Forty years ago, I saw DUNE in the theater with my father, who was a huge fan of the Frank Herbert book that the film was based on. The 1984 version of DUNE was directed by David Lynch, a surrealist filmmaker who was a true cinematic visionary, and I--a nineteen year old science fiction fanatic--was really looking forward to seeing what would be a new universe for me. My father, who had read all of the Frank Herbert Dune novels up to that point, was simply looking forward to seeing his all-time favorite SF novel brought to life on the big screen.
And then we saw the damned movie.
To say that the David Lynch version of DUNE was a disappointment was putting it mildly. The movie was a cringe-worthy affair with plenty of over the top performances, shoddy special effects, and plot holes so large you could ride a sand worm through them. I remember my father telling me, after we came out of the theater, to just read the book. “The book is so good,” he had told me. “Once you read it, you’ll understand just how bad that movie really is.”
Flash forward to the year 2000, and I finally read DUNE, and its five sequels, over the course of the summer. And my father was right: Frank Herbert’s magnum opus was indeed a masterpiece, a sprawling science fiction story that was rich in imagination and with wholly realized characters. With Arrakis, aka Dune, a planet that is the only place in the universe that has spice--a rare substance that allows interplanetary travel with ease--Dune served as a smart allegory for the West’s long and tangled relationship with the oil producing counties in the Mid East. But Dune also had another, also still-relevant message: one that warned against the allure of celebrity cults and fanatic hero worship.
The reason I was spurred to read the Herbert DUNE books that summer was because the Sy-Fy Channel was airing a new mini-series version of DUNE in the fall of that year. The Sy-Fy version was far better than the misbegotten Lynch film, with enough time to flesh out the epic storyline. But it still suffered from an extremely low TV-movie budget that gave it an overall cheapness, with its sets looking like they were made from Styrofoam, and its early era CGI effects appearing as if they were from a cut-rate video game. At least the Sy-Fy Channel version managed to finally adapt the sequels, DUNE Messiah and Children of DUNE.
Flash forward to 2021, and I’m watching DUNE: Part One on the Max streaming channel (because of the pandemic, the movie premiered both in theaters and on MAX at the same time). I had high hopes for this new version, because of its director, Denis Villeneuve. Having already directed the masterful Sicario, the luminous Arrival, and the brilliant Blade Runner: 2049 (and he did all three films in a row), I figured that he would be a great choice to direct DUNE, and I wasn’t wrong.
Smartly splitting Herbert’s epic first novel into two films, Villeneuve gives the story plenty of breathing room and space to focus on its large cast of characters. Villeneuve is also working with a decent budget--and more importantly, he’s armed with a unique vision on how to bring the DUNE universe to life in an exciting way, while still maintaining its basic themes. I love how Villeneuve reworked the overall look of the Harkonnens, diverting from the more faithful presentation of them in the Lynch film and the Scy-Fy miniseries, while still presenting them as truly interesting and menacing characters in their own right.
Timothee Chalamet is perfectly cast as Paul; he effortlessly handles the age range of Paul from a teen in DUNE Part One to the assured leader of a worldwide rebellion in Part Two. Zendaya is marvelous as Chani, the love of his life who really blossoms as a character in Part Two, and the always good Rebecca Fergeson is superb as the Lady Jessica. Although I always thought that Francesca Annis’ performance as Jessica in Lynch’s Dune was very good--despite the shoddy material she was handed--that she still remains my favorite interpretation of Jessica even now.
There are many who say DUNE Part Two is the better of the new films, simply because it had more action than the thoughtful, pensive Part One. But the first DUNE film does such a Yeoman’s job at setting up the characters and the overall universe, that it would be a sacrilege to ignore it and just only watch Part Two. Instead of being a sequel, DUNE Part Two is really an impressive continuation of the same story that began in Part One. And DUNE Part Two sticks the landing of the ending in knowing just how to remain faithful to the book, as well as making some inspiring changes to the narrative that greatly improves it.
What would my late father think of this new DUNE? I’d like to think that he would have enjoyed it just as much as I did. But, knowing him as well as I did, my father would be even more pleased to see an intelligent, thoughtful science fiction piece like DUNE finally get treated with the respect that it deserves from both its filmmakers and film goers. Long live the fighters. --SF
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