Matthew S. Williams's Blog, page 228

10,000 Downloads!

Okay, this is old news at this point, but I recently realized that I forgot to mention how I passed 10,000 mark here, on my blog of all places! Somehow, I remembered to brag about this fact on every other social media outlet I can name, but not once did I consider saying this on my wordpress page. Okay, brag is a bit of a strong word… more like celebrate. Yes, it pleases me to know lots of people are taking what I write into consideration and spending their valuable time reading it. And in the end, isn't that all we really have? Sure, there's money too, but isn't that just a reward for the expenditure of time? What we waste our time seeking so we can satisfy the needs (i.e. food, shelter, fun) that make our time more enjoyable?

Okay, took a bit of a wrong turn there! Meant to get on Point road, took a detour down Metaphysical lane! I frequently do that. In any case, about a month ago I reached my goal of 10,000 downloads and felt that it would be good to take stock of what I'd done thus far. It has been almost six months since I decided to go public with my writing and making some samples available for free download has been intrinsic to that process. Sure, I've made some of my other stories available for purchase as well through some retailers (Lulu.com, Smashwords, Kindle, Createspace, and a few others), most of my time has been dedicated to making sample writing available so people can get to know what I have to offer before I ask them to put down money on something longer and more professionally done.

So far, samples have included the urban fiction short known as "Liability", the near-future sci-fi tale "Smartbomb", and the distant future space opera known as "Source". More recently, I've also added installments of two new stories – the sci-fi noire detective story "Genome" and the cyberpunk action thriller"Akuma"- to the mix.

These are what I like to think of as my hobby writing, nothing too big like my sci-fi magnum opus Legacies, the short stories set in that same universe, or the longer works of fiction that have been occupying my time as of late. These need a bit more work and some serious editing before they will be made available. But when that happens, it is my hope that any fans I've picked up along the way – I know there are a few of you out there! – will check these out and enjoy them. I'll be sure to announce their existence and provide the necessary links so they'll be easy to find!

Ah, one final thing: I should also note that I have since surpassed the 10k mark and am working my way towards 15k. In fact, as I write this, I am at a grand total of 11,330! Woohoo! Go ahead, check out the sites and do the math, I dare you! Here are the links:

Feedbooks

Obooko

Scribd

Free-ebooks.net

Best Dune Lines!

Hey all! As you can plainly see, I did a rather long review of Dune, the movie and miniseries, recently. One thing that kept coming to mind was all the great lines that made it in. Some of these were taken from the novel, others were the result of John Harrison's imagination. Either way, they were cinematic gold and I found that I could only write in a few. If I had taken the time to include them all, my connection might have done down. DSL can only handle so much…

Anyway, here is a brief list of some of the gems that have stuck out for me.

Baron Harkonnen:"By the time the traitor is fully revealed, the fate of Atreides will already be sealed."

Paul: "Without the spice, the navigators will become blind, the Bene Gesserit will lose all power, and all commerce between the Great Houses will cease. Civilization will end! If I am not obeyed… the spice will not flow!"

Mother Superior (using the Voice): "What do you think they mean, these dreams of yours?"

Paul (Voice): "Why don't you tell me?"

Baron: "Perhaps your incompetence will prove useful after all, in hastening the day House Atreides will fall."

Guild agent: "It is said that the Fremen of the deep desert drink blood as well. Isn't that true Doctor Kynes?"

Doctor Kynes: "Not the blood, sir. All of a man's water. The body is over eighty-percent water. A dead man surely has no more use for it."

Baron: "Never trust a traitor, even one you created yourself."

Paul: "Then may your knife chip and shatter."

Baron: "My family has hated the Atreides for centuries. They have been the sand in our eyes, the stink at our meals, these arrogant Atreides, always standing in our way. I want Leto to appreciate the beauty of what I've done to him. I want him to know that I, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, am the instrument of his family's demise!"

Baron: "Then you will squeeze, like the grips of a vice, so that our coffers become fat with the profit of spice."

Fenrig: "ten million…"

Irulan:"Toughened by conditions worse than your own prison planet, father…

Fenrig: "The Baron would have a force to rival even your dreaded Sardaukar."

Baron: "So let the emperor mock house Harkonenn, Call us swine. Because in the end his throne will be mine."

Jessica (using the Voice): "If you know what's good for you, you'll find an honorable way to let this go…"

Baron: "If you wanted to kill me, Feyd, why not just do it yourself? You've had plenty of opportunity."

Feyd: "You always taught me that my own hands must remain clean."

Baron: "Oh quick, boy! Very quick!"

Jessica: "I was supposed to have a daughter, one that could be married to the Harkonnen heir. A union that would end the feud between the houses and give rise to the Kwisatz Haderach… a being with perfect memory, who could provide perfect predictability."

Paul: "And perfect power to the Bene Gesserit of course."

Jessica: "I did what I did because I loved your father, Paul! I wanted to give him a son. I didn't want to produce… a God!"

Feyd: "You intend to draw the Emperor into this?"

Baron: "See, Feyd, this is why you need me alive: to help you think, to help you plot. Why do you think I tolerate your dim brother's incompetence, because it amuses me? Think Feyd! There has to be method to this madness, though you've been too dull to divide it."

Feyd: "The spice?"

Baron: "Of course, Feyd. The spice. The one thing important enough to draw the Emperor out here, away from his royal pleasures to the fringes of the empire. Where he is vulnerable, where he can be reached."

2001: A Space Odyssey

Once more, a movie that was both a novel and a screenplay. But, unlike others I reviewed (Blade Runner, Dune), Space Odyssey was actually a movie that was later novelized. Not the cheap, dime-store novelizations that seek to cash in on the movies' success mind you. No, this was a case of collaboration, where a scientist-turned-writer (Arthur C Clarke) collaborated with a filmmaker (Stanley Kubrick) to produce a movie, with the former writing the novel version simultaneously, but which was released after. And the combination worked pretty well, if I do say so myself! Clarke offered up the hard science and futurism while Kubrick brought the cinematic vision and directorial talent. But to be honest and fair about it, the novel was just not as good. I say that with all love and respect for Clarke, may he rest in peace. But that's just the way I felt, having seen the movie and read the book. Whereas the movie was raw and emotional when it needed to be, capturing the awe and terror of space exploration and the unknown, Clarke approached these things with a sort of stoic detachment. And whereas the movie was a bit more complex in its depiction of technology and artificial intelligence, Clarke's views were much more straightforward. But that was to be expected. Clarke was a futurist, after all, seeing humanity as perfectible through progress and the scientific method. Things like human nature, emotion, instinct and the fallibility of science were not really things that showed up on his radar much.

But that's something for the literary reviews. Right now, it's the movie that need dissecting. So once more, lets get into this sci-fi, cinematic classic and see why it was such a big hit.

(Background—>)

Even though it received mixed reviews when first released, 2001 has gone on to become one of the highest ranked movies of all time. Fans, the Academy Awards, and numerous polls place it in the top 10, with the Moving Arts Journal going as far as to rank it the number one movie of all time in 2010. Its visual style and its classical score, along with its thematic breadth and scientific realism, make it a favorite of movie-goers, critics and cinema cultists alike. And time doesn't appear to have diminished this much. Of all Kubrick's films, 2001 is often ranked as his greatest accomplishment, though there has been no shortage of competition for the top slot! For Clarke, the novels that followed the movie's release were largely responsible for him being rocketed to fame as one of the "Big Three" of science fiction, alongside Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. In addition, the success of the original novel Clarke to pen three sequels, 2010: Odyssey Two, 2061: Odyssey Three, and 3001: The Final Odyssey, the first of which was also made into a movie (for a more in-depth look at these novels, see my review, Clarke and his Odysseys)

(Content—>)

The film opens with the classic score, playing in front of planet Earth during a sunrise. I don't imagine I need to tell anyone what a powerful opening this is. We see the planet Earth from space, is all its glory, and the music instantly captures the feeling of awe and wonder that defines the film. We then cut to the African desert, during what is referred to as "The Dawn of Man", where a tribe of herbivorous apes are foraging for food in a hostile landscape. Through a series of images, we get a pretty clear view of their world and how they are struggling to survive in their harsh environment. All of their time is dedicated to foraging for food and water, they are in a constant state of competition with other animals and other tribes of simians (not to mention being preyed upon by hungry leopards!) However, their world changes forever when they wake up one morning and find that something in their environment has changed: a tall, black monolith has appeared out of nowhere and now sits in the middle of their encampment. Naturally, they begin to freak out and throw things at it, crying out loud and generally panicking in its presence. Slowly, they come to accept its presence and even begin to run their hands along its smooth surface, realizing that it does not pose them any immediate harm.

And I got to say, this scene was masterfully done! It's perhaps the first example of everything the movie does right. The reactions of the actors playing the simians is perfect. How they initially panic and only slowly, very slowly, begin to calm down and even become intrigued by the monolith. The music also serves to heighten the feeling of uncertainty to the point where little is happening on screen, but we known in our hearts that something terribly significant is really going on. This music comes up again later in the movie, illustrating a direct parallel between when man's early ancestors encountered the unknown in their own world and modern humans do the same with space exploration. It's scary and exhilarating all at once.

Shortly thereafter, we see the simians going about their business as usual. But then, while picking amongst a set of dry bones, one of the tribe has a searing burst of revelation. Picking up what looks like an animal femur, he begins to realize (slowly, of course) that he can club things with it. As the scene picks up, the music reaching a crescendo, we get the same sort of feeling as when the apes encountered the monolith, except in reverse. What begins as a sort of tame display mounts until the ape is overcome with feeling, thrashing and smashing everything around him. And then, the camera cutting between the bones and a falling animal, we see him applying the lesson by killing another animal with it! That night, the tribe eats meat, and the transition from herbivores to omnivores has begun. We also see a frightening scene the next day, as a rival group of simians encounters them at a watering hole. But whereas the two groups would just shout at each other until one retreated, this time an ape is killed. The bone-carrying ape has passed on the lesson of the club to his kin, and they take turn beating their rival until he's dead. The scene ends with a silent moment as the ape tosses the bone in the air, it swirls around and around, falling ever towards Earth… And then boom! The bone becomes a satellite, and the skies have become space in orbit around planet Earth.

Where do I begin? Once again, the sheer amount of significance in this scene. We are given, sans dialogue and through a series of brief but poignant scenes, a glimpse at how humanity came to evolve. From being herbivores who had to claw and scratch for every inch to omnivores who asserted control over their environment through the use of tools. And what accounted for this leap? A simple act of deductive reasoning, but clearly, higher forces appear to have played a part… Oooooo! Yes, that's the impression we are meant to have, that the sudden appearance of the monolith and how it coincided with a jump start in evolution was no coincidence. But since there is no dialogue, all of this is going on in our minds, and it was bloody effective!

Cue part II, named TMA-1. The story begins to unfold then as we get some shots of life in orbit around Earth, aboard the international space station, and then moving through a drawn out montage to the Moon. This is perhaps one weakness in the movie, the many scenes that seem to go on and on, classically scored and containing no dialogue. They are pleasant, and you get an obvious sense of scope and breadth from them, but for the most part… they're kinda boring. But as I realized when I first watched it, the movie was made in a time when people actually had attention spans! In addition, the idea is to give us a glimpse of the future which is both cheery and wonderful, showing how far we've come and how technology has made so much possible. They also pace the movie between its more dramatic bits, where there's meaningful interaction or drawn out scenes where everything is tense and dramatic. In any case, as I said, the story unfolds. We are told in no uncertain terms that the Cold War is still on, that the Americans have a colony on the moon that is being quarantined and the Russians suspect something is up.

We then see Doctor Heywood Floyd, chairman of the National Council of Astronautics (a futuristic version of NASA) travel to the Moon where he discusses with his peers how the quarantine story is not holding up, followed by another, though comparatively brief, scene where he is being shuttled out to the surface so he (and the audience) can see exactly what it is they are hiding. Some dialogue serves to fill in the blanks, explaining what the real situation is around the colony and what TMA-1 stands for. Basically, they've found an object which appears to have been "purposefully buried" millions of years ago. Its designation is "Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-1″. Everything becomes clear when they set down and begin walking around the excavation in space suits, and we see that what they've uncovered is in fact a monolith, one that is identical to the monolith encountered by the apes… I'm getting the tinglies! I should also not that this scene is a perfect example of the movie's scientific realism. Not a trace of sound is heard as the astronauts are busy walking about, save for their breathing and the rumpling of space suits. This is in keeping with the physics in the vacuum of space, no atmosphere equals no sound. But then, each of them is momentarily deafened by a huge burst of radio-static that sets their teeth on edge! When it passes, they all look tellingly at the monolith…

Cut ahead to Part III, which is named Jupiter Mission. Here we see the spacecraft Odyssey for the first time as it slowly passes beyond the reaches of the inner solar system on its way to Jupiter. The crew are just waking up and David Bowman, one of the pilots, is busy jogging around the ship's centrifugal section. His counterpart, Frank Poole, is also up and about soon, and the two are going through some expository things. This includes an interview which they are watching, newscasters back at Earth having sent questions and taken their answers while editing out the time delay. The interview features as segment where they talk to the ship's computer, HAL 9000, they eerily calm-voiced robot with the red camera eyes. He seems like a swell guy, and boasts that like all 9000 series models, he is error-free. Can you say foreshadowing? We get treated to some more exposition as HAL discusses some misgivings he has about the mission to David, mainly over the amount of secrecy and how its official purpose doesn't add up.

