Dune Part Two (October 20th, 2023)

[jye4ever]

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[Wor-Gar]

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I think that should be sent on the next Voyager spacecraft that is shot off to the heavens in search of intelligent life.




What if aliens were more like Lebowski than savage warriors?

 

[JAWS]

 

[Wor-Gar]

Mothras!!!!



Waiting for someone to put AT-ATs in that shot.

 

[Mandible]

Love both movies, but the first (for me) is still better - it's a more elegant film, the score works better, cinematography is better (probably because there is more variation in locations), overall feels more polished.

The issues I have with the second, first and foremost, the jarring cut from Paul's first test - cross the desert and come back to me (Stilgaar) - he crosses a bit Chani helps him, to Mum walking around talking to her belly, then straight to a battle scene???? Very weird segue. No conclusion/resolution with Stilgar.

The opening in the desert is an action scene for the sake of it, adds absolutely zero to the story or world building. It should have cut from the Princess, to Raba, to them entering the seich. (Sorry for spelling issues, haven't read the books).

And the final shot on Chani, for me, didn't work - it needed to be something sorrowful about the war to come - a shot of Paul looking sadly up the the ships going to to battle... or something that really hits you. Chani angry/sad head on an ECU was a bizarre choice.

I think the main take away for me with both movies is I can't remember the last time where it has been so easy to effortlessly get lost in that world. Maybe because I haven't read the books - but as movies, they're like LOTR in its accessibility for the layman.

 

[Mr.NoCredit]

It’s an epic film from start to finish. I would tend to agree with Mandible on some points, but, in the end, it’s still a grand adventure, and, one of the better movies made in our current times.
Some of the new movie trailers weren’t even worth the time to watch them. Dune was amazing and Loved very much! Are we going to get another movie or two from this?! The start of the Holy Wars as ships head off into battle? Is this a small lead?

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Are we going to get another movie or two from this?! The start of the Holy Wars as ships head off into battle? Is this a small lead?

A third film, Dune Messiah is all but a lock at this point.

A Dune prestige TV series is slated to come at the end of this year. Dealing with the Bene Gesserit. I've been told a major storyline in it was overhauled based on the reaction to the more recent staggering financial losses to InBev.

Spoiler

Momoa was cast specifically for the potential of a Duncan Idaho based TV series. The studio wanted someone bankable enough to have proven to have been a lead before to carry a TV series. Also someone who projected to likely be available to do so. Whether it comes to fruition, it's hard to say. I know for non book readers, the mention of Idaho moving forward is a WTF kind of moment, but it's technically available as an option though canon.

 

[jye4ever]

A third film, Dune Messiah is all but a lock at this point.

A Dune prestige TV series is slated to come at the end of this year. Dealing with the Bene Gesserit. I've been told a major storyline in it was overhauled based on the reaction to the more recent staggering financial losses to InBev.

Spoiler

Momoa was cast specifically for the potential of a Duncan Idaho based TV series. The studio wanted someone bankable enough to have proven to have been a lead before to carry a TV series. Also someone who projected to likely be available to do so. Whether it comes to fruition, it's hard to say. I know for non book readers, the mention of Idaho moving forward is a WTF kind of moment, but it's technically available as an option though canon.

What does any of that have anything to do with Inbev I don’t see any mention of tranny anywhere lol

 

[MeatHookGekko]

What does any of that have anything to do....

Title change to the series. To make the show seem less hostile by perception. There's a growing statistical trend of how male viewership and female viewership is clearly divergent. HBO might be under the Warner Bros/Discovery banner, but they are typically allowed to operate mostly independently.

Everything associated with Dune is high risk from an economic standpoint. There's a reason no one really wanted to touch this, at this scale, for decades. HBO cares about prestige television, big ratings, awards buzz and raking in lots of money. They are fine with edgy, they are not fine with pseudo activism and unneeded controversy. The other problem is in order to have "world building" across a large franchise, you do need a consistent tone and aesthetic that spans everything so it's cohesive. ( It can't deviate too strongly from what Villeneuve has already made) There's a reason why all MCU product looks and feels mostly the same. You get the same exhausting quippy humor, no guns and girl boss power.

The trailers will likely be recut to feature Mark Strong more prominently, as this is mostly a female cast (Well, it is a show mostly about the Bene Gesserit, so that's not a huge surprise) There is massive external pressure to have current productions to fall in line with certain themes, tones and story arcs. This was only hyper realized when Prophecy ( formerly Sisterhood) continued to film during the strike.

