get the time: Go, see it - and share your own impressions. I'm definitely up to see the second movie, if it comes. Plus i will finally buy the original books to dive deeper into the dune universe.

Have fun!

The cinematography and Hans Zimmer music. An experience that should be obtained by all. Those spaceships accompanied with the music will remain for long time in my mind.

Yes books are read but this movie gives a good impression of the worlds created in our minds.