Rent Dune (2021)

Mesmerising - for an hour - Dune review by PD

For an hour or so, 'Dune' is mesmerizing, throwing off seductive glints of treachery as it presents the tale of Paul Atreides (an admirably restrained Timothée Chalamet), the gifted scion of the House Atreides, whose father is leading what looks to be an opportunity, though one that’s fraught with peril. This first section draws us into Herbert's world slowly but successfully, and hopefully will get many scurrying back to the books. There’s also much to admire in Patrice Vermette’s production design, particularly the Zen elegance of the aristocratic Atreides household on their beautiful oceanic home planet of Caladan and the Arrakis stronghold Arrakeen, a sprawling structure that combines ancient Egyptian and Aztec influences. The costumes by Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan also are full of eye-catching touches, from the gauzy gowns of Paul's mother Jessica and other women billowing in the desert wind to the utilitarian body-cooling “stillsuit” developed by the Fremen for survival in the desert, whilst the techy stuff is also really good, notably the giant Harkonnen harvesters raking the sands like desert beetles as monstrous sandworms tunnel up to the surface to swallow everything in their path, and the splendid wasp-winged choppers known as ornithopters, buzzing through the skies.

BUT. What the film doesn’t do is shape Herbert’s intricate world-building into anything really meaningful. For the history and complex societal structure that are integral to the author’s vision are condensed into a blur, cramping the mythology, whilst the layers of political, religious, ecological and technological allegory that give the novel such exalted status get mulched in a terribly thin, superficial screenplay (have these people actually read it all? or are they simply not clever enough to transfer it to screen?) - far too much of the dialogue could have been written by George Lucas, which is fine if you're 12 years old but I was hoping for so much more. Meanwhile, far, far too much of the latter stages of the film are dominated by Star Wars / James Bond style chase scenes which are both predictable and mind-numbingly tedious, whilst the sadly inevitable Lord of the Rings style portentous, subtle-as-a-flying-mallet score is among the most intrusive I've heard for many a moon. Only part one, of course, so jury out, and enough of interest to send me back for more, but if it's going to be more of the same then I'm afraid I'll probably be sensing a missed opportunity here.

Astonishing - Dune review by AL

Wow! The scope, the sound, the story, a masterpiece. Dennis Villeneuve is a great Director and visionary. Watched the David Lynch version just the other day, have seen it 4 or 5 times and I think only recently did I sort of understand all of it. I was surprised how much from David's version was in Dennis's version. I suppose it helps that there will / should be a sequel. I wonder if David had the chance would he have done a 6 hour version, perhaps that would have worked. Soundtrack is amazing, very much like Blade Runner 2049 in parts (which isn't a surprise) and some of the shots were like BR as well, no bad thing. Don't want to give any more away, but is well worth a viewing, I want to go and see it again.

A bit underwhelmed - Dune review by SH

I get the feeling if you watch this WITH the upcoming extra parts it'll be better but watching this as a stand alone movie it is a bit underwhelming. It looks good, it's acted good but lacks any real umph. Hoping part 2 brings more grit to the movie.

Epic - Dune review by PK

Really visually beautiful film with fantastic cast and a good story carnt wait for next part of the story. I am huge fan of the original film dosent feel fair to compair the two but very much like this version of the film :)

Best scifi for a very long time - Dune review by JD

This is one glorious film.

It looks stunning. Infact i think you could give this film 5 stars if there was no sound!

The cast is made up of big names and everyone is excellent. There is no turning up just for the pay cheque going on here thats for sure.

Ive never read the books, but i think this is a combination of faithful and skilfully adapted. It sure is a joy to watch

I always hark on about how they dont make films like they used to. Well in the hands of Denis Villeneuve it appears they still can.

Its not perfect, a couple of things that got me was a lack of world building and the ending was literally like they had a 5 hour film and just scissored half way! But they are minor complaints.

Lets hope this film makes loads of ££ so we can get more like it. And i cant wait for Ep2

Just Good - Dune review by JR

It's very cinematic, lots of impressive visuals. The sound track is very effective if a little over used in places. Good acting, it's generally a really good film however it left me a little cold, and I found it a little unengaging, much like Blade Runner 2049. It doesn't have the charm of Lord of the Rings, and the characters are less likeable.

I'm a fan of the book and the story in general so my expectations were high going in, and I suspect it maybe one of those movies that needs rewatching to take it all in, especially because it's pretty long.

Overall I would recommend it, and it is worth seeing at the cinema for the big screen visuals, however some may find it nice to watch at home so you can take a break half way through!

Hmmm… - Dune review by Rod

Stunningly futuristic sets and enchanting cinematography that captured the desolation of Arakis and the uneasy, ever-present sense that, despite the advancement of humankind, the Atreides were at the mercy of the utterly punishing environment and those that would do them harm. With the combination of the cinematography, storyline and characterisations (faithful to the book) I found myself feeling oddly uneasy all through the film. And that… satisfied me.  

BUT… there were two things that pushed the other way, uneasiness into boredom - (a) sometimes too much of a samey feeling of ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Blade Runner 2049’. At least the David Lynch version gave me the wonderment -for a world 8,000 years in the future - that things I was witnessing should be weirdly unfathomable in those future days! But I think that impression was deliberately intended with a ground breaking sci-fi 1980’s film - I got the fact that I didn’t “get” what I was seeing sometimes in the Lynch version.  I liked that weirdness that wasn’t quite there with this newer version. And (b) too much time spent later in the film at the stage of the encounter with the Fremmen - among the rock and sand in low light and often inaudible script. An anticlimax - but then the ‘Part 2’ film should pick up the pace again??