YNMS: "Dune" (2021)
Sunday, July 25, 2021 at 5:10PM By Ben Miller
One of the most anticipated films of the year is Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s epic science fiction saga Dune. We already had a Pink Floyd-scored teaser, a series of poster releases and a Venice Film Festival premeire date, but now we have a full trailer. There is a lot to this trailer, so let’s play our Yes, No, Maybe So™ game ...
YES
- It’s a Villeneuve film, so it’s going to be a visual delight. The opening shots feature striking visuals of sand dunes, spaceships emerging from the darkness and large-scale battles
- I’m all for the Timothee Chalamet/Jason Momoa interplay. By the way, Momoa’s character is named Duncan Idaho. DUNCAN IDAHO!
- Every actor is top-notch and looks to have a chance to shine. Hopefully the smaller players like TFE favourites Stephen McKinley Henderson, Chang Chen and David Dastmalchian get their own opportunities as well
- The cast is a vast cadre of ethnicities, which we are all for
- VISUALS, VISUALS, VISUALS!
- The look of the sandworms
- Seriously – LOOK AT THAT CAST!
NO
- Parts of the visuals do look very dark while many of the lines are spoken barely above a whisper. How hard will it be to see or hear on HBOMax screens?
- There is a gigantic spoiler in the trailer which I won’t discuss. That being said, where is the freaking mystery these days?
- The final battle is giving me Wonder Woman 1984 vibes, which isn’t the best of signs
MAYBE SO
- Momoa hasn’t had any non-Aquaman success and this looks like a flashy role for a change
- How much lightness will be interspersed? Will it be super-serious or have those occasional bits of humor?
- This is such a huge world, will Villeneuve be able to make it palatable for commercial success?
- If there are people who can make the silly sci-fi lingo sound authentic, it’s Chalamet and Oscar Isaac
- How much of this is action and how much of it is meditative or political maneuvering? Villeneuve has balanced it well in the past with Blade Runner 2049
Come on, you know it's going to be a YES here at TFE. This will be a visual feast to take in on the big screen with supplemental viewings on HBOMax. We can all find out together if it lives up to its promise on October 22nd.
Reader Comments (16)
Well let's hope is better than "Blade Runner 2049"- I like the wacky Lynch version and there was an excellent made for tv mini series that made more sense.
"Will it be super-serious or have those occasional bits of humor?" Depends on if those executives who forced the Joss Whedon cut of JUSTICE LEAGUE on us are still around and calling the shots. Hopefully, since this is actually a Legendary production, Warner exces don't have a say.
YESSSSSZZZZ!!!
Haven't read the book or seen Lynch's version (or the Mini-series), so don't know what the spoiler is. It looks amazing, but I still have no idea what the story is.
Pretty sure they're splitting this into two movies. Unlike pretty much every other movie that's done so, there's enough plot here to warrant it.
However, I'm a little worried at how little screen time Jessica (Paul's mother) gets here, since she's the second most important character.
I've been eagerly waiting this for a couple of years now, as Dune is a household touchstone.
Definitely want to see this and please, I hope it doesn't suck. I know it's only covering one part of the story with a sequel hopefully coming but I don't want to get reminders of David Lynch's version though in all fairness to Lynch. It wasn't his fault the film sucked as Dino de Laurentis fucked it up even worse.
It just has me salivating of what could've been if Alejandro Jodorowsky made the film.
BTW, are we ever going to get into a discussion about films that got botched during production like All the Pretty Horses that Billy Bob Thornton made and Harvey Weinstein destroyed his version which ended up being a dull romantic-western-drama?
Wouldn't it be the ultimate turn around if the new DUNE bombed so badly they never shot the second one (or did it cheaply for HBO Max) and then David Lynch came out of the shadows and finally agreed to supervise a three and a half hour director's cut of his version, which was then hailed as an absolute masterpiece? It would be the ultimate comeback story. I've already lived long enough to se the reputation of the de Laurentis cut of Lynch's film go from being regarded as an unmitigated disaster to an honorable failure/film ruined by drastic editing a la ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA. Nobody was saying ANYTHING positive about it back in 1984.
Practically a summary of the movie. I hope they haven't selected the best speeches and dialogues. I want to be surprised when I go to the movies.
yes on the Director and Cast.
The source material never really interested me, and Lynch's version - which I own on DVD - is something that I saw once, and quickly forgot, so... unless BOTH films have stellar reviews, I will probably pass.
Enjoyed reading Dune as a teenager. Kyle McLaughlin and Lynch's film were very cheesy.
The best aspects of the book contribute to a dark, brooding, mystical, fantasy not an action adventure story, so not great material for a fast-paced big screen blockbuster.
Maybe so for me. I'll check it out on HBO unless reviews are stellar.
Might this be the coolest cast of actors ever assembled on film? Certainly the coolest since BLACK SWAN.
Looking forward to this, but must add this about the David Lynch edition.
If you watch it as a big 80s intended blockbuster / adaptation, it struggles to work.
If you watch it strictly as a David Lynch film in line with his other films, it is quite glorious.
I wonder if this Dune will somehow pay tribute to David Lynch's Dune. It's not a masterpiece but, after all, it's a David Lynch!
Not having read the book or seen either the David Lynch movie or the TV series, I gotta say, I had not a clue what was going on in that trailer - I mean, apart from the sandworm, which is the one thing I know about DUNE.
But hey, it looks great, and has a great cast, so if it gets good reviews I'll give it a shot.
Yes. 1000 times yes.
I love the movie and your blog, but you guys know about this they have the best immigration services and they give you your visa on time or sooner.