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Dune: Part Two Is the Best Sci-Fi Film of the Decade
- JohnMakin 3y agoHistorically, february is the time of the year where studios tend to offload the films they think are going to flop. Maybe that has changed.
- boppo1 3y agoThe first was okay. I was disappointed, I really like villenueve's other work. But it was just kinda stale.
- drittich 3y agoI really wanted to like it, and the visuals were fantastic. But, I had no emotional reaction to the characters and feel like the plot was just flowing along without a reason for me to care. I gave it 30 minutes.
- zeroCalories 3y agoWell, Dune is kinda stale. It's certainly not for everyone, but I thought he did an amazing job of brining the books to life.
- boppo1 3y agoI disagree, I loved Dune. Messiah was a little hard to follow, but Dune was ace. It felt like part one sanded off all the interesting bits and gave us a really generic brutalist aesthetic scifi.
- lores 3y ago> sanded off Good one!
- bsder 3y ago> Well, Dune is kinda stale. Yeah, I have to concur with that take. When I read Dune, I just didn't find it that interesting. It rarely felt like the characters had agency--a lot of plot tokens were collected and redeemed to move the story forward (whoops, story needs to move--time for a new, previously unmentioned superpower). And quite often the characters were just cartoonishly dumb or smart or good or evil. As you said, it's certainly not for everyone. I suspect it's more a "product of its time".
- doc_gunthrop 3y agoIt suffers partially from contrived exposition. It seems whenever a Dune film is made, the filmmakers tend to try to include as much of the lore as tolerably possible. They could've just started off the first film with Paul entering a room to encounter Gaius Helen Mohiam and the audience being introduced to the box.
- queuebert 3y agoThat's too early -- we'd have no reason to care about him by then. But that would work as the second scene potentially.
- grilledchickenw 3y agoDune: Part Two was actually scheduled for release end of last year, but got delayed due to the writers' strike. Maybe it hasn't changed afterall.
- JohnMakin 3y agoRight, but it's not like they had to release it now. My comment was more speaking to the peculiarity of releasing a potential blockbuster at this time of year. They could have made a summer or spring release as well.
- RaoulP 3y agoI do hope so! I love Denis Villeneuve, but felt initially that Dune part one didn't live up to the standard I was used to from him. Mostly due to the structure and pacing. But Villeneuve did explicitly intend this as a two-parter, and I've held on to the hope that it was all intentional and that his decisions will serve the films as a whole experience.
- g-b-r 3y agoNope
- rolobio 3y agoI absolutely loved the first film. I am very excited for the second part. I enjoy long movies, so having two parts is good. One part of the first movie that sticks out to me is seeing their space ships for the first time. It was such a different style of space ship that it (plus the music) really struck me in the moment and stayed with me.
- onion2k 3y agoThere haven't been many good sci-fi films in the past decade though, especially if you think the Marvel cinematic universe is boring. Competition is thin.
- subsubzero 3y agoagree, Dune for me was one, Inception being another. I liked Moon(small budget but excellent), interstellar was ok. And thats about it.
- airstrike 3y agoMoon was truly excellent
- erellsworth 3y agoI'd put Everything Everywhere All at Once on that list, depending how you define sci-fi. One of the best films of the decade, in my opinion.
- mring33621 3y agoold lady matrix? I couldn't get into it...
- subsubzero 3y agoI really want to know why you liked it, reason I ask is I came into the movie wanting to love it and couldn't finish it(ended it half way). I just disliked it so much. For me: the story seemed so childish(like a middle schooler wrote it), the characters didn't seem quite interesting(I did like that the main character was an older lady as you do not see that typically in film), and the dialogue really corny. I know alot of people love it and am curious on what about it made it so entertaining.
- litheslytherin 3y agoThe first one was good enough for me to see 2/3 times in IMAX :) The director literally made some of his other movies to prep for Dune. Movies with dozens of Millions in budget were his practice for this next flick, so hey, I'm ready to give my money and be blown away!
- boppo1 3y ago>The director literally made some of his other movies to prep for Dune. You're saying BR2047 was practice? Because it was way better than DP1
- justin66 3y agoThat’s ironic, considering how much better Arrival and the Blade Runner sequel were than Dune.
