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Dune (Full Reaction)

Hey everyone! Welcome to another Movie Monday! Dune has been such a highly talked about film and the second one recently came out. What a complex world to jump blindly into!!

This film is a brilliant combination of stunning visuals and epic storytelling. Based on the book, Dune by Frank Herbert, this film dives into the religious, ecological, and cultural complexities of a futuristic and interstellar world.

Paul Atreides and his family accept a stewardship over the planet Arrakis. The planet is an inhospitable desert wasteland. There is only one resource the planet offers that is of great value and it's called spice. Mysterious forces are at play and the planet explodes into conflict. Paul must find a way to survive and face his destiny.

Watched on: Max / Runtime: 2:35:27

❤️🐑

Dune (Full Reaction)

Comments

I do like Slither, but I am curious how that would fit on the horror spectrum with Jax.

Aendery2k

Not giant, but definitely lots of wormy things : Slither (2006). Has Nathon Fillion in the lead role.

Thomas Yanez

I first read Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ in my early 20s, and totally and rapturously fell in love with its world! Before I saw any adaptation attempt (there was one in 1984, then a miniseries in the early 2000s) I quickly followed up with both the 2nd book ‘Dune Messiah’, and the 3rd book ‘Children of Dune’ to complete Herbert’s initial trilogy. What I found almost miraculous about Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One when I saw it in the theater in October of 2021, was that the film felt the same watching it as the book felt in my mind reading it! No other adaptation (and I have seen plenty of book-adaptations) none have accomplished what Villeneuve did with Dune! I pre-ordered both Part One and Part Two the moment they were available to pre-order! And I have lost count of how many times I’ve rewatched them. (Which is why we buy them, right?) Watching along with your wonderful reaction here, works out to lost-count+1 😏

David Olden

Agreed, this film is amazing. I'm super excited to watch the Part Two with you when you launch the reaction

Chris VanLoon

Certainly the narrative can be interpreted a number of ways. Leaving out race (almost) completely, it’s still the same story as, for instance, ‘Avatar;’ a member of the exploiters switches sides to the exploitees and things go quickly and violently off the rails for the exploiters.

Lamar Smith

The white savior complaint fails because it ignores core context in the books (aka it's a Straw Man fallacy). I don't want to say more because it spoils the next movie. Herbert himself expressed surprise and frustration that some readers interpreted it like that.

David D

FWIW, as a fan of the books I thought this (and the second movie) was fantastic and one of the best adaptions I've ever seen. I was already a Villeneuve fan too, but these movies have pushed my appreciation to new heights. There are some changes (moreso in the next movie) that have bothered some of my friends, but I felt like they worked and didn't affect the core themes at all.

David D

After part 2, if you are looking for unrelated giant worm fare, there is always Tremors!

Aendery2k

It's so difficult to imagine that far into the future. This world looks so advanced, but the lack of machines is an interesting twist.

Jacqueline

Wow! That's awesome!

Jacqueline

I'm looking forward to part 2!!

Jacqueline

Ooh! I can't wait to see it!

Jacqueline

It does make me feel a little better that the Reverend Mother also went through that test.

Jacqueline

Well he had a period of time to either take over the family as a full replacement of Jamis, or care for them as personal servitors. A lot of folks who don't know the books never realize that his character at this point is 15-16 yrs old, and he was already focused on Chani. He clearly wasn't prepared to deal with Harah as wife 🙂

Robert Inman

David Dastmalchian plays ‘Piter de Vrees,’ mentat (living computer) and advisor to ‘Baron Harkonnen.’ He has a little black box painted on his lower lip/chin. You’ll remember him from both ‘Ant Man’ movies as one of the ‘three wombats,’ ‘Kurt.’ He’s also in ‘Dark Knight.’

Lamar Smith

I remember in the book that Paul had a nickname for Jamis’ mother who became, as per tradition, members of Paul’s household. I don’t remember the actual word they used but the text said something like, “the word implied something that had been repurposed, like a spear head used as a weight on a curtain puller.” It was a loving but not always easy relationship. Jamis’ mother is the voice to Paul and Jessica about the Fremen ways. Like, some event would happen and the mother would offer, “A real Fremen would do/say/think this” about this particular circumstance, leaving Paul and Jessica to decide whether to go along or forge some new path.