And then, to get the plot rolling again, HAL announces that he's found a malfunction in the ship's main array. The pilots look it over and determine there's no problem, and the folks back at Earth say the same. Apparently, HAL has made an error! While discussing their options in the privacy of one of the shuttle pods, Bowman and Poole decide that it might be best to shut HAL down and go on without him. But HAL can see them, and reads their lips. We get a nice, big closeup of his big red eye… and are worried! As well we should be, because when Poole goes out to put the array back together, his pod suddenly turns on him. Bowman is then summoned to one of the ship's terminals and sees a video feed of Poole flying off into space, his oxygen hose broken and his body flailing. He then jumps into another pod, forgetting his helmet, and sails off to rescue Frank's body. But when he returns to the ship, HAL refused to let him in. "I'm sorry Dave, but I cannot do that…" he says, a line that lives on in infamy! So Bowman decides to take a huge risk and open the ship's secondary airlock, where he then blows out the pod's door and is catapulted into the ship's airlock. Before he can be sucked out again, he grabs hold of the controls and seals himself shut and re-pressurizes the room. While this might sound a tad far-fetched, it was actually very realistic. For one, there's no sound until air starts flooding back into the airlock. Second, Poole's body is tossed about like a rag doll by the explosive decompression and he barely survives it (clearly they used a real one).

Strapping into a spacesuit, Bowman then stalks around the ship while HAL tries to "reason" with him. Basically, he's doing the sanitized, stoic version of begging for his life, and he's right to because Bowman's first stop is HAL's circuit room. Slowly, HAL begins to shut down as David pulls more and more of his components out. A frightening scene, as we are basically witnessing the AI's version of being lobotomized. As its happening, he keeps saying "I can feel my mind going…" until he finally breaks down and begins singing "Daisy" in a faltering voice. When Bowman is finally done, one of the monitors come on with a transmission from Earth. As if there could be a worse time, the true nature of the mission is now being explained. Seems the monolith on the moon was sending out a transmission, and its destination… Jupiter!

Thus begins the final part of the movie. The title is certainly indicative: Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite. This entire section is strictly visuals, that same frightening music in the background, and not a touch of dialogue. The entire climax is told with the special effects and facial expressions, conveying incredible awe, wonder, and terror. Thankfully, Clarke's novel version told audiences what they needed to know. Essentially, Bowman has arrived within the vicinity of Jupiter's Jovian moons, and found yet another monolith! This one is bigger, much, much bigger. And it appears to be moving around in response to his presence. When he gets close to it in one of the Discovery's pods, it pulls up horizontally, its black profile disappearing into the dark of space. The camera then pans upwards, and a visual light show begins. We are told in the novel, and the second movie, that Bowman's last words before "disappearing" were: "My God, its full of stars!" Like I said, no utterances in the movie, Bowman simply seems to have entered the monolith and is shooting through space and time. We get several stills of his face frozen in looks of terror, the colors becoming vivid and changing drastically with each frame. He also seems to be seeing incredible things, things that the audience can only guess at. But, for my money, he appears to be witnessing the birth of stars, the formations of planets, and the beginnings of life itself. In technicolor!

Finally, the light show ends and Bowman appears to be hovering over what appears to be an alien landscape. The colors are still psychedelic, but everything returns to a normal chromatic pattern when he finds himself inside a some kind of living space. At first, he's himself, in his spacesuit walking around. He then sees himself change into an older man, eating a meal at the table, then transitions to the bed where he is a very old man and clearly near death. He then looks up and sees himself as a child still in the womb. More curious visuals the audience is left to puzzle over. Is he witnessing his own lifespan, or is this a metaphor for his death and rebirth as something new? According to the novel, the latter appears to be the case. He's not sure why or even how, but making contact with the monolith has changed him. He's become The Star Child, and he can see home from where he now sits. Earth, the moon, the stars, and the entire cosmos. Much like the apes who had undergone a great change in their own time, he too has achieved a cosmic leap in evolution, all because of his contact with an artifact that no one can even begin to understand.

(Synopsis—>)

As I've said before, this movie was masterfully done in the way it relied on visuals and music to tell the story. This was not always easy considering how complex the material was and how deep the themes ran. Almost without words, Kubrick and Clarke told said volumes about human evolution, consciousness, evolution, technology, and artificial intelligence. And it all ran together, in spite of what you might think. HAL's malfunction was no stray commentary on the dangers of AI. If anything, it was a commentary on the dangers of intelligence, as personified by the apes who suddenly became very violent once they learned how to use basic tools. Bowman's death and transformation was also a commentary on this process of evolution, how it can be painful and sometimes might involves a great deal of loss. And last, but certainly not least, there is the awe and wonder of it all. Nothing frightens more than the unknown, and nothing fails to inspire us more. But always there is danger in peaking around those corners. And what better way to personify this danger than through a big, black, monolith? Yep, I tell ya, those towering, featureless shapes still inspire fear and intrigue for me today. As does the classical store! If you haven't seen it, do so. And for the love of God, do it sober! You need to be clear of mind to appreciate all the nuances of this movie. Never mind that it was made in 1968 and many people were high when they first saw it!

2001: A Space Odyssey.

Entertainment Value: 7/10 (bit slow, can be incomprehensible at times too)

Plot: 10/10 (oh yeah!)

Direction: 10/10 (double oh yeah!)

Total: 9/10

Dune, the miniseries (Part III)

We come at last to Part III and the final act of the Dune miniseries! Been a long time in coming, and funny thing is, I tried to do all in one post. Now here I am breaking it into four just so I can cover the original movie and the miniseries faithfully. But as I've said many times before, the book is long and dense, and requires lots of time and space to do it justice. Wow, is there some weird weird esoteric shit going on here? Are all these posts visually demonstrating how length is the difference between success and failure here?

Sorry about that, I think my latest batch of moonshine's got some weird properties… making me talk funny! Let's just get to the third act and wrap this baby up!

The final act opens on an attack being made by the Fremen on the city of Arrakeen, capitol of Arrakis. We see Paul as he's overseeing this attack, now a full 17 years of age and hardened by desert life and the gift of his prescience. At this point in the story, they've been waging their war against the Harkonnen's for a full two years now and things are finally coming to a head. The Harkonnen's forces no longer go into the desert, the Fremen has free reign there, and are basically trapped inside the capitol while the Fedaykin strike at them with impunity. Paul stands on the edge of achieving his revenge and the Fremen are on the verge of receiving their messiah. But first, a few things need to happen before they can make their final assault and Paul can become the Mahdi. In order to become a true leader, Paul must ride the worm and assume control over Fremen tribe in the desert (at some point, this will involve calling Stilgar out, as hinted at earlier). And to become a true prophet, he must take the Water of Life.

What's good about the miniseries at this point is that they take the time to flesh out the events that took place in this time. In the novel they were talked about, but not shown. We skip from the point where Jessica becomes the Reverend Mother to where Paul is riding the worm and all that happens in between is described but not shown. But here, in order to provide additional pacing and keep the audience up to speed, we have several scenes which were both important and well executed. One is where Irulan, upon returning from Geidi Prime, begins to share her suspicions with her father, and I can honestly say its one of the best scenes in the entire series. It begins with her father pointing out how the Baron is loosing men on Arrakis and pleading for help. And replies by indicating that the kill-loss rate is a clear indication of how superior the Fremen fighters are. She then ventures that the only reason the Baron would allow Raban (who is clearly incompetent) to deal with this problem is because he has a plan to enlist the Fremen, and that he is grooming his nephew to take over. Hearing this, Irulan and Fenrig finally say flat out what's been hinted at repeatedly throughout the series. "(Ten million people)… toughened by conditions worse than your own prison planet, father…" "The Baron would have a force to rival even your dreaded Sardaukar…" Fenrig is impressed, but Irulan concludes the scene with an obvious declaration. "My father can handle the Baron… it's this Muad'Dib that I'm curious about." Aka. she's almost positive its Paul!

We also get to see Paul and his mother talk about the path he's on, something that was quite important and never really included in the book. She expresses concern that Paul is beginning to believe in the legends they've been exploiting, to which he counters with another legend: the Kwisatz Haderach. Again, the name is dropped, Paul explains how the Reverend Mother came to him in a dream and told him. Jessica then explains what the Bene Gesserit had planned, what the KH was supposed to be. Now the audience, having been primed, knows exactly what the KH is, and what this means for Paul. Jessica says that she only gave the Duke a son out love, that she never meant to give birth to "a God". But alas, we can see that even she's not sure who Paul is anymore…

In between all this, we get the important stuff that did make it into the book. For one, we see Paul ride the worm for the first time. He knew he would have to do this eventually, due in part to all the Fremen warriors who have come to challenge him over the years, and to the fact that sooner or later, he will have to demonstrate this ability if he's going to lead the Fremen. The scene where he does this is certainly cool, better than the original because its not so over the top (aka. no internal monologues, no really epic music, just a high-energy scene that's faithful). It also ends with a fitting reminder: now that Paul has shown he can command the worm, there's the little matter of him and Stilgar. If he's to lead, he will have to best him in combat… Paul is clearly saddened by this realization, and you can see it. But for the moment, they're riding a damn worm! Not to the time to be worrying about other things!

We also see Paul's reunion with Stilgar. Earlier on in the series, he saw him working with smugglers, a preview of their eventual encounter. During an ambush, Paul recognizes him and the bring him and his men back to the sietch where they Paul asks him to enlist with him and his Fremen. "I never left your side," he says, predictably. Good ol' Gurney! But of course, he is surprised to hear Jessica is alive, and suspects SHE was the traitor. Then, in a scene which never made it into the movie, he confronts with her with his knife drawn, bad Gurney! But of course, Paul and Jessica talk him down once they reveal that it was Yueh and why he did it. Everything is resolved… though Gurney obviously feels like a douche! We also get a gander at Paul's son who was born in the preceding two years and see the blossoming relationship that's taking place between Chani and Jessica. These are not just filler, they preview the decision Paul will have to make, the same one his father made. For the sake of politics, the Duke never married Jessica, thus ensuring he could marry the Lady of another house and create and alliance. Paul, it has been hinted at, may have to do the same at some point. Hence, Chani will also be only ever be a consort in title, but in reality, will be his true love.

But the real money is in the palace scenes where the Baron is summoned and makes excuses for his inability to crush the Fremen rebellion. His exact words were said later in the novel, when the Emperor showed up on Arrakis demanding answers. The effect of this was to make the latter chapters feel rushed; putting it sooner in the series, before the Emperor decided to intervene, was a good idea on Harrison's part because it helped with the pacing. It also makes the Emperor's eventual intervention seem that much more justified. But alas, the lines: "Your majesty, these people are mad! They women throw their babies at us! They hurl themselves onto our weapons to open a wedge for their men to attack… I could wipe the planet clean of the entire race, but then there'd be no one left to mine the spice. It's a terrible dilemma…" The Emperor, naturally, is unconvinced. The Guild and the Bene Gesserit, fearing what Muad'Dib represents, want him to intervene, and Fenrig points out that they can't attack the Baron directly because of their past involvement together. I.e. he secretly helped the Baron destroy House Atreides, can't have that coming out! So the Emperor decides to send the palace to Arrakis, along with the armies of every major house. He'll deal with the Fremen rebellion first and the Baron later.

And then, Paul takes the Water of Life! The experience almost kills him, and the scene is detailed and long, reflecting its true importance. In the original movie, it was quick and rushed, Paul did it and it was over. In truth, the experience was nearly fatal, and having come through it, Paul now knows he's the Kwisatz Haderach, his visions are complete. He sees the future and all the terrible things he will do, but now knows they are necessary and inevitable. He also sees that the Emperor and the great houses are coming! War is upon them at last! When he announces this to the Fremen, they know at last that he is truly their prophet, and demand he call out Stilgar. Paul refuses, saying that their ways must change and he will not cripple himself by sacrificing his best warriors. To resolve this impasse, he declares that he is not their naib, but their Duke! In other words, he asserts his royal claim over the planet and asks for their loyalty, and they give it!

The time has come at last to mount their assault on Arrakeen, now that the Emperor is there! This was apparently the point in holding back. If they took the capitol before the Emperor and his legions were on the ground, the Emperor could always attack and retake the planet. This way, he will defeat both the Emperor and the Harkonnen's in one blow, and dictate terms to them. But… there's one more card he needs. He hints at this by telling Othyem, one of his loyal Fedaykin, to take a supply of changed Water of Life to a large pre-spice mass. Otheym knows what this means, and is aghast, but obeys. We don't… yet, but we can tell its significant. We're getting the impression that this is the whole "You alone know what I can do!" that Paul said in the original movie. Good! I was wondering… Paul takes the time to bury his father's remains in a Fremen tomb, and has one final conversation with his mother about the future. She is afraid, naturally, but Paul has become fatalistic about the whole thing. It must be, and he has no qualms anymore because as he says "there aren't any innocents anymore!" Paul then takes this opportunity to reveal to hes mother that he knows her ancestry. She's a Harkonnen, and therefore so is he! Cruelty is natural to them, as is nobility. Because of this, he has everything he needs to be the KH, and it's the perfect irony. The Bene Gesserit wanted someone like him so they could control things, but since they couldn't control Jessica, she's changed everything. But has arrived before his time, and the consequences they were told to expect are now here! Bad things will happen, bad, necessary things. A shocking revelation! And perfectly timed since its act III and the attack is about to come.

