I've been rereading Dune. In my 34 years, I've read it almost half a dozen times. I've also seen the David Lynch version and the Sci-Fi Channel original movie verison.
I'm convinced there can be a wonderful movie version of Dune, but it hasn't been made yet. The two attempts had their good and bad qualities, but neither had nearly enough good in them to stand as even an adequate representation of the book, let alone a great one.
As I'm reading the book again, I think Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathon should get rights to the original Dune stories writtern by Frank Herbert. I think they could make a series of movies to rival any ever before. The story meat is better than almost any out there, and with the Nolans as chefs, the meals would be legendary.
I wonder if I'm the only one who feels this way...
The technology exists now to make the movies not suck. One thing they'd have to do to overcome the flaws of that Lynch movie is, you know, hire real actors.
Yeah, I'm actually rewatching the Lynch version as I type this. It's utterly dreadful, and the only saving grace is the story.
It would be an interesting conversation/debate to talk about who might be a good casting choice for the different major players in the first story.
Robert Downey, Jr., as the Mentat. It'd pretty much just be his Sherlock Holmes character in the desert. Then again, I don't remember the Mentat having much of a sense of humor.
No, he was a very cermudgeonly type.
And as to the original cast, I do have to admit that Max von Sydow as Liet Kynes was above and beyond all the rest of the actors. Even though some of the casting choices were bad, I think what was worse was Lynch's original screenplay adaptation.
Another question would be: should they keep Paul 15 years old as the book has him, or make him a young man as the first two movie attempts did?
I was just thinking Ralph Fiennes for Duke Leto. Yeah, it isn't the biggest role, and the Duke is dead by a quarter or third of the way through, but you need someone magnetic and powerful to make Paul into the man he becomes.
You should have Paul be more of a young man. I'd say early twenties. You don't his voice cracking while he's saying his lines. Ralph Macchio could do this role.
I agree with that, every bit except the Karate Kid as Muad'Dib. That's just lunacy!
I wonder though, if Joseph Gordon Levit could do Paul justice. He is a fantastic actor in the more independent stuff I've seen.
I think Lucas could have saved Phantom by having young Anakin be 16 or 17 years old and, of course, not having Jar-Jar.
Oh, is this the wrong thread?
The Lynch Dune is one of my guilty pleasures. I watch it every time I happen to turn to it.
I know what you mean, as bad as it was, I can't help but watch it.
As for Anakin, I didn't mind the kid as much as I hated the choice of Hayden Christennsen. Jar-jar was just shit, no matter what they did with him.
De-railed!!
I thought having little child Anakin was very creepy. I get it to one extent, trying to appeal to the mother/son relationship, but in every other way, it was weird. WEIRD.
I watched the movie of Dune when I was really little with my mom. I never got into it because of my age/attention span/running around like a maniac, but I would watch parts with her anyway, because the people were strange looking.
Did you ever read the book(s)?
No. Had I read them, I WOULD HAVE SAID SO!!!!!!!!!!!
I am such a weirdo. I generally SAY that I don't like sci fi/fantasy. But I love Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, The Dark Tower....by all accounts I'm a huge nerd I do seem to like it. But I'm not adding it to my list, because my list is ridiculous right now.
I'm the exact same way when it comes to being a closeted nerd.
I was a jock in high school, and secretly read books like Dune, the 2001 series, stuff like that. Oh, the things we hide in the name of trying to look cool.
Well, no one would ever say I look cool, and I don't think I've ever tried to. It's that I just enjoy other genres more. Something like that. Also I equate all fantasy with dragons in my head and I don't like dragons very much.
I would hardly consider Dune in the fantasy genre, but I'm with you, I abhor fantasy for the most part, excepting anything by Tolkein.
Oooh, just had a thought... How about Zachary Quinto as Paul?
I still have never managed to get through it. When I used to work the shit day job I tried listening to an audiobook, but it was so unbelievably badly read that I just couldn't get through it. I've never seen any of the films.
When we were having the genre debate I was tlaking to someone else aboutit I revealed my narrow ridiculous view of genres. In short:
Fantasy - Dragons
Sci-fi - In SPACE
Horror - that's scary
In short, I realized I have narrow views, or at least underdeveloped ones. It isn't something I've much thought about. Since that talk, I'd like to think more about it. But as of yet, I have not.
