johnnysd

I thought the first hour was sort of ponderous and seething with self importance. I think they were trying for it to epic and show the scale of the stakes and houses but it was too self serious to be effective. It could have used a couple lighter moments to humanize everyone other than maybe Mamoa a little bit. However, the second half really worked well I thought. Not because it was more action oriented but because once the exposition and "look at me" visuals were sort of out of the way, the movie seemed to take a breath and open up. I gave it 4 stars as it made me want to see the next one. Zendaya despite what was essentially a cameo was well cast and sort of glued everything together in a way. The blue eyes worked well.

I did think the we ruled by air and sea power now we need desert power bit just came off as dumb, but still had a payoff with Paul riding a worm.

I didn't love the score all that much. Still it seems like a movie that could get people to see it in the theaters even if they watched it already on HBO Max. There was a little too much mumbling for my taste I used CC.

davidh777

I liked the movie. Great visuals, great cast, and I understood the plot better than I expected to. (I read a few of the books and saw the Lynch movie, but both were a long time ago.) I didn’t realize the movie was incomplete, but that makes sense given the scope of the original material. No burning desire to watch it again until the next part comes out. I watched on HBO Max in 4K, but probably should’ve gone to a theater.

Rebecca Ferguson is now taking roles as moms to grownups? (She’s 38; Chalamet is 25.)

dex14

Paul is supposed to be (in the book) 15 and Chalamet certainly looks like a teenager.

davidh777

Playing a mom to a teenager doesn’t make me feel that much better.

She was great in the role, though.

Jay G.

Note that in the original 1984 film, Francesca Annis (Lady Jessica) was 39, and Kyle MacLachlan (Paul) was 25.

According to a wiki, Jessica was born 10154 AG, Paul born 10175 AG, so she had Paul when she was 21. The events of Dune take place in 10,191 AG, so Jessica is 37, while Paul is 16. So really, it's Paul's casting that is off by a decade.
https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Jessica_Atreides
https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Paul_Atreides

Dr. DVD

In all honesty, if WB wants to give interest in this movie a boost, they should go ahead and publicly announce the sequel. I think Disney did something similar with Cruella to generate more interest in that first entry after a somewhat low first weekend. Then again, there is always streaming.

jfoobar

Not to be too pedantic, but this isn't really accurate:



I think it is safe to say that Yueh:

Cellar Door

Did I miss something? I don't remember seeing Paul ride a worm yet.

davidh777

I haven’t participated in the pre-release discussion, but I wonder if they didn’t want to call it “part 1” or announce a sequel in case that discouraged people who were hoping to see a complete story. Not sure if having them leave the theater (or their TVs) unsatisfied is better, though. They might feel bait and switched.

GoldenJCJ

There was a quick shot at the very end of *someone* riding a worm. I guess it was supposed to be Paul. It was also supposedly supposed to be Paul’s vision but the movie didn’t do a very good job of portraying it that way. I didn’t realize it was Paul because Paul looks off in the distance and sees someone riding the worm. Kind of indicated that Paul was watching someone else in real time and not a dream/vision.

Why So Blu?

It wasn't Paul. It was someone else riding one but foreshadowed that Paul will be riding one soon. In Part II.

GoldenJCJ

^ Thanks. I didn’t think it was Paul but I assumed someone who read the books knew better than me.

Cellar Door

Yeah, it didn't appear to be any kind of vision at that point, because Paul, his mother, and Zendaya all took note of it. It was some random Fremen riding.

milo bloom

I keep thinking about the Part 1 that was in the title card, it just seems to be people in the past day or so talking about it and nobody from those early releases a few weeks back mentioned it and it really seems like something people would have noticed.

So, was it just added very recently to help drive the demand for the sequel? Or was the sequel already (quietly) green lit and they’re waiting for the weekend returns to officially announce it?

Jay G.

As far back as the IMAX Preview in July, there were mentions of the title card including "Part 1"
https://comicbook.com/movies/news/du...tion-part-one/
When it was released theatrically in other countries in September, people mentioned seeing the "Part 1":
https://www.reddit.com/r/dune/commen...ed_the_screen/

Brack

Well the screenplay was written as two movies, so a sequel is all up and ready. Why WB hasn’t green lit it is because I think they wanted to see how well the first movie was received. We’re going to get the follow up based on the box office so far.

Dr. DVD

Another reason I think WB is acting bullish on a sequel is because they're probably going to get the same deal as last time where Legendary foots most of the bill and then they just have to pay a small % of the rest for marketing and distribution. And since (hopefully) the world will be more back to normal at that point, they won't have to worry about any legal issues regarding the decision to stream the movie the same time as theaters.

Jay G.

A full screenplay wasn't written for both movies, just the first one. The second film initially only got a treatment. From an interview with one of the screenwriters:
https://collider.com/dune-movie-upda...oth-interview/
Denis Villeneuve started a script for Part 2 back in August.
https://www.gamesradar.com/dune-2-is...is-optimistic/

SmackDaddy

Visually striking, but it felt like nothing really happened (that's just the best way I can sum up how I felt when it ended). Definitely easier to follow than Lynch's Dune. I thought the casting was pretty spot on, but Rebecca Ferguson was a little hard to understand with her low, whispered dialog. I don't know that I would watch this again until the sequel comes out.

Brack

I didn’t mean to insinuate that the second part was already written, but that the screenplay was written as one of two parts. Outside of that, I have no idea, you have more insight on this it looks like.

milo bloom

I honestly didn’t recall seeing any mention of the Part 1 title card before now and I was following the early reports pretty heavily. Seems like something I would have been more cognizant of.

Decker

I really wanted to like it. Thought it was very well made and looked great. But I thought it was boring AF and felt like very little happened for long stretches. Liked the parents but didn’t connect with the Paul character at all.

Dr. DVD

The fact that you found it boring but still gave it three stars speaks a lot about the movie's strength in the visual area. Having read the books, I thought they did a good job with Paul, but I will admit they wrote him like a typical modern teen, which can be and kind of was annoying at time. If/when they make a sequel they will definitely need to improve that about the character.

Throwing Copper

I agree with this. When people keep having to CRAM IT DOWN EVERYONE’S THROAT how visually stunning it is and how the score/sound is so amazing, you know something is missing.

It was incredibly stupid to split this Dune up.

And it is a boring film. This first part absolutely did not need to be 2 hours, 35 mins.

Dr. DVD

Best day and date opening for WB, Villeneuve's career, and beating forecasts.

If anyone knows anyone else who has HBOMax please ask them to put it one Dune. They don't have to watch it, they just have to let it play.