5 ms·

>As David Itzkoff noted in 2006, what’s curious about “Dune” ’s stature is that it has not penetrated popular culture in the way that “The Lord of the Rings” an

by koboll 7y ago

>As David Itzkoff noted in 2006, what’s curious about “Dune” ’s stature is that it has not penetrated popular culture in the way that “The Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars” have. There are no “Dune” conventions. Catchphrases from the book have not entered the language. The movie next year oughta do it, if the star-studded cast and acclaimed director are any indication.

Animats 7y ago
The last Dune movie (1984) didn't do it. "It's like The Last Airbender, but with sand."
- RangerScience 7y ago
  Honestly, IMO, people weren't as good at this kind of movie back then, and audiences were less informed as to genre elements. The weirding way, the Voice, even the psychedelic sequences - these had to be explained, or shown, and how? How do you film these things in a way that audiences can understand? Not saying there's clear answers now, but there's been another thirty years of exploration in how you show weird, hard-to-film genre elements. There's also another entire set of explorations on exactly these things (the Scifi Channel's miniseries) from which to see what works and doesn't.
- cannonedhamster 7y ago
  I might be in the minority but I liked the Dune movie. It introduced the universe, how it worked, had a solid cast. The movie is clearly one from the 80s with it's dedication to atmosphere.
  - airstrike 7y ago
    What you call "dedication to atmosphere" felt just too over the top to many others. From one other review: "The second scene depicts the mysterious “Guild Navigator,” a brainiac character Lynch devises as a literal giant talking brain floating in a tank of brine. His mouth is triangular-shaped. There’s really no clean way of saying this, so here goes: It looks like a vagina. And it secretes gas. Lynch likes to shoot this in graphic close-up, and they’re explicit enough that if you see the film cut on TV, the editors completely omit these shots." https://www.metro.us/entertainment/in-slight-defense-david-lynch-s-dune-isn-t-that-bad/tmWncw---08O6Xetk1qBrk https://www.metro.us/entertainment/in-slight-defense-david-l... I respect your appreciation for the movie, but to most people it's objectively bad. From Wikipedia: "In retrospect, Lynch disowned the film and acknowledged he should never have directed Dune: I started selling out on Dune. Looking back, it's no one's fault but my own. I probably shouldn't have done that picture, but I saw tons and tons of possibilities for things I loved, and this was the structure to do them in. There was so much room to create a world. But I got strong indications from Raffaella and Dino De Laurentiis of what kind of film they expected, and I knew I didn't have final cut." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(1984_film)#Critical_reception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(1984_film)#Critical_rece...
    - emmelaich 7y ago
      The brain in brine thing reminds of the queen insect in Starship Troopers. That last scene with Neil Patrick Harris' character also destroyed that movie for me.
    - cannonedhamster 7y ago
      Yeah I can see that. It's definitely a personal taste thing. I'm just glad that many people have so many different things to enjoy.
  - madengr 7y ago
    I also liked it. The navigator really didn’t appear u til the second book, but I still liked it in the movie. The “voice” amplifier weapons were hokey, but the theme of the movie was cool, years before it was termed steampunk.
  - scottlocklin 7y ago
    Check out fanedit redux; it's actually a good movie, presumably something like was intended before they edited it to crap. https://vimeo.com/62914506 https://vimeo.com/62914506