What they need to do is go back in time and make this glorious shit-supernova actually happen:
In December 1974, a French consortium led by Jean-Paul Gibon purchased the film rights from APJ. Alejandro Jodorowsky was set to direct. In 1975, Jodorowsky planned to film the story as a ten-hour feature, in collaboration with Salvador Dalí, Orson Welles, Gloria Swanson, David Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Alain Delon, Hervé Villechaize and Mick Jagger. It was at first proposed to score the film with original music by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Henry Cow and Magma; later on, the soundtrack was to be provided by Pink Floyd.[2] Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris consisting of Chris Foss, a British artist who designed covers for science fiction periodicals, Jean Giraud (Moebius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for Metal Hurlant magazine, and H. R. Giger. Moebius began designing creatures and characters for the film, while Foss was brought in to design the film's space ships and hardware. Giger began designing the Harkonnen Castle based on Moebius' storyboards. Jodorowsky's son Brontis Jodorowsky was to play Paul Atreides. Dan O'Bannon was to head the special effects department.
Salvador Dalí was cast as the Emperor. Dalí later demanded to be paid $100,000 per hour; Jodorowsky agreed, but tailored Dalí's part to be filmed in one hour, drafting plans for other scenes of the emperor to use a mechanical mannequin as substitute for Dalí. (According to Giger, Dalí was "later invited to leave the film because of his pro-Franco statements").[3] Just as the storyboards, designs, and script were finished, the financial backing dried up. Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. -- Wikipedia
I may be the odd man out, but I just could not get into Dune. I took someone's advice and bought Dune and Ender's game (which I loved), but Dune was not for me.
Ender's Game (let the derailment continue) is one of my favorite books, despite the "eccentricities" of the author. Great book. "They" claim to be close to getting the movie made.
I quite enjoyed Dune (the book), but couldn't get into the Herbert-written sequels and haven't read the new Dune ones.
Also agree with the miscasting of Hayden Christensen.
Also agree with the miscasting of Hayden Christensen.
No, I think the bigger problem was the miscasting of George Lucas.
It always shocks me that no one mentions Dune when they talk about Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. I just don't see how people miss the influence.
@XyZy. So true.
The one audiobook version of Dune I heard was absolutely dreadful, the book, though, is a complex work of art - like any other art, some don't get it, but their lack of understanding or appreciation decreases the work of art's value not one iota.
Oooh, I am thinking Amy Adams as Chani, but this is probably only because I want to see her naked. If I were to choose a Chani with acting skills in mind, I'd probably lean toward Ellen Page or Jenna Malone.
I have no idea what's going on in this thread, tl;dr. However: I love Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnne! Ermagherd it's mer ferverite.
Hells yeah, Jeffy Jeff. Same here. I love it so much, we almost called our cat Usul, but my woman didn't want to confuse her with a name change (we got her as an adult from a shelter.)
When I had jaw surgery, I watched the Sci-Fi channel's Dune while hopped up on pain killers. It was reaaaalllly good that way.
Anything is reaaaaally good on pain killers. I have to take massive doses of Oxycontin (actually per doctor's orders) and I can't even begin to imagine how awful life would be sober.
As palletable as the Sci-Fi Channel's version was compared to David Lynch's version, I still think it could be done so significantly better that someone like the Nolans should dedicate a decade to bringing the main books to life on the big screen.
Just a little venn diagram to make everything clear.
There isn't a subject that can't be made more clear with a venn diagram.
I read all of the Dune books but have to say, when we started running with the twins...I started to lose interest. I think part of what made Dune awesome was all of the politics. Also, the original movie with Kyle McLachlan sucked goats. Right up there with the animated version of the Hobbit.
Amen, sister. On all accounts.
I looked at the SyFy (or however they spell it) as a proof of concept. It showed that the books could be done without being horrible.
Dune II the computergame was great too :) . It can be considered as a 'classic', i think.
Didn't realize Dune had computer games at all. Do you mean Doom?
Dune II was one of the really early real-time strategy games (like Command and Conquer.)
Some say the first RTS.
I found reading the Wikipedia entry for the various sequels far more interesting then actually reading them. I really liked the origianl novel, but the sequels seemed to go off the rails a bit.
The random orgy in the middle of the SciFi original seemed a little out of place and just fan service. Also I was watching it with my 8 year old and I forgot it was there. So that was awkward. :)
@Photon
Cos you appear to be a real dune-freak i suggest you play the game, just to try out. Its all about making a base on a sandy planet and harvesting the spice... The graphics are not up to date, its a game from the mid-nineties, but the interface and storyline (duh...) are pretty good.
Tip: Watch out for those sandworms!
Good luck! :)
I prefered Emperor, which was the first RTS I was ever good at.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor:_Battle_for_Dune
Was so fun.
Dune was a great RTS. There is also an old third person Dune game where you essentially run around in the desert unable to do much other than getting blasted by Harkonnen.
That said, I agree with Photon's original sentiment but I will still watch both movies any time I get the chance.