- bostik 3y agoArrival is an incredible film. (And sure enough, as is the story it's based on.) That's even with the discounting factor of the useless rogue bombers subplot. Blade runner 2049 is an interesting film. Visually gorgeous. Ana de Armas doing one of the best stone-cold scenes I have ever seen. And the whole film having the guts to tell a small story in a big world. Commendable. But I also find myself cringing at how it took a well constructed universe and pretty much dismantled it. So I'm rather torn over what I should think of the film. Of course, story telling wise the Dune mini-series was far above the first new film. But that didn't make the new film bad, it just made it ... different. And too packed. Dune's story is fundamentally big, sweeping and slow. Squeezing it into a film format will cripple it.
- justin66 3y agoI enjoyed Peter Watts' provocative review of Arrival, which I thought I'd shared on HN in the past, but search suggests apparently not: https://www.rifters.com/crawl/?p=7021 https://www.rifters.com/crawl/?p=7021 In terms of quality I want to rate it above the other two movies we're talking about, and right up there with, ahem, the original Blade Runner as a classic science fiction film. (for me that's saying something, since I dislike the visual style of Villeneuve's films) edit: my main problem with the bomber subplot was just how heavy handed it was
- jamager 3y ago> Even better than the first film The first part left me quite underwhelmed, tbh. Maybe I had too high expectations given the director, but while the visuals are amazing, the characterization of some characters (like lady Jessica or Thufir Hawat) are very far from how the books depicts them, and I don't think is an interpretation thing. I understand that Dune is too big of a masterpiece for a simple 2 part movie (it should be a 6-8 session series at least), but I think for instance that the graphic novels do a way better job of conveying the essentials. I'll watch this anyways, I am still a Dune fan.
- kramerger 3y agoReally? I was very impressed with Rebecca Ferguson as lady Jessica. The first 10 minutes was worthy of an Oscar.
- reactordev 3y agoFor that 6-8 part series, you’re looking for the SyFy Channels version that was done early 2000s. Fantastic. Frank Herbert’s Dune. Had William Hurt in it.
- richie_adler 3y agoHurt was the worst part of it. I swear, I still cringe when I remember his unemotional delivery of "Desert. Power." Damn he was bad.
- reactordev 3y agolol, never said he was good, only that he was in it. He lended that hollywood stamp and then just trailered his performance.
- khazhoux 3y agoThat series was such a treat. Highly recommended!!
- snapcaster 3y agonever heard about this before! thanks for the tip will check this out
- duxup 3y agoI liked the first 2/3 of the first film. It had some fun takes on events and scenes. But after that it felt like it was on auto pilot plowing through plot bits. The events that close that film are really uninteresting / don't feel very climatic. I get it's a two part film but I do expect a given part to feel somewhat complete, but I felt like it was more of a "to be continued" ending and I was less than entertained by that point. I do like that there's such a variety of Dune films and content (the sci-fi miniseries including children of dune being my favorites). It's fun to see a different take on things. I really have never felt any of them were "wrong" or fundamentally "bad" just different approaches. I wish every great sci-fi content could get lots of versions / interpretations.
- fakedang 3y agoExactly. I can easily recollect the first half of the first movie, but after Paul meeting the Fremen, I barely remember anything out of the movie.
- nick238 3y agoDidn't they meet, Paul fought Jamis, then that was basically the end? I thought that was maybe the last fifth of the movie, not half.
- olivergregory 3y agoYes, that's correct. The 2 starts there.
- fakedang 3y agoGuess I have a better memory than I had estimated. :-)
- mring33621 3y agoyeah the fremen in part 1 are kinda boring. but after re-watching it recently, i think part 1 overall is pretty great
- bkishan 3y agoI just came back from the theater. Every word of this article rings true. The movie is a piece of art, the best of star wars with the grandeur of Game of Thrones. Its very rare to get movies like this these days.
- RaoulP 3y agoWhat were your feelings about part one, if you saw that back when it came out?
- bkishan 3y agoWatched the part one on day 1 as well. It was definitely more intriguing than enjoyable. The visuals and soundtrack really carried it despite the pacing. Imo, part one was just a great setup for this masterpiece.
- Crontab 3y agoGlad to hear it. I'm leaving to go see it 45 minutes from now.
- duringmath 3y agoEh, they kept all the silly stuff from the book, the atomic bombs, the boring desert sections, way too much exposition, the insurgency and holy war aspects that barely seem like fiction considering recent world events, and like all movies nowadays it's way too long.