This is practical risk aversion. HBO is in a much more current competitive environment based on the staggering amount of original content being produced now. You don't even need the reality of activism to kill your viewership, now you just need the hint of it. Here's what the industry doesn't really understand about male viewership. And they spend an ungodly sum on focus groups, test screenings, market research, advertising, consultants, etc, etc. Adult working class men are primarily socialized at work, through their job/career. Nothing is more impactful than what you have to do, you need to do it nearly every single day, your life is built around it and you often don't have a ton of choice to escape it. When up to half your possible viewership base is totally saturated with the notion that everything around them is a walking lawsuit and/or HR controversy waiting to happen, what they don't want is to pay for it and deal with anything close to it in their scarce precious leisure time.

When Herbert conceived of Lady Jessica choosing to have a son instead of a daughter, against the tenets of the Bene Gesserit, it was designed to be a discussion of free will. Which modeled many of the struggles and current events of the mid 60s when Herbert wrote it in the first place. But that kind of story/character narrative now is not going to be treated the same by the majority of the current writers in the industry.

It's long been held that the industry needed to consider what would draw in or retain female viewership. Since adult women are typically the primary decision makers for consumer purchases in this country in typical family households. What no one wanted to discuss is that every other outlet for discussing retention of male viewership was removed until there was nothing left but the sole choice to simply quietly walk away. And they have. In droves. Many have already given up the idea of having kids period. Marriage. Brutal pursuit of high status career paths. Home ownership. Going to college. So what's giving up some ranges of movies and TV shows to them?

So changing the show's title from "Dune: The Sisterhood" to just about anything else is just plain common sense if the goal is actually make money. I can say that on a small private message board forum, far detached from social media, that's mostly about action figures. But there are plenty of other places where stating the obvious would get you canceled, blacklisted and tossed out as a pariah from your career.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Hollywood is watching you, David.

 

[Mr.NoCredit]

After giving some thought to Mandible’s comments about the walk into the desert I would bet the return scene was filmed and cut from the movie released to the theaters due to the overall length of the film. My guess is that there’s an extended version slated for release on discs when it gets to that point in time. I’m just theorizing here but don’t most movies have extra footage and a few scenes cut from the final version released to theaters!? I’ll bet it’s in there just wasn’t added to the Final Cut… just me thinking out loud..

 

[Buttmunch]

After giving some thought to Mandible’s comments about the walk into the desert I would bet the return scene was filmed and cut from the movie released to the theaters due to the overall length of the film. My guess is that there’s an extended version slated for release on discs when it gets to that point in time. I’m just theorizing here but don’t most movies have extra footage and a few scenes cut from the final version released to theaters!? I’ll bet it’s in there just wasn’t added to the Final Cut… just me thinking out loud..

Denis Villeneuve has said that there won’t be any deleted scenes on the home video release. Once he cuts something out of the Final Cut, he considers it dead. So wouldn’t expect any kind of director’s cut in the future because we already got it. The only thing I could maybe see them doing is splicing parts 1 and 2 together into an epic 6 hour film but even that seems unlikely.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Saw the film yesterday. Incredible.

 

[Wor-Gar]

What would put you to sleep faster: LOTR 10-hour epic tale versus Dune 6-hour masterpiece?

 

[Johnny Utah]

Easily LOTR. When I rewatch them I start at the Fellowship leaving Rivendell, then skip to Moria, skip Lothlorien and go to Amon Hen. I skip all of Two Towers except for the breaching of the wall, don't rewatch ROTK much. The Hobbit movies - I only rewatch the river sequence from Desolation of Smaug.

 

[Wor-Gar]

 

[ScoutingForToys]

Easily LOTR. When I rewatch them I start at the Fellowship leaving Rivendell, then skip to Moria, skip Lothlorien and go to Amon Hen. I skip all of Two Towers except for the breaching of the wall, don't rewatch ROTK much. The Hobbit movies - I only rewatch the rover sequence from Desolation of Smaug.

Personally I couldn't skip a single minute of LOTR. Totally with you on The Hobbit.
As I understand it there was a lot of studio interference and Peter Jackson was still writing scenes even as they were filming.

 

[chrisstbh]

Personally I couldn't skip a single minute of LOTR. Totally with you on The Hobbit.
As I understand it there was a lot of studio interference and Peter Jackson was still writing scenes even as they were filming.

The Hobbit movies are hideous too.

 

[ScoutingForToys]

The Hobbit movies are hideous too.

Agreed.

 

[Khev]

I have have a small gripe.

The ending felt a tad anticlimactic.

Spoiler

easy to beat the bad guys. If it just ended and there was not going to be a part three I would have been like.. huh? That’s it?

Now it’s a minor gripe because everything else is great but the Battle at Pelennor Field this was not.

This. A 10 minute "learn to ride a worm" sequence and they pay it off with 5 minutes of worms attacking the base? It looked spectacular but was way too short. Cameron would have never made such an error. Even Lynch's finale was more satisfying.

Not a fan of the Chani ending. For anyone who doesn't know the book they're left to assume that Paul literally goes off to be a legit husband to the princess. Very strange decision on Denis' part.