But, true to the original story, the Sardaukar attack sietch Tabr, where Paul and his family have been living for the past two years, and murder Paul's son! They also take Alia hostage, the bloody bastards! Paul knows his son is dead just before they mount their attack, rather than hearing about it in the course of it – as happened in the novel, which was weird! Like most of what Herbert wrote in act III, it kind of felt he was rushing towards the climax, getting that writer's itch to draw things to a close! I know the feeling… But, important here, Alia being taken hostage puts her inside the palace and before the Emperor, where she can deliver her messages to him and the Mother Superior who is there with him. She sees her and recognizes her as "the abomination the ancients warned us about", i.e. a preborn child, which the BG's naturally fear. Irulan also connects all the dots now that she has Muad'Dib's sister before them. She is Atreides in appearance, hence Muad'Dib is Paul! Everyone is breathless!

And then, boom! Paul attacks! Again(!), this battle scene is a lot more impressive here than the in the original movie. Not because of special effects, but because its much more drawn out and the camera gets around. We see fighting in the city, fighting in the desert, at a distance and at close quarters, not just a bunch of Fremen shooting down Sardaukar from the backs of sandworms. What's more, its true and detailed to the story. They use a tactical nuke to blow up the natural shield wall that protects Arrakeen from the terrible sandstorms, the ensuing storm neutralizes the palace shields, and then, they attack with the worms and take down the Sardaukar and Harkonnen armies! And of course, while scrambling, Alia stabs the Baron with the Atreides gom jabbar (a poison needle), thus killing the bastard! And in the ensuing scene where Paul has his defeated foes before him and is dictating terms, the miniseries takes the time to explain exactly what Paul can do and how he will do it… if he's not obeyed.

As I said in the Dune movie review, Paul has not truly won at this point. Though the Emperor's legions are dead and the Harkonnen's defeated, the Emperor still has the armies of the royal houses to call in. Paul tells them, don't bother! His men are in the desert over a pre-spice mass with changed Water of Life, which is fatal to the worms, and ready to introduce it in. This will destroy this mass, but also create a cycle of death amongst the sandworms as they spread it to other spice masses and other worms. All the worms will die, and hence all spice production will end; civilization will end! And, classic line to top it off: "If I am not obeyed… the spice will not flow!" So naturally, Irulan intervenes and suggests she be married to Paul, giving him the throne and staving off disaster. But not before Feyd offers his own solution: a knife fight! It all looks hopeless when Feyd is about to slip Paul a poison needle (the cheater!) but Paul manages to whisper to Feyd that they are cousins! The momentary distraction gives Paul the edge to slip away from the needle and he slips the knife in his throat. Then… (again!) faithful to the novel, and (again!) way better than the original, Paul snubs Irulan, his wife to be, stands before Chani and looks at her lovingly, and Jessica concludes the whole thing with a voiceover (Irulan style): "Let us hope she finds solace in her writing and her books, she'll have little else. She may have my son's name, but it is we, who carry the name of concubine, that history will call… wives."

And that's the full tamale! All three acts, one big miniseries, one REALLY deep novel! And alas, the creators didn't stop there. With Frank Herbert's Dune garnering such high ratings for the Sci Fi channel, it wasn't long before they tackled books II and III, combining them into a single miniseries named Children of Dune. I shan't get into that one though, that's something for another day, a long time from now! In the meantime, let me just conclude by reiterating everything I loved about THIS miniseries. The direction and pacing were great, the acting solid, and with the exceptions of Thufir and Duncan, the characters well-developed and fleshed out. The plot and execution were also faithful to the original, improving it on it in many cases, especially where revelations and twists were concerned. All of this was great in its own right, but especially so since all other attempts to adapt it to the screen failed. For the fans of the Dune franchise, this took over three decades, and Herbert himself didn't even live to see it. Sure, it wasn't the silver screen, who who cares? Chances are, this accomplishment was never going to happen on the big screen, and never will. The scuttlebutt says more cable adaptations are in the works, with God Emperor of Dune (Book IV) on the way, and possibly even another attempt at the big-screen. But we'll leave that to history…

Frank Herbert's Dune:

Entertainment Value: 8/10 (not recommended for people with short attention spans or special effects fetishes!)

Plot: 10/10 (Yo!)

Direction: 9/10

Total: 9/10

No endnotes! Ya'll should know what's what by now!

Dune, the miniseries (Part II)

Okay, in my last post, I tried to cover Dune the miniseries and everything that made it work. I tried to do this in one post… and failed! Going over that six hour beast is like trying to devour an elephant. You can't do it all at once, no matter how hard you try. I'm beginning to think this is how Lynch felt when he tried to go about condensing Dune into one movie… interesting!

So, with all that in mind, I've decided to divide my review into sections. And for simplification, I've renamed them so the first post covers the movie, and the three subsequent ones will address the miniseries. And since I covered all the background to the miniseries in the last post, we can jump right into the content itself! Okay Irulan, take us away!

(Content—>)

Part II opens with Irulan doing a quick intro and a recap, as is her function. We then get into the thick of things, the Harkonnen's assessing their victory, and Paul and Jessica out in the desert taking stock of things. In the former case, the Baron talks with Kynes who was taken prisoner when they attacked the Fremen sietch. He decides to send him into the desert to die, because of course he suspects collusion. In the latter, we get a series of scenes where Paul and his mother are struggling to find their way to safety, and Paul begins to realize certain things. This section was of great importance in the novel, and it was interesting to see how Harrison would handle it. You see, Paul's exposure to the open desert means he's becoming even more exposed to spice. Throughout Act I he was beginning to realize how it was changing him, now he sees those changes plain as day. He recognizes that his mother is pregnant with his little sister, even though there's no way he could have known this. He realizes that he is the result of the Bene Gesserit breeding program, but that his mother disrupted the processes, thus creating the anomaly that is him. In the novel, he also figures out just by looking at his mother that she is the Baron's daughter, that she was the product of Bene Gesserit seduction and handiwork, something she herself never knew. But in the miniseries, we are blessedly spared this knowledge til later. Like other revelations, he clearly felt that this was something best reserved for the third act. A good idea, since pacing is important when it comes to revelations!

In the ensuing scenes, we see Paul and his mother out in the desert searching for the Fremen. We are spared some of the events from the book, thankfully, which otherwise would have made this section run long. In the end, the miniseries chooses to move us ahead to the point where, in the course of fleeing from a worm, Paul and Jessica stumble into a sietch and meet up with Stilgar and his tribe. Here, Jessica demonstrates her Weirding skills (which in the novel, as here, are hand to hand fighting skills, not some weird-ass sonic guns!) and takes Stilgar hostage. Stilgar agrees to take them in, mainly because he thinks these skills would be useful to them. Paul also meets Chani for the first time, and immediately recognizes her from his dreams. In between all this, Irulan goes home and confronts her father because she suspects he had something to do with the attack and was using her. He pleads his innocence, but not without telling her that she's naive to the ways of the universe. This underestimation of his daughter, we shall see, will come back to hurt him later. This scene, I should note, was one more case of something that was mentioned in the novel, but only in passing. By illustrating it, the characters of the Emperor and Irulan, as well as their troubled relationship, get more fleshed out. It also helps to set up future scenes in which she had a role.

The story proceeds apace as Paul and Jessica are introduced into Fremen society. After moving with them to another sietch, everybody gets naked and Paul gets an eyefull of the beautiful Chani (his interest appears to be more prescient than primal though, which is more than I can say for the men in the audience!). His mother also takes this opportunity to speaks to him about how they should consider using the Fremen's legends to their advantage. Paul is then challenged to a knife fight by one of the tribe, a young man named Jamis that he managed to best in a scuffle when they first met. This scene, which was left out of Lynch's original but included in the director's cut, is pretty damn central. It's the first time Paul has ever killed anyone (did I forget to mention he won? Well… of course he did, he's the main character!) It made it into Lynch's Director's Cut, but like every scene in the movie at that point, it was horribly rushed. In the miniseries, this scene takes its time. Paul is not challenged until after the Fremen leave the last sietch and they are settled into their new haunts, after Jamis has had some time to stew over his humiliation. In the course of the fight scene, much time is also dedicated to showing how he is unfamiliar with their customs and is afraid to kill. One of the best scenes of the series is when Paul drops Jamis with a kick and says "Do you yield?" Jamis is furious, and Stilgar angrily informs him: "Never yielding! It's to the death, boy!" Naturally, his mother tells Stilgar that Paul's never had to kill before. Stilgar is surprised, but simply replies, "He better learn…" So much is learned about Fremen culture in this one exchange! For one, we learn that life and death are interchangeable in their world, that honor matters more than staying alive, and that by the time they are teens, every Fremen has had to kill someone.

Naturally, Paul does win, and then witnesses the Fremen funeral custom firsthand. Jamis' body is rendered for its water in a "death still", and the tribe all gets a share. This process is a very important aspect of the Fremen culture, and – do I really need to say it? – it was left out of the original movie! Yep, not even a mention, all skipped in order to get to the next important thing. I should also mention that one of the reasons this part is so important is because that it is after Jamis' water is rendered and distributed that Paul and Jessica are officially welcomed into the tribe, and he must choose a Fremen name. It is here that he chooses the name Muad'Dib, mainly because he had a run in with a desert mouse earlier and felt it was significant. Once Stilgar tells him what the mouse is called, Paul immediately recognizes it from his visions. It's the name he hears the masses of Fremen calling… his vision is now unfolding! Speaking of visions, Jessica also speaks to Stilgar about the spectacle she just witnessed. He confides to her that someday, Paul may have to call him out too. Nobody recognizes leadership in Fremen society without the challenge of combat, and Stilgar feels that Paul may very well be the savior they've been told to expect. Therefore, the only way he can lead them, is literally over Stilgar's dead body!

Anyhoo, Act II then moves about detailing the various aspects of Fremen society. We see how Kynes ecological plans for the planet were being carried out at every sietch. Each one has its own moisture traps for accumulating water, each one is busy growing species of plants and grass which they will use to turn the desert into savannahs and grasslands soon. Paul also learns that Kynes (Liet) was Chani's father, and the two begin to bond over their shared losses. Again, because there were no time constraints, Harris was able to cover everything that happened in the book, and does so in a way that is well-paced and subtle, never telling the audience too much or how the characters are feeling. We can tell how just by watching them! Incidentally, Paul is also plagued by more visions, which are becoming more vivid and intense with each passing day. But in the meantime, he and his mother begin to exploit the Fremen legends, with Paul proposing to the naibs (leaders) of every sietch that they send him their warriors so he and his mother can train them in the Weirding Way. This way, they can form an elite fighting force – the Fedaykin – that will destroy the Harkonnens and usher in the golden age Liet foresaw. A force that will rival even the dreaded Imperial Sardaukar! Naturally, the naibs are intrigued, and recruits begin to pour in!

Meanwhile, Irulan and the Baron are conducting schemes of their own. Irulan is busy trying to find out exactly what happened the night of the attack on Arrakis, specifically if her father happened to be involved, and whether or not Paul and his mother were truly killed. Stories are beginning to circulate from Arrakis of a new person, a Muad'Dib who is turning the Fremen of the deep desert into a force to be reckoned with. We can see the writing on the wall here, how her fascination is actually a growing suspicion that Paul and his mother are alive. She is also made privy to a private discussion that takes place in the royal place between one of the Guild representatives and the Reverend Mother. It seems the Navigators are also concerned about Arrakis, because their visions are all centered on that place. It has become a nexus in their limited prescience, but beyond this nexus, they cannot see. The future is unclear… Wooooo! More intrigue, and more indications that some serious shit is about to go down on the desert planet and someone or some thing very powerful is behind it. And of course, both parties conspire to do what they can to deal with this problem. "The spice must flow", "The balance of power must be maintained", as they say.

And the Baron, back on Geidi Prime, confides in Feyd that he left Raban (the brutal idiot of his two nephews) to run the planet because he knows he will make a mess of it and Feyd will have to come in and clean it up. In the process, Feyd will look like the hero and the population will be more compliant. He is then forced to divulge his full plot after Feyd tries to assassinate him using one the Barons boys as a Trojan horse (poison needle on the inside of his leg, very scheming!) The Baron, of course, survives the attempt and tells Feyd that he should kill him as punishment, but can't because he needs at least one heir who's not a sadistic moron. Basically, he doesn't intend to let Feyd take over Arrakis anytime soon. Instead, he wants Raban to keep screwing up so the Emperor will have to intervene, in the process being forced to travel away from the royal palace to the fringes of civilization, where he can be reached! So, Feyd concludes, the move against Duke Leto was just a prelude to moving in on the royal throne itself, and since he wants in, he promises to behave himself. The Baron is pleased, and finishes the scene with a rhyming couplet: "Let the Emperor mock House Harkonnen and call us swine. For the in the end, his throne will be mine!" All class!

As I think I already mentioned, in the novel this conflict between the Baron and Feyd were being fueled by Thufir, as was the Baron's plotting against the Emperor. This was his revenge for what they did to Leto, his friend and master. However, in the miniseries, the Baron and Feyd are doing this of their own accord, plotting and scheming without the need for outside help. While I did not like the way Thufir was minimized at first, I could see the wisdom in how Harrison chose to do it. By minimizing Thufir, he gave more credit to the Baron, Feyd, and even Irulan as players in the all the schemes. And right or wrong, this worked pretty well. For one, it made the Baron more credible and made the conflict between Feyd and him more real (chip off the old block, trying to kill his own uncle!). It also gave Irulan some credit for uncovering it bit by bit.

