Dune Review

I first came across Dune as a miniseries released back in 2000. It was quite terribly done. The VFX was shoddy, the budget was non-existent. But the story drew me in. I then got my hands on the 1984 version and liked it better than the 2000’s Miniseries. Strange as that 84 version of the film is, at least it had big budget look and feel and pretty good acting overall. So one can say, for more than a decade I have been waiting for a proper modern high budget adaptation of the Dune novel.

Finally, when this version was announced, I dusted off my novel which I have had for 20 years and got to reading it. I finished the first and second novel and now on the third one. So I am well aware of the world and mythology of Dune. The good news is, so do the film makers. The novel Dune is a bit difficult to turn into a film as it has lots of setups and world introduction. This new 2021 movie does the setup perfectly without it getting boring or confusing. There was no better way to pull it all off. The 1984 version tried something else and it was confusing and quite a mess. Point to be noted is, the 1984 version was butchered and the director (David Lynch) didn’t have final cut control.

Coming back to this film. The setup is well executed, the look and feel of everything is as it should be according to the novels. A lot of the imagery and dressing is Islamic in style and rightly so, as the novels borrow heavily from Islamic themes in a big way, including concepts like Jihad and Hajj which feature heavily in the novels.

The highlight of the film is definitely its cinematography. Its beyond gorgeous. The VFX is very well done, nothing looks fake or CGI. This movie translates the novel like it should have been. It brings out visuals which are described in the novel, but never before seen on-screen. For example, the mode of transport on Dune aka Arrakis is the ornithopter. It looks like a joke in the older film and miniseries. Here, it looks like a real piece of working tech.

The next thing that hits you is the score. It’s a masterpiece. Hans Zimmer left Tenet to do this movie and I am glad he did. Tenet was a fine movie, but this movie is a masterpiece.

The acting and performances are decent overall, no one does any hammy dialog delivery or over the top acting, which is a relief in a hard-core sci-fi film.

The raid scene is far more intense than my mind could have ever conjured up while reading the novel or seeing the older versions of the film. Its brutal and haunting. So, for once this a moment where the film has done it better than the novel.

Be warned this is NOT a action film with huge explosions going off every few minutes or large scale action set pieces taking over the story. This movie follows the novel rather closely and has long dialog scenes. So do not go in expecting a ‘Star Wars’ type experience.

Overall: The only negative of the film is that it is part 1 of 2. So, the ending is a bit lame. Despite Warner Bros assurance that there is a Part 2 coming, I feel it is a ploy to make sure people go and watch this film as no one wants to see a film which won’t have the next part come out soon. Once this movie is released, they might quietly kill the part 2 or reduce its budget enough to make it pointless. This movie is not a standalone movie. It doesn’t stand on its own with the second half. The book wasn’t written to become two movies. But they needed the time to establish the world of Dune.

I genuinely hope the part 2 comes out, as well as other movies based on the sequel novels, but we all know that this movie is coming out in theaters as well as (streaming on) HBO Max next week and this means the box office performance will be shadow of what it would have been pre-covid. Warner Bros are well known for making really dumb decisions with big budget franchises, (Justice League Snyder cut). It’s almost like they don’t want to make money at the box office. Dune part 1 is like LOTR part 1. Good film, terrible ending as it’s not an ending, just a pause button on the story till a part 2 comes out (if ever).

I seriously doubt I will ever get to see Dune Messiah and Children of Dune on the big screen with this cast and crew. Which is a pity as the story is not your typical rise of the hero. The world of Dune is pretty big if they really want to delve deep. Hope the part 2 comes out and is just as good or even better as that has the majority of the action and triumph.

Rating: This is an easy 8/10 for me. Tremendous visuals. Great story and plot. Excellent world building and decent acting. This is a must watch for Sci-Fi fans.

A theater experience especially in IMax is fully recommended.