- foobarian 3y agoI'm sure it seemed even less like fiction during the OPEC oil crisis in the 70s. Or the Libya Khadaffi thing in the 80s. Or the Kuwait invasion in the 90s. You get the idea :-)
- c22 3y agoI think movies these days struggle to compete with serialized television shows which can run very long, allowing a lot more opportunity for character and plot development. Dune also just has a lot to cover. See the Lynch adaptation for what happens when you start to push against the inherent runtime limitations of film.
- wiseowise 3y ago> and like all movies nowadays it's way too long. If I wanted a TV show, I would watch Netflix.
- zvmaz 3y agoI could not stand the first part of the movie Dune. I'm sorry for the fans, but it was amongst the worst movies I have ever (partially) watched. Slow and incomprehensible for me. P.S. I have not read the book.
- SimbaOnSteroids 3y agoThen it was extremely true to the books.
- khazhoux 3y agoI can’t imagine trying to understand the movie if I hadn’t read the book. As you say, it would be absolutely incomprehensible.
- soulofmischief 3y agoOne might argue that means that the movie failed to properly execute.
- khazhoux 3y agoCan be argued either way. Perhaps it’s ok for some movies to be companions to pre-existing work, not to be experienced in isolation. In fact, this was the tradition in painting and sculpture for centuries. The viewer would know the backstory for that severed head, e.g., belonging to Goliath.
- brightball 3y agoDune has always been a really difficult adaptation because there is so much internal monologue. It's a great story but a very challenging film.
- itronitron 3y ago>> Slow and incomprehensible for me. Interesting take. I remember thinking, when I first saw it, in one of the movie's last fight scenes, 'hmm, we must be at the halfway point'
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- subsubzero 3y agoI'm really excited about this movie, its f/x and renderings of the buildings, world and technology are the stuff of sci-fi dreams. And I am saying this as die hard fan and lover of the books and also a fan of the David Lynch movie. I didn't really like the mini series they made for TV. That being said the only issue I have is with the cast, I feel like the biggest misses were Baron Harkonnen and Paul Atreides. David Lynch cast both perfectly but its a minor nit and overall really enjoyed part one immensely.
- snapcaster 3y agoI'm so excited to see this tomorrow! I'm so pleasantly surprised it seems to be popular. I expected the first movie to flop massively but at least weirdos like me would get to enjoy it. Here's hoping it keeps staying popular and they can even make it to the super weird later books!
- hammock 3y agoI would like to see the average age of people who prefer the new Dune movie to the old David Lynch one. Are you all Millennials and younger?
- eps 3y agoI'm almost 50 and I prefer the new by a mile.
- rjtavares 3y agoI'm 40 and think the new one is much much better.
- romwell 3y agoI'm a millennial, and my favorite Dune is Jodorowsky's Dune :)
- trsohmers 3y agoI’m right on the millenial/gen Z divide and an inner selfish purpose for me working on AI/ML is just to enable a creation of Jodorowsky’s 10 hour version of Dune with soundtrack by Pink Floyd.
- Andrew_nenakhov 3y agoI'm 44 and I think Lynch'n Dune is better, because it has soul. The first movie was very sterile and lifeless. I commented about it here a while ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38980303 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38980303
- Keyframe 3y agoMy brother from another mother! 43 here, maybe there's something to it.
- baal80spam 3y ago43 here and same thoughts. I _do_ like the reboot, but Lynch's Dune just oozes atmosphere, and its... baroqueness is just insurmountable.
- JohnClark1337 3y ago[dead]
- ChrisArchitect 3y ago"of the Decade"? Author using that phrase again, and they're serious about writing off the next 6 years? Will see how that ages. Would have been safe to say "of the last ten years" no?
- wrsh07 3y agoI think saying "of the decade" but meaning "of the [past] decade" where decade means "a period of ten years" is pretty reasonable Quibbling with that sort of misses the point, no?
- ChrisArchitect 3y agoI read the rest of the review, it's fine, I'm just questioning writing off a bunch of "future" years of movie releases seems premature. The author makes a point that they're staking that claim.
- wiseowise 3y ago> Author using that phrase again, and they're serious about writing off the next 6 years? Given that nothing serious been announced yet, it’s a pretty safe bet.
- rsync 3y agoI was extremely impressed by and thoroughly enjoyed "part one". However I think Blade Runner 2049 was better. [1] I'm excited to see "part two". [1] Stephen A Smith Hot Take: I actually think BR:2049 was better than the original - and I am a true devotee of the original.
- jncfhnb 3y agoI think blade runner 2049 could be considered a superior film if you edited out most of Jared Leto’s character.
