Michael’s review of Dune (Dune, #1) > Likes and Comments

Only just picked this up the other day and I haven't read it before, but your review does make me even more excited for it!

Thanks Michelle, it is stupendously good.

Thank you for the superb review!
In the book, one aspect that I loved was how Paul struggled with this messianic destiny and did everything he could to subvert it.
Yes. I truly love the movie for it's vision, and heartfelt attempt to bring this book to life on the screen. I loved the steampunk imagery and most of the characters. It would take a "LoTR" trilogy of movies, really, to bring this to life fully.

Like you, Michael, I read this book many, many years ago, but it has always stayed with me. I think it is an icon of 20th century literature, though the academics would probably refuse to classify it as such. For me, living in Australia where water supply is always an issue, the book has renewed relevance in our contemporary community as we battle to deal with issues associated with climate change, and the tensions between Christian and Muslim societies.

Great points Mary!
For William and other, did you know that originally Ridley Scott was supposed to make Dune with cmic book legends Moebius and Jodoworsky but it fell thru but he ended up making Blade Runner (1982) and Aliens with them separately instead!

Wow, Michael. I remember Jodorowsky's name for Dune in something I read long ago.

Blade Runner 2049 - directed by Denis Villeneuve
• I’ve never seen a movie in the cinema more than twice, before this. Each viewing below, about a week apart.

First viewing: Overwhelmed, a bit lost, beautiful and exquisite movie
2nd viewing: WOW. So much I missed before, so incredible, so deep.
3rd viewing: omg. This movie is such joy. So deep. So beautiful.
4th viewing: I wept. Extraordinary. The most wonderful movie I have ever seen.

The romance scene is the most joyous and beautiful I have ever seen.

I will be going again, one final time in the cinema, in a week.

Dune is unquestionably one of my rare ten-star reads.

From what I recall, the first three Dune entries are very good even if there is some decay as the story progresses. From the fourth one onward, it becomes very repetitive and, as I call it, 'jumps the worm'.

And I feel I must mention this: avoid the prequels. At. All. Costs.

Wonderful review! As I recall I tried reading the book back when the movie came out and I was never enthralled enough to keep with it. I'd put it down and not pick it back up for weeks. Never finished and and have no idea what happened to the book. For me that is odd. I can remember what happened to most real books I've owned.

I really should try again. I'm trying to raise my reading out of the gutter it's been in. I do like what I've been reading but feel the need for some intellectual challenge.

Dune is extraordinary.
Dune Messiah is a very different book. It is elegant and fast, rather than sprawling. It is deeply tragic, rather than romantic or adventurous. It is excellent and underappreciated. I can easily recall every other chapter, and some dialogue, from memory.
Children of Dune is a bit strained, but moves in an interesting direction. It's really a dyad with God Emperor, being a deeper investigation into human destiny and politics. Recommended if you are interested in that.

You mentioned the film, which I assume is the Lynch one. Did you see the tv series, or the documentary about Jodorowsky's failed attempt?

Fantastic review. Definitely worthwhile to read Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, as the terraforming / environmental theme takes centre stage, changing the very planet of Arrakis, and the Fremen people, in truly unforeseen ways. Contemporary SF writers like Kim Stanley Robinson are very much in dialogue with Herbert here, whose influence looms over the genre like a sandworm protecting a spice patch.

I understand that Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) is now making two movies from the first Dune book.

Thanks Beth and Bryan! (Sorry for the delay, GR is notoriously poor at notification for comments :-(
@William, That is what I understood as well. Release sometime in 2019

I hope it's better than his Blade Runner sequel.

(Hello, Michael! Agreed.)

I saw BR49 in the cinema 5 times. I’ve never in my life seen any movie more that twice in the cinema, and not many of those.

BR49 is a masterpiece, but you only begin to realise this on the second viewing, and by the third viewing you see so much more... so subtle, so deep, so much heart. Incredible.

Villeneuve, Fancher, Green, Deakins, et all are true geniuses.


It's my single favourite movie of all time. I'm 66 now.

Whoa.
I've only seen it once - you can find me thoughts here. What did it gain upon second et seq viewing?

I liked it a lot but only saw it once...
Saw Dune 3 times, experience varied but overall loved the Lynch atmosphere but found the sofx cringeworthy

I have a fan edited version of the Dune movie that I like more than the movie itself. The editor mixed some of the tv series and some of the voice over from the tv series with the movie to try to more closely parallel the book and clear the narrative of the movie up a bit. It's just under 3 hours long and it does a very good job of clarifying the story, IMO.

That said, I haven't read Dune. It's been on my TBR since I was an adolescent (and I haven't been that in a very long time). But every now and then I see a review and I find myself bumping it back up on my list to be read. Like this review, for example.

Thanks Suz. Do you have a YouTube link for that fan-edited movie perchance?

During the first viewing of BR49 (and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets), you are trying to figure out the plot and keep up with the story and characters. This is true of many great movies.

On the second viewing, you know where it's going and you can focus more on the performances and subtleties. There’s a huge amount of content, imagery, questions about human memory and identity, etc, that only grow with further viewings.

Valerian is no BR49, but still benefits greatly from a second viewing.

I'd also like to see that, Suz.

William, the imagery was splendid. I'll give you that.

This is the trailer for it. https://youtu.be/MK5eoV93oyg

It's the Spicediver edit. Unfortunately, Universal had the full length video pulled from youtube for copyright, but I have a copy of it that I've kept for several years. I do like it better than the original. There are spots where it's obviously been cobbled together, but it's not terrible and the scenes generally help to clarify the story, so I'm all good with it.

