Dune (2020) by Dennis Villeneuve

[greygoose]

Why? Why would you want a mature science fiction movie that the studio spent a ton of money on to ”bomb”?

Great director, great cast...

Would be nice for it to do well.

It most likely will bomb however it probably would have underperformed pre-Covid anyway.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Why did they make this two parts?

Most expensive free streaming movie to date.... in two parts.

 

[Victοr]

Why? Why would you want a mature science fiction movie that the studio spent a ton of money on to ”bomb”?

Because I'm a fan of the books and I don't like what they've done to the IP. Brian's influence is all over the place and I don't want him to keep raping his father's books. DUNC is anything but "mature". If it succeeds, that's what Dune will become. If it bombs, it gets shelved and the dumb normies don't ruin it. Also, I don't give two nickels for massive studios and the money they spend.

 

[Xtro]

Because I'm a fan of the books and I don't like what they've done to the IP. Brian's influence is all over the place and I don't want him to keep raping his father's books. DUNC is anything but "mature". If it succeeds, that's what Dune will become. If it bombs, it gets shelved and the dumb normies don't ruin it. Also, I don't give two nickels for massive studios and the money they spend.

You want the movie to bomb because you don’t like what Brian Herbert has done? I’m a fan of the books too. Brian Herbert most certainly had ZERO influence on this film.

Denis Villeneuve has been quoted as describing his version as “Star Wars for adults”. Judging by the trailers tone, that seems pretty accurate. How do you know DUNC isn’t more mature? Have you seen the movie? I doubt it’ll be as sophisticated as something like 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it certainly seems aimed at a slightly older/smarter audience.

Villeneuve is one of the better directors working today. There‘s not many left that have a distinct voice and style (Tarantino/Nolan/PT Anderson) You SHOULD care that a massive studio got behind a bizarre property like Dune because it’s exceptionally rare. You SHOULD hope that it does well so the money people get a little more spine to attempt movies like this again.

Or, you can be content watching crap like Jurassic World or Captain Marvel with the normies.

 

[jye4ever]

Denis was asked about Dune on HBO Max day and date with theater, his answer…..

“Ridiculous!”

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

If this movie fails, then it's up to Matrix 4 to save WB. Can Neo be the savior again?

 

[Victοr]

You want the movie to bomb because you don’t like what Brian Herbert has done? I’m a fan of the books too. Brian Herbert most certainly had ZERO influence on this film.

Brian is literally an executive producer and has been involved with the film since the beginning. You can check it on wikipedia, it's that known. He's been putting out new comics for about a year now.

And if you're a fan of the books, you can easily tell from the trailer that the movie's already deviating from the core themes and characterizations. From the very beginning Paul is gung-ho about his family and wanting to do the right thing by them. This time around he's a whiny pup that's "scawed about being da Dukeh". The Paul/Leto exchange leans on a "you r muh sahn nah mattah what" when it's not the point of the scene in the books. He's the MC and they've already wrecked him. So how can I care for the rest, especially when I see nonsense like "Zendaya will be the star of P2" ?

Denis Villeneuve has been quoted as describing his version as “Star Wars for adults”.

Wow, they compared the new blockbuster film they want to turn into a franchise, with another well known and established franchise, while also giving it a flair of "uniqueness"? Wtf, I love corporate promotions now?!

Judging by the trailers tone, that seems pretty accurate. How do you know DUNC isn’t more mature? Have you seen the movie?

I have seen the trailers, followed the casting and read interviews and leaked descriptions from test audiences. What, you can infer the tone from the trailers and say for sure that DUNC will be "mature", but I can't infer that they've strayed from the core?

I doubt it’ll be as sophisticated as something like 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it certainly seems aimed at a slightly older/smarter audience.

Ah yes, that's why they cast Zendaya of all people, and are going on a "dudes and dudetess, your favourite zoomer celeb is totes gonna be the star in Part 2, so you better watch Part 1 broskis" press junket...

