4 ms·

Yeah I had the same feeling. I watched the new movie, and was left feeling underwhelmed. Striking aesthetics, and a true visual and audio experience. But the

by skohan 5y ago

Yeah I had the same feeling. I watched the new movie, and was left feeling underwhelmed. Striking aesthetics, and a true visual and audio experience. But the first half of the film felt like all exposition with no plot, and the film didn't give me much reason to care about the characters so I didn't. But the movie left me with a feeling of wanting more, so I did some research about the world Frank Herbert created, and I actually watched the film again and enjoyed it a lot more with a better understanding of the relevance of what I was seeing. To be honest, I think that's a bit of a failure of the film that it doesn't stand truly on its own. It seems that they tried to be very faithful to the text in terms of what they depicted - which I'm sure was appreciated by Dune fans - but I understand the source material was quite dense, so they would have had to leave quite a lot of important details out. And I think one of the mistakes of the film was to focus so much about Arakkis. The film opens with the struggle and exploitation of the fremen over spice extraction. But I think it's the wrong focus. The thing that makes Arakkis interesting is the fact that the entire empire hinges on the spice production there. The planet itself is just sort of a back-water. I think it would have been better to start with a vignette explaining the importance of spice, to properly set the stakes for the rest of the film.

arcbyte 5y ago
You mean like this: https://youtu.be/eqvSJp-6qT4 https://youtu.be/eqvSJp-6qT4 Your points are well taken. The movie could probably have used a bit more teen angst between Paul and Chani or somebody else to help with caring about characters for people new to the book. I loved it because I've read the book and seen the other movie and TV shows, but I can see how it would come across a bit like Blade Runner 2049 where it had amazing visuals but could leave certain audiences bored.
- Tenoke 5y ago
  It's like 2049 in the sense that both overly rely on the admittedly really great cinematography, score and atmosphere. I enjoyed both but 2049 had a somewhat thin plot while Dune spent most of the movie on exposition and set-up as if I'm watching the first episode of a TV show.
- atoav 5y ago
  I am glad that the movie didn't do that, I liked it precisely for the reason that it made me the fly on the wall of a greater story. I know we are used to get likeable protagonists, but ultimately I often perceive these as cheap tricks that take away from my feeling of immersion for a place. Because all the usual plotpoints and hyperfunctionalized narratives ultimately tend to turn the world they take place in into exchangable backdrops, which is the polar opposite of the idea of the Dune series, where a Place (Arakis) influences the lifes of whole societies in interesting ways. I am glad that Villeneuve managed to do without the classical Hollywood-Three-Act-Script-Consultant-Techniques that make so much of todays movie production bland and unwatchable (for people like me), precisely for the same reason: I can't care for stories where I feel the cheap tricks that make it up at every corner.
  - skohan 5y ago
    Yeah I think you could have gotten very far with a light touch here. For instance, just a few well-placed character moments between Paul and his father would have heightened the impact of what happens later in the film. And maybe also a few scenes where the characters are actually experiencing joy together to better contrast the hardships later on. The tone of the movie is generally so dour and one-note - maybe that is part of the aesthetic Villeneuve is trying to create, but I think even a little bit of emotional range could have gone a long way.
  - gjulianm 5y ago
    But there are cheap tricks here too. The trademark Zimmer wall of sound to make a scene "impressing", the wide long shots of CGI sceneries where no one lives, the dark/cloudy environments to avoid showing more detail...
    - atoav 5y ago
      As bot a VFX artist and a musician I can assure you that neither of those tricks were cheap : )
- skohan 5y ago
  Yeah at least the david lynch opening sets the stage, but I think you could do better than just direct exposition from a floating head. For instance maybe have a voice over while showing a navigator use the spice to travel safely in space. Or maybe show some important event in interstellar politics and explain how it was made possible by spice. I think there are different ways you could do it.
  - arcbyte 5y ago
    You mean like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7FcJwg6OkA&t=229s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7FcJwg6OkA&t=229s
- kofejnik 5y ago
  > The movie could probably have used a bit more teen angst So glad it didn't, teenage angst is the most uninteresting thing in the world
denton-scratch 5y ago
> I think that's a bit of a failure of the film that it doesn't stand truly on its own. Kay, it's a story that seems to be very hard to make as a free-standing fillum. (I haven't seen the new movie, I'll be looking forward to it until it arrives on free-to-air). At least three producers have had a shot, and at least two have made a dogs-breakfast of it. I mean, they had a good shot at doing something difficult - I don't mean to diminish their efforts.

