Dune

 Year of Release:  2021

Director:  Denis Villeneuve

Screenplay:  Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth, based on the novel Dune by Frank Herbert

Starring:  Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem

Running Time:  156 minutes

Genre:  Science-fiction

In the far future, the most valuable substance in the universe is the "Spice" which makes interstellar travel possible.  The only place where Spice can be found is on the desert planet Arrakis (nicknamed "Dune").  for the past 80 years, the brutal House Harkonnen have held the monopoly on Spice mining on Arrakis.  The Emperor Shaddam IV transfers the rights to Arrakis to the Harkonnen's arch-rivals, the noble House Atreides.  Despite his suspicions, Duke Leto Atreides (Isaac) accepts the assignment.  Meanwhile, his son Paul (Chalamet) has been having strange, mystical dreams of Arrakis, and is on his way to his own destiny.

Franks Herbert's classic 1965 science-fiction novel Dune has baffled and stymied many a filmmaker to the extent that it has been considered "unfilmable".  Cult Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky planned an adaptation starring Salvador Dalí, Orson Welles, Gloria Swanson and Mick Jagger, with production design by H. R. Giger and comics artist Jean Girard (Moebius), and music by Pink Floyd, was aborted due to the planned 14 hour running time and rapidly ballooning budget.  Ridley Scott planned an adaptation, but abandoned it in favour of Blade Runner (1982).  David Lynch finally brought the novel to the screen with Dune (1984), which has had what politely could be termed a mixed reception from critics and fans, although personally I enjoyed it.  The Sci-Fi channel made a three part miniseries based on the book in 2000.    The problem for filmmakers for the book is that it is long, complex and sprawling with a complicated backstory, that is portrayed in the book through footnotes and appendices, but is difficult to portray on screen.  The first thing to be aware of with Denis Villeneuve's film is that it is properly titled Dune: Part One, and it only adapts the first half of the novel, which means that it just stops with no conclusion,  whether or not we get a Part Two depends (at the time of this writing) as to how well this does commercially. This is really a kind of mainstream art film.  It looks beautiful, with Arrakis ranging from bleached vistas, to red-gold deserts, riddled with deadly sandworms, mouths bristling with delicate, filament-like teeth; the chilly grey, Northern landscapes of the Atreides' homeward of Caladan, and the shadowy world of Geidi Prime, home of the Harkonnens, lit boy shafts of light slicing through the gloom.  Denis Villeneuve is a master of beautiful science-fiction, sometimes focussing on visual splendour at the expense of character.  The film creates this richly detailed imaginative universe, with some spectacular action scenes.  This also has some great performances, with Timothée Chalamet in particular impressive as Paul moving from sulky teen to courageous warrior, and Rebecca Ferguson as Paul's mother, Lady Jessica, a member of the mystical Bene Gesserit order, who breaks the most sacred rules of her order for love.  As it stands, this is probably the best possible adaptation of Herbert's prose in to film, if the second part gets made, it could be one of the highpoint of science-fiction in cinema.   

Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Javier Bardem and Timothée Chalamet in Dune

Dune

Year of Release:  1984
Director:  David Lynch
Screenplay:  David Lynch, based on the novel Dune by Frank Herbert
Starring:  Kyle MacLachlan, Francesca Annis, Jurgen Prochnow, Jose Ferrer, Kenneth McMillan, Sting, Sean Young, Everett McGill, Dean Stockwell, Patrick Stewart, Virginia Madsen, Max von Sydow
Running Time:  131 minutes
Genre:  science-fiction

This adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 science-fiction novel is generally considered a disaster, and right off the bat I have to say that it's really not that bad.  The story is set in a distant galaxy and involves two feuding families from two different planets:  The Atreides from the planet Caladan, ruled by patriarch Duke Leto (Prochnow), with his concubine Lady Jessica (Annis) and their son Paul (MacLachlan); and the Harkonnens from Geidi Prime, ruled by the sadistic and grotesque Baron Vladimir (McMillan) and his nephews, Feyd-Rautha (Sting) and the Beast Raban (Paul Smith).
The Atreides and Harkonnens are both desperate for control of the desert planet Arrakis (nicknamed Dune), a world devoid of natural water, riddled with deadly, giant subterranean sandworms,  and sparsely populated by a mysterious people known as the Fremen.  Arrakis is however vital, because it is the only source of the "spice melange", the most valuable substance in the universe, which can extend life and expand consciousness.  It's most important property is the ability to "fold space" thereby making interstellar travel possible.

This is a deeply frustrating film because there is a lot about it that is really great, and so much that is really bad.  It's worse problem is that it tries to condense Herbert's long, complex novel, which involves an intricate back-story into a too short a time, and this isn't a short film.  In the event much of the film's dialogue is purely exposition to advance the plot, with a lot of voice-over narration to explain what the hell is happening.  However it is a visually stunning film, with some of the most striking sets and production design that I have seen, and it does create a number of unique worlds and at it's best creates a genuine sense of wonder.  It also hasn't dated too much, except for some special-effects shots, and the very 1980s soundtrack by Toto and Brian Eno.  Watching it is a unique and unforgettable experience, with Kenneth McMillan creating, in Baron Harkonnen, one of the most memorable screen villains in history.  In fact, the Harkonnen scenes are genuinely nightmare fuel.  Again most of the good-looking characters are heroic, and evil is depicted by physical ugliness.  Francesca Annis is impressive as Lady Jessica, who provides the emotional heart of the film, but otherwise there are a lot of great actors standing around in fantastic costumes and sets, struggling to make an impression.

David Lynch famously repudiated the film, and dislikes even discussing it in interviews, and given the fact that he has never made any secret of the fact that he dislikes science-fiction, he was kind of an odd choice to direct it, but there is a lot of Lynch in it's visuals and style.

You may love it or you may hate it, but it is such a striking and unique experience, it is well worth checking out.

 Kyle MacLachlan versus Sting, while Patrick Stewart looks on in Dune