Dune (2020) / Directed by Denis Villeneuve ... Starring Timothee Chalamet

Lagonda

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Dune is set in the year 10191. Before that the humanity waged an epic war for survival against A.I. called the Butlerian Jihad (as it was a holy war led by a woman named Serena Butler). To avoid this mistake people resigned from any sort of AI and ingested Spice to expand their own mental capacities to serve as human computers called “Mentats.” Thufir Hawat and Piter de Vries are two such beings. Paul received Mentats training too btw, but it is not mentioned in the film.

Shields (either personal shields, or those used to protect ships/buildings) are basically forcefields. They will stop anything fast, but are vulnerable to slow objects. Hence, maula pistols or other rifles are ineffective. Only a slow-moving, close blade or a slow-moving dart can penetrate the shield. In fact, a lot of sword/knife fighting is ineffective, unless the fighters slow their weapons down to penetrate the shield - otherwise it will bounce off.

There are some guns in Dune, but not many. They are sometimes used by Fremen a) because they are not that technologically advanced b) as the shields are not working properly on Arrakis due to excess of sand.
Damned, i missed some good novels there. I was too busy dating ! ;)
 
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the sound of Tao

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Steve Williams

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It's only HBO Max now.
It's gone from HBO Max tomorrow

We watched it on HBO Max. I enjoyed it. My wife hated it. Great cinematography which should garner an academy nomination
 
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morricab

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It's gone from HBO Max tomorrow

We watched it on HBO Max. I enjoyed it. My wife hated it. Great cinematography which should garner an academy nomination
A pretty normal reaction to sci-fi sadly...although my wife like Blade Runner 2049 a fair bit...better than the original...:rolleyes:
 

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That is interesting. GOT is more of a fantasy, whereas Dune is a classical Sci-fi. The former is more visual, brutal, erotic, also there are not too many things left unsaid. The latter offers a lot of dialogue happening behind the scenes, so that you need to connect the dots yourself. Herbert and Martin are one of the best representatives of their respective genres. They are also one of the few who created an entire universe, with different planets/continents, species, civilisations, societies, religions, cultures, political systems and languages. There is also the concept of magic. The world of GOT is so deeply embedded in magic, that it would be hard to find a moment in the book or the series where an event is not at all influenced by magic. In case of Dune, it is all based on technology, with the exception of the voice control. The list goes on and on. Summing up they do not really have much in common, but both are absolute masterpieces.
 
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defride

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Saw this at the cinema yesterday, first big screen in close to two years, nice to be out.

Must be 30 years since I read Dune, remember little and saw no trailers so went in blind. Really enjoyed the film, while long it was nice to see a film beautifully shot with a story to tell.

My two early teen girls hated it. Long, slow and too involved for them. Sign of the times.
 

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Saw this at the cinema yesterday, first big screen in close to two years, nice to be out.

Must be 30 years since I read Dune, remember little and saw no trailers so went in blind. Really enjoyed the film, while long it was nice to see a film beautifully shot with a story to tell.

My two early teen girls hated it. Long, slow and too involved for them. Sign of the times.
Depending on how deep in their teens they are, there is always the aforementioned GOT, but in the end I am not so sure if I would recommend it to anybody's teen daughters anyway.
 

morricab

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Saw this at the cinema yesterday, first big screen in close to two years, nice to be out.

Must be 30 years since I read Dune, remember little and saw no trailers so went in blind. Really enjoyed the film, while long it was nice to see a film beautifully shot with a story to tell.

My two early teen girls hated it. Long, slow and too involved for them. Sign of the times.
Interestingly, I went to the original Dune with my Dad (I was 13 at the time) and loved it because it brought the book to life. My Dad, who had never read the book and was perhaps expecting something Star Wars like, was baffled by the movie (he said simply, "It made no sense"), which was a common reaction to those who saw it cold without the book as the movie was so chopped up that it really didn't make much sense without pre-knowledge of the plot and the world it was set in.
 

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@morricab Your comment made me stop and think about the very nature of the cinema. The nature of the cinema evolved and I am confident to say that the quick consumption, video and film driven entertainment almost completely replaced the book culture. People do not read as much as in the past. Not judging, just stating the fact. The attention-span shortened dramatically and nowadays people find it hard to connect with the protagonists, unless the storyline is quick and visual. Compare the old Dune with the new one. The old one seems really slow.