- boppo1 3y agoI heard that part was written for Bowie. One of the most plausible rumors I've ever heard. He would have been perfect. Instead, Jared Leto is agonizingly bad.
- jncfhnb 3y agoI’m not really sure if Bowie could have salvaged that level of unnecessary exposition homaging the original but I can’t deny it would have been vastly more entertaining.
- whalesalad 3y agoI couldn’t get thru the first one. Absolute snooze fest.
- vvpan 3y agoYeah usual overdone Hollywood stuff. Yet another superhero movie basically.
- ibll 3y agoI find it interesting how divisive this movie is. Many of my friends thought it was immensely boring. One even fell asleep halfway thorough. I found the first movie so incredibly captivating that it immediately became my favourite movie and I've gone on to read the first few books. I've seen it I think 10 times now. I watched Part II on the 25th. Really really good. Having read the book now there's some things I missed or thought could be better but it still just blew me away.
- g-b-r 3y agoDid you see Lynch's one before it?
- WXLCKNO 3y agoSaw it on the 25th, what I love is how I didn't doubt the world for a single second. I never thought to myself they're in some desert on earth, but truly that this is some far away planet far in the future.
- g-b-r 3y agoWeird, I was surprised by how much it looks like normal desert. In a scene they supposedly point to the spice, but it's plain shimmering sand, there doesn't even seem to be any effect! The theater where I watched it was not great, but I don't think it was that
- Wistar 3y agoRelated: here is last night's Fresh Air interview with Dune director Denis Villeneuve. It is 37 mins long. I listened to it on my drive home. It is a good interview. NPR Fresh Air: "Storyboarding 'Dune' since he was 13, Denis Villeneuve is 'still pinching' himself" https://www.npr.org/2024/02/28/1234472127/dune-denis-villeneuve https://www.npr.org/2024/02/28/1234472127/dune-denis-villene...
- binarymax 3y ago"If I could've made movies without any dialogue, it would have been paradise" ...this is why I love his movies, the visuals and sounds are so beautiful and powerful.
- retskrad 3y agoI’ve noticed that the larger the scale and budget a movies get, the more vacate the film is. A small scale film like The Social Network is much bigger to me than Dune 2 which I recently saw through a friend working in the film industry. Dune 2 is one of the largest scale films ever made but its thoughts and ideas are equally small in the other direction. It’s valid to be mesmerized by the technical feat and the sheer scale of it but it’s empty calories.
- boppo1 3y agoYeah I feel this. I just watched Prisoners for the first time and didn't realize it was Villanueve. It felt like a much more impactful and 'whole' film than Dune Part One.
- runsfromfire 3y agoThe existential horror cultivated in Prisoners so laser-focused and palpable, I still regularly think about Jackman’s character and get a chill down my spine. truly excellent handling of that character’s journey. i didn’t realize it was Villanueve either!
- floren 3y agoIt seems that reviewers like this are still on the Paul-as-hero boat. It's easy to take the first film and even the book that way, despite the premonitions of future destruction and disaster that exist in both, and I assume part 2 is going to largely continue the same way. But I really hope Villeneuve has the guts to hold true to Herbert's overall message about "heroes", where after defeating the evil Harkonnens and the bad old Emperor, Paul basically turns to the Fremen and says, "Ok, warm up the planet sterilizer weapons, the jihad begins now." Capturing the sense of inevitability that Paul feels as his prescience leads him, one obvious next step at a time, to the killing of billions and establishment of himself as galactic despot, that's a hard thing in film.
- sonicanatidae 3y agoThey likely won't get to that point. I expect them to end this Dune like the 80s Dune ended or very close. The points you bring up are really 2nd book and beyond and I suspect trying to add that in would just confuse people who don't already know the Dune story. They would also be tough to communicate in a video format, as compared to a book, as the depth will be lost. Regardless, I'm anxious to watch part 2 of the current Dune. The first part was great, imo. I only had minor nitpicks, but otherwise fantastic!
- azemetre 3y agoI'm pretty sure Denis Villeneuve has said on the record that he plans on adapting Dune Messiah if the movies are successful, which is a great bookend to Paul Atreides story.
- sonicanatidae 3y agoThat would be awesome. I would love to see his take on the next part.
- azemetre 3y agoFor sure, I feel like that movie has to spend time showing the galactic jihad and the true horrors it brings. The book just skips this (which works too IMO, but not suitable for movies; ya gotta show, not tell).