  - thelazydogsback 7y ago
    I also really enjoyed the movie for the most part. More than any most movies from a book I read first, it really captured the spirit of the universe to an amazing degree. The just need to get rid of the the added cruft that wasn't in the book.
  - tyfon 7y ago
    You're not alone. It's one of my favourite movies, however it deviates quite a bit from the books. Still good :) I can see why other might not like it though.
  - stormking 7y ago
    I loved the aesthetics and half of the cast (Paul, Leto, Duncan, Lady Jessica), hated the rest.
  - throw0101a 7y ago
    > I might be in the minority but I liked the Dune movie. I liked the aesthetic of the movie (everything was 'old' and worn and staid). I liked the mini-series because it stayed closer to the original story, but (because of budget?) things looked too shiny: things seemed too 'fresh' for a societal structure that had been static for generations and generations. That was kind of point of the Golden Path: you wanted the Imperium to seem 'static' because of inertia, and humanity needed something to shake them up from stagnation.
  - pmoriarty 7y ago
    I loved Lynch's 1984 adaptation of Dune. It was far, far better than the SciFi channel garbage that came afterwards, and it got me interested in reading the novels, all which I've read multiple times now (something I very rarely do).
- geargrinder 7y ago
  I loved the movie when it was released, and felt it was true in spirit to the book. Sure, some of the details were missed or altered, but that was to be expected in a movie adaptation of a book with so many details. Herbert was on the set and at least had some input. Baron Harkkonen has to be one of the most memorable movie characters ever.
- anotherevan 7y ago
  My summation is that the 1984 movie was both good and original, but the parts that were original were not good, and the parts that were good were not original.
- emmelaich 7y ago
  I loved the book and mostly liked the movie. Some of the movie is fantastic, but some of it is laugh out loud silly. It's one thing to read about the voice and worm-riding, it's very hard to put those into movies. Apparently a new film is being made by Denis Villeneuve. Let's hope for the best. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(2020_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(2020_film)
xyzzy_plugh 7y ago
> Catchphrases from the book have not entered the language. What an odd framing. True, perhaps, but what about from the 1984 movie? > "The spice must flow!" > "If you walk without rhythm, you won't attract the worm" > "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion." Frank Herbert isn't exactly known for succinct, catchy one-liners. Here's at least one I recognize from the book, "Fear is the mind-killer": > "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." Sure, Dune may not be as big as LOTR or Star Wars, but before the blockbuster films, what catchphrases from LOTR were (are?) remotely commonplace?
- slowmovintarget 7y ago
  I, for one, regularly put on my best Max von Sydow impression and say "As to their relationship to the spice... Who knows?"
- sli 7y ago
  > ... what catchphrases from LOTR were (are?) remotely commonplace? "And my axe!" was common enough for a while. Less so now but it's still around. LOTR memes that rely on single lines with varying popularity are pretty common but that's probably stretching it.
  - 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
    "My precioussss", "One does not simply walk into Mordor", "Well yes, but what about second lunch?", etc.
    - balfirevic 7y ago
      cough second breakfasts! cough
  - 7y ago

