I learned today for the first time that a remake of the awesome book (and decidedly less awesome early 80s movie) Dune is being made, and is currently in post-production with a release date of December 18, 2020.
The cast includes many I don't know, but the ones I do know seem excellent for their roles. It's damn near a Marvel reunion...
Jason Mamoa as Duncan Idaho (the swordmaster of House Atreides)
Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck (weaponsmaster of House Atreides, played memorably (and surprisingly) by Patrick Stewart in the original movie
Stellan Skarsgard as Baron Harkonnen
Dave Bautista (better known as Drax the Destroyer) as "Beast" Rabban, the nephew of Harkonnen
This film is also only going to cover the first half of the book, which is good. It's really not possible to cover the whole thing in one 2 or 3 hour movie.
Anyway -- I love the book and a really good film would be great. What say you about all this news? Or am I just the last to known (as would be typical, to be honest!) [Reply]
Hey gang. So my out-of-country trip got cancelled last minute. Shitty as that was, I was able to watch Dune on Thursday night (home) and again last night (theater). So... small consolation.
Anyway, my thoughts are still pretty jumbled.
Loves
The cinematography was excellent
Oscar Isaak was a fantastic Duke Leto
Chalamet portrayed Paul excellently, IMO.
Rebecca Ferguson was steely and captivating as Lady Jessica. I like this portrayal of her.
MOTHERFUCKING STELLAN SKAARSGAARD is one of my favorite actors, period. And he is fan-fucking-tastic as Baron Harkonnen.
I thought I really crushed it as Duncan Idaho. Ginaz Forever!
Zendaya as Chani. Much less cloying and wimpy than previous portrayals of her.
The fight with Jamis. I liked that we got to see Paul's prescience through the visions and also that we got to see that he was having visions of what could be as well as what would be. Cool stuff.
Just OKs
I have to wait 2-3 years for the conclusion
Josh Brolin is too pretty to be Gurney Halleck. WHERE IS THE INKVINE SCAR? WHERE IS THE BALISET?
Bautista as Beast Rabban. OK. Bautista is kind of one-note and it was hard to separate him from the character in this one. Felt like I was watching Drax the Destroyer in Dune. [Reply]
Definitely agree about Brolin. Much like Patrick Stewart before him, Brolin is neither lumpy nor ugly. Pretty sure there was a scar on his cheek, though.
In my mind's eye I always pictured Ernest Borgnine as Halleck. Just like I always pictured Orson Welles as the Baron. Personally I didn't care all that much for Skaarsgaard's performance, although I didn't hate it and it was certainly better than the assclown in Lynch's movie. And it really annoyed me that he killed Yueh and not Piter. [Reply]
I have no familiarity with this story at all and probably predictably it was pretty confusing, especially all the different visions and serious groups with hard to understand names. And why can’t movies make it to where I don’t have to constantly adjust volume just to hear a conversation? [Reply]
Originally Posted by mr. tegu:
I have no familiarity with this story at all and probably predictably it was pretty confusing, especially all the different visions and serious groups with hard to understand names. And why can’t movies make it to where I don’t have to constantly adjust volume just to hear a conversation?
I felt this way about the LOTR trilogy. All the names and whispering and secret names for weapons and jewelry and places and beings. Just too much to track in multiple multi hour movies for me. I know this is blasphemous to some. Sorry. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Dallas Chief:
I felt this way about the LOTR trilogy. All the names and whispering and secret names for weapons and jewelry and places and beings. Just too much to track in multiple multi hour movies for me. I know this is blasphemous to some. Sorry.
You don't need to track that stuff, though. [Reply]
For anybody who is confused by something they saw in the movie, I have a suggestion.
READ THE BOOK.
Dune is widely regarded as one of the best science novels ever written. If you like science fiction and haven't read it, you're doing yourself a disservice. [Reply]