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- hit8run 3y agoI have the feeling the first part was review manipulated and therefore has the image of being good while just being mediocre and forgettable.
- vvpan 3y agoI loved the book but the story imo has not aged well. Too much of white savior going on and too much colonialism. I would not describe myself as "woke", I can see why the teenage me loved it, yet my adult self cringes too hard. Particularly now as multiple post-colonial wars are happening. Also, I do not think a mega-promoted mega-budget Hollywood blockbuster needs more marketing here. "Esquire says" - so what?
- ralphc 3y agoHow is Austin Butler's character? If he can pull off this _and_ Elvis he can be one of the great actors of our time.
- g-b-r 3y agoHe's alright, I liked Sting much more, and to me (never having read the books) he seems too young, but in the end I guess he does pull it off
- 2-718-281-828 3y agothe first dune was stylish and had its moments but overall i found it while entertaining rather dull and pretentious. it also didn't make much sense if i thought too much about. can't wait to watch part 2 but will do so with guarded expectations.
- g-b-r 3y agoI feel like I live in a different reality to the other viewers of the new Dunes "Best Sci-Fi of the decade"?? They're both some of the dullest sci-fi movies I've ever seen, especially compared to the Lynch one. Disgracefully I imagine that few people saw the extended two-parts version of the Lynch movie, and were burned by the insanely shortened ending and the other cuts of the theatrical one. I recommend checking the extended version out, it will probably change a lot your idea of the movie. I was probably influenced by seeing it before the (criminal) theatrical version. Lynch's Dune was visionary, at times disturbing and with Kyle McLachlan. Can you really beat a Kyle McLachlan movie? No, I don't think so. xD In Villeneuve's version I was e.g. shocked by how watered down the Baron Harkonnens is; the movies are just bland and Hollywood-y. The music is as banal and badly employed as any average Hollywood blockbuster; the actor chosen for Paul Atreides is as much insipid as Kyle McLachlan was eclectic; Zendaya is incomparable to Sean Young; a couple parts are plain stupid (Gurney's entrance...) Despite not having the length problems that Lynch had, they managed to compress the ending again; they gave too much time to unimportant parts while compressing the ending and other important passages (the final battle lasts what, five minutes? Does he actually cross the desert??). Some actor choices seem good (Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson...), but yes not some of the most important. And I did like a lot Blade Runner 2049, I think I liked Denis Villeneuve, but these movies made me change idea. To be clear, it's not the worst movie I ever saw; it's simply bland, and I think it's bewildering that this version gets praise while Lynch's one is considered junk. I should say that I never managed to read the books, though, that might play a role in these opinions.
- cykros 3y agoNever heard the Lynch one called junk. But I do think some people don't value proper theatrics, and are just special effects junkies. I'm still annoyed at how much was cut out of part 1 despite it being as long as it was. I get going for ambience but the whole banquet scene was missing. None of Duncan suspecting Lady Jessica. Duke Leto is barely developed as a character at all.
- decafninja 3y agoLoved part1c which I saw just last week on Netflix in preparation for this. Honestly, I hated the Lynch movie. It has its many positives, but for me, all of it was negated and the movie completely fell flat on its face as soon as Weirding Modules came out. Totally ruined the movie for me. I’ve watched it several times, and each time I see the weirding modules I cringe. I still don’t understand what the problem with “Kung Fu in Space” was.
- fjfaase 3y agoI just came back from seeing 'Dune: Part two". I feel very disappointed. In a sense, Denis Villeneuve, is like Paul. It looks like that when Villeneuve smelled success, he could not withstand the pressure and instead staying true to the book made it into an action film, of which we already have so many, and which is full of plot-holes like we are used to these kind of films. I will not even start comparing the script to the book, like I did for the first book. I feel betrayed. He squandered the legacy of Frank Herbert.
- hooverd 3y agoAlia walking around would have been goofy.
- david38 3y agoJust saw the movie. Dune is far and away my favorite story. The movie was absolute shit. I felt like I was watching a sterilized series of previews stitched together and called a “movie”. I have never been so let down by a movie in memory.
- wiseowise 3y agoWhat did you expect and why is it “absolute shit”?
- wiseowise 3y agoDune part 1 was amazing. But Dune part 2 is on a whole another level. Definitely the best Sci-Fi movie of the decade, unless they drop Dune part 3 that is somehow better than this masterpiece.
- veunes 3y agoHave not seen par two yet but the irst film is a visually stunning and thematically rich adaptation that does justice to its source material.