Dune: Première partie

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.

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 must admit, I still believe "Frank Herbert's Dune" to be unfilmable. I realised that, watching Dune: Part One in my local movie theater today. That's why people who have read the book should see this movie adaptation as a single piece of art.

Forget the book while watching this movie. Dune, the book drives on the thoughts and inner emotions of the characters - the things that are left unsaid. Visually, that can only be adapted to a certain extent.

Villeneuve has done a better job than anyone could ask for. I think he had to compromise on not bringing even more details to the movie, considering that the majority of the people will not have read the book. The information overload would have been difficult to follow for most.

This movie is definitely slow, so if you are accustomed to constant dopamine stimulation then you might find it boring.

The visuals in combination with the sound/music are hauntingly beautiful and will stick in your mind for a long time. I got goosebumps almost throughout the entire movie.

Dune: Part One definitely serves as a stepping stone for Dune: Part Two, and more to come... If you are looking for action, Dune: Part Two is definitely the movie to be waiting for. So grab some friends and go watch this movie.

Make "Dune: Part Two" happen.

This is only the beginning.

This movie is big. It's meant to be on the big screen. The visuals are captivating, the music is mesmerizing and the actors are convincing.

This is an adaptation of the Dune novel from 1965, and it covers about half the book. I have read the novel long ago, but I'm mostly familiar with the Dune universe from the Command & Conquer game Emperor: Battle for Dune. It's a vast universe with politics, religion, tribes and houses. The movie does an excellent job of placing you in this grand setting without over-explaining everything, but also without feeling completely lost. For someone new to the Dune universe you can easily recognize who the "good" and "bad" guys are and follow the plot, without knowing who all the different names refer to. But it's not dumbed down so that those who will recognize the names feel patronized. This is very hard to pull off, but I think this movie did so masterfully.

I would describe it as a mixture between Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. You follow individuals in a grand and complex world. The majority of the movie takes place on a desert planet, so it really needed an amazing soundtrack to elevate the experience - and it has. Hans Zimmer turned down Tenet to work on Dune, and I think he made the right choice.

However, this is only "Part 1", as it says in the beginning of the movie, so you know it won't be a complete story. I was ready to watch Part 2 as soon as it ended, but will have to wait. LOTR The fellowship of the Ring would be an insignificant movie without The two towers and The return of a king to complete the story. Together they are great, individually they are not enough. So it is with Dune - It is a great introduction, but it desperately needs a part 2 to conclude the story. And there better be a Part 2!

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.