Dune part 2

[Halasían]

I went and saw Dune part 2 at the IMAX theater yesterday, and all I can say is... wow!

Turin Turambar in The Hall of Fire said it pretty well, he's much more eloquent.... I borrowed some from his review...The film really succeeds on the foundations. The script is solid. It has some excellent acting. We knew from Dune 1 that Timothee Chalamet was able to play Paul, but he was also able to summon the gravitas to play the war leader Muad’dib, and his transformation is striking. The veteran actors, like Charlotte Rampling and Stellan Skarsgaard, give weight to the scenes they’re in. Austin Butler really threw himself into Feyd Rautha, and I expect we’ll see more of him on screen as his talent is recognised. Zendaya as Chani only had brief appearance in Part 1, but she’s genuinely compelling and brings the character to life in the much greater role in part 2. Like most other reviewers, I found Christopher Walken an odd choice for the Emperor. The character has been built up as dangerous and sinister, and Christopher Walken sounds just like Christopher Walken in every other film. He wasn't a negative per-se, but his performance was a bit flat. I guess having command of the Sardaukar can make anyone dangerous and sinister.

The sound and visuals are amazing. A couple friends I met back in the heyday of Tolkien messageboards when the Lord of the Rings movies came out have major parts in the soundtrack as individuals and as members of Hans Zimmer's band (Molly Rogers and Tina Guo). Apparently they processed Molly's voice into some of the haunting sounds used. The gladiator arena on Giedi Prime was really good. The film creatively gives Giedi Prime a black sun and a very harsh monochromatic colour scheme as a result. Each planet has its own colour palette. The balance of CGI and practical effects seems to be dead-on.

Personally, I consider this is the ultimate film adaptation of Dune. I never could get into David Lynch's adaptation, and though I enjoyed the Sci Fi mini series, there were some flats due to its budget. All things considered, If one is going to make an adaptation of a book, Denis Villeneuve does Dune right, whereas Peter Jackson did Lord of the Rings rather shoddily, which appears even more so in the shadow of these two recent Dune movies.

 

[LaurelinBearsFruit]

I saw Dune Part 2 in theaters on Sunday and I was also blown away. It was really awesome! I need to read the books now (at least the ones actually written by Frank Herbert).

 

[Deimos]

The veteran actors, like Charlotte Rampling and Stellan Skarsgaard, give weight to the scenes they’re in..

That was a deliberate pun/play on words, right? 🙄

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

I'm really excited to see it. I loved the first part.

 

[Ugluk]

I saw it week before last. Disappointed and bored in equal measure. My wife walked out halfway through as she though getting the wash in was more interesting!

For the record I liked the first world building in the first movie.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Watched it last night and really liked it. Definitely some slow parts but it wasn’t too bad.

 

[TrackerOrc]

Always loved the Dune books, and was quite disappointed with the David Lynch adaptations, so I was really happy with how the new movies played out.
Enjoyed all the major characters, Stilgar (played by Javier Bardem) being outstanding for me.
Can't wait for the third instalment.

 

[Ugluk]

Always loved the Dune books, and was quite disappointed with the David Lynch adaptations, so I was really happy with how the new movies played out.
Enjoyed all the major characters, Stilgar (played by Javier Bardem) being outstanding for me.
Can't wait for the third instalment.

Interesting because I thought be was caricatured in the films, portrayed as ignorant and superstitious

 

[TrackerOrc]

Interesting because I thought be was caricatured in the films, portrayed as ignorant and superstitious

I think I enjoyed the physicality of Bardem's performance - you really believe that he is this tough, weather-beaten character capable of taking down any number of Harkonnens.
I look at how Stilgar was portrayed as Villeneuve getting to grips with how Paul (an outsider after all) could actually become the leader of the Fremen - I think Stilgar is used as the link between Paul and the ordinary Fremen who may have had great reservations. If Stilgar vouches for him, then he must be ok, type of thing?
I would say more him really wanting something to believe in than him simply being ignorant.