Villeneuve is one of the better directors working today. There‘s not many left that have a distinct voice and style (Tarantino/Nolan/PT Anderson)

Debatable, but even then it's irrelevant when talking about the faithfulness of the film, rather than its technical quality. It can turn out to be a "good" film and an awful Dune adaptation.

You SHOULD care that a massive studio got behind a bizarre property like Dune because it’s exceptionally rare. You SHOULD hope that it does well so the money people get a little more spine to attempt movies like this again.

I was giving you the benefit of the doubt until now, but this is literally the most shill-like comment I've come across. Dune is one of the most well known SF books. It's gotten a film that turned into a cult one, it's gotten miniseries and even normies are aware of it due to the Jodo stories and its influences on SW. It's not some obscure little SF series. And why the Hell do I care about a studio, which seeks to make as much money as possible, with as little spending as possible? If the studio "cared" they'd have casted accurately, mostly by getting actual MENAs for the Fremen if they wanted actual diversity. They wouldn't have cast Zendaya in a "how do you do fellow kids" attempt to cash in on the teens. They wouldn't have gender and race bent Kynes when it breaks the lore. They wouldn't have made everything look so drab and lifeless in an attempt to save money. They wouldn't have filled the trailer with quips. They wouldn't have streamlined the characters to be more accessible to the General Audience that can't handle their "problematic" elements.

Dune is a genre fiction book with heavy philosophical undertones and themes. This film adaptation turns it into a generic space flick, with generic characters and generic plots. There's no auter trying to pull off the impossible here, just a studio trying to make money. So no, I'm not "thankful" to the billion dollar enterprise for trying to adapt a story I love, poorly, just to turn a profit. They're products. If they're good we give them money since we enjoy them. If they're not, we don't. If you're such a DUNCfan that you want to buy all the merch go ahead. I don't care. The day I'm "thankful" to a goddamn billion-dollar corporation for putting out [PRODUCT] is the day I'll tattoo consumer on my forehead and go live in the Amazon Cages.

Or, you can be content watching crap like Jurassic World or Captain Marvel with the normies.

It's okay WB, I'm not giving Disney my euroridoos either...

 

[matticus]

I don't understand Hollywood. There must be a ton of bucks down the road to make cause in tv deals, bluray sales, etc. to make up the losses you know would be coming with this even pre-Covid.

 

[jye4ever]

If this movie fails, then it's up to Matrix 4 to save WB. Can Neo be the savior again?

He said if it bombs there won’t be a sequel at least not from him lol

 

[haytil]

Brian is literally an executive producer and has been involved with the film since the beginning. You can check it on wikipedia, it's that known.

Brian's involvement has been nothing but a formality - a way to make him feel important and get some more money into his hands.

It's the same as Gene Roddenberry's involvement in the "Star Trek" movies after "The Motion Picture" - he gets a credit, he gets some money, and he gets his name on the work, and nothing more. He makes no decisions, it just allows him to posture on Twitter. They send him scripts, he replies with his notes, and his notes carry as much or as little weight as the director (be it Nicholas Meyer or Denis Villeneuve) wants. In Meyer's case, it was zero weight. Given Villeneuve's statements and position as a director who wants full artistic freedom and final cut, I'd say it's zero weight in "Dune"'s case as well.

This is pretty typical for Hollywood, especially when it comes to adapting author's works, and was likely a condition for releasing the cinematic rights in the first place.

In any case, given both Villeneuve's track record and the statements made about the film, I see no reason to think there won't be philosophical themes or that the book will be dumbed down, and there's no evidence that the core of the book has been altered in any way.

Anyone judging a movie purely on the trailer is basically judging a book by its cover - and I can find some pretty awful covers for "Dune."

 

[Victοr]

Brian's involvement has been nothing but a formality - a way to make him feel important and get some more money into his hands.

It's the same as Gene Roddenberry's involvement in the "Star Trek" movies after "The Motion Picture" - he gets a credit, he gets some money, and he gets his name on the work, and nothing more. He makes no decisions, it just allows him to posture on Twitter. They send him scripts, he replies with his notes, and his notes carry as much or as little weight as the director (be it Nicholas Meyer or Denis Villeneuve) wants. In Meyer's case, it was zero weight. Given Villeneuve's statements and position as a director who wants full artistic freedom and final cut, I'd say it's zero weight in "Dune"'s case as well.

