Why the hype behind the Dune movie is justified

Dune (the book) was … sumptuous. 

When I first heard of Dune, I instantly thought it was going to be good. For whatever reason, this four-letter word—Dune—struck my mind like lightning. It was a grand name to me. Days later, I bought a mass-market paperback version from Amazon and after two months, I finally finished the book.

Now, the highly hyped movie of the same name is coming soon and people are going crazy over it and I understand why.

First, it is directed by Denis Villeneuve and second, it has some magnificent casting with the likes of Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, etc.

The praiseworthy cast of Dune

Now, the most talked about thing in this book apart from the creature was its abrupt ending. 

I understand why people would be having some questions regarding that because the last phase of the book was a bit fast-paced and the ending wouldn’t be much satisfying as that phase had some high profile scenes and just when we thought that it was going to be something big, Frank Herbert shattered our minds by finishing it.

When I came across the last part, like most of the readers, I was somewhat left wanting more. But now this shouldn’t be a problem as anyone can buy the second book in the series: Dune Messiah. I haven’t read it yet though.

But in short, this book was a thrilling experience for me and now I am intently waiting for the movie release.

Good things that I found in Dune

I found multiple things in this tome of 896 pages to be amazing and catching to the eye.

Dune BookThe setting

Arrakis, a nightmare for anyone. A planet covered with nothing but desert and having extreme water crises. The colourless liquid was a luxury among the Fremen, the natives of Arrakis. This was the planet which was in the eyes of big houses like the Atreides and the Harkonnen.

The big houses were fighting for spice on Arrakis, the most valuable material for humans from which they could make an astounding amount of profits. Above all at the top, stood The Emperor, the ultimate authority. 

Apart from Arrakis, there were multiple planets that are mentioned in the book, each one of them different from the other.

I was left in awe of this type of world-building. I am sure Dennis would bring his best in this sophisticated world of Dune.

Protagonist

The character of Paul Atreides was a bit complex that even his mother sometimes couldn’t understand him. The writing by Frank Herbert to make this young protagonist a fine character was done beautifully. His character development is insane and the type of leadership quality that he displays at times was commendable.

Timothée Chalamet playing the character of Paul

Timothée Chalamet, with his unmatched versatility, would surely do a good job in playing the character of Paul. I am looking forward to it.

The litany

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

This litany is mind-blowing. Frank Herbert has killed it.

Fear is the one thing that cripples the mind of every individual. How this quote starts and how beautifully it ends, everything about this is gorgeous.

It blows my mind that millions of quotes are already there in the world created by wonderful people and still, still there are millions of the ones which are not explored and thought of yet. 

Absolutely unimaginable. Just imagine this litany with the voice of Timothée. I am getting goosebumps.

The excerpts

Before the start of each chapter, there was an excerpt taken from the various sources from the world of Dune itself that gave some sort of information. 

An excerpt before the start of the chapter in Dune

They acted as a power charge for me before reading the chapter below it. It was a great touch of writing by Frank as they provided me with a small break from the intense storyline of Dune.

Conclusion

All in all, this work of science fiction was everything that I had thought it to be. 

The sheer drama, action-packed and skilful fighting, intense story buildup and some unexpected stages had me at the edge of my seat. I found the book to be great.

The upcoming movie of Dune will explode the already popular series to unimaginable levels and all the hype that it is getting right now is definitely deserved. But yeah, no matter how much of the quality work there would be, criticism will always be there at its door. 

But for me, no criticism. Now it is up to the movie.