 

[Idril Celebrindal]

I didn't like the second movie mostly because I thought it was overly violent, but also because it was not very faithful to the book. The first movie seemed to capture the "Dune vibe" quite well, but the second one had none of that for me. Not only did they almost entirely remove my favorite character - Aliah - they also turned the rest of the characters into psycopaths. I think Irulan is the only person I would feel safe being in the same room with, which is not the way I felt about the book.
I also feel like the first movie captured the feeling of the desert much beter than the second one. Me and my friends watched the first movie and then went barbecuing in the desert immediatley afterwards, and I honestly kept hearing the music in the hissing of the sand and expecting to see a sandworm on the horison. None of those feelings with the second movie.
Not sure if I'm being picky or not, but I hated it. The actors were pretty good, though (exept for the guy who was the Padisah Emperor Shaddam the Second).

 

[TrackerOrc]

The actors were pretty good, though (exept for the guy who was the Padisah Emperor Shaddam the Second).

Yes, Christopher Walken really seems to have divided opinions; he seems a bit 'other-worldly' to me, for such a political figure as the Emperoro had to be.

 

[Deimos]

Yes, Christopher Walken really seems to have divided opinions; he seems a bit 'other-worldly' to me, for such a political figure as the Emperoro had to be.

I know the story from the books but I have not watched any of the Dune Movies, neither Lynch's nor Villeneuve's; nor do I have any desire to.
However, when I read that Christopher Walken was being cast (didn't matter to me as the character) I waited until snippets and scenes were available on YT.
Then I searched for the Christopher Walken scenes (and by then I knew he had been cast as the Emperor).
Per normal for Walken, he did justice to the part (imo).
Walken can be cast in the worst movie out there, but he always excels at his part.
(So do I think Christopher Walken walks on water? Yes, I do. 😉)

 

[TrackerOrc]

I know the story from the books but I have not watched any of the Dune Movies, neither Lynch's nor Villeneuve's; nor do I have any desire to.
However, when I read that Christopher Walken was being cast (didn't matter to me as the character) I waited until snippets and scenes were available on YT.
Then I searched for the Christopher Walken scenes (and by then I knew he had been cast as the Emperor).
Per normal for Walken, he did justice to the part (imo).
Walken can be cast in the worst movie out there, but he always excels at his part.
(So do I think Christopher Walken walks on water? Yes, I do. 😉)

I actually think that he dialled down his usual awesome 'Walkeness' whereas he may have been better going full "King of New York"!

 

[Deimos]

I actually think that he dialled down his usual awesome 'Walkeness' whereas he may have been better going full "King of New York"!

I sometimes wonder if he is ever able to dial down his "Walken-ness" .
He's that way in real life. Search YT for videos when he has been on talk shows.

 

[TrackerOrc]

I sometimes wonder if he is even able to dial down his "Walken-ness" .
He's that way in real life. Search YT for videos when he has been on talk shows.

He used to appear on Channel Four programmes in the UK reciting fairy-tales like 'The Three Little Pigs' in his full-blown trademark Walkeness. Absolutely hilarious!

 

[Gandalf White]

For someone who used to defend the LOTR movies so hardily, it's weird to find myself on the other side. I watched Dune Part 1 and loved it so much that I picked up the book. Maybe that was my mistake, as I probably would have liked Part 2 equally as much if I hadn't read the source material. Instead I ended up increasingly annoyed by the deviations in Part 2, so much so that I wound up skipping around through much of the second half just to be able to reach the end.

Without posting spoilers, the soundtrack and visuals are still stunning, but the simplifications, the accelerated timeline, and the unnecessary fundamental changes to the base story make me think I will have to skip Part 3.

Maybe I just got old.

 

[Rivendell_librarian]

I thought part 2 was a big step up from part 1. I thought the visuals, pacing, acting were all better. The scene of the Fremen migrating on the worms was brilliant and so memorable. I haven't read Dune since shortly after the 1984 David Lynch film (which I also like). Now I realise there will be devotees of the books for whom some changes in particular are a big negative, just as with LOTR. Maybe it's the type of book but I doubt that Patricia Highsmith would have got too upset to the changes in the Hitchcock film version. More likely she was grateful for the extra publicity for her first novel.

