RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first time....

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/7/2007 12:20:23 AM

DomKen

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I'll answer a question asked up thread, spice is an anti aging drug. People who consume spice live longer. Also spice enhances psychic abilities and when taken in massive quantities is a mutagenic. The Spacer's Guild Navigators are centuries old people who use the spice to allow them to see the future enough to safely naviagte at FTL velocity. This results in them becoming progressively less human appearing. The Bene Gesserit use spice and various derivatives of the spice ecology in their rituals.

The Dune movie was awful. Even the extended version with about 50% more footage still barely covered the high points in a very complicated novel. Lynch simply wasn't the director for this sort of project. Unfortunately the studio involved wasn't going to spend an, at the time, astronomical sum of money on a lesser director or allow the film to do without some high profile celebrities making appearances.

The Sci-Fi channel miniseries was much better and was much closer to the book. Still I would guess that anyone watching either version without having read the novel first would be hopelessly lost.

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/7/2007 4:25:32 AM

UtopianRanger

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quote:

loved the movie, and the books were waaay too long. so i appreciated the condensation, and learning to fold space...

Yes.... the original uncut version with Brad Dorif and José Ferrer was excellent.

- R

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/7/2007 7:47:24 AM

MizSuz

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I liked the movie, although I haven't seen the extended version. The first half of the movie is simply laying the background (which it doesn't do a good job of doing in it's entirety - if it did it would be twice as long). I also liked the mini-series. The second mini-series, Children of Dune, was pretty good but not great.

The book, however, was outstanding. I couldn't put it down.

They are all pieces that require your attention and thought through out or you miss plot elements. Some folks can't sit for long periods of time without blood splattering everywhere and all cars being blown up in a chase scene.

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/7/2007 8:13:07 AM

farmbound1

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I agree with Tikkiee, I loved the books, I loved the movie, and the main reason I watch it is because I like Sting.

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/7/2007 1:34:10 PM

LTRsubNW

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quote:

ORIGINAL: MizSuz
They are all pieces that require your attention and thought through out or you miss plot elements. Some folks can't sit for long periods of time without blood splattering everywhere and all cars being blown up in a chase scene.

I think that could have helped, however, after having watched this entire thing...I'd still have expected to have seen them being dragged around on strings.

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/7/2007 5:18:20 PM

MasDom

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Hey just be happy it didn't become a lifestyle like Gor.

Although I respect Gor.
But if you thought Trekkie's were bad...

...Althow I also like trekkie's....
..."Dear god is was in spell check"....

Just wait until you have a bunch of blue eyes guys running around in rubber suits, making deep throat noises as they point sharp looking thingies at you.

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/7/2007 6:41:41 PM

Sinergy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Desmodious

Read the book. A three hour movie could not do it justice.

I second this.

The books, especially Children of Dune, simply rock. Although the later efforts got a bit weird for my taste.

I thought the movie simply blew donkeys.

Although I think Sting was well cast as the Harkonen heir.

Sinergy

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/7/2007 6:59:47 PM

SusanofO

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The book series was incredibly popular, and gained a sort of cult foIlowing, over the years, from what I gather, among both science fiction fans and fans along the lines of books like "Clan of the Cave Bear" by Jean Auel (if you remember that series). Maybe the movie isn;t that great a production - I haven't seen it (yet). But the books were really well written, or at the very least, incedibly creative, I thought.

I Loved Dune! I read the entire book series a few Summers ago, and couldn't put them down, I thought they were so compelling. And I am not particularly a "Sci-Fi" fan - I never read Science Fiction. I never saw the movie, but the books were fantastic. Now that you mention it, maybe I will rent the film - just to see what they did with it. I can beleive it may have been expensive to make a film from the book series - filmakers and set designers would need to create whole new planets and societies, etc., to attempt to portray what occurred in the novels.

- Susan

< Message edited by SusanofO -- 1/7/2007 7:05:45 PM >

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/7/2007 7:12:16 PM

WyrdRich

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I wouldn't bother with the prequel series (House Atreides, House Harkonnen) though. They were created from Frank Herbert's notes and while they start less than horrible, following the origins of many elements in the real books, they turn awful.