Alas, part II concludes with some very important, and poignant, scenes. The first involves Paul overseeing a transaction with smugglers. Earlier on, we were told that the Fremen give spice to smugglers who sell it to the Spacing Guild, a bribe to ensure that they keep the skies clear of satellites over the regions they inhabit. In the course of all this, Paul sees Stilgar and realizes that he's working with them now, which foreshadows their eventual reunion. The next involves the local Reverend Mother, a Bene Gesserit missionary who's joined the Fremen, who comes to see Jessica and warn her of the troubles that are coming. Like all Bene Gesserit, she knows what the Fremen legends are and how she and her son have been exploiting them, and lets her know that in so doing, things could backfire horribly. More foreshadowing for the audience to munch on! Then we get Paul and Chani going out into the desert where she tutors him on the subject of the worms and the spice, in the process revealing that the worms create the spice, as well as the Water of Life, as part of their life cycle. Another nice, paced piece of expository info, right before they duck into a private tent to consummate their budding romance! Hot! But the climax (no pun!) comes when Paul has a dream where the Reverend Mother comes to him and leaves him with a cryptic message. "When religion and politics ride in the same cart, the whirlwind follows not far behind. You are the Kwisatz Hadderach, boy. The one who can be many places at once. You are the whirlwind…" This line is paraphrased from the novel, which in its original form was much more verbose (like the litany against fear). Like many other elements in this installment, it establishes a great deal of suspense for the final act. What's more, it is the first instance of the term ever being used. At last, we have a word for what Paul is, and we are have a pretty good idea of what he will do… and not encouraged by it either.

Thus ends Act II. Tune in again for the final installment on the Dune miniseries!

Dune, the miniseries (Part I)

In my previous post, I think I made it pretty clear that the Dune movie was a flop. And I mean this in every sense of the word: commercially, critically; hell, even Lynch distanced himself from the final product. But that was to be expected, since Dune is just not something that translates into a movie format. There's simply too much going on, and any fan of the series knows exactly what I'm referring to here. In terms of length, pacing, content, characters, background, detail, depth and commentary, Dune is just too dense to fold into a few hours of footage. Lynch attempted to address this problem in a number of ways

1.) Prologue: In the original movie, Lynch tried to cover Dune's extensive background by having Irulan give a breakdown of how the universe works. In the Director's Cut, he took a different rout and went with a narrated preamble (using animated stills) that covered the major events leading up to the original novel. These included the Butlerian Jihad, the founding of the Guild, Bene Gesserits, and other secret societies, and then moved on to cover the basics about the Dune universe, such as its feudal structure, the spice, etc. Nothing wrong with either of these, except that they were both kind of awkward. They both felt a tad expository, and in the case of the animated opening, it went long. Loooong! Thus it was kind of a directorial Catch 22 for Lynch: can't start this movie without an intro or the audience will get lost, can't dump too much info on the audience or they'll switch off.

2.) Exposition: In the opening scene, Lynch uses a reworked plotline to help the character of the Emperor set up everything that's going to happen in the first act. In the subsequent scenes, all the other main characters do the same thing. The Baron and Piter de Vries explain their plan to attack the Atreides to his nephews, Feyd and Rabban, and Paul is told the reasons for their move to Arrakis by his mentors. But the problem here was, it all felt too unnatural and clunky. You really got the feeling that someone had read the book and was trying to give a synopsis to the audience, not a movie where characters were interacting and providing entertaining to us. You can't make a decent movie if everything feels like there's a sense of duty behind it, then it's just boring.

3.) Internal monologues: it goes without saying that you can't clog up a movie with endless dialogue, especially stuff where characters are just standing around and explaining things in an unnatural way. Some degree of this is understandable, but after awhile, the audience will simply begin saying, "Nobody talks like this! Get on with it!" So Lynch tried using internal speeches, "gee, I'm worried about Paul…", "so this is Arrakis…", "If I am to lead them, I must ride the worm…" and so on. And like I said, it was annoying as all hell! Even after all the expository speeches his characters made, there was still tons of things the audience needed to be told in order to keep them up to speed. And as I said in my last review, the movie would have worked better without it, but that's coming from someone who's read the books and the truth is, I have no idea if I would have been able to keep up otherwise. Lynch clearly felt the same way so he hedged his bets by including the internal monologues so as to keep things rolling and provide explanations.

Okay, right now I'm thinking anyone reading this is saying "We get it! It didn't work, move on!" Well fine then! As I'm sure I've said a few times already in the course of this review, a miniseries was created in 2000 that sought to address these difficulties and give Dune a faithful adaptation. By going with a the three part, six-hour format, the creators clearly felt that they would have the time they needed to provide an adequate build-up, plenty of character and plot development, and make sure that nothing big would be left out or glossed over. And, with some exceptions and changes, they did just that! Even before I read the books, I saw the miniseries in full, was highly entertained, and felt that I was given a complete rundown of everything that took place in the novel. Then, upon reading the novel, I decided that the miniseries was not only faithful to the original material but even improved upon it in some areas. Unlike Lynch, who was under pressure and had to throw things together which he was ultimately unhappy with, the creators of the miniseries clearly had enough time and perspective to work through all the problems of adapting Herbert's book to the screen. But I'm going long here and I haven't even got to the good stuff. Nothing worse than a long preamble, right? (Mr. Lynch, I'm looking in your direction…)

(Background—>)

The miniseries itself was a collaboration between several studios, which included New Amsterdam Entertainment (US), Blixa Film Produktion (Germany), Hallmark Entertainment, and the Sci Fi Channel. As if this isn't enough of an indication, the cast was also very international in scope, with actors and actresses from the US, Britain, Germany, Czech Republic, and Italy. These included such big names as William Hurt, Giancarlo Giannini, Ian McNeice, and P.H. Moriarty. It would take me too long to list all the big name movies these people have been in, but trust me, you've seen them! John Harrison, a veteran television writer/director with a tonne of sci-fi, fantasy and horror titles to his credit, was not only responsible for directing this bad boy, but also had a big hand in writing the creation of the script. In describing the final product, he claimed that the miniseries was a "faithful interpretation", in which changes and elements that he had introduced serve to elaborate rather than edit from the original. Having seen the miniseries and read the novel – in both cases, more than once – I feel pretty fit to verify this claim. While their were several differences between the miniseries and the novel, I can honestly say that they worked in its favor without detracting from the original material. But specifics must be mentioned, as well as the differences between this adaptation and Lynch's failed attempt.

(Content—>)

The miniseries opens with a rather brief prologue by Princess Irulan, explaining the significance of Arrakis (Dune) and the spice. We then cut to a quick montage of images that represent a nightmare being experienced by Paul. In this sequence, we see Arrakis, a war that is to come, Chani, and of course, Paul's father dying. Upon waking, Paul realizes he's left a recording of Doctor Yueh playing, a recording which explains the importance of their move and recaps the balance of power their society rests on. Unlike the novel, this is not taking place on Caladan, but on the Guild space liner as the family is about to depart for Arrakis. This intro, unlike Lynch's, provides a brief yet informative snapshot of the Dune universe and what is to come. There's the also the sense of impending departure, lending the scenes some sense or urgency, which is precisely what the mood should be at this point. Paul, and everyone around him, understand that this move is a big deal, that is there is a great deal of danger involved, and that in spite of the fact that it is surely a trap, that they have no real choice.

What follows is an altered, but faithful reenactment of the Mother Superior scene. Having come aboard their ship to see Paul, they discuss the subject of his dreams, giving the audience a crucial hint as to how Paul is special (i.e. he's potentially prescient) as well as some hints of what is to come. From his brief, broken glimpses, Paul can tell that Arrakis holds many things for him. He sees desert people chanting his name, terrible wars, and his father dying. The Mother Superior is intrigued, and of course, she conducts the pain box test. Naturally, Paul passes, but storms out in anger, leaving the Mother Superior and Lady Jessica to discuss her defiance to the order. As anyone who's read the novel knows, Bene Gesserit sisters are under orders to produce daughters only, as part of their breeding program, until the eugenics program is complete and one will bear a son. This son, if all goes as planned, will be the Kwisatz Haderach*, a prescient man with perfect genetic memory. But by giving her Duke a son, Jessica has disobeyed the order, and potentially doomed herself and her son in the process. The Mother Superior says they will suffer for this, not at their hands, but in general. She also says that they will do what they can for the boy, but "for the father, nothing…", thus letting us know that something's in the works, but that Bene Gesserit cannot discuss it openly. Another thing they do right here, even though its breaking with the novel, is that at no point are the words Kwisatz Haderach mentioned! That's something Harrison chose to reveal slowly, and in increments instead of giving it away early on.

All of this is starkly different from the original movie. It is expository without being preachy or dutiful. If anything, its cool and intriguing, relying on subtle dialogue that still lets us know whats coming. Another change I should mention is Paul's character. Unlike in the novel or original movie, he's not cheery or positive about any of the things that are going on around him. Instead, he's angry, which is what any teenager would be if they were caught in his situation. In fact, his angst and defiance run like a thread through all of Part I, including his fight scene with Gurney which follows immediately after. This is one change I highly approved of, as its far more realistic. Whereas Paul was always portrayed as the kind of child who never had playmates or a normal childhood because duty and protocol so often got in the way, here we see the consequences of that. He misses his father and Duncan, the closest person he has to a friend, and chooses to take that out on his mother, the Mother Superior, and Gurney. It just works, man!

In any case, we then get to see Paul do shield practice with Gurney and then a Guild Navigator come on board to send them to Arrakis. Clearly, the special effects are better in the miniseries' case than in the original movies, but that doesn't make them better. If anything, I was kind of missing the original's models and sense of grandeur. Whereas the new version could just rely on CGI, Lynch had to rely on what was available at the times, namely models and conventional animation. Nevertheless, the scenes work, especially the shield practice scene where the dialogue is so much better, since Paul is upset about his meeting with the Mother Superior and chooses to take it out on Gurney. And the scene with the Guild Navigator is also pretty good, a relatively simple affair where instead of floating through a glowing cloud of spice vapor and shooting white hot… (I dunno, plasma?) out of his mouth, we see an odd, mutated sort who simply focuses on two stars and goes into trance, causing the ship to be sucked into a wormhole a moment later. And the best part of all this: no internal monologues!

Then… boom! Cut to Arrakis, where we see Leto for the first time as he's talking to Duncan about the Fremen and their leader, Liet. Another thing the miniseries did so much better than the first, they actually talked about Liet instead of just mentioning his name and glossing over his significance. We are told that he is the quasi-leader of the Fremen, and that Leto wants to find him so they can enlist the help of those Fremen who live in the deep desert. This too is something the miniseries does very well, showing how Leto is concerned with cultivating a relationship with the natives of the deep desert, as he is aware that their abilities and knowledge may be what they need to rule. Like in the novel, this was something that came up again and again, and it was hinted that the Emperor himself was worried over it. Because as all people who have ever run Arrakis know, the deep desert is a place you never go, the Fremen people you simply don't mess with! Not only have they found ways to thrive in the toughest conditions imaginable, they've managed to multiply to several million people and know how to fight! Hence, whoever had them as allies would have access to the toughest, meanest, most disciplined fighting force in the universe. Hintedy hint hint! But more on that soon enough!

Several scenes follow, all of which are true to the novel. In one, Paul is allowed to attend his father's council meetings, he offers up effective suggestions of how they can run Arrakis and recruit the smugglers. Meanwhile, Lady Jessica meets with the household staff, which includes the Shadout Mapes (head servant, or something), and they slowly learn that she may very be the mother of their messiah. Like everything in this miniseries, Harrison built this up slowly, dropping subtly hints and not using any internal dialogue or having his characters constantly say "the legend, the legend". When Paul and his father pass through the streets in one of their cars, its finally cinched. People are chanting "Mahdi" when they see him, something which Thufir explains to him after. "These are simple people," he says when Leto asks if they really think his son could be a messiah. "Hope sustains them". This is developed further in the scenes where Dr. Kynes (the elusive Liet, though they don't know it yet!) is introduced and takes them out to observe a spice harvester at work. Again, these scene were faithful to the novel without being imitative. Whereas Herbert openly wrote what Kynes and Paul were thinking in the book, the miniseries manages to develop this without the need for internal monologues (even though that would a director's first choice of how to convey their thoughts). Instead, we see through a number of shots how they are becoming fascinated with one another. Liet-Kynes notices strange things about Paul, like how he knows how to wear a stillsuit** and understands Fremen ways, consistent with their legends about him – and how Paul picks up on hints that he is in fact, a true Fremen. All of this is conveyed but not said, which is far more effective.

Then, after the spice harvester is attacked by a worm (CGI offered some improvements on this scene too), and the Duke sacrifices it to saves his men's lives, a major scene takes place. And that is the dinner banquet. It is major for two reason: one, it's a central part of Act I in the book, which was not included in the first movie, and two, because it brings Princess Irulan fully into the series. Whereas in the original movie she was just voiceover and a background character, in the miniseries she played a central role. Harrison and the other writers clearly felt that this was the best way to resolve the ambiguity of her character, how she's significant in a behind-the-scenes sort of way, but never actually seen or heard from. Writing her into several key scenes was the way they did this, allowing her to observe the key players and thus be in a position to comment on things and explain to the audience what was going on. This works, because it gives her character a sort of phantom presence, you can sense that she's a sort of wise and underestimated sort, someone who can see through BS and plotting and will connect with the heroes. It was also effective because, during the course of the banquet, she has a chance to talk to Paul, we see how they are similar, and it previews their marriage which happens by the end. Another thing that makes these scenes work is the skilled acting of Alec Newman (Paul) and Julie Cox (Irulan). You really get the feeling that these two will meet again, that they have a connection that supersedes the distance between their houses, and that their eventual relationship is likely to be intellectual rather than romantic. Whereas Irulan is thin, fair and proper, Chani (whom Paul marries) is voluptuous, animated, and dark. Clear case of the platonic versus the sensual here!

