Thought I read that they were only doing theatrical releases. Good to know they still care about us hermits.
Dual distribution bothers some directors, and for a subset of them, they are QUITE bothered. Denis was rumored to be one of the later. That is why Dune was previously expected to not be simultaneously released on HBO Max. I'd guess they reworked box office receipt based compensation for Denis.
Going to reread Dune before release because I haven’t touched it since high school. I’ve never read any of the others because my dad swears they’re terrible; is he correct? Or should I give the others a shot?
I read Butlerian Jihad in high school. About fighting robots. Not terrible, but unnecessary. You really only need Dune.
give the others a shot Messiah and Children complete the Paul story arc, then things get weird with big jumps in time - God Emperor takes place 4000 years after, and is the slowest and least interesting. Heretics takes place 1500 years after GE, and Chapter House soon after that. But Herbert was trying to tell a far bigger story and died before he could complete it, unfortunately. The Brian Herbert books fill in the larger story, but in a very unsatisfactory manner.
It's going to be a nice fall for flashbacks to high school sci-fi book nerd me, between Dune and this. I'm excited.
I'm a little concerned that they're going to make a great film that is only loosely based on the story by Frank Herbert
First 10 minutes were shown Reddit folks who saw it, each paragraph is a different response unless otherwise noted with <>: Just came back from it. Showed the first 10 minutes, a scene from later in the movie, some behind the scenes with Hans Zimmer and the director and finally the IMAX trailer. Having not seen it before or read the book seems really interesting. Especially given Villenueve and Zimmer’s apparent love of the material. Definitely a 10. Epic and atmospheric similar to BR2049 in that it really enveloped you in the world and the crafts in it looked excellent 10, genuinely Edit: keep in mind I’m a little biased from full hype mode right now, but genuinely I thought the production quality was comparable to something like LOTR Spoiler Everything about it was perfect. What really stuck out to me, besides the music and cinematography, was how cool the costumes and designs were. Felt so unique. The Thopters are fucking awesome!! I went to screening too, knew very little going in. I’ve been wanting to read the book before watching the movie later this year but I have to say, if you are evenly mildly interested in this. It will blow you away from a cinematography perspective. In the beginning of the year I was really excited for three movies, having seen one already this is now my top. I just got out of one of the Bay Area showings of this, and this is going to blow people out of their skull. You heard some orchestra for sure but he talked about inventing new instruments and sounds. Zimmer said it would be odd that all civilizations would have cellos and other instruments commonly used nowadays. He also said that a female voice would be prevalent across these civilizations so that was very prominent in the pieces played. <Got back from the screening in LA. If your hyped for the movie and live near any full IMAX screen it’s worth it since the aspect ratio changes back and forth from 1.90:1 to the full 1.43:1. (Regular ratio is 2.39:1) My thoughts below, avoid if you wish to go in blind. Production design and costume design are crazy good, mangening to have massive scale while using a muted color palette to ground it and make it shockingly believable. Han’s score is already a stand out using a fascinating percussion sting, along with some really cool vocals. (And instruments invented for the film!) Sound design is spot on and extremely immersive however as compared to someone like Nolan, it is not overpowering in IMAX, finding the perfect balance between big moments and character dialogue. (At least in the scenes shown) The cinematography by Grieg Fraser is breathtaking, his lensing capturing the scale and intimacy extremely well. The desert looks fittingly beautiful and deadly. I particularly liked how some shots let the desert go very white and harsh so it’s not just the normal “yellow” vibe we associate with that biome. The interior lighting is very good so far with everything being motivated really well and giving a great sense of the atmosphere of the world and characters. While some may complain about the color palette I think it’s fitting and personally would say Fraser was the perfect choice. (Over say Deakens whom a lot of people wished had filmed this.) Performances were all on point with the standouts being Zendaya and Sharon Duncan-Brewster. The former for giving much needed emotional investment, the later for being adapt at giving exposition. (Two big obstacles in trying to adapt this story.) Also the scenes shown were paced very well, taking their time in a more old school way rather then a modern blockbuster. (Similar to Blade runner 2049) Additionally the new trailer is very good but is definitely targeted not devotees, so it features jokes and such like that, (one of which was in the preview) this moment a of levity I think will play well especially since the scenes shown definitely fit the vibe of Denis’ style and the feel of the novel. I’m someone who never really “got into” the book, instead mainly respecting it’s world building and effect on the genre. Overall I was extremely impressed by the preview and cannot wait to see it.> Just got back from the screening in Dallas. The scale of this movie is awe inspiring. I felt consumed by the Dune universe. Definitely seeing it in IMAX as much as possible. Just finished the showing in Denver and I gotta say, I think this movie is going to be as good as everyone hopes. The designs, sound, everything is fucking amazing. So hyped, I wish we didn’t have to wait another 3 months. Really feels like the first genuinely epic movie we’ve had in a long time. There was a behind the scenes about the music with Hans Zimmer, and he talked about how they even invented new instruments for the soundtrack because he felt like our normal instruments wouldn’t exist in this universe. And it sounds dope as hell. I’m even more psyched than I thought I’d be! Just got out of the preview. Fantastic, the world building was incredible. It feels like they are trying to set up this unique universe and it works so well. Loved the costume design, it’s like a mix of Egyptian and Prometheus dark palette. The trailer has a lot more voice over, building up the idea of dune to new audiences. No music , just pretty epic. Especially some of the action scenes. Much more new audience friendly (a couple jokes). Not a bad review in that thread
Text from my daughter: Lolol me trying to watch the trailer with (9yo son) over my shoulder: "Hey I know her! She's in Spider-Man...Drax!!! Aqua man!! Poe!! THANOS!!"
hopeful but skeptical. Spielberg supposedly said The Phantom Menace was one of the best movies he's ever seen, prior to its release.