So I'm not going to go down that route and I like the way film ended - with the message that power is going to corrupt Paul.

Stilgar to Paul: "just think like you're back on Caladan and doing some water skiing"

 

[Deimos]

For someone who used to defend the LOTR movies so hardily, it's weird to find myself on the other side. I watched Dune Part 1 and loved it so much that I picked up the book. Maybe that was my mistake, as I probably would have liked Part 2 equally as much if I hadn't read the source material. Instead I ended up increasingly annoyed by the deviations in Part 2, so much so that I wound up skipping around through much of the second half just to be able to reach the end.

Without posting spoilers, the soundtrack and visuals are still stunning, but the simplifications, the accelerated timeline, and the unnecessary fundamental changes to the base story make me think I will have to skip Part 3.

Maybe I just got old.

I thought part 2 was a big step up from part 1. I thought the visuals, pacing, acting were all better. The scene of the Fremen migrating on the worms was brilliant and so memorable. I haven't read Dune since shortly after the 1984 David Lynch film (which I also like). Now I realise there will be devotees of the books for whom some changes in particular are a big negative, just as with LOTR. Maybe it's the type of book but I doubt that Patricia Highsmith would have got too upset to the changes in the Hitchcock film version. More likely she was grateful for the extra publicity for her first novel.

So I'm not going to go down that route and I like the way film ended - with the message that power is going to corrupt Paul.

Stilgar to Paul: "just think like you're back on Caladan and doing some water skiing"

If a movie is yet to be released (but the ads/trailers are already out) and it looks pretty good and , and I find it's based on a book, I'll read the book before watching the movie.** I know there will be changes, often necessary changes, because the story is told is being told via two radically different media.
But I will also be able to see where changes were unnecessary , and made by a director who was, at base, chest-thumping , saying "see what I can do" (which is akin, as I have often mentioned, to a dog marking its territory).
PeeJ is a good example of this but by no means the only director guilty of it.
And I may, and as it often happens, still enjoy the movie, and accepting the fact that what we really have is two different stories that happen to have the same name. 😄

It has happened that I've watched a movie, not knowing it was based on a book. And when I learned that it was, and read the book, I would marvel at how faithful the movie was to the book.
There were also not a few times where, upon (post movie viewing) reading the book, I vowed never again to watch the movie. These would typically be B movies, but not always.

Examples of the former: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) , The Haunting, (1963), Lord of the Flies (1963) are just a few that come to mind. There are many more.
And of the latter: Memento Mori, an obscure British production circa 1995, loosely (very loosely) based on the very excellent novel of the same name by Muriel Spark.
Also Pride and Prejudice (1940 starring "Sir Larry" ). The faithful version is the Brit one with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth,
Fahrenheit 451 (1966 and 2018 remake) The first one, despite Francois Truffaut directing wasn't very good, the the remake was a disaster. The real problem, which few screenwriters seem to grasp, is that Bradbury's stories cannot be adapted to the screen and still retain the qualities that make it a Bradbury story. More example of the Bradbury -based movie failures: Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) and The illustrated Man.
Again, many more examples can be added.

Note to @Gandalf White ... well, duh, that's always part of the problem, as I can well attest. 😄

**I have a good friend on another forum who does exactly the opposite, and swears by it.
I.e., if he knows a soon to be released movie is based on a book, he won't read the book until after seeing the movie.
That put a real strain on our friendship 😬 (jk 😄)

 

[CirdanLinweilin]

The Dune movies got me into the books and the universe. Same as the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies.

At the end of the day, the original authors still win out.

CL

 

[TrackerOrc]

The Dune movies got me into the books and the universe. Same as the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies.

At the end of the day, the original authors still win out.

CL

I have an extremely lenient attitude to movie adaptations, and basically just have 'Did I enjoy it?' as my yardstick.

Film is not book and vice versa, so my only concern with changes is, again, do they work for me or not. If they do, I'll thoroughly enjoy the spectacle, if not I'll let it slide, as the film can never be the book.

I absolutely love the Dune books (the original six, not the awful later ones) and have absolutely loved the movies and can't wait for the next instalment.