What is more, the old one seems less coherent. I believe you can identify a tendency across the newly released films not to obscure the plot. Keep it very simple and focus on the character presentation and push the action, action, action. The expectation of the audience underwent a significant change. It is not expected of a film to leave much to be thought over and analysed. There is not much happening behind the scenes. There are some exceptions, but I feel like the majority of them are incoherent and chaotic not because they were meant to stimulate the audience intellectually, but rather because the directors did not pay attention to the story-line coherence at all. The Witcher is a great example. Storyline who? A huge potential, ok execution when it comes to character presentation, and a complete misery when it comes to the storyline. If someone did not read the Witcher stories, then one could get lost with the plot. However, the majority of the people watching the TV show would not be bothered by that, because the coherence, consistency and thought-provoking ideas are not the reasons why they watch it in the first place. It is entertaining and that is the key to success now.
 
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defride

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Depending on how deep in their teens they are, there is always the aforementioned GOT, but in the end I am not so sure if I would recommend it to anybody's teen daughters anyway.

Too young for GOT (Marvel is plenty deep enough...)

I saw half an episode early on, maybe picked a bad moment but came across as simply sensationalising sexual violence, didn't grab me and I never went back.
 

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I guess the key is to suggest younger people the movies with the characters who exemplify core human traits, abilities and values, including curiosity, sociability, resilience, self-awareness, resourcefulness, integrity, creativity, and empathy.

One may think that Marvel is too simple to get anything out of that. But, it demonstrates a lot of values and principles we would instill into our kids anyway, brotherhood, loyalty; dealing with one's unusual abilities, being different and rejection; how to solve difficult challenges, persistence, etc. the list is long.
 

morricab

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@morricab Your comment made me delve into the very nature of the cinema. The nature of the cinema evolved and I am confident to say that the quick consumption, video and film driven entertainment almost completely replaced the book culture. People do not read as much as in the past. Not judging, just stating the fact. The attention-span shortened dramatically and nowadays people find it hard to connect with the protagonists, unless the storyline is quick and visual. Compare the old Dune with the new one. The old one seems really slow.

What is more, the old one seems less coherent. I believe you can identify a tendency across the newly released films not to obscure the plot. Keep it very simple and focus on the character presentation and push the action, action, action. The expectation of the audience underwent a significant change. It is not expected of a film to leave much to be thought over and analysed. There is not much happening behind the scenes. There are some exceptions, but I feel like the majority of them are incoherent and chaotic not because they were meant to stimulate the audience intellectually, but rather because the directors did not pay attention to the story-line coherence at all. The Witcher is a great example. Storyline who? A huge potential, ok execution when it comes to character presentation, and a complete misery when it comes to the storyline. If someone did not read the Witcher stories, then one could get lost with the plot. However, the majority of the people watching the TV show would not be bothered by that, because the coherence, consistency and thought-provoking ideas are not the reasons why they watch it in the first place. It is entertaining and that is the key to success now.
Interesting analysis of which I largely agree. I come from the book culture (I am always reading two or three at a time) but also a cinema culture.

The biggest problem with Dune in general is how Dune was written. It is largely about dialogue and the fact it doesn't come off well on the big screen as it is wordy, complex and not so easy to digest in short time format... The problem with Dune 1984 movie is that 2/3rds of what was shot was left on the cutting room floor. This made an already dense story incomprehensible in order to make a 2+ hour movie rather than a 3 or 4+ hour movie.
 

Steve Williams

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Too young for GOT (Marvel is plenty deep enough...)

I saw half an episode early on, maybe picked a bad moment but came across as simply sensationalising sexual violence, didn't grab me and I never went back.
one of the best series I have seen on TV. I have to tell you that my wife loved it and she is my barometer for what I watch. If she can handle (and love) it, you can too ;)
 

HughP3

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Saw this at the cinema yesterday, first big screen in close to two years, nice to be out.

Must be 30 years since I read Dune, remember little and saw no trailers so went in blind. Really enjoyed the film, while long it was nice to see a film beautifully shot with a story to tell.

My two early teen girls hated it. Long, slow and too involved for them. Sign of the times.
Just saw the movie and kinda agree with your girls as far as pace goes. I read the book many years ago and loved it. The story is so intricate that i wonder how any screen writer can make a visual engaging and yet stay in the time line. It was beautifully shot but lacked something, i was hoping for a LOTRings product.
 

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