Contec
Master Member
The Trade Federation blockades Arrakis so two jedi's are sent to help negotiate a treaty.
Re-make of "Dune"
- Thread starter joberg
- Start date
SmilingOtter
Master Member
Come on, the Sci-if Sardukar's looked like sous chefs!
So right. They're supposed to be feared as the scariest things on two legs (until the Fremen enter the game.) The only costume I had any use for was the stillsuit. As iconic as the Lynch version is, Syfy's seems a lot more realistic: hoods, sand-colored, etc.
Come on, the Sci-if Sardukar's looked like sous chefs!
I'm fine with those as dress uniforms. I like them better than the black hazmat suits they wore in the Lynch version. If the Lynch Harkonnen soldier uniforms had been used for the Sardukar, those'd be perfect, I think. Those uniforms are still intimidating as all get out.
You also have to remember that, while they are still fierce warriors and highly trained, by the time of the original story their heyday of efficacy was in the past. Things were fairly stable at that point, militarily. There was politicking going on, but no outright hot war. The Sardukar had their reputation, but it hadn't been tested publicly in a while. They were mainly coasting on complacency and past achievement.
@SmilingOtter, I like Bob Ringwood's stillsuits, but wish they'd had the facemasks, skullcaps, and cloaks as described in the book. I understand movement and recognizability issues, but still. When I first saw this card from the first Magic: The Gathering expansion, I instantly thought "Oo! Fremen!"
And I agree there's too much for one film in the original book. My biggest criticism of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films is that he went with three films instead of four. It was originally supposed to be one book, but paper shortages after the war caused it to be broken into three volumes. When Peter and Phillipa and Fran addressed Tolkien's shortcomings as a narrative storyteller and reworked the book events into the proper timeline of events, they uncoupled the films from having to directly capture the book volumes, and there's enough that happens after Aragorn is crowned king at the end of the War of the Ring that it deserves another film -- not a dragged out coda.
Similarly, I think Dune would make a good film duology or trilogy. Part one ends with the Harkonnen sneak attack and Paul and Jessica fleeing into the desert (maybe up to when they run into Stilgar's troop). Depending on how much the intervening material before the Fremen take Arrakis back at the end lends itself to the visual medium would determine whether there was enough to justify a third film or just a "part two"...
--Jonah
blipper
Sr Member
Hey Jonah, did you see the Children of Dune mini series? I couldn't get past about 20 minutes of the Dune mini series, but Children of Dune I thought was fantastic with only a few minor quibles (Stephen Berkoff as Stilgar was terrible and whoever played Gurney was lousy). I would have loved to see them follow through with God Emperor of Dune.
Lynch's version is gold for the first hour or so, imo - beautifully and thoughtfully done and captures an essence of the book I'm not sure anyone else could do.
I think the biggest barrier to greatness in any new movie adaptation is Brian Herbert's involvement. He will absolutely look to implement his changes to Dune lore and obviously has no problem with heavily commercialising his father's legacy. Very sad.
Lynch's version is gold for the first hour or so, imo - beautifully and thoughtfully done and captures an essence of the book I'm not sure anyone else could do.
I think the biggest barrier to greatness in any new movie adaptation is Brian Herbert's involvement. He will absolutely look to implement his changes to Dune lore and obviously has no problem with heavily commercialising his father's legacy. Very sad.
SmilingOtter
Master Member
Well. he's certainly not pretty. I'm not sure how believable he'd be randomly spouting off poetry appropriate to the situation...
I prefer the Re-Edition
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Solo4114
Master Member
So, here's the thing.
I don't actually think that Dune can be effectively put on screen. The best you could hope for is something like a 22-episode, hour long series on TV, and even that would have issues.
I don't know how many people here have read the first book (or beyond that), but there is a TON of stuff that's in the appendices which really fleshes out the world Frank Herbert created, and it's really hard to translate that stuff on to screen without doing huge exposition dumps. The thing is, the stuff in the appendices is what makes the actions of the characters that much more meaningful. I mean, you can do Dune as a straight-up story about a guy whose family is deposed from power and then gets revenge and takes it all back. But that's just the surface level stuff. what makes Dune such a visionary work of science fiction is all the ADDITIONAL stuff going on below the surface. All of the notions of human potential, different factions vying for power to realize their own visions of that potential, etc. It's just gonna get lost, and all you'll have is a kind of generic adventure story. Which is fine, but...why bother?