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/7/2007 7:17:22 PM

Marc2b

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I would like to thank LTRsubNW for starting this thread. I’m glad to know that I am not the only fan of the books on these forums. Now let’s all put on blue contact lenses and rubber suits and go party at MasDom's house.

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/7/2007 7:39:51 PM

Ferric58

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I havent read through the thread, but if you want to understanf the revolutionalry effect Dune had on everyone, and why the move had such a huge impact, you might try reading the book. the movie is a total load, Ill admit readily, especially once you read the book it is loosely based upon... just My opinin, though. but you rally should take some time and read it, I do not think you will regret it.

good times, good times

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/7/2007 7:51:54 PM

Floggings4You

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I still have a soft spot for David Lynch/Alan Smithee's Dune, although I enjoyed the Sci-Fi Channel version's portrayal of the Harkonnens better than Lynch's disgusting Harkonnens. No, the Lynch/Smithee film isn't great, but it is the best adaptation of the book so far, and some of the visuals are still stunning.

I've read most of Herbert's work, and favourites remain Dune, The Jesus Incident, and Hellstrom's Hive.

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RE: I'm watching "DUNE" for the very first ti... - 1/8/2007 8:48:18 AM

FirmhandKY

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FR:

I'll second (or third, or fourth, or fifth ...) that the novel Dune simply can't be done justice in a movie, even one 3 or 4 hours long.

However, I've seen both movies versions, and while I wasn't enthralled with either one, I did enjoy seeing some of the people and places "come to life" on the screen.

My biggest complaint was the one mentioned where they decided to use a technical device instead of "the voice". It seemed to me, to totally trash the entire point of the book. A major point of in the story line was that humans could break through to another level of consciousness (with the aid of spice). Using technology instead ... misses the whole point.

While the book "Dune"' I found excellent - and it's one of those novels that you can read, then immediately read a second time and find a lot that you missed the first time through - the rest of the books in the original series just went off into .... LSD land, to me.

Of course, I read them all in my teens, but I did try to read them again a couple of years ago, and just had to lay down "Dune Messiah" in frustration.

For those interested the Frank Herbert series was:

Frank Herbert:

1. Dune (1965)
2. Dune Messiah (1969)
6. Chapterhouse: Dune (1969)
3. Children of Dune (1976)
4. God Emperor of Dune (1981)
5. Heretics of Dune (1984)

His son (Brian), with Kevin J. Anderson, wrote:

Brian Herbert:

Dune: Prelude to Dune (with Kevin J Anderson)

1. House Atreides (1999)
2. House Harkonnen (2000)
3. House Corrino (2001)

Legends of Dune (with Kevin J Anderson)

1. Butlerian Jihad (2002)
2. The Machine Crusade (2003)
3. The Battle of Corrin (2004)

There is another book in this series, tenative titled "Paul of Dune" scheduled for 2008.

I actually find the son's books much better than the fathers series, other than the original "Dune" novel that started it all.

The internal chronology sequence of the entire series is (I think):

Herbert, Brian - Dune Prequel 01 - Butlerian Jihad
Herbert, Brian - Dune Prequel 02 - The Machine Crusade
Herbert, Brian - Dune Prequel 03 - Battle Of Corrin
Herbert, Brian - Dune Prequel 04 - House Atreides
Herbert, Brian - Dune Prequel 05 - House Harkonnen
Herbert, Brian - Dune Prequel 06 - House Corrino

Herbert, Frank - Dune 01 - Dune
Herbert, Frank - Dune 02 - Dune Messiah
Herbert, Frank - Dune 03 - Children of Dune
Herbert, Frank - Dune 04 - God Emperor of Dune
Herbert, Frank - Dune 05 - Heretics of Dune
Herbert, Frank - Dune 06 - Chapterhouse Dune

There are a few short stories, and a few other works, but the above list is the primary story line.

FirmKY

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