While this is all taking place, we cut to the Harkonnen homeworld of Geidi Prime several times so that we can see how the Atreides arch-enemies are doing. Ian McNeice, who plays the role of the Baron, gives all of these scenes a dramatic flair that puts them light years ahead of what was done in the original movie. Instead of being revolting and loathsome, he's effeminate, graceful, and deliciously evil. This is preferable is so many ways because ultimately that's what makes for a good villain! He might be bad, but audiences will find him all the more likeable and entertaining that way. He'll be the guy audiences love to hate him. In addition, he'll be a lot more believable. One thing Brian Cox said about being the villain, you never want to be too bad. Otherwise, the audience just tunes out and doesn't have fun. And if there's one thing Brian Cox knows, its how to play the bad guy! (He was Col Stryker in X-Men Two, Hermann Goering in Nuremberg, and the bad guy in The Bourne Supremacy). We even get to see a scene from the royal palace during Part I which should be mentioned. The Emperor, as played by Giancarlo Giannini, speaks about the Atreides and the plot against them without being horribly expository. Not once does he say that he's sending his dreaded Sardaukar to help the Baron in the attack, nor that an attack is even taking place. Instead, he and Count Fenrig simply say that he needs to find a suitable husband for his daughter (Irulan), and that it's "too bad that Atreides boy won't be around" or some such thing.

Anyhoo, the attack takes place shortly thereafter, and we see for the first time (unlike in the novel and movie where the identity of the betrayer was foretold) that Yueh is the traitor. Here, and here alone, he reveals that he did it because the Baron has his wife and he must see her again, even if she's already dead. More changes, Thufir is killed in the attack rather than taken prisoner. In the novel, he became the Baron's new Mentat after Piter is killed by the Duke with the poison-gas tooth, and was therefore at the center of all the Baron's machinations and plotting. With him dead, his importance gets minimized in the course of the series, but it also gives the Baron and Feyd a chance to expand by making them responsible for all the plotting that takes place between them, thus making them seem more villainous (more on that later). It is here that we also see the Baron do some of the best acting in the whole series. We already get to see how his Shakespearean talents command a scene, his dramatic flare, and how he ends a scene with rhyming couplets. But here, it's wonderfully over the top and fun to listen to! "I am, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, and the instrument… of his families demise!" "What more proof do you need of what heaven's intention is? Atreides dead, and Harkonnen lives!" Punctuated, of course, with tons of evil laughter. And best of all, no heart plugs and boys being molested to death! Classic!

Paul and his mother, of course, make it to safety, with the help of Duncan Idaho. Again, it feels like he's killed off way too fast, but at least in the ensuing chase, we get to see a very important scene which was left out of the original: Dr. Kynes, who helps save them by suggesting they brought into the deep desert where the Fremen will protect them, is revealed to be Liet. Paul figures it out when they are in a seitch (a Fremen hideout) and confronts him about it. He explains, intrinsic to the plot arc, that he is not the Fremen's leader, but more of a guide, who will stay around until "Mahdi comes". This helps to illustrate the key element of how the Fremen and the planet's Imperial ecologists have been working together since the time of Kyne's father. Ever since the elder Kynes was welcomed into a Fremen community, he busily taught them of how Arrakis' ecology could be changed, how moisture dens could be created and turned into fertilizing waters. Over time, this idea merged with the legends planted by the Bene Gesserit, of how a messiah would come and lead them to freedom. Paul, and hence the audience, is now beginning to see how these prophecies (self-fulfilling though they may be) are coming true thanks to his arrival. This is important stuff man! You gotta include it!

Then, of course, Paul and his mother flee because the enemy is coming. They take to an ornithopter, and fly even deeper into the desert. In order to escape the pursuing Harkonnen planes, they are forced to fly into a storm. Now this scene I didn't like much, mainly because they ripped off the following line from Emperor Strikes Back: "You're not going in there are you?" "They'd be crazy to follow us!" Yeah… Okay, but then Paul recites the litany against fear, and they go for it! And Part I ends with Irulan saying the saga of Dune is far from over…

Thus ends Act I. Tune into again for Act II…

Endnotes:

*This term is derived from "Kefitzat Haderech", a Kabbalah term which means "The Way's Jump", apparently relating to teleportation. In this context, it means "Shortening of the Way", referring to the bridging of past, present and future, i.e. prescience.

**A suit that allows the wearer to retain water lost through respiration and perspiration by catching it all in its skin, filtering and processing it, then depositing it in a series of bags the person can draw from.

Dune, the movie (and miniseries)!

Wow… when I first started doing these movie reviews, last week, I knew that at some point I'd have to cover the book-turned-movie that inspired me to write! And truth be told, I actually saw this movie before reading the book. Yes, Dune was just like Lord of the Rings for me, a film that I was drawn to because I knew it was based on a classic. And upon learning that the movie was significantly different from the book, I decided that at some point, I'd check the latter out. However, it was not until years later, with the production of Frank Herbert's Dune (the six part miniseries that was much more faithful to the novel) that I finally put my money where my mouth was.

Well, you know the rest… sort of. Short version, it inspired me; long version, I read the first three books, had to return them, then read all six… twice over. Guess you could say I liked them, though I got to admit, not as much as some people! Since I first posted my thoughts about Dune and its Descendents, I've learned that their are Dune fansites out there where its all they talk about. And boy do they know their stuff! So let me take this opportunity to give a shout out to the good folks at Jacurutu and Hairy Ticks of Dune! Keep up the good work!

I think I also mentioned somewhere that movies based on books, especially where they differed, would get special attention. To make good on this drunken boast, here's my review of Dune (1984, directed by David Lynch) and Frank Herbert's Dune (the 2000 miniseries that premiered on the Sci-fi network). First up, Lynch's adaptation of Herbert's Magnum Opus!

(Background—>)

Since 1971, six years after Herbert wrote Dune, attempts were made to adapt the novel to film. Several directors tried and failed, among them Arthur P. Jacobs, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Ridley Scott. However, all came up short. Then, in 1981, the Italian film producer Dino De Laurentis decided to tackle it and brought in relative newcomer David Lynch to direct it. This did not mean that the two did not go through hell to create it though! The movie did not hit the screen until 1984, Lynch distanced himself from the work, saying he was denied final cut privileges, and several versions have been released over the years. The original was a two-hour movie that glossed over much that happened in the book and simplified the plot. A three hour version was also released, but this too was guilty of the same faults (i.e. glossing and simplifying). But then again, how do you do justice to a book that is as dense as Dune while still making it fit into a two hour format? Hell, even a three hour format is pretty damn tight, and Lynch cited pressure and deadlines as a reason for the disappointing final product. So really, its lack of commercial success and mixed reviews are entirely understandable. But, as Nietzsche said, "God is in the details". So let's get down to the particulars and see just what made the original flop and the miniseries work.

(Synopsis—>)

The original movie opens with an intro that parallels the novels, but which seems, in a movie format, to be both confusing and misleading. Princess Irulan (played by Virginia Madsen) gives us an overview of the known universe, set to a background of stars. She lets us know what year it is, how her father's the Emperor of the known universe, and how the spice runs everything. She also introduces the namesake of the movie, the planet where all spice in the universe "flows" from – Arrakis, aka. Dune. Now here is why this is confusing. Aside from this intro, she has voice over lines for the rest of the movie, and one line of dialogue in the opening scene. But otherwise, we don't hear or see from her until the very end, and even then she's just a stand-in. A glorified prop. This is faithful to the novel, in which every chapter opens with a quote from her Histories of Muad'Dib and what not, but like I say, doesn't work here. In a movie, if someone's doing the intro, you'd expect them to have some kind of role throughout the movie.

Moving on, the original movie then introduces us to the Spacing Guild by having them confront the Emperor about a possible conspiracy they got wind of. They demand that the Emperor explain the key elements to them, which is really just an excuse for some exposition. I should mention that none of this takes place in the original novel, and it feels like a total info dump, especially if you've read said novel. There, Herbert took his time to build up the conspiratorial relationship that existed between House Harkonnen and the Emperor and used dialogue to put it into the background, which is something they should have done with the movie. Dropping it on the audience all at once just seems forced. Oh, and once the Emperor is done explaining his conspiracy, the Guild adds their two cents: if Duke Leto Atreides is to die, could he throw in the son as well? Why? They try to explain that later. In the meantime, we are left to wonder for ourselves, and the Emperor even asks this obvious question in an internal monologue. I should note that this ALSO did not happen in the original book. In fact, the Guild never made any demands at all and had nothing to do with the conspiracy that gets Act I rolling. So again, no real need for this, except to set up the truncated, simplified plot they went with. The scene did involve some cool costumes though, not to mention a big, animatronic navigator in a pressure tank; all of which was pretty original since the appearance of navigators was never described in any great detail. But for the most part, this scene is kinda useless. It also sets up the rather annoying and persistent habit this movie has of relying on internal monologues. I'm reminded of Blade Runner, where Scott felt that need to include narration in the theatrical version, something which was left out of the Director's Cut. And as time has proven, the latter was better, relying on the actors and direction to establish things and convey information instead of just telling the audience what's going on.

The movie then moves to planet Geidi Prime, the home of the Harkonnen's. This scene I actually liked, at least until the dialogue really started to flow. The reason was because the sets were actually very cool. They create the kind of dark, fearful atmosphere that you would expect from a director like Lynch. But then, a big expository speech is made in which the Baron (Kenneth McMillan) and Mentat Piter De Vries (Brad Dourif) explain to Feyd (played by Sting!) and his brother "The Beast" Rabban, what their plan is, in painfully simple terms! "We got us a conspiracy here, and nobody can know about it, k?" I mean, c'mon people, a little subtlety! They go over the top just a little to make the Baron look evil here too, like how he's got disease ridden flesh that a doctor has to lance constantly, or how he molests some boy to death, or how Rabban and Feyd enjoy the spectacle immensely. I mean, we get it, they're evil. Move on!

Speaking of moving on, we are brought to Caladan next, home of the Atreides. We meet Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan) as he's brushing up on his planet studies from what appears to be an iPad/audiobook. And of course, more internal monologue is used to tell us what we need to know about these places. And it's annoying as all hell! "Geidi Prime, home of our enemy…", "Kaitain, where the Emperor lives…" "Arrakis… Dune… Desert planet…" Then, we get to meet Paul's tutors, who stand still and stare at Paul long enough for the narration to introduce them all. Really? Why not just freeze frame it, or better yet, NOT have Irulan introduce them? Seriously, it looks like they're in a stage play and are waiting for the damn chorus to stop talking so they can say their lines. Okay, so there's Gurney Halleck (Patrick Stewart, aka. Captain Picard), Thufir Hawat (Freddie Jones) and Doctor Yueh (Dean Stockwell, aka. Al from Quantum Leap). More expository dialogue follows as they dump info on Arrakis, the Fremen, the giant Sandworms, the spice, their enemies the Harkonnens, and how they suspect the Emperor's in league with them. Then we get a quasi-action scene as Paul takes down a robot using a Weirding Module (a gun that relies on sound, already mentioned in the movie). Do I even need to mention that these things were never in the original book? In truth, they are kind of neat, and the settings used for this scene are also lavish, just like the ones used to reconstruct the emperor's palace and Geidi Prime. But, you kind of get the feeling that they are setting the tone for the rest of the movie at this point, like all the money went into wardrobe and sets and none was left over for decent writers!

After beating up the robot with his Weirding gun, Paul meets up with Duke Leto (Jürgen Prochnow), who tells Paul he's proud of him and explains how their move will do them good in spite of the danger. Why? Some stuff about how the "sleeper must awaken". Now of course this is a case of foreshadowing, but even with all the info dumping and internal monologues, its never quite clear what this means, even by the end of the movie. The Lady Jessica is then introduced, Paul gets to meet the Revered Mother, and she tests him with that funky black box that induces pain. This is also in keeping with the novel, as it establishes that Paul might be the Kwisatz Haderach*, and that there is a conspiracy in the works against Paul's father. Unlike the previous scenes, this one doesn't feel so info-dumpish. Maybe that's because its actually pretty close to what was in the novel, so the writers didn't feel the need to be so expository. But alas, this good scene is followed by a pretty stupid one in which Duncan Idaho (Richard Jordan) is intro'd and Paul says good-bye to him, since he will be going to Arrakis with an advance party to check the place out. What makes this scene stupid? Two lines of dialogue: "May the hand of God be with you," says Paul. "May the hand of God be with us all," replies Duncan. Just substitute the word Force and you've got a lawsuit on your hands. What the hell! That wasn't even a subtle attempt at ripping off Star Wars, which was by 1984, the most popular sci-fi franchise of all time! What were they trying to do, cash in on one-liner recognition?

We then cut to the Guild transport ship where we get a special effects montage that is meant to illustrate the mysterious process of how a navigator "folds space". This, as the novel explains, is an instantaneous form of space travel, which is dependent on navigators who have heightened, spice-induced mental abilities to merge time and space. Whoa! Okay, while the special effects in this scene are not up to current standards, it was still pretty cool. And I did love the models used to create the scene, mainly because you get a real sense of grandeur from them which is what Lynch was clearly going for. In the novel, Herbert emphasized that the Guild ships were really, really big! So kudos for more good set work, David. That's one thing this movie keeps doing well. Then, cut to Arrakis, where the ship has deposited them safely.