by skohan 5y ago

arcbyte 5y ago

You mean like this: https://youtu.be/eqvSJp-6qT4 https://youtu.be/eqvSJp-6qT4 Your points are well taken. The movie could probably have used a bit more teen angst between Paul and Chani or somebody else to help with caring about characters for people new to the book. I loved it because I've read the book and seen the other movie and TV shows, but I can see how it would come across a bit like Blade Runner 2049 where it had amazing visuals but could leave certain audiences bored.

Tenoke 5y ago
It's like 2049 in the sense that both overly rely on the admittedly really great cinematography, score and atmosphere. I enjoyed both but 2049 had a somewhat thin plot while Dune spent most of the movie on exposition and set-up as if I'm watching the first episode of a TV show.
atoav 5y ago
I am glad that the movie didn't do that, I liked it precisely for the reason that it made me the fly on the wall of a greater story. I know we are used to get likeable protagonists, but ultimately I often perceive these as cheap tricks that take away from my feeling of immersion for a place. Because all the usual plotpoints and hyperfunctionalized narratives ultimately tend to turn the world they take place in into exchangable backdrops, which is the polar opposite of the idea of the Dune series, where a Place (Arakis) influences the lifes of whole societies in interesting ways. I am glad that Villeneuve managed to do without the classical Hollywood-Three-Act-Script-Consultant-Techniques that make so much of todays movie production bland and unwatchable (for people like me), precisely for the same reason: I can't care for stories where I feel the cheap tricks that make it up at every corner.
- skohan 5y ago
  Yeah I think you could have gotten very far with a light touch here. For instance, just a few well-placed character moments between Paul and his father would have heightened the impact of what happens later in the film. And maybe also a few scenes where the characters are actually experiencing joy together to better contrast the hardships later on. The tone of the movie is generally so dour and one-note - maybe that is part of the aesthetic Villeneuve is trying to create, but I think even a little bit of emotional range could have gone a long way.
- gjulianm 5y ago
  But there are cheap tricks here too. The trademark Zimmer wall of sound to make a scene "impressing", the wide long shots of CGI sceneries where no one lives, the dark/cloudy environments to avoid showing more detail...
  - atoav 5y ago
    As bot a VFX artist and a musician I can assure you that neither of those tricks were cheap : )
skohan 5y ago
Yeah at least the david lynch opening sets the stage, but I think you could do better than just direct exposition from a floating head. For instance maybe have a voice over while showing a navigator use the spice to travel safely in space. Or maybe show some important event in interstellar politics and explain how it was made possible by spice. I think there are different ways you could do it.
- arcbyte 5y ago
  You mean like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7FcJwg6OkA&t=229s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7FcJwg6OkA&t=229s
kofejnik 5y ago
> The movie could probably have used a bit more teen angst So glad it didn't, teenage angst is the most uninteresting thing in the world

denton-scratch 5y ago

> I think that's a bit of a failure of the film that it doesn't stand truly on its own. Kay, it's a story that seems to be very hard to make as a free-standing fillum. (I haven't seen the new movie, I'll be looking forward to it until it arrives on free-to-air). At least three producers have had a shot, and at least two have made a dogs-breakfast of it. I mean, they had a good shot at doing something difficult - I don't mean to diminish their efforts.