I think the Sci-Fi series did the best job of translating stuff, although obviously on a SERIOUS budget. "Dune: the Stage Play" is what it really is.
I don't actually think that Dune can be effectively put on screen. The best you could hope for is something like a 22-episode, hour long series on TV, and even that would have issues.
I don't know how many people here have read the first book (or beyond that), but there is a TON of stuff that's in the appendices which really fleshes out the world Frank Herbert created, and it's really hard to translate that stuff on to screen without doing huge exposition dumps. The thing is, the stuff in the appendices is what makes the actions of the characters that much more meaningful. I mean, you can do Dune as a straight-up story about a guy whose family is deposed from power and then gets revenge and takes it all back. But that's just the surface level stuff. what makes Dune such a visionary work of science fiction is all the ADDITIONAL stuff going on below the surface. All of the notions of human potential, different factions vying for power to realize their own visions of that potential, etc. It's just gonna get lost, and all you'll have is a kind of generic adventure story. Which is fine, but...why bother?
I think the Sci-Fi series did the best job of translating stuff, although obviously on a SERIOUS budget. "Dune: the Stage Play" is what it really is.
I have read all the books, listened to the books in audio form at least 2 times through, read all the Brian Herbert book. I am in for a penny, in for a pound. I agree the Sci-Fi miniseries is the better adaptation although the Lynch visuals are unassailable and his version of the Baron, which is entirely different from the books, was inspired. I think a film of say 2:30-2:45 in length can service the major plot points if the first book. There are ancillary plots in the book that can be dropped without hurting the core story.
Solo4114
Master Member
I don't disagree, but I still don't think that does the original work justice.
To my way of thinking, Dune is one of the seminal works of Science Fiction EVER. It is my gold standard for pointing people to what is best in science fiction, and how viewing the human condition through the prism of the fantastical can be more than just a good ripping yarn about lasers and robots, and can rise to the level of enlightenment.
The first three books in Herbert's original series tell an amazing story of the power of messianic figures, and work as a fascinating exploration of human nature. The fourth book is basically a work of political philosophy disguised as science fiction. After that, it kinda seemed to go back to the adventure stories with a bit of human nature exploration.
I read the Brian Herbert books in the Legends of Dune series and they were...you know...entertaining I guess. They read much more like typical space adventure sci-fi. I haven't read the rest.
I love the Dune universe, but I think that the first book is probably the most screen friendly of the lot. Even so, it's going to miss a lot of its oomph without the background material, in my opinion. It'll still be entertaining, but it won't live up to its potential.
Actually, I'd say this is a LOT like Watchmen. For all the grief people give him, I think Zack Snyder did yeoman's work translating Watchmen to the screen. I just...don't really think the work functions best as a screen translation. It works best as a comic book. Same deal with Herbert's Dune. You can translate it, but in so doing you'll lose a lot of the "soul" of the work.
Axlotl
Master Member
I'm not very familiar with Villeneuve's work. I've only seen "Sicario", which was good...
I don't have an opinion on this matter, just questions.
Does Villeneuve love the DUNE books? Or the Lynch movie?
Will he have the creative freedom to make the film he wants to make?
Or will a committee of bean-counters interfere with every decision he makes?
Will this be the definitive motion picture adaptation of DUNE?
Or just another lackluster Hollywood remake that we forget in a year? (Robocop, Ben Hur, Total Recall, etc.)
For the record, I dig the hell out of Lynch's DUNE, but in my opinion Sci-Fi's "Dune: The Stage Play" is the better adaptation.
I don't have an opinion on this matter, just questions.
Does Villeneuve love the DUNE books? Or the Lynch movie?
Will he have the creative freedom to make the film he wants to make?
Or will a committee of bean-counters interfere with every decision he makes?
Will this be the definitive motion picture adaptation of DUNE?
Or just another lackluster Hollywood remake that we forget in a year? (Robocop, Ben Hur, Total Recall, etc.)
For the record, I dig the hell out of Lynch's DUNE, but in my opinion Sci-Fi's "Dune: The Stage Play" is the better adaptation.
Toadmeister
Sr Member
Villeneavu did Sicario? Wow, that was one of my favorites from last year. If anyone hasn't seen it yet, do so!
Warning, Sicaro is, dark film!
Warning, Sicaro is, dark film!
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