Did anyone catch "Dune" at the cinema? (Theater-if-you-are-'Meriman-R)
Jimster
Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,954 Posts
The Villeneuve one with Zendaya in it.
I solicit your opinion, I've not seen it but need to invest my time wisely.
I paid to watch "John Carter of Mars"-R.
I solicit your opinion, I've not seen it but need to invest my time wisely.
I paid to watch "John Carter of Mars"-R.
Comments
So I read the book when I was younger and it's so full of internal dialogue that it's always going to be hard to communicate the same rich detail on screen. Lynch tried, and he had some mad visuals, but the story kinda fell flat. The Villeneuve version has it's own visual style and it's alternately minimal and grand, or fun and grand. Either way, I think the big screen plays to the visual strengths. If you've read the book, it's also a better take on telling the story - they only cover the first half of the first book in this first movie, so if you remember the internal dialogue, there's more room for that to seep into the story here.
I definitely recommend watching it, especially if you've read the book. And I'm excited to see the next one on the big screen to be honest.
Unfortunately it’s impossible not to compare it to Lynche’s version. Or to Bladerunner 2.
Bladerunner 2 also looked amazing and had a great cast. But it also felt like a cold facsimile of the h’ariginal, and another missed opportunity. Dune Villeneuve somehow spent more time than Lynch to transmit less plot. People I went to the cinema with (who hadn’t seen Lynch or read the book) were asking if Baron Harkonnen was Teh Emperor. They weren’t clear on why Atredies had taken over Arrakis, or why Spice was so valuable. Also, in the Lynch, it’s made clear that male babies of Bene Gesserit should be killed, and Jessica pleads for Paul’s life and Rev Mother makes it clear she’s only testing him as a *favour* while fully expecting to just kill him.
Villeneuve’s feels emotionally colder. Lynche’s is a bit ridiculous, but Baron Harkonnen is fucking brilliant, and the Rev Mother is probably the best actor in the film. Despite Brolin absolutely screaming that the Harkonnen are brutal (show - don't tell), Lynche’s were much much nastier.
A good director has the knack for creating drama out of nothing and my biggest complaint is what Villeneuve introduced to the film to artificially raise the stakes in two key action scenes:
When Duncan Idaho escapes the attack in his ‘copter, a spaceship-mounted laser that can cut through energy shields and buildings adds to the tension - an *almost* inescapable foe, but Idaho just makes it.
Then, Paul and Jessica are trapped by Sardukkar and these guys have the same laser tech to cut through steel, walls, everything…
…now if a soldier can carry one of these things there’s no fucking need for hand-to-hand energy shield combat! Everyone would just use these lasers and cut each other in half. Totally fucked the film up for me tbh.
Villeneuve should be in charge of cinematography but not a director. Bladerunner 2 muffed it, and as much as I enjoyed the spectacle of Dune, it was a bit like eating cheap Chinese food - very oily so you feel full at the time of eating but about 20 minutes after your stomach has digested it you realise you’re still hungry.
I read the books in the 80s (we passed them amongst our friends, and I can't remember if it was all of them - there were five or six) and I enjoyed the Lynch film.
Obviously with a storyline this expansive there is no way one film, even three hours worth, is going to complete the narrative, so Lynch just picked the parts that appealed to him and I processed it as extracts from the Dune universe. He narrated a lot of heavy lifting away too. IIRC?
I understand Villeneuve is splitting it across more than one film, but it's not been done like LOTR in sequential shoots, so I guess #2 will depend on #1's box office.
I think for Lynch, he kind of hits it with a straight bat. I mean, I like the fact that Lynch can be allowed to release stuff as disjoint as Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive. It's great but I don't pretend to enjoy all of them. I guess with Dune not being his own story meant he was more structured with it. Thank fuck!
I know Villeneuve is not going to serve up a madness like Eraserhead, but I was meh about Blade Runner 2049. The visuals were great. Incredible, even. But then Ridley Scott set the bar. But the plot was trying to be too clever and wasn't strong enough in key directions. Didn't everyone want self-replicating replicants?
The checkpoints in the Dune universe are already generously-spaced via the books, so I wanted to know if the new film was a meandery political mehfest with great visuals. I guess I'll have to watch them both (2? 3?) but I need to find a screen worthy of it.
And Vangelis. Vangelis > Zimmerman.
Gosling has his virtual crush crushed and it didn’t resonate with me as Villeneuve doesn’t have the knack for getting me emotionally invested in his characters. Harrison Ford elevated the entire film, remove him and it would’ve been trash.
Similarly with Dune, I don’t feel upset when Leto Atradies dies, or Aquaman. I’m not scared by the Baron, or disgusted by the Harkonnen. I haven’t even met the Emperor.
And the Virgin Mary imagery (Paul’s vision of his sister’s birth) made me mind-barf.
villeneuve-r i wanted to add on that i think arrival is really incredible - it kind of impressed me on first viewing (esp the aliens) but i really found a lot more to think about and like on second viewing. apart from that one, though, i would agree that he really doesn't do a great job of getting you to be emotionally invested in his characters.
Back to Bladerunner 2, which I’ve never bothered to rewatch compared to countless viewings of the OG, the one detail that stood out to me as good was the look in the evil replicant woman’s eyes as Gosling kills her. Frustration more than fear. That bit was good.
yeah, great doc - and that would have been next level
- spidey