Dune is absolutely awe inspiring, while also being incredibly frustrating, often at the same time.
The first thing to naturally do is compare it to David Lynch's 1984 version. While that version was messy from a script standpoint, it did have a unique and unmatched visual look that hasn't really been surpassed since, with all of it's baroque set design and costumes. The 2021 version also has a unique design, but it's cloaked in a drab, almost black and white color palette and frequent darkness that makes a lot of detail simply impossible to see. It's just too dark in places, end of story.
Acting wise, the movies are more or less on equal footing, although this version doesn't have stunt casting like Sting, so maybe that means it loses?
Music score is another wash. While Toto's score from '84 is okay and even interesting in spots, Hans Zimmer is simply a better composer. Unfortunately, that being said all the irritating 'Zimmer-isms' are present here: choirs, pounding percussion, an immense, bloated low end, and all of it played at max volume far, far too often. I was hopeful he'd grown up a bit after his authentic (and very good) score for "No Time to Die" but Dune proved me wrong. The rest of the sound is good, if not quite exceptional. As expected, it's extremely dynamic and really pounds the LFE in places, but sounds effect frequently get buried under oppressive music, and that just irritates me.
Script wise, this movie is much more coherent and focused than the '84 edition, but it still leaves out tons of information that could help explain this intricate world and how it works. I get that it had to be done to get the running time manageable, but I still found myself filling in the gaps with my own knowledge of the Dune-iverse a bit too often.
This movie is also frustratingly incomplete. To it's credit it doesn't hide the fact that it's "Part 1", but it also puts a lot of faith in Warner Brothers approving a second film (which isn't a given). The story ends at an appropriate place (such as it is) but it's clear that the meat of the story is still untold. An unfortunate consequence of this split is the ineffectiveness of the Baron Harkonnen and his nephew Rabban as villains, as they barely appear in this film.
At this point it's hard to really evaluate Dune (Part 1) since there is so much missing from the final picture. What we do have is a visually impressive (when you can see it) spectacle with good visual effects that really does need to be seen on a huge screen with a powerful sound system. It has three standout sequences: an attack by a sandworm on a spice harvester, the Harkonnen assault on the planet, and the final Sardukar/Duncan Idaho battle. At these points the movie is firing on all cylinders: visually, editorially, and aurally, and it's all very impressive. Too bad it's only halfway done with no guarantee that it'll be finished.
The first thing to naturally do is compare it to David Lynch's 1984 version. While that version was messy from a script standpoint, it did have a unique and unmatched visual look that hasn't really been surpassed since, with all of it's baroque set design and costumes. The 2021 version also has a unique design, but it's cloaked in a drab, almost black and white color palette and frequent darkness that makes a lot of detail simply impossible to see. It's just too dark in places, end of story.
Acting wise, the movies are more or less on equal footing, although this version doesn't have stunt casting like Sting, so maybe that means it loses?
Music score is another wash. While Toto's score from '84 is okay and even interesting in spots, Hans Zimmer is simply a better composer. Unfortunately, that being said all the irritating 'Zimmer-isms' are present here: choirs, pounding percussion, an immense, bloated low end, and all of it played at max volume far, far too often. I was hopeful he'd grown up a bit after his authentic (and very good) score for "No Time to Die" but Dune proved me wrong. The rest of the sound is good, if not quite exceptional. As expected, it's extremely dynamic and really pounds the LFE in places, but sounds effect frequently get buried under oppressive music, and that just irritates me.
Script wise, this movie is much more coherent and focused than the '84 edition, but it still leaves out tons of information that could help explain this intricate world and how it works. I get that it had to be done to get the running time manageable, but I still found myself filling in the gaps with my own knowledge of the Dune-iverse a bit too often.
This movie is also frustratingly incomplete. To it's credit it doesn't hide the fact that it's "Part 1", but it also puts a lot of faith in Warner Brothers approving a second film (which isn't a given). The story ends at an appropriate place (such as it is) but it's clear that the meat of the story is still untold. An unfortunate consequence of this split is the ineffectiveness of the Baron Harkonnen and his nephew Rabban as villains, as they barely appear in this film.
At this point it's hard to really evaluate Dune (Part 1) since there is so much missing from the final picture. What we do have is a visually impressive (when you can see it) spectacle with good visual effects that really does need to be seen on a huge screen with a powerful sound system. It has three standout sequences: an attack by a sandworm on a spice harvester, the Harkonnen assault on the planet, and the final Sardukar/Duncan Idaho battle. At these points the movie is firing on all cylinders: visually, editorially, and aurally, and it's all very impressive. Too bad it's only halfway done with no guarantee that it'll be finished.
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