Lamar Smith

This was delightful, Dearest Jax. First, the bad news; you kept calling Dave Bautista ‘Dax.’ You’ll LOVE the book. Then you might have a common complaint against the following offerings. Not everyone experiences this but I did; the books seem to go downhill with each subsequent offering. Now, the, sort of, behind the scenes controversy of the books. So, ‘spice’ is essentially analogous to oil. As you said, “the story of a seemingly more technologically advanced society plundering natural resources and giving very little in return is an old one.” There have been suggestions that the story is inherently, subliminally racist. The description in favor of this theory is that a white prince has to live amongst and rise to command the superstitious dark folk in order for them to reach their full potential, which, once achieved spells absolute chaos and destruction in the ‘civilized’ world. I might just chalk that up to Frank Herbert being a fan of the legend of ‘Lawrence of Arabia.’ If Herbert’s biases creep into his writing, okay, but, as you said, the world-building is truly unique. I cannot recommend highly enough ‘Dune.’ I know you’ll love it but consider before picking up the next installment that a sizable proportion of readers of the series come away feeling less great about each subsequent book. As you love your internet rabbit holes, try determining how many books are in the series. Seems simple enough but there’s controversy over this. I’m not too knowledgeable about the actual details but it’s necessary, apparently, to consider the circumstances of Herbert’s life and his relationship with his publisher toward the end of his life. I’m not exactly sure of the details but a sizable percentage of Dune-heads leave the last two or three books out of the ‘canon.’ From hazy memory, Herbert had written the bones of the next three books at the time of his passing and, something like, his son tried to flesh them out, or some such. You’ll find the controversy online if you look. From a historical perspective, Herbert tapped in to the ‘Royal house’ reality of Medieval Europe and the often violent competition between different houses in Renaissance Florence. Consider, even as late as the early 1900s, WWI was fought between, amongst others, three king cousins. Germany’s, England’s and Russia’s monarchs were no more distantly related than first or second cousins. The royal houses of Europe are an inbred lot and, at some level, they’re all related to each other. The world of ‘Dune’ follows suit with the addition of a single-source natural resource that only heightens competition. Possession of that natural resource equates to power and lack of it means vulnerability.

Lamar Smith

Thank you for getting me to watch this! I'm not sure why I was so resistant, but it was beautiful.

Horace Cocroft

Since you questioned whether Jamis had family that might seek revenge, a thread the movie had to abandon concerned Paul having to assume responsibility for Jamis' wife and 2 kids. Fremen wouldn't seek revenge for an honorable killing in a fight. If you can, I know you'd enjoy reading the book(s). Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune.

Robert Inman

The reason they need spice for space travel is that they can't use computers. There's no computers at all in Dune, the Butlerian Jihad which is show in the prequels books, show a war against AI which destroyed whole worlds. The navigator need spice to see the future and find a safe path. What Dune do have is some peoples train to make computer calculation in their minds, Thufir Hawat (Played by Stephen McKinley Henderson) for house Atreides is one, so is Piter de Vries (David Dastmalchian) for house Harkonnen. You can recognise them in the movie by the black mark on the bottom lip.

David Bourgeois

Dune is one of my favorite books ever! Both films are pretty spot-on in terms of book accuracy, even though there are a few intriguing scenes missing from the book, and a couple parts modified. However, the films don't go into a lot of the super specifics that the book does (it has it's own glossary in the back called Terminology of the Imperium because of so many names!). I highly recommend the book, but please watch the second movie quickly! As Steve above me said, the second movie is twice as good which is insane since this is a masterpiece. Hans Zimmer didn't do the music for Tenet (one of the only Nolan films without his music) because his dream project was Dune. Dune is to Sci-Fi what Lord of the Rings is to fantasy. If you ever watch Star Wars on the channel, I have no doubt you'll recognize a lot of influences from Dune.

DaftBasterd

After the Butlerian Jihad, mankind split into many special groups, two at the front here are the Bene Gesserit who specialize in maximizing humans through genetic breeding, and mental who are human computers (no thinking machines). There are others that come into play later.

Robert Inman

The films make some editorial adjustments to the written story, but still do a great book justice.

Robert Inman

Jax, the world presented is 20000 years in our future, and 10000 years after the "Butlerian Jihad " - a war against thinking machines. The books are incredibly involved and among my favorites since my teens

Robert Inman

If you're going to read the book, you should know that Dune and Dune Part 2 cover the first book. That is how BIG the story actually is.

tmazon

As spectacular as this movie is...and it is...the second movie makes it seem almost quaint in comparison. Not that they should be compared. Can't have one without the other. And with that, I shall enjoy...

Steve Mercier

Part 2 was my favorite theatre experience everrrrrr, loved it

Alex Ocean

Another 'if it helps': All Bene Gesserit go through the box test(the gom jabbar). So both Jessica and the Reverend Mother had experienced the pain Paul was enduring(though the Reverend Mother subconsciously pushed Paul a little further than was typical). And Bene Gesserit can indeed choose the gender of their children. The BG have control of their bodies to the point of appearing magical. Ten millennia of breeding for, and training for, these gifts have almost created a new species.

Michael Kemmet

That does help!!

Jacqueline

If it helps, that bull got its revenge. ;) Paul's grampa liked fighting bulls, but the last one he fought got the better of him.

Michael Kemmet


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