That's nicely done.
It seems to be entirely from the Lynch director's cut.

The film was so disappointing. All action and no substance.

Thanks for the comment Karen. It is funny because quite a lot of people felt it was boring with not enough action! I dunno, watched it again recently and felt that, the dated special effects (particularly the personal shied) aside, it was an interesting film and I liked how the Harkkonens were displayed as well as the sandworm. The books have attained such a cult status that making a movie that would satisfy the fans would be tough. It would be fun, however, to see someone try to film Emperor of Dune someday

Denis Villeneuve (the superb Arrival, and the extraordinary Blade Runner 2049) is currently in production of a new version of Dune.

Awesome news, William? I heard rumors but good to know it is happening!

I would like to see HBO produce the Dune series the way they did Game of Kings—with all the subtlety, intrigue, twists, and fine acting intact. The fellow who played Paul in the movie was rather a poor actor who didn't stand up to the rest of the cast and I thought the Harkkonens were overdone and came off as cartoon characters. In which case, they weren't frightening in the least. It was more like a comic book for children. I was extremely disappointed in the entire movie.

Ok, well, Kyle is sort of an acquired taste, dunno if you were a Twin Peaks fan but I would readily admit that I preferred him in Blue Velvet. Yes, the Harkonnens were a bit cartoonish, but I found them at least as repulsive and revolting as in the book albeit not as sinister. I thought it was fun seeing Sting as Feyd-Rautha and I liked Francesca Annis as Lady Jessica but especially the Guild Navigator.
In any case, it was a polarizing film and I can see why many people didn’t like it. I guess many of us were so spoiled by the production quality of Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Blade Runner that our expectations for Dune were set at an unrealistically high level. Let’s hope that Villeneuve’s version doesn’t disappoint

The fact that (a) Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 was an excellent sequel to the classic original and (b) the new Dune will be split into two feature films, certainly leads one to think that they might get it right this time!

Love your reread of this essential Scifi classic that deserves so much credit. I love the Frank herbert books and the continuation books are mostly curing that itch of wanting to read more.
Frank delivered a classic with the two sequels that were originally written as one big story but cut in three.

I definitely see your point about the one big story; it is very consistent thru Emperor of Dune although I did like the other three too (all reviewed here on GR if you missed my reviews). I never read any of the non-canonical/non-Frank ones because I really didn’t want to be disappointed

Michael re the new Dune film: one can always hope but I am not holding my breath. So few films hold up to the quality of great books, but when they do they can be outstanding, like To Kill a Mockingbird, Blade Runner, and Game of Thrones, to name three.

I’ll go with those first two choices and qualify the GoT one to exclude the execrable final episodes of S07 and all of S08 except for the battle at Castle Black. I was soooo disappointed at the shortcuts and nonsequitors (like where did the Night King’s army of zombies find a Home Depot north of the wall for those chains?)
In terms of extraordinary book adaptations, for TV I’d add Housemaid’s Tale and for films, Kubrick’s The Shining, for me one of the most successfully creative screen adaptations ever. Honey, I’ home! ;-)

*Handmaid’s Tale

Lol! I'm with you on all of the above. I can add more films, but I can't recall all of them as my memory gets lazier every year.

Mine too. Probably easier to name the flops.
Then there is the variant where the characters are kept, but the context shifted like with the incredible Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness transformed into the spellbinding and soulcrushing Apocalypse Now. i love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like...victory.

I avoid movie adaptations of books that I enjoy. I much prefer when the context is indeed shifted as it allows for the movie to draw from the original work while adding a particular spin without doing violence to the book.

There is a Japanese take on Wuthering Heights that is absolutely gripping. The action takes part in a volcanic, lunar-like environment in some backwater of Japan and it is shot brilliantly. It is also possibly creepier than the original.

Ooh . . . with a capital "V."

I could go on like this for, for, well . . . I must get off this machine and get something done. Till next time. Farewell sweet prince.

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!

Wonderful review dear Michael ! :) I remember reading it years ago, and enjoyed the movie, too. Several times, my teens and I watched the movie, and they really got into it. I'll need to remind them to have their kids watch it, or read it !

Thanks Denise. Look for the new movie (in two parts), I have hopes that it will be really good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_%2...

You are giving me a hope in this hopeless cruel pathetic dune reviews session.

Really? what exactly is cruel, hopeless and pathetic? Anyway, I am personally optimistic about the upcoming Dune.

Oh dear. Perhaps if I had read your review ten years ago when I read (well attempted to read and in my attempt to get into it, also listened to some of it) I might have not had the aversion to Dune that I had. My reasons were: 1. I generally do not like fantasy and most science fiction. 2. Having to get through such a long book of a genre that doesn’t appeal to me. 3. I had a rats tome following the story. 4. I was totally unaware of the underlying meaning. And 5. Did I mention my aversion to fantasy and S. F. ?

Having said all that, I am in the minority of the many who commented above. I feel a bit like a dunce. I own the book. Maybe someday if I’m forced to be in bed for an extended period of time, I will try it again. On second thought, maybe not. 😏

PS I have no idea what # 3 meant! It was a keyboard self-correct. At least my keyboard has a sense of humor.

@Sherril if it is of any comfort, Dune is not really that long of a book, but if you have an aversion to SF/Fantasy, then you will probably feel it is too long. Maybe warm up to the genre with some Philip K Dick or Kurt Vonnegut first? ;-)

Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate them. I’ve read Vonnegut back in college. Maybe I’ll take another look. Phillip k. Dick is not familiar. Again, I’ll take a look.

Enjoy! 'S'all good!

Why is there air?