What follows is several scenes in which we see the Duke's men deploying and settling in. Lady Jessica also meets the Fremen and we find out that they also have legends that involve a Messianic figure that parallel the Bene Gesserit's. We also get a good long scene where Doctor Kynes (Max Von Sydow), the planetary ecologist, takes them to the desert in an ornithopter and we get to see a worm attack a harvester. Again, kind of cheesy by current standards, but the scene is quite well done and does a pretty good job of conveying Paul's wonder and the obvious tension over being attacked by a gigantic beast. Then, an attempt is made on Paul's life, they find booby traps, yadda yadda, yadda. And all the while, Paul becomes more and more entranced with Arrakis, the spice, and his own fate. Then, after ALL that build-up, the Harkonnens and the Emperor finally attack! The combat scene is short, people die, Doctor Yueh betrays the Duke, and Paul and his mother are ushered to safety. Duncan also dies way too soon, having lost the better part of his page time and any involvement he had in making sure Paul and his mother survived. But this was obviously done in order to speed along the movie, which was already going long and had lots to cover still.

Speaking of which, Paul and his mother then find themselves in the desert where they narrowly escape a worm and the Fremen find them. Now this part, mainly the scene where they see the desert Fremen for the first time, I got a problem with for three reasons. First of all, they totally change the reason why Paul takes the name Muad'Dib. Its the name of a desert mouse, not the damn "mouse shadow" that's on the planet's second moon! Why'd the movie writers change that anyway? Was the book's version not messianic enough for ya? The nerve! Second, the acting is wooden, from Stilgar (Everett McGill) to Chani (Sean Young), and just about everyone else in this scene! Everything they say just sounds laughable and cheesy. Third, they speed through it like they're in a huge rush, which is precisely what the movie does from this point onward! Like I said, its as if they acknowledged that they've already spent half the movie on Act I and need to rush through Acts II and III. So from this initial encounter where Paul and his mother are welcome into the tribe, we are rushed to the Fremen's hideout where they show Paul and his mother one of their moisture traps, the Reverend Mother dies and Jessica take her place (in the process drinking the "Water of Life"** and altering her unborn daughter, Alia), Paul begins teaching the Fremen the "Weirding Way" (still sounds weird!) and they begin their campaign against the Harkonnens, and Paul and Jessica fall in love. Totally, totally rushed! Scene by scene, minimal time is given to establishing the significance of these events, Lynch relying on internal dialogue and narration to relate what the audience needs to know. Even the scene where Paul rides the worm feels rushed, and its got the epic music and a freaking Sandworm!

To make matters even worse, Irulan's voiceover is cued again and we're told that Paul then spent the next two years waging war against the Baron's spice production, Alia grew up way faster than any normal child, and Paul and Chani fell in love. Really? All that just happened, huh? And we're only an hour and fifteen minutes in? Wow, were making great time! Naturally, the book did this too, but it dedicated plenty of page time filling in those gaps. They didn't just phone it in! I know, I know, time constraints, but even in the long version, it's the same. Just a montage of shit blowing up, then we come to the scene where Paul meets Gurney again – whose taken up with some smugglers since the attack – and they join forces. I should also mention that the movie then skips a whole bunch of scenes that took place in the novel and moves right to the part where the Emperor comes to Arrakis to demand answers. He does this, in the movie, because the Guild demanded it of him. Again, not in the damn book! In the book, the Emperor intervenes because the Baron's incompetence in suppressing the rebellion demanded it, not because the Guild is pissed. Then, we learn why the Guild wants him dead. They say so, and Paul sees it in his dream. They are afraid he'll drink the "Water of Life", apparently, because… Well, we're not sure why at this point. And we're not even sure why Paul will do it, aside from the fact that we're told, point blank, that he HAS to. His visions are interrupted, you see, and he needs to take the water of life to regain it and "become what he is meant to be", or some such prophetic shit!

Anyway, Paul achieves a higher state of awareness after surviving the ordeal, as is demonstrated by a series of watery images and more internal monologue. The truth, he realizes, is that the worms create the spice and the two are interrelated. Duh! But apparently, drinking the water has not just restored his visions but given him control over the worms too. Oh boy! Do I even need to say it? NOT IN THE BOOK! In the original story, Paul drank the water to gain full awareness, which is something every Bene Gesserit sister does and Paul knew he'd have to do sooner or later to see if he was the Kwisatz Hadderach. And he didn't gain control over the damn worms in the process! What's more, the Guild didn't give a shit about any of this, nor did it ever even come up, mainly because they didn't suspect he would take control over the spice-producing worms in the process. That was all invented by the movie's writers, and it was pretty damn flaccid, you ask me! It was the simplification I mentioned, and for any fan of the novel (or anyone with half a brain, for that matter) it was a letdown. This, apparently, was what his father was talking about when he said those prophetic words: "The Sleeper must awaken." Well, seems it has. Makes no sense, but whatever…

So, Paul and the Fremen get a hold of a whole lot of Sandworms and decide to attack the Emperor, who's arrived on Arrakis in his Imperial fortress. And this climactic action scene is, once again, rushed and pretty sloppy. Lots of tracers and lots of things blowing up, but hardly a satisfying fight scene with the kind of urgency or desperation you'd expect. I mean, I know Paul's prescient and has already foreseen victory, but that doesn't mean it should be all one-sided. Then comes the final scene where Paul is dictating terms to the Emperor, a scene which is truncated and underdeveloped by any standard. Yes, he does order the Emperor to abdicate and give him power, which involves marriage to Irulan (who appears in this scene, but says nothing), and yes, he tells off the Mother Superior; all of which is in keeping with the original novel. But nothing is mentioned as to how Paul plans to back up these demands. In the novel, his victory is not complete since the Emperor still has the armies of every noble house sitting in orbit, just waiting for him to say "attack!". He cannot bring the Emperor and the entire universe to heel until he threatens to destroy the spice, which he knows about because he's stumbled onto the secret of how water is lethal to the worms. "He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing", as the novel put it. But in the movie, the Emperor is about to protest until the Guild simply tells him to shut up, because apparently, they "know what he can do". Uh, mind telling the rest of us? Paul controls the worms, so does that mean he can shut off spice production? Tell the worms to simply stop making it? What?

But all that gets pushed aside so Paul and Feyd (aka. Sting) can have their final knife fight scene. Of course, Paul kills him, and makes his proclamation, also from the novel. "We Fremen have a saying. 'God created Arrakis to train the faithful'. One cannot go against the word of God'. Then comes the two stupidest parts of the movie, nice that they saved them for last! First, Irulan's final voiceover of the movie explains that Paul ushered in some kind of golden age. "Where there was war, Paul would bring peace. Where there was hate, he would bring love." Are you freaking kidding me? I could mention that this is a total perversion of what happened in the novels, where in fact Paul's reign brought in successive Crusades against the world's that resisted him, killing billions, but I think I'll just point out how this makes no sense. For starters, this bringer of peace and love, is this the same guy who just waged a war against the Harkonnens for two years, a war that was based on tons of guerrilla/terrorist-style attacks? The same guy who brought down the Emperor's army by using a tactical nuke, followed by a full-frontal assault that involved monster-like creatures? Second, just how is this messianic emperor (who happens to have an army of skilled religious zealots at his disposal that see him as a living god and obey his every comomand) going to spread peace and love? Boxes of candy and flowers? Get real! It's "Do as I say, or freaking die like these other bastards!" Why the hell they even threw this line in in the first place is beyond me! It totally goes against everything the book stood for, which was a sense of historic and humanistic realism. Paul wasn't no Gandhiesque Jesus figure who loved his enemies and fell on their swords. He was a bass-ass prophet with the toughest army on the block, who smote his enemies hard, fast, and where it hurt! Second, its just plain stupid!

Oh, but I'm forgetting the other stupid thing. Paul makes it rain. Yeah, that's right. As a demonstration of his powers after he's killed Feyd and brought everyone to heel, he uses his mind and makes the skies open with tears. Um… what??? What the hell is this, more totally over the top messianic crap? The man is NOT God, in spite of his freaky powers or what his followers think of him. Furthermore, as the extended movie already established (not to mention the novel, many times over), water is poisonous to the worms! This is why Arrakis is a desert planet, for chrissakes! The worms altered the ecology so they could survive. So making it rain would automatically kill all of them and shut down spice production forever! And, as the novel and movie both mentioned, spice is the life blood of EVERYTHING! Without it, people die, and I don't just mean from the total breakdown of trade, commerce and transport. I mean they start Jonesin' and freaking die! True, the book did dedicate vast amounts of page time explaining how the Fremen want to alter Arrakis' ecology so it will be lusher and more hospitable, hence all the moisture traps, but this plan involved centuries of ecological engineering, with great care being given to ensure that some patches of desert would remain so the worse could survive. So not only was it a completely over the top, Ten Commandments-style trick, it also contradicted everything established in the movie – and more importantly, the novel – up until this point.

Ah, screw this! Roll credits!

(Synopsis—>)

Okay, no two ways about it, I didn't like this movie. Obviously, my love of the original book has much to do with that, but so does my commitment to a well-drawn out, well-written story! And while I liked the sets, the costumes, and felt they did a good job of casting, that's about as far as my love went. The dialogue moves between wooden and preachy, their are far too many expositions being made, the internal monologues are as annoying as they are persistent, the pace is rushed, and the plot feels like a cut and paste job. Once again, I must acknowledge that time constraints and production difficulties were responsible, but that doesn't change the fact that it feels like they cut a whole lot of corners in this movie, then pasted on some half-assed plot lines in their place to make it fit and still make sense. Well… not exactly make sense, but you get the point. And I'd be one of the first people to admit that this was inevitable since Dune really can't be made into a two or even three hour movie, but that doesn't change the fact that the end result was still pretty bad. Not all bad, mind you. In fact, the first hour or so is actually pretty enjoyable if you don't know what to expect. But then, it all kind of goes to hell and by the end, you get the feeling even David Lynch was saying it "screw it, roll credits."

And as was to be expected, the movie was panned by critics and did poorly at the box office. A cult classic like Dune you'd expect to not garner a lot of attention at first, but at least you'd hope it would get the attention of critics and command a cult following. Alas, this movie did neither, and it was for this reason that the miniseries was made some sixteen years later. Essentially, many felt that the Dune franchise, with all its adherents and devoted fans, deserved a second shot at a worthy adaptation. And by opting for a miniseries format – three episodes, two hours each with commercials – they would be able to do it justice. And you know what, they did! But more on that in my next installment…

Dune:

Entertainment Value: 6/10 (good for the first hour, then not so much)

Plot: 3/10 (weaaaaak!)

Direction: 8/10 (nothing wrong with how Lynch shot it!)

Total: 6/10

Endnotes:(your welcome!)

* A superbeing the Bene Gesserit were conspiring to develop through selective breeding. A male that would combine all their powers of genetic memory, prescience, and super-human kills.

** The liquid exhalation of a sandworm that is excreted in the course of their dying, which the Bene Gesserit rely on to achieve higher awareness. The "trial" involves drinking the poisonous water and converting it by using their mental acuity. Those who survive achieve higher awareness, those who fail die.

… and Aliens

Hello, and welcome back to talk about all things Alien! As I talked about, at length, in my last post, Alien is a sci-fi classic that was both novel and original, not to mention faithful in it's execution. Then, years later, the studio that brought us the original came back, this time with a bigger budget and a new director, a man who would make his name directing big-budget action flicks and blockbusters. I am of course referring to James Cameron. And with the added s in the title, we were given a preview of what was to come. Maybe not specifics, but anyone looking at the titles could probably tell that in the second, the ante was being upped! And it certainly was. In this movie, as was hoped, we got a dose of action, plenty of awesome sets and characters, and of course, some much needed explanations about the alien species.

(Background—>)

According to many sources, Cameron was the one who approached 20th Century Fox and producer David Giller and asked if he could direct a sequel to the movie. In addition, it was while working on The Terminator that he hammered out the initial script to the movie, and impressed the studio to the point that they willing to foot the bill. Choosing not to follow the lead of the first, he decided that the sequel would be a combat action film that focused "more on terror, less on horror". In other words, this movie would have more shooting, more explosions, all the fear and suspense, but less gore. And of course, it would also have to illustrate the relationship between the two alien species, the spidery-parasite on the one hand and the hunter-seeker on the other! Strong hints were dropped in the first movie as to how these creatures bred and propagated. Remember the fields of eggs? Yeah, well… something was going to have to be done about that, and I think we all knew that it wouldn't be pretty. It might be fair to say that the original trailer said it best: "Aliens. This time… it's war!"

(Content—>)

Picking up where the first left off, the movie opens with Ripley's ship coming back to Earth after being adrift for over fifty years. The opening sequence, where not a line of dialogue is spoken for several minutes, sets the tone of the movie quite well. Its eery, cold, and kind of suspenseful. There's also the opening nightmare sequence to remind everyone of what happened last time, and illustrates how Ripley is haunted by the memory of it. Anyway, once she's up and around, she learns that much has changed since her departure. The big, bad folks at Weyland-Yutani – the ones who screwed her over before, remember? – are still in charge. And now that she's awake, they're looking for answers! For example, why did she blow up their multimillion dollar ship, what happened to her crew, and whats all this business about an alien? As their is no physical evidence to corroborate her story, and no recorded instance of this alien being encountered anywhere else, they aren't inclined to believe her. But in the midst of this strained testimony, she tries to warn them, especially since the derelict ship her crew encountered was full of eggs and the planet they set down has now been colonized! If just one of those things gets loose, she warns, it'll make what happened to her crew look like a Sunday picnic!