by koboll 7y ago

Animats 7y ago

The last Dune movie (1984) didn't do it. "It's like The Last Airbender, but with sand."

RangerScience 7y ago
Honestly, IMO, people weren't as good at this kind of movie back then, and audiences were less informed as to genre elements. The weirding way, the Voice, even the psychedelic sequences - these had to be explained, or shown, and how? How do you film these things in a way that audiences can understand? Not saying there's clear answers now, but there's been another thirty years of exploration in how you show weird, hard-to-film genre elements. There's also another entire set of explorations on exactly these things (the Scifi Channel's miniseries) from which to see what works and doesn't.
cannonedhamster 7y ago
I might be in the minority but I liked the Dune movie. It introduced the universe, how it worked, had a solid cast. The movie is clearly one from the 80s with it's dedication to atmosphere.
- airstrike 7y ago
  What you call "dedication to atmosphere" felt just too over the top to many others. From one other review: "The second scene depicts the mysterious “Guild Navigator,” a brainiac character Lynch devises as a literal giant talking brain floating in a tank of brine. His mouth is triangular-shaped. There’s really no clean way of saying this, so here goes: It looks like a vagina. And it secretes gas. Lynch likes to shoot this in graphic close-up, and they’re explicit enough that if you see the film cut on TV, the editors completely omit these shots." https://www.metro.us/entertainment/in-slight-defense-david-lynch-s-dune-isn-t-that-bad/tmWncw---08O6Xetk1qBrk https://www.metro.us/entertainment/in-slight-defense-david-l... I respect your appreciation for the movie, but to most people it's objectively bad. From Wikipedia: "In retrospect, Lynch disowned the film and acknowledged he should never have directed Dune: I started selling out on Dune. Looking back, it's no one's fault but my own. I probably shouldn't have done that picture, but I saw tons and tons of possibilities for things I loved, and this was the structure to do them in. There was so much room to create a world. But I got strong indications from Raffaella and Dino De Laurentiis of what kind of film they expected, and I knew I didn't have final cut." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(1984_film)#Critical_reception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(1984_film)#Critical_rece...
  - emmelaich 7y ago
    The brain in brine thing reminds of the queen insect in Starship Troopers. That last scene with Neil Patrick Harris' character also destroyed that movie for me.
  - cannonedhamster 7y ago
    Yeah I can see that. It's definitely a personal taste thing. I'm just glad that many people have so many different things to enjoy.
- madengr 7y ago
  I also liked it. The navigator really didn’t appear u til the second book, but I still liked it in the movie. The “voice” amplifier weapons were hokey, but the theme of the movie was cool, years before it was termed steampunk.
- scottlocklin 7y ago
  Check out fanedit redux; it's actually a good movie, presumably something like was intended before they edited it to crap. https://vimeo.com/62914506 https://vimeo.com/62914506
- thelazydogsback 7y ago
  I also really enjoyed the movie for the most part. More than any most movies from a book I read first, it really captured the spirit of the universe to an amazing degree. The just need to get rid of the the added cruft that wasn't in the book.
- tyfon 7y ago
  You're not alone. It's one of my favourite movies, however it deviates quite a bit from the books. Still good :) I can see why other might not like it though.
- stormking 7y ago
  I loved the aesthetics and half of the cast (Paul, Leto, Duncan, Lady Jessica), hated the rest.
- throw0101a 7y ago
  > I might be in the minority but I liked the Dune movie. I liked the aesthetic of the movie (everything was 'old' and worn and staid). I liked the mini-series because it stayed closer to the original story, but (because of budget?) things looked too shiny: things seemed too 'fresh' for a societal structure that had been static for generations and generations. That was kind of point of the Golden Path: you wanted the Imperium to seem 'static' because of inertia, and humanity needed something to shake them up from stagnation.
- pmoriarty 7y ago
  I loved Lynch's 1984 adaptation of Dune. It was far, far better than the SciFi channel garbage that came afterwards, and it got me interested in reading the novels, all which I've read multiple times now (something I very rarely do).
geargrinder 7y ago
I loved the movie when it was released, and felt it was true in spirit to the book. Sure, some of the details were missed or altered, but that was to be expected in a movie adaptation of a book with so many details. Herbert was on the set and at least had some input. Baron Harkkonen has to be one of the most memorable movie characters ever.
anotherevan 7y ago
My summation is that the 1984 movie was both good and original, but the parts that were original were not good, and the parts that were good were not original.
emmelaich 7y ago
I loved the book and mostly liked the movie. Some of the movie is fantastic, but some of it is laugh out loud silly. It's one thing to read about the voice and worm-riding, it's very hard to put those into movies. Apparently a new film is being made by Denis Villeneuve. Let's hope for the best. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(2020_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(2020_film)

xyzzy_plugh 7y ago

> Catchphrases from the book have not entered the language. What an odd framing. True, perhaps, but what about from the 1984 movie? > "The spice must flow!" > "If you walk without rhythm, you won't attract the worm" > "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion." Frank Herbert isn't exactly known for succinct, catchy one-liners. Here's at least one I recognize from the book, "Fear is the mind-killer": > "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." Sure, Dune may not be as big as LOTR or Star Wars, but before the blockbuster films, what catchphrases from LOTR were (are?) remotely commonplace?

slowmovintarget 7y ago
I, for one, regularly put on my best Max von Sydow impression and say "As to their relationship to the spice... Who knows?"
sli 7y ago
> ... what catchphrases from LOTR were (are?) remotely commonplace? "And my axe!" was common enough for a while. Less so now but it's still around. LOTR memes that rely on single lines with varying popularity are pretty common but that's probably stretching it.
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
  "My precioussss", "One does not simply walk into Mordor", "Well yes, but what about second lunch?", etc.
  - balfirevic 7y ago
    cough second breakfasts! cough
- 7y ago