Why is Villeneuve' Dune so bleh? - How do you make a planet entirely composed of sand so lifeless and bland?

[WhiskeyJack]

Does anyone else prefer Lynch's Dune to the Villeneuve version? I just rewatched them both for the first time since the DUNC film came out and realized I just don't care for the new film much at all. It was disappointing the first time around, but now it's even worse on rewatch.

It's not terrible exactly, but Lynch's Dune was just so much more interesting, especially the set design and character designs (I literally just watched these and I cannot remember DUNC's Reverend Mother at all, but Lynch's version is impossible to forget). Jessica has no screen prescence at all.

Even the Lynch Sandworms are more interesting, and the miniature sand effects look better than CGI. And while the film feels a bit rushed throughout, the pacing of individual scenes is miles ahead of Denis' take, especially the Gom Jabbar or the destruction of the Spice Harvester. The Lynch Gom Jabbar test is fast, to the point, and really sells the idea that his hand is being boiled apart while Paul is in agony.

The Villeneuve version just seems to go on forever, and the Reverend Mother is just sort of there, not even being particularly creepy. And instead of screaming in pain, Paul is just moaning limply as Han Zimmer's BLOOOOM sound effect plays over Wonder Woman's theme from the Snyderverse films. It's a bit gay.

The only scene I can really remember liking from DUNC is the Sardaukar chanting scene that seems to be everyone's favorite. Indeed, the Sardaukar themselves are the only really clear improvement in design.

Of course, neither film beats the SciFi Channel Eurotrash miniseries, so far as actually telling the story goes. And the OST from Children of Dune is great.

 

[TATE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODE!!]

The electrical discharge the sandworms cause in the original Dune is such a sight. Remember finally watching it five years back and being surprised it wasn't the dumpster fire people made it out to be.

 

[Shamefur Dispray]

All Villenueve movies are just bleh

 

[Muttley]

I've read through God Emperor (and while it was a breathe of fresh air, I was already sick of the books like halfway through Children of Dune). and while I'm not a big Dune fan, I hate that movie. It mostly leaves everything intact right, but it's really hard to explain the focus is so wrong.

and they took the single most important character in the entire Dune universe behind Leto II himself,
the person who makes the story possible essentially, Liet Kynes and they made him a fucking black woman. fucking what? why?

In the first 100 pages of Dune, there's a lot of time spent with Paul getting ready to go to Arrakis, and the writing feels very "coming of age" in it's tone. A worse author would've made it feel like a YA novel, but Herbert uses like the worldbuilding and the pseudohistorical feeling of it to give everything like a feeling of deep tradition that is like the Hellenes and Persians. But the movie breezes through this. It essentially says you know, "Ok introduce everyone, Gom Jabbar, brief training scene with Gurney Hallack" etc. and then we are off. It just hits the set pieces of the book very briefly and you lose a lot of like the sense of adventure that comes from the build up of going to Arrakis.

I bet the movies as a whole are going to end up being like anti colonialist propaganda that cares way more about the Fremen perspective than House Atreides. They're going to have the focus shifted subtly from like Paul's rise to power to like Chani being a boss bitch., even though she's his concubine and I can already tell they're going to undermine the dynamic that comes with Paul's actual marriage, and thereby actually making her character more shallow and shitty just for the sake of showing a girl doin' big things and totally influence the fate of Arrakis

Like you guys couldn't have waited til Alia for your like muh female agency character? She's ridiculously powerful and it would not conflict with the character at all. She becomes like the religious head of all Arrakis more or less. It doesn't conflict with Ghanima's character either, and she's not evil. So there's your good guy too.

My other prediction is that they'll make Irulan totally unsympathetic, they're going to make her like maniacally evil and an idiot, I'm sure. They're going to make her a punching bag to show how heckin' great the mutt they picked to play Chani is because they want some of them Spiderman bucks $$$

Bad movie was bad.
I don't even like the series and I care way more about the source material.
David Lynch Dune also sucks.

