like i mentioned in my lengthy post, the dune 2000 PC game had better movie clips than the entire mini series. the ornithopters in the game are very close to what you are describing and the wings DO flap.
the 80's movie had great effects for its time. much like the original star wars trilogy(episodes 4-6) the special effects were way ahead of their time and still are pretty nice to watch today. the original movie left out many major elements of the book. The original movie DID however retain the mood and atmosphere and EPIC IMPORTANCE of the book. The harkonnen were horrifying, the fremen fearsome desert warriors, the baron a grotesque figure, feyd and raban ruthless punks. paul was a noble heir. Patrick stewart as gurney was amazing. even the mentants thufir and pieter were very distinct characters with depth and great lines and performances. the emperor shaddam was well doen and the guild and the navigators, a great example of good sci fi design and performances.
the original movie made a great legacy and gave us strong images, lines, visuals to place to all the great characters of the book. the soundtrack by toto was appropriate and memorable. direction was solid. a great movie then and now.
there was the dune games, particularly dune 2 the predecessor to all the real time strategy games you see now. the intermission scenes of dune 2000 held close to the movie and also had a very nice portrayal of ornithopters. these were even better than the sci fi channel mini series.
now we go to the mini series. if i pointed out everything bad in this i would be writing for two days.
the acting as many other posts have stated was worse than a high school kid faking a stomach ache. "i am the instrument, of his family's demise." WTF? was this baron a terrifying figure, or a shakespearean actor specializing in melodrama?
feyd and paul were identical pretty boys more suitable for roles on "i know what you did last summer" or "dawson's creek"
the harkonnen looked like firemen and idiots in leisure robes. dont get me started on sardaukar. the strongest troops in the universe? more like 18th century french court jesters. fremen looked like robin hood's merry men. why did the fremen get portrayed as a total ridiculous rabble of medieval peasants with middle eastern culture/chanting? and how can we believe that they overcome harkonnen and sardaukar troops after they jump off the sandworms and go toe-to-toe with their daggers? the movie was much more effective in making you believe the fremen were a power to be reckoned with. all the major characters were forgettable. gurney was not even half the actor patrick stewart was. sting made feyd a true warrior. this fool made feyd a teen pop idol. raban was nondescript.
the emperor? whats with his shiny purple clothes? and chani, as stated in other posts, despite a huge chest, was a horrible actress and her hair was a huge ugly mess. i can keep going but lets wrap this up.
major points:everyone had different accents. weres the continuity? why does lady jessica have a british accent and paul and leto not? and then just about everyone else is either french, eastern european, or some other painful accent?
and whats with the mispronounciations?!?! its "harKOnen" theres an "O" in there! not harkinin.
and the "call him out"?? chanting "call him out..call him out.." repeatedly reminded me of middle school brawls. "ill meet you at the bike racks after school." "ooh he called you out!"
special effects nice. sets were nice. designs of ships and costumes were horrid. superimposing characters over backgrounds was horrid. music was forgettable and the slow "water of life" type music was stolen from the original movie.
the mini series barely kept me awake.
the bottom line:okay the mini series held true to more points in the book and had more detail. btu at the sacrifice of all else. the original movie was a much more solid and dynamic rendition of the classic sci fi novel.
IMPORTANT NOTE:the movie MAY be even BETTER than the mini series COMPLETELY, because there is a longer 4 hour version that is very rare and hard to find. i KNOW it exists because i once caught a glimpse of it on the sci fi channel quite some time ago. it was much longer, had more scenes obviously and i recall the most notable difference was an old man's voice narrating instead of princess irulan. if anyone has seen this version please post comment.
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like i mentioned in my lengthy post, the dune 2000 PC game had better movie clips than the entire mini series. the ornithopters in the game are very close to what you are describing and the wings DO flap.
the 80's movie had great effects for its time. much like the original star wars trilogy(episodes 4-6) the special effects were way ahead of their time and still are pretty nice to watch today. the original movie left out many major elements of the book. The original movie DID however retain the mood and atmosphere and EPIC IMPORTANCE of the book. The harkonnen were horrifying, the fremen fearsome desert warriors, the baron a grotesque figure, feyd and raban ruthless punks. paul was a noble heir. Patrick stewart as gurney was amazing. even the mentants thufir and pieter were very distinct characters with depth and great lines and performances. the emperor shaddam was well doen and the guild and the navigators, a great example of good sci fi design and performances. the original movie made a great legacy and gave us strong images, lines, visuals to place to all the great characters of the book. the soundtrack by toto was appropriate and memorable. direction was solid. a great movie then and now. there was the dune games, particularly dune 2 the predecessor to all the real time strategy games you see now. the intermission scenes of dune 2000 held close to the movie and also had a very nice portrayal of ornithopters. these were even better than the sci fi channel mini series. now we go to the mini series. if i pointed out everything bad in this i would be writing for two days. the acting as many other posts have stated was worse than a high school kid faking a stomach ache. "i am the instrument, of his family's demise." WTF? was this baron a terrifying figure, or a shakespearean actor specializing in melodrama? feyd and paul were identical pretty boys more suitable for roles on "i know what you did last summer" or "dawson's creek" the harkonnen looked like firemen and idiots in leisure robes. dont get me started on sardaukar. the strongest troops in the universe? more like 18th century french court jesters. fremen looked like robin hood's merry men. why did the fremen get portrayed as a total ridiculous rabble of medieval peasants with middle eastern culture/chanting? and how can we believe that they overcome harkonnen and sardaukar troops after they jump off the sandworms and go toe-to-toe with their daggers? the movie was much more effective in making you believe the fremen were a power to be reckoned with. all the major characters were forgettable. gurney was not even half the actor patrick stewart was. sting made feyd a true warrior. this fool made feyd a teen pop idol. raban was nondescript. the emperor? whats with his shiny purple clothes? and chani, as stated in other posts, despite a huge chest, was a horrible actress and her hair was a huge ugly mess. i can keep going but lets wrap this up. major points:everyone had different accents. weres the continuity? why does lady jessica have a british accent and paul and leto not? and then just about everyone else is either french, eastern european, or some other painful accent? and whats with the mispronounciations?!?! its "harKOnen" theres an "O" in there! not harkinin. and the "call him out"?? chanting "call him out..call him out.." repeatedly reminded me of middle school brawls. "ill meet you at the bike racks after school." "ooh he called you out!" special effects nice. sets were nice. designs of ships and costumes were horrid. superimposing characters over backgrounds was horrid. music was forgettable and the slow "water of life" type music was stolen from the original movie. the mini series barely kept me awake. the bottom line:okay the mini series held true to more points in the book and had more detail. btu at the sacrifice of all else. the original movie was a much more solid and dynamic rendition of the classic sci fi novel. IMPORTANT NOTE:the movie MAY be even BETTER than the mini series COMPLETELY, because there is a longer 4 hour version that is very rare and hard to find. i KNOW it exists because i once caught a glimpse of it on the sci fi channel quite some time ago. it was much longer, had more scenes obviously and i recall the most notable difference was an old man's voice narrating instead of princess irulan. if anyone has seen this version please post comment.