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New Dune Movie Confirmed
bowman9991 writes "Peter Berg will be directing a new big-budget Dune movie from Paramount. SFFMedia reports that 'although there were some doubts that they were going to get it,' the producers have secured the rights to the Dune novel from Frank Herbert's estate and are looking for writers to provide a screenplay that is true to the original text. Can't wait!"
Why redo the first book in the series when there are many more in the service. The current Dune is a great film anyway.
The first Dune movie sucked. Maybe you never read the books, but it didn't capture much of anything good from the book. The made for TV mini series was amazing. That's how to do Dune.
I happen to think David Lynch is a genius. Some will not agree. That's fine. However, I think hopefully we can safely agree that Lynch does know how to direct (he's been nominated for several Academy Awards). The problem with the original Dune in my opinion is that the story is vast. It was just impossible to do justice to the story in a 2.5 hour movie. I don't personally consider the differences between the film and novel to be significant and for those who do, well, just wait until you see this film. If you think that in 2.5 to 3 hours that Peter Berg will somehow be able to produce a more faithful version of Dune , well, that's a rather interesting thought that surely will be proven false. Lynch had to leave out large sections of the first book to save time and Berg will operate under the same conditions. That's why the SciFi Channel filmed Dune as a multipart story.
It may not have been incredibly faithful in terms of storyline, but its visual style is just on a completely higher level of awesomeness compared to the sci-fi miniseries. If they can make the story more like the book, but try to keep at least some of the design elements of the Lynch version, I will be happy.
The first Dune movie is some of the finest cinema ever made, IMHO. It may miss the book at many significant points, but it does capture the tone and atmosphere of it. The costumes, set design, and dialog were all very true to the book. I also loved the Toto soundtrack. My only real beef is the removal of lasguns and the addition of "wierding modules." This is not enough to make me hate the movie, however.
I don't need another remake of the first book, anyway. I'd much rather they made a movie on the second or third books.
They made Children of Dune in a tv mini-series sequel to Dune on the sci-fi channel.
Not technically a movie, but only because of length and presentation format. It had the production values easily - so it was pretty much a 4-5 hour long movie (and was sold on DVD that way).
Why, yes I have been touched by His noodly appendage. And I plan to sue.
My only real beef is the removal of lasguns and the addition of "wierding modules." This is not enough to make me hate the movie, however.
I would agree with you in that I much prefer Lynch's version. However, the addition of the weirding modules (and the complete avoidance of the lasgun/shield interaction problem) almost ceompletely undermined Herbert's intended mockery of religion...
In the book, Paul (and Jessica) basically exploit the natives' superstitions to use them as pawns in a mostly-political game (although in fairness they do eventually "go native"). Lynch makes it out as more of a tune-in-turn-on-drop-out messianic fairy-tale.
Both have their merits, but I'd hardly even call them the same story.
I've thought for a long time that the only way to properly present Dune on the big screen, and be 100% true to the details of the book, was to make it into an epic Anime.
Anybody want my mod points?
I agree that there are huge similarities between the Fremen and modern Islamic groups. What's funny is that Frank Herbert got the idea of the story not from the conflicts in the Middle East but from the exploitation of Africa. Diamond and oil.
One of the key points of Dune is not necessarily power or oppression but political trappings. It is much more a criticism of how the powers than be (the emperor, the navigator's guild, the bene gesserit, etc.) were all interlocked and trapped by each other in a perpetual cycle of deceit and backstabbing. None of them could accomplish anything and humanity was at a standstill destined for extinction should anything slight thing (such as the sandworms dying) interrupt their routine.
It's an allegory to the dependence on oil and the globalized politics of today. How even the U.S., being the superpower that it is, is locked into binding treaties and very restricted in terms of what it can do to help itself or the world.
Unfortunately its very hip right now to hate this movie, so the film community just focuses on its negative parts and the hard-core sci-fi fans are always pissed about even the slightest deviation from the book.
That said, its a stunning movie. I've watched it many times and am always noticing something new. The design of the objects, sets, and costumes is extremely original and creative. It builds this dark alien sci-fi mood that no other movie has, perhaps with the exception of bladerunner. Its really an incredible piece of filmmaking and I hope the generation that associates Dune with the sci-fi channel should give it a chance.
Two words: Honored Matres.
Who the hell wouldn't want to see female killing machines fuck the self control out of people?
When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
Please note: a movie can be "a great film" without being a great adaptation of a book.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
But I still think that any new movie has to be measured against this. As I have understood it that movie was cut down quite a bit. I heard that there was 8 hours cut out of the original filming. But I suspect that some of it were bad scenes and duplicates and that the remaining parts have been destroyed by now so a "full version" or anything else may be lost to the void.
But another question is - Why redo that book again? Let us see some other of the well-known authors filmed. Asimov's "Nightfall", Gordon Dickson's "Way of the Pilgrim", Frederick Pohl's "Gateway", Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land" (which gave us the word "Grok") or "Citizen of the Galaxy", Keith Laumer's "Galactic Odyssey", Jack Vance's "The Demon Princes", Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination", Jack McDevitt's "A Talent for War", Brian Aldiss epic "Helliconia", Christopher Anvil's "Pandora's Planet", Steven Gould's "Helm", Alfred Elton van Vogt's "The Empire of Isher".
There are also books that are better suited for TV series of course. Gordon Dickson's Dorsai books and the many Sector General stories from James White.
And there are books/authors that has produced enough material to allow creation of an epic series that sure could take on Star Wars (but sure be very different) like Iain M Banks Culture novels, the "Hope" series of David Feintuch, Asimov's foundation books, Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" and following books.
But maybe this just indicates that Hollywood needs to play it safe - but I think that they play it too safe in this case. One movie that's available on DVD still and the mini-series that was released a few years ago must surely have blunted the market for a third movie on the same story.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
My requests for a new Dune movie...
1.) Semitic-looking Fremen speaking perfect Arabic with English subtitles. Remember, the Sayyadinas reconstructed the "Language of the Book" by imbibing the Water of Life and consulting with Ancestral Memory.
2.) Weirding Way of Battle = Sufi Mysticism and Kung Fu. Not stupid sonic guns that can be sold in toy stores.
3.) Vladimir Harkonnen as the evil bastard he truly was, without the flying crap. Those suspensors were attached to him so that he could move around under his flab.
4.) DIRECTED BY DAVID CRONENBERG. Boo. Yah. It would make this Dune a very adult and very brutal movie, but dammit, the books were written for adults, not for the moms little kids who wanted another Star Wars to take their kids to. See A History Of Violence or Eastern Promises to see what Cronenberg is capable of now.
5.) Guild Steersmen who look like mutant humans, not sandworms.
6.) Ornithopters with elegant, sweeping wings that flap and glide like birds of prey.
7.) Viggo Mortensen as Duke Leto. Awesome.
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