The only depiction of Dune I like is Moebius but his isn't accurate to the books either

 

[Catler]

The Villeneuve version just seems to go on forever

It was the first time I legitimately considered walking out of the theatre. It was lifeless, boring, and overstayed its welcome.

 

[CaptainAutism69]

It missed out one of the most important sub-plots (who's the traitor), in favour of Stronk Black womman, and Aquaman shit.

 

[Muttley]

It missed out one of the most important sub-plots (who's the traitor), in favour of Stronk Black womman, and Aquaman shit.

yeah the shadout mapes is a non-character now

 

[AgendaPoster]

The old Dune took too many liberties with the book material. The introduction of those guns was alone pretty fucked up for a world where honor was achieved in knife battles and power came from meditative drugged trances.
The new film was OK-ish, but suffered from the modernism brain worms plague somewhat.
As a Dune enjoyer (was given as one of the first serious books to me by my mother and I've read some of the series multiple times), I don't think there can be a good movie made after it. The themes are just superficially about action stuff. The wars, the battles, the conflicts are the surface. The books are good because of the philosophy in them and the mental anguish and challenges that the heroes go through, fighting insanity, addiction, possession, lust and more. The movies tend to emphasize some battle or fighting and so on, which in the book are very subdued and only used to develop the main characters.
Additionally, honestly portraying Dune in a movie would require a rather reactionary and bleak vision of humanity, progress and technology, and there are no directors and screenwriters willing to do such a movie.

 

[Fascist Kirk]

They turned Dr Kynes into a Nigger with a bonus whole, so like who is Chani's father?

 

[CaptainAutism69]

The old Dune took too many liberties with the book material. The introduction of those guns was alone pretty fucked up for a world where honor was achieved in knife battles and power came from meditative drugged trances.
The new film was OK-ish, but suffered from the modernism brain worms plague somewhat.
As a Dune enjoyer (was given as one of the first serios books to me by my mother and I've read some of the series multiple times), I don't think there can be a good movie made after it. The themes are just superficially about action stuff. The wars, the battles, the conflicts are the surface. The books are good because of the philosophy in them and the mental anguish and challenges that the heroes go through, fighting insanity, addiction, possession, lust and more. The movies tend to emphasize some battle or fighting and so on, which in the book are very subdued and only used to develop the main characters.
Additionally, honestly portraying Dune in a movie would require a rather reactionary and bleak vision of humanity, progress and technology, and there are no directors and screenwriters willing to do such a movie.

The miniseries did it well, except for the shitty costumes.

Anyway the team behind woke Dune just have no respect for the book, and more respect for the woke mindvirus (see the 'OH SPIN OFF SERIES ABOUT WOMMENS', and comments about Herbert not being progressive enough.

It's not just nigger kynes, but there's more than that...the BG are not Jedi mind trick type magicians, the voice is all about suggestion and manipulation. Take the Ornithopter escape scene; in the book and OG movie, Jessica is acting in a seductive manner, playing to her sexuality (she's supposed to be fucking hot, not some washed out cat lady), with the line 'you don't have to fight over me', planting the idea in the Harks head that he can have her all to himself, if only he merks the other dude. Contrast that with the simple command to kill the pilot in V's movie.

They took a complex and rich story, gutted out any of the complex stuff, added in the woke mindvirus, and made some pretty visuals.
Oh yea, pet peeve about the SARDARKAUR! being overt in helping the Harks, rather than being disguised as the Harks...but that goes back to gutting an entire subplot.

 

[Mariposa2.0 LTE]

It was the first time I legitimately considered walking out of the theatre. It was lifeless, boring, and overstayed its welcome.

I liked the fat pervert. He reminded me of Chris.

 

[Fascist Kirk]

Movie was horrible, absolutely shit the movie. Breadtubers who liked this movie should be lined up against a wall and shot in Ro Blox

Scifi Mini Series is superior in every way except special effects, but barley

 

[Pedophobe]

No the miniseries was shit too. I don't know where people get off thinking otherwise. My damn kids' elementary school play interpretation was better than the miniseries.