This is pretty typical for Hollywood, especially when it comes to adapting author's works, and was likely a condition for releasing the cinematic rights in the first place.

Considering Brian has been trashing the IP for ages based on "notes he uncovered", I don't expect his involvement, in any capacity to be a good thing.

In any case, given both Villeneuve's track record and the statements made about the film, I see no reason to think there won't be philosophical themes or that the book will be dumbed down, and there's no evidence that the core of the book has been altered in any way.

As I've said before, Vileneuve's talents at filmmaking have no bearing on translating the source material and its themes. Again, it can be a technically impressive and engrossing film and still fail at being a Dune adaptation.

And of course it won't be philosophical, least of all touch the actual themes of the book. It's a big budget Hollywood piece that the studio wants to tun into a franchise. Dune's themes are not fit for the current world. And that's alright. But if you strip it from all its identity, you end up with a

Anyone judging a movie purely on the trailer is basically judging a book by its cover - and I can find some pretty awful covers for "Dune."

Why does everyone keep repeating this as if I'm merely voicing distaste without elaborating? Are we supposed to exclusively heap praise unto something, otherwise keep our voices silent? I've explained many times why I don't have faith in this movie. And I started after seeing actual content from it. We've had ample pictures to judge the costumes and aesthetics. We've seen key moments from the book. We've heard uttered lines. We've had transcripts from preview screenings. All those can be misdirected and changed, put in context or just deleted, but something like the style is set in stone. And that has its very visible problems.

The aesthetic is drab is boring. It doesn't feel like a Space Opera in a setting modeled after the HRE (insert "Holy" "Roman" "Empire" joke) and feautirng distinct Houses based on a series of real-world cultures. It's generic black and brown and grey and white. It's as if someone watched Lynch's Dune and just lowered the resolution, so to speak. The aesthetic wouldn't look out of place next to Apple's Foundation or SyFy's Expanse. They're interchangeable. The Stillsuits are laughable. Generic, ill-fitting grey jumpsuits. They're supposed to be skintight. And if the Fremen are based on the Arabs, the Bedouins and the such, then they should have a lot more pomp and decoration. In a setting where your imagination can go wild, the best they could do was the most generic route possible. Jessica is multiple times stated to have hair of bronze, and even though Fergusson has gone red and has a bronzish tint, they've dyed her completely brown. Why couldn't they just add this little detail that's a part of the character?

The lines uttered thus far miss the beats. Paul, from his fist appearance, is a ride-or-die type about his family and House. He's not some indecisive little wimp who's "scawed to becowme da Duke". His talk with Leto after sparring with Gurney has a wholy different context in the book. In the film they've turned the scene into a case of a "reluctant prince" whose father assures him that he loves him even if he turns out to be a wimp. In the book the point is to show that Paul has the warrior conqueror in him, and Leto, good man as he tries to be, deep down, is proud of his son's willingless to do what needs to be done. The Baron in the book is a playful puppetmaster who even shows some regret over having to off Leto like that. In the movie he spouts generic lines of eeeeeeeeevvvviiiilllneeeeeesss. "THIS IS MUUUUUH DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNE". Wow, who wrote this, Cormac McCarthy? Gurney's a warrior poet, not a "hurdur my frown is my smile" type. The quips themselves reek of "we want the Star Wars audience". I'm not even going to get into the Fremen who I see as an utter failure thus far.

I don't get the problem, really. I've been saying the same things over and over in this thead, locked in the same conversation. The more I see, the less interested I am. I've explained why. If you like it all and can't wait, sure, whatever, more power to all of you. But I don't remember where it was written that all reactions have to be positive. If you're all worried about commenting on something going off previews, then threads should not be started unless there are products in our hands, so to speak. If voicing distaste in something based on a preview is in "poor taste", then the same can be said for expressing excitement over it. After all, you're still "judging a book by its cover" in some way.

