Second viewing Getting more of a sense of what stands out as stuff I'm missing because I know the book/Lynch version of the story, and what is more objectively missing from the story structure...
I do definitely miss the additional bits for, well, pretty much everyone who isn't Paul in the Atreides household. The quotations from Gurney... A little more of serious side of Paul's relationship with Duncan... Yueh was good, but I still feel there should have been something to better convey how his Imperial conditioning was supposed to make betrayal unthinkably impossible... Something about mentats, and also that Paul's tutelage from those people also included mentat training. Some of Leto's insights I missed, too, as well as mention that his father's blood was preserved on the horns of the bull who killed him (since they focus on it so much more than in the Lynch version). And Jessica is wringing her hands way too goddamn much.
I'm iffy on the taking of Arrakis. With a nearly three-hour runtime, I'd hoped for a teensy bit about how they were using the old capitol in Arakeen, rather than the new administrative center the Harkonnens established in Carthag. Cultural things, people not used the the folks in charge being there -- that was a thing. Also the Imperial observers Count and Lady Fenring, who left at the same time as the Harkonnens. Especially considering she left a warning for Jessica. Also the Shield Wall is a natural formation, not a constructed wall. Also also, laser weapons can't operate in the open air on Arrakis, so the Harkonnens trying to shoot down Duncan made me shift in my seat a little.
I love the depiction of battle language. I like that the Atreides sign, and I seriously love the Sardaukar throat speech.
The Voice mostly works for me as depicted, but I still don't like the ornithopter escape. I prefer how it's depicted as working on subconscious levels to get someone to behave a way they're used to -- such as Jessica's hint that there's no need for the guards to fight over her spurring the guy to stab his compatriot in the back. The Reverend Mother using it on Paul was depicted perfectly.
Some pronunciations still irk me and I can't get past it. I've heard Frank Herbert pronouncing them, so I know what the words are in the author's head. Hearing HARKonnen instead of HarKONnen, and P'DEEshuh instead of PAHdishaw is nails across the blackboard for me. Especially frustrating given how everything else is right on.
I'm going to go see it in FauxMAX in the not too distant future, so that'll be the third chance to see if there's a good sound mix out there. So far, the score seriously overwhelms several scenes, and I keep hoping it's an artifact of where I'm seeing it.