But of course, they don't listen, she is blackballed and spends the next little while languishing as she tries to find a new job and continues to have nightmares of her encounter. But then, wouldn't you know it, the company comes calling! Enter their douchey, but seemingly nice corporate laison officer, named Burke (played by Paul Reiser), and the prickish Colonial Marine, Lt. Goreman. Contact with the colony has been lost, and wouldn't you know it, the company higher-ups think it might have something to do with that alien ship she mentioned. And since she had first-hand experience dealing with the things, the company has decided to let her ride shotgun and offered to reinstate her. She initially refuses, but after another sleepless night of nightmares, she begins to think Burke might be right, that she should go back and face her demon. She agrees, but only on the condition that they are going back to kill it, not capture it for research. The cat, however, is staying behind (no really, what was the purpose of that cat?)

Cut to the Marine vessel establishing orbit around the planet. Ripley and her Marine cohorts are waking up, as is the douchey Burke, and Bishop, the ship's android (played by Lance Henriksen). After discovering he's an android, Ripley flips out just a little, since the last time she had a run in with an "artificial human", it tried to kill her. She then attends the Marine briefing and gives them the low down on everything she knows, but the salty Marines don't seem too shaken, especially the bad-ass Latina named Vazquez (Jenette Goldstein). Now already this movie has dropped a few hints as to whats to come. We're pretty sure Burke is going to screw her over, that the aliens are likely to kick their asses, that Hudson (Bill Paxton) is going to be a whiny little bitch, and that Bishop is going to save her (or something) and gain her trust. Yes, unlike Scott, Cameron was a bit conventional. But the funny thing is, back then (as opposed to with Titanic and everything after) it worked for him. He knew how to appeal to an audience without going for the cheap payout. And besides, the movie's given us plenty to be excited about up until this point, and even a few really kick-ass lines. "Is this going to be a standup fight, sir, or another bug hunt?" "I only wanna know one thing. Where-they-are!" "We're on an express elevator to hell; going down!" Cue drop sequence!

The scenes that follow are infinitely re-watchable. The Marines drop into the colony, take to the main building and begin sweeping it from room to room. They find no one, but there are obvious signs of a fight. The tension is palatable as they stalk the corridors with their cool weapons and kit, their motion detectors making that eerie beeping noise. Everyone's literally on the edge of their seat waiting to see what jumps out at them. However, what they find instead is a survivor – a little girl no less – named Newt (Carrie Henn). Apparently, she's the only one who made it through the alien onslaught, and when she gets to talking, she's got some cryptic words for them. "These people are here to protect you. They're soldiers," says Ripley. "It won't make any difference," replies the freaked out Newt. Then, by the one hour mark, we get our first combat scene! After finding the colonists by homing in on their beacons, the Marines go to their location in the neighboring atmospheric generator (Apparently, everybody in the company has these things implanted in them. A bit Big Brothery, you might say, but they sure are handy in the event of an alien abduction!)

As for the action sequence itself, I can honestly that it – and everything leading up to it – is timelessly awesome, made especially so by a number of factors. For one, it takes advantage of all the tension the movie has built up until this point. Second, the scene when the Marines catch a first glimpse of the remodeling the aliens have done. Wow! I mean, the way it was shot, how we see it from the point of view of Ripley and the others who are watching via remote camera, and then from up close, the scary music cutting in for the first time! Not to mention the dialogue that manages to punctuate the moment perfectly. "What is that?" asks the Lt. "You tell me man, I just work here!" says Hudson. Then we get an up close look at the nightmarish, twisted decorations they've lined the walls with. Holy Lovecraft, Batman! And last, but not least, there's the added worry when they realize that they cannot fire their heavy weapons inside the place because they are right beneath the buildings thermonuclear reactor. If they fire, they risk rupturing the cooling tanks, yadda yadda yadda, big explosion! You might think this is a bit contrived, but whatever man, it works! Put it all together, and you got one scary, nerve-wracking scene. And I don't think there was anyone who didn't jump out of their seats when that woman hanging from the wall suddenly opened her eyes!

Okay, so then comes the intense fight scene where most of the Marines get killed, they pull back and Ripley finds herself saving the day. After returning to their base to discuss options, they decide to lift off and nuke the facility from orbit. Here we get two previews of whats to come, the first being that Ripley will slay her demons and kiss some ass, and that Burke will betray them. It seems obvious at this point that he wants to bring some of these creatures back, considering the way he's changed his tune. At the beginning he was giving his word they'd wiped out, now he's saying that no one has the right to arbitrarily exterminate them. Yeah, way to feign humanitarian concern, asshole! "Watch us," is about all the Marines have to say in response. But of course, the plan fails when the dropship crashes and goes down in a fiery ball. Seems the little buggers found it while the Marines were out getting their butts kicked and got on board. With their dust-off ship destroyed – cue Hudson's whiney one-liner ("Game over man!") – they have no choice but to go to ground and wait for a rescue. And as Newt points out, they better do it soon, because as we see on the far horizon, the sun is setting. And as she says: "They mostly come at night. Mostly…" Woooooo! And so they seal themselves in to their HQ, cover the approaches with remote guns, and wait…

I should make a quick mention of the additional scene that's included in the Director's Cut. When I saw the movie on TV as a child, the scene with the remote guns and the aliens trying to find their way in was included. But on video, it was nowhere to be found. Luckily, this scene made it into the Director's Cut, and its definitely worth while. However, if you're not watching the DC, this scene doesn't happen and instead we've got the scenes of Ripley, Bishop, Newt and Burke held up in the main building and fortifying their position. Though I prefer the version where the added action sequence made it in, I should say that the movie is still well paced without it, mixing expository dialogue with a lot of strung out talk about how they are going to survive for the night. You can feel the anxiety and desperation, but also the resolve, Ripley having come into her own at this point, her frostiness and fear turned to gridiron, ass-kicking determination. It also becomes pretty clear that she's formed an attachment to Newt and doesn't want anything to happen to her. In the DC, there's a scene that helps explain this at the beginning, how she had a daughter who died while she was adrift in space. Call it transference, but it works! Her attachment, like her resolve, seems downright genuine.

Speaking of exposition, we then get to the part where Burke's betrayal manifests. Basically, he attempts to infect Ripley and Newt while they are sleeping by letting two of the parasite specimens loose in their room. We already know Burke is a liar and a cheat, thanks not only to his "we don't want to wipe these creatures out scene", but also because prior to this, Bishop admits that Burke ordered him to pack some specimens up for transport (seems the colonists took some of the spider's intact, one that was still alive even). After looking into this, Ripley discovers that Burke was the one who gave the order to send the colonists out to investigate the derelict alien craft. Again, there's a scene in the DC showing this early on in the movie. But in the original, it is established through dialogue alone (I think I prefer the latter in this case. Sometimes, less is more, even though it means you don't get to see the alien ship in the second movie). So basically, we are told that Burke is responsible for the situation in the colony. He then tries to buy Ripley's silence by promising her a share of the money he's going to make by bringing them back alive, but she tells him to sit on it and rotate! The betrayal seems inevitable at this point, but alas, it fails as both Ripley's quick thinking and the timely intervention of the Marines sends the parasites to hell! Afterwards, they are deciding what to with Burke, when wham! Darkness! The creatures are coming, and they cut the power…

Bring on action sequence number two! The aliens have managed to bypass their defenses this time and are coming straight for the HQ! Get to the chopper! Hehe, always wanted to say that. So they've managed to get a dropship to come down on remote at this point, thanks to Bishop, but in the course of the action, Newt is taken alive! Ripley and Hudson are the only others to survive the attack, the other Marines having died selflessly and Burke dying like the pig he is! Unfortunately, Hudson was seriously burned in the last encounter, leaving Ripley alone to do what she's gotta do! Namely, go rescue Newt. Strapping into a shitload of artillery, a moment has that lived on in cinematic history as pure gold, Ripley heads straight into the den of the beast. Finding her just in time before a parasite could infect her, we get to the movie's climax. While holding Newt in her arms, one gun aimed forward, Ripley comes face to face with a field of eggs… She then looks up, and sees the Queen. Her existence is already hinted at during an earlier expository scene, the one that precedes Ripley confronting Burke. But now, we see her up close for the first time! What a perfect metaphor huh? One mother confronting another, the one rescuing her young, the other standing guard over her eggs. The latter is even willing to let Ripley live in order to keep her from blasting them, but wouldn't you know it, Ripley does it anyway! Screw you, aliens! After blasting the whole field with her flamethrower, she fires several grenades and then hightails it out. And the mother alien, wounded but pissed, breaks free and follows her. It also seems this mother is a lot smarter than her children, for she manages to work the same elevator Ripley used to escape and follow her to the roof. Cornered, Ripley grabs hold of Newt and prepares to die at the Queen's hands, but she narrowly gets out when Bishop comes to their rescue! Thus we see the android confounding her expectations and proving his worth! Echoes of Blade Runner here…

But wouldn't you know it, there's a final action scene, drawing its inspiration from the first movie where the alien snuck aboard Ripley's escape craft and had to be blasted out the airlock. Ripley does the same here, but not before getting into a mechanized cargo loader and fighting the Queen in hand to hand combat! Sheerly awesome, if just a little bit cheesy! I tell ya, final fight scenes can easily go wrong, but this movie made it work (unlike Lucas who forced us to endure that lightsaber fight between Yoda and Dooku!) The whole thing is punctuated perfectly by one line: "Get away from her, you BITCH!" The whole dueling mothers thing is elevated to true visual art here. The movie then ends with Bishop, eviscerated but alive, telling Ripley she did good, and with Ripley telling Newt they'll sleep all the way home. And were it not for one inadvisable sequel, they would have done just that! But more on that later…

(Synopsis—>)

You know, looking back on this review, I realize one thing about this movie. It's got a LOT going on. Many a time I tried to skim past things, but couldn't because they were just too relevant. And even then, I find that I minimized some things or left them out entirely. Bishop's performance, for example, which contrasts starkly with Ash's from the first movie. Whereas the former tried to kill Ripley and was an unfeeling automaton, the latter was genuinely empathic and saved her life (the incorporation of Asimov's "first rules of robotics" was also a nice touch!). The mention of the name Hyderdine Systems (the androids' manufacturer) was clearly a shout out to Cameron's recently-released movie, The Terminator, where Cyberdine Systems was the company responsible for manufacturing the Terminator robots. And then there was the quasi-romance that took place between Hicks (Michael Beihn, also from Terminator fame) had with Ripley. Though nothing romantic ever materializes, you get the feeling that their relationship served as a sort of redemption, not between man and machine, but between men and women. All throughout the movie, Ripley is ignored and dismissed by male colleagues, but this one man listens to her and swears he will protect her. She, in turn, saves his bacon and goes on without him when it comes time for her to save Newt (her surrogate daughter) and confronting the Queen (the enemy's mother).

Yep, this movie has lots going on, far more than just some kick-ass action sequences. But the funny thing is, you don't realize it. The plot, pacing and tone wrap all the content up quite succinctly; at no point do you feel bored or overwhelmed. If I were reaching for something bad to say about it, I might try the flip-flop that happens with Burke. Initially, he seems like a nice guy, gives Ripley his word that the company doesn't have ulterior motives, and then pulls the double-cross. But then again, that's what you'd expect from the guy, isn't it? From the beginning he's oozing an evil sort of charm, you expect him to lie! And then there was the bit about them realizing, 11th hour like, that they can't use their guns in the aliens lair. You might think they would have thought of that sooner, but then again, it really does seem like something that wouldn't occur to them in the thick of their pursuit. The way they figure it out before any firing actually takes place actually seemed timely and believable to me. And yes, the somewhat predictable elements I mentioned. Are they predictable because they're obvious, or because they work? I'd be inclined to go with the latter.

And of course, there was all the stuff it did deliver on. Awesome action sequences, lots of cool gear and sets, Ripley coming full circle, and of course, the full nature of the alien species being divulged. And let's not forget about the theme of dueling mothers! This movie was downright original in that respect, its action sequences becoming staples of the industry that have often been imitated. Sigourney Weaver herself become an icon thanks to this movie, her gun-toting, mec fighting scenes something that have been imitated many times over! And once again, literary critics and philosophers found lots to praise, all those maternal themes and the conflict between machines and human and men and women mentioned earlier. Overall, the movie was not original in quite the same way that the first movie was. But still, it captures the same key themes and expanded on them quite well. The hostile species, the terror, the evil corporation that wants to possess it, all the while adding in original ideas of its own. Different but comparable, seeking what the original sought without following in quite the same footsteps. Aliens: damn good movie, awesome sequel!

Aliens:

Entertainment Value: 9/10 Hoora!

Plot: 9/10

Direction: 9/10

Total: 9/10 (Pained as I am that this movie has gotten higher marks than the original, the numbers just add that way! Fans of the original, please don't hate me!)

Of Alien…

Not long ago, I reviewed a movie that had the honor of being not only one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, but one of the best movies period. That movie was Blade Runner, one of Ridley Scott's most enduring classics. So it is with great pleasure that I dedicate this next review to another one of his masterpieces, the cult classic known as Alien. However, one can scarcely get into this movie without at least mentioning the franchise it spawned. Indeed, Alien went on to become not only a commercial success, but a cult-hit that inspired three sequels, two cross-overs, several video games, and even books and comics. Many of said sequels sucked, the less said about the crossovers the better, and Scott himself was not attached to any of the sequels as director. But that does not change the fact that the Aliens franchise was, at it's core, one of the most original and inspired science fiction franchises of all time.