The movie will probably be competently made. But when I see all this, when I spot the errors, when I see articles like "how do you do fellow kids, did you know, your favourite Zoom-Zoom celebrity Zendaya of Iron-Boy fame, will, for some reason, be the true MC in P2, so go buy those tickets for P1" I can't in good conscience get excited, or hope it succeeds. It's not Dune, it's DUNC. Whoever likes it, great. I just don't think I will.

And you know what? I'll be completely honest. Zendaya's ugly, I don't like her, and she's not muh Chani. If a property doesn't have good waifus, then it goes down the drain.

Seriously, just let the Japanese do an Anime adaptation. That'd be actually great.

 

[Otomofan]

I think Zendaya is really beautiful. She seems to have a one of those faces that the fashion industry likes cause she looks awesome when her hair and make up are done.

I think for whatever stupid "reasons" they intentionally make her look bad in the Spider-Man movies.

No idea if she's right for this movie or her role cause I never read the books.

 

[Asta]

I think Zendaya is really beautiful. She seems to have a one of those faces that the fashion industry likes cause she looks awesome when her hair and make up are done.

I think for whatever stupid "reasons" they intentionally make her look bad in the Spider-Man movies.

No idea if she's right for this movie or her role cause I never read the books.

She can act too.

I liked her in Euphoria.

 

[ZE_501]

I think Zendaya is really beautiful. She seems to have a one of those faces that the fashion industry likes cause she looks awesome when her hair and make up are done.

She's a looker. I've read Herbert's Dune and subsequent novels, the first being one of my favourite novels of all time in any genre. As a huge fan of the novel I'll reserve judgement of the film until I've seen it, but I don't expect any one film to adapt it without compromises.

In my opinion it would have fared better (in terms of faithful adaptation) as a series in the same vein as Game of Thrones. With that said I'm excited to see what Villeneuve and company have come up with, and have no rigid expectations as to what the characters should look like. Very much the least of my concerns.

I think for whatever stupid "reasons" they intentionally make her look bad in the Spider-Man movies.

I think the narrative machinery in this case is fairly obvious. They don't make her look "bad" but they keep her looking like a non-mainstream rebel outcast or whatever.

No idea if she's right for this movie or her role cause I never read the books.

I know she can act, so at least until I've seen her in the actual film, I'd say she's as good as any for a wiry desert dweller with a penchant for murdering.

 

[Victοr]

Fine, ugly was a bit too much but I was jesting. Eh, I still find her weird looking. When they glam her up with makeup and wigs and whatnot she's alright, but without any cosmetics I find her rather boring. Tastes and all, I suppose. I like Zoe Kravitz due to her sharp features, even though a lot of people say she looks like a methhead. Same with Pattinson. I guess the deep cheeckbones turn them off.

RE Acting: I've never seen her in any worthwhile flicks. And I can't imagine watching Euphoria. It's like Skins but American and for zoomers.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I would prefer David Fincher's Dune.

 

[Rotfish]

I would prefer David Fincher's Dune.

I'd prefer David Fincher's take on a lot of things. Still want to see his take on Alien 3.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I would LOVE to see Fincher do an Alien film NOW.

 

[Otomofan]

I know I'm a broken record but I still would love to visit a parallel universe where Jodorowsky got to make his version of Dune and see if it would have lived up to that incredible vision and having all that superstar talent....or just be as big a flop as the Lynch version was.

Designs by Moebius, Giger, and Chris Foss; music by Pink Floyd and Magma; Dan O'Bannon on special effects; starring David Carradine, Mick Jagger, Orson Welles, and freaking Salvador Dali, and all directed by mad genius Jodorowsky himself. How could that have failed??

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Fine, ugly was a bit too much but I was jesting. Eh, I still find her weird looking.

I don't think she's pretty or attractive. Having said that, I wouldn't call anyone ugly unless they were ugly inside too. It's rough out there, Even Zac Efron ruined his face with plastic surgery because he didn't feel good about himself. It's sad how people can be so insecure.