(Background—>)

Over the years, this movie inspired lasting praise, not the least of which came from literary critics who drew parallels between it and classical literary sources. These included H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountain of Madness, not because the movie was similar in terms of storyline, but in terms of its "dread-building mystery". Upon the release of the Director's Cut, Roger Ebert listed the movie in his Great Movies column, calling it "one of the most influential of modern action pictures, and praising it for its pacing, artful direction, and how it took its time to build tension. It was also a commercial success, something many classics don't see until years after their release. But enough of what others thought about it, let's get to what I thought about it! Cue the opening sequence!

(Content—>)

Alien opens on the scene of a massive vessel traveling through deep space. The passengers, haulers who work for the mega corporation Weylan-Yutani, are in deep sleep and awaiting their safe return to Earth space with their shipment of ore. However, a distress signal from a neighboring planet brings them out of deep-sleep and sets them on course for this planet. Upon waking, they learn of the signal and their change in course, and are quickly told that company policy demands that they answer the call, otherwise they will lose their "shares" when the shipment is brought in. Through all this, we are immediately made made aware of two things: One, corporate monopolies control all shipping and mining in this universe; and two, that the company maintains loyalty by appealing to their employees greed. Another thing which we are made aware of is the concept of cryogenic-units which are used to keep people preserved during deep space travel in this universe. While the Alien franchise didn't invent this concept (I believe Arthur C Clarke has that honor) it did much to popularize it. One can scarcely pick up a hard sci-fi book without reading a bit about "cryosleep", "reefersleep", and the like.

Skip ahead to the planet where the distress signal is originating from, and we are confronted with an alien derelict which I can only describe as awesome! Really, truly, alien looking! In the course of spelunking through the cloudy and oddly shaped interior (you can feel the tension building!), they encounter a field of eggs. One of these eggs opens up when the XO – Kane, played by John Hurt – gets near, and let's lose a spidery parasite that attaches itself to his face. After he's returned to the ship, the crew learns that there's nothing they can do for him now, since the parasite will kill him if it's disturbed, and that it has acid fpr blood and therefore can't be removed without causing serious harm to the ship. They learn this second fact the hard way, giving the thing a tiny cut causes an acid spill that melts through two decks! And in a space ship, holes are not something you want! But, as luck would have it, the parasite falls off and dies all by itself. Problem solved, right?

Well, no… shortly after losing the spidery thing and waking up, Kane ups and dies, in the most graphic and horrible way imaginable! This is another aspect of the movie that was both novel and original for its time, the concept of the chest exploding alien! They gestate inside you, scary enough, and then emerge as this nightmarish, toothy thing with spindly arms and a long, segmented tail. In any case, the crew jettisons Kane's body and is just beginning to breathe normally again when the fully-grown thing of nightmares kills another member of their crew. What follows is a claustrophobic, mad rush to kill the alien, but those attempts quickly fail. The ships Captain (Tom Skerritt) is one of the first to fall, leaving Lt. Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) now in charge. She soon realizes that the company wants the alien taken alive, and is even willing to sacrifice the crew to get their hands on it. She further learns that one of crew – Ash, played by Ian Holm – is a corporate mole who's job, it now seems, is to make sure this directive is followed to the letter. Oh, and did I mention he's an android?

As soon as he's found out, Ash tries to kill Ripley, but she and her crew manage to take him down and get some answers from him. He confirms that the company wants the alien and the rest of them are expendable, and is also sure to leave them with some cryptic words: "You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility." "You admire it," says one of the crewmen, to which Ash replies: "I admire its purity. A survivor… unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality." Classic lines! Then, just to be prick, he let's them know exactly how slim their odds of survival are: "I cannot lie to you about your chances, but… you have my sympathies". Naturally, they say "screw it!" and decide to scuttle the ship. But the alien creature is no slouch and manages to kill all but Ripley and the ships resident cat. To this day, I am not sure what the point of the cat was. Maybe to provide some tension; I mean nothing is more scary than a cat jumping out of nowhere during an already tense scene, right? In any case, she finally kills the alien by blasting it out the airlock of her shuttle and burning it with one of the ships thrusters. She is then left alone to drift home, and files a heartfelt report of how all her friends were killed in deep space by a hostile creature of unknown origin.

(Synopsis—>)

To be honest, this movie was a tad uncomfortable at times, at least when compared to the sequel. But then again, that was the whole point of the movie, wasn't it? It was meant to feel uncomfortable, claustrophobic, and paranoid, because that it exactly what you would expect to feel if you were in that situation. Put yourself in a spaceship, surrounding by vacuum, then imagine you have a hostile organism on your hands that has the run of the place, and is both an expert hunter and hider. What feelings come to mind? Claustrophobia, since you'd feel like your trapped with it, and agoraphobia because you know you can't just open a door and run outside. For these reasons, and because of the amazing artwork, set designs, the concept of the aliens, and of course the theme of personal and corporate greed, Alien deserves full credit for getting the ball rolling on the whole of the franchise. But really, it was never meant to be a standalone piece, so comparing it to the sequel is not really fair or warranted. If anything, this film and it's sequel are companion pieces, Aliens picking up where Alien left off and expanding on it, something which it did very well. But more on that next time, stay tuned!

EV: 7/10

Plot: 8/10

Direction: 9/10

Total: 8/10

Blade Runner!

Third on the queue, the sci-fi and cult classic Blade Runner! Thank God too, since my first two reviews were both about movies I really didn't like. While it's fun to bash bad movies, it can leave a bad taste in your mouth. Good movies not like Listerine that way, they cleanse the critical palette, renew your faith in the visual medium. And as promised when I first decided to do reviews, movies based on books would receive special mention, especially movies that differed greatly from the books that inspired them. Truth be told, I had Blade Runner in mind when I made that statement, and a number of other Philip K Dick stories that went on to become films. In fact, the movies Minority Report, Paycheck, Impostor, The Adjustment Bureau, and Screamers were all movies based on Dick's stories (which I plan to review soon enough!). And in every case, the films were quite different from the original works. You might even say it's the Philip K Dick curse: to see your novels and short stories inspire film adaptations, but only after you've died and always with big changes! And without a doubt, Blade Runner was the most extreme case of this curse at work. In terms of plot, story, and especially tone and setting, the movie was vastly different from the novel. I'd say shame on the people who made this movie, but the truth is, it kind of worked in their favor…

(Background—>)

A few years back, I finally got around to reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which was the original title of the novel that would be the basis for the Blade Runner movie. Having already seen the movie, I found the novel quite surprising, and at times, downright odd. But it's message and style eventually won me over, as did the comical and satirical aspects that Dick made use of. Whereas the movie was set in a Los Angeles of the future – a noire, dystopian cityscape marked by crowded streets, flying cars and massive video advertisements on the sides of skyscrapers – the novel takes place in a relatively depopulated post-apocalyptic LA where the only people who remained are those who are either too poor or don't have the requisite IQ level to get a pass off-world. These colonies get a passing mention in the movie in the form of ads being broadcast from flying zeppelins, but the focus is overwhelmingly on life in the city. Another major difference is the lack of satirical consumer goods that were in the original novel: emotional dialers that people use to set their moods and empathy boxes that are basically TV's that provide an interactive emotional experience. Both were touches of genius, hilarious but also very interesting in how they help to advance the story. But by far, the greatest difference between the novel and the movie was in terms of theme. Whereas the novel was very much concerned with the fine line between artifice and authenticity (the robots representing the former), the movie depicted the Replicants (the AI's) as tragic figures who are given the gift of life, only to have it taken away in the form of slavery, four-year lifespans, and "retirement" (i.e. execution) if they break the rules. So really, the book was a touch more simple in how it perceived machines: as cold and heartless, characterized by false animals, false humans, and nuclear arms. The movie depicted this in more complicated terms, blurring the lines between artificial and authentic, human and machine. Whereas in the book we don't much care about the Replicants, in the movie, they are about the only characters we sympathize with.

(Content—>)

The movie opens on the city of Los Angeles in the future, circa 2019, where a Blade Runner detective has gone to the Tyrell Corp (the maker of Replicants for off-world use) to issue a Voight-Kampff test to one of the employees. This test, we soon learn, measures emotional responses and is the only way to tell the difference between a Replicant and a human. This is because the latest models (known as Nexus 6′s) have surpassed humans in all aspects, but still have a hard time mimicking human emotions. The Tyrell Corporations motto is "more human than human" for a reason, you see. And for reasons of legality that are mentioned in the movie's preamble, no Replicants are allowed on Earth, so anyone suspected of being one is required to take the test and then "retired" if they fail. Upon realizing why he's being tested, the employee shoots the Blade Runner and escapes. Guess he failed!

We then move to the character of Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford), who is enjoying a bowl of noodles at a street vendor when a bunch of LA police men approach him and demand he come with them. In this scene, we are given a ground level view of the noire city, as well as a taste of cityspeak. This lingo is the language of the street in the Blade Runner universe, a mishmash of various tongues which is illustrated beautifully by the character of Gaff (played by Edward James Olmos). Deckard goes with them and is told by his old chief that he's needed again, and despite his reluctance, he takes the job. As his boss says, "you're not cop, you're little people!", meaning he really has no choice in the matter. What follows is an admittedly expository scene, but a totally justified one, where we learn who the "bad guys" are as well as some other pertinent facts. For example, we learn that in addition to their difficulty approximating human emotions, Nexus 6′s also have a four year lifespan that ensures that they will never be able to overcome this flaw. Too much time, too many memories, and they might become totally indistinguishable from the rest of us. Spine tingly!

Afterward, Deckard goes to the Tyrell corp to meet the CEO and learn what he can from them. Sidenote: I could be wrong but I think the set designers got an award for the design of this one building. Part sky scraper, part Ziggurat, totally awesome! Here, we meet not only Tyrell himself, but a Replicant named Rachael (played by Sean Young). She represents a new breed of machine specially created by Tyrell to test out a new idea: giving Replicants memories so they'll have an easier time dealing with emotions. After running the Voight-Kampff test on her, Deckard is both intrigued and frightened by her, a feeling that haunts him for the rest of the movie, and that I believe is meant to represent the love-hate relationship humanity has with technology. What is also interesting is that she doesn't yet know that she's a machine, but once the test is done, she overhears Deckard talking to Tyrell and is shattered by the news.

The movie then splits between the Replicant party, led by a unit named Batty (Rutger Hauer) who is trying to find the men most directly responsible for their creation, and Deckard who is trying to find the Replicants and determine why they came to Earth in the first place. In between, there are the scenes that catalog the budding romance between Deckard and Rachael, who herself seems to be torn between her attraction to Deckard on the one hand, and disgust over what he does. This part of the story, more than anything, helps to illustrate the blurred line that exists between artificial and real. While a relationship between the two of them would certainly be considered taboo, neither of them can resist the allure of the other. Over time, Rachael appears to make peace with the fact that she is a machine, and Deckard seems to get over it as well (wink wink!)

Ultimately, Batty and what is left of his companions (because Deckard keeps killing them), make their way to Tyrell himself. Their whole purpose, we learn, was to find a way to extend their lives. What follows is, in my opinion, one of the best scenes in cinematic history. In the course of a very civilized conversation, Batty is told that there is no way to extend his life, and never was. His hopes, and everything they did in order to get to Earth and find Tyrell, were therefore in vain. Tyrell tries to comfort him by telling him that "the candle that burns half as long burns twice as bright." He further tells him to let go of whatever guilt he harbors for all the things he did to get to Earth and see him, that he should "revel in his time". But, overcome by anger and grief, Batty kills Tyrell and escapes from the building. One of the things that makes this scene so good is the fact that you genuinely get the feeling that a sort of father-son dynamic (or that of a man meeting his God) is taking place between them. In addition, you can feel the pain being exuded by Hauer as he kills Tyrell. Obviously it pains him to kill his father", but he's got nothing to lose and just needs someone to blame for the fact that he's going to die and is helpless to do anything about it.

Shortly thereafter, a confrontation ensues between Deckard and Hughes at the Replicants hideout. And in spite of the fact that Deckard has now killed all his companions and he is poised to deliver the death blow, Batty chooses instead to save his life. His final scene, as he sits half-naked in the rain holding a dove, are yet another example of cinematic genius. "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe…" he says, getting rain soaked and looking morose. "Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain… Time to die." So sad, even Harris Ford shed tears, and he's fricking Han Solo and Indiana Jones! The police then show, Gaff let's him know that his girlfriend's secret is out, but that he left her alone. As he says, "It's a shame she won't live. But then again, who does?" Whether or not he's referring to the fact that she will eventually be hunted down, or to her four year lifespan, is still a bit of a mystery to me. But in either case, by the end, Deckard is finished with being a Blade Runner and runs off with Rachael, finding a measure of redemption through his relationship with her.

(Synopsis—>)

Blade Runner was panned by some critics who didn't like the pacing of it, and my own wife remarked the first time she saw it that she felt a little let down. But of course she, and I imagine many of those critics, were expected an action movie and not the cinematic tour de force that it was. With a name like Blade Runner, you kinda sorta think it's going to be an action flick. But upon seeing it for a second time, her feelings changed and she saw the depth it undeniably has. And despite doing poorly at the box office, time has been very good to this movie, elevating it to the status of a cult classic and an example of cinematic gold. In fact, over the years it has appeared on numerous top 100 lists, not only as one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, but also one of the best movies period. Who am to argue? And hell, why would I even want to? I love this movie!

Blade Runner:

Entertainment value: 7/10 (admittedly, bit slow in places)

Plot: 8/10

Direction: 10/10 baby!

Overall: 8.5/10