MovieChat Forums > Dune: Part One (2021) Discussion > This movie is a slog fest. I don't see t...

This movie is a slog fest. I don't see the masterpiece many are calling it.

posted 3 years ago by [deleted]
17 replies | jump to latest

I tried twice to get through it, but never made it past the 90 minute mark. I always liked the Lynch version, especially the extra long TV version, but this one pales in comparison. No way is the acting better in this new one. All it is are actors reading their lines in a slow, depressing, deadpan manner. Jason Momoa is just playing Jason Momoa again. The sets all look the same, like an ancient Egyptian granite city. Even the ships look like their made of granite. No imagination at all. Lynch's sets were all different for every new planet or location shown.

And that big battle scene. Each opposing side probably had 100 extras each. Couldn't they CGI in some soldiers. One thing about the battle that looked like a kid wrote it was when all the Atreides soldiers are exposed running in the open, instead of continuing their bombardment from the sky, the Harkonnens land and fight hand to hand. Seems like bad military strategy to give up your upper hand to make the fighting more level.

[–] actionkamen (23176) 3 years ago

I agree with all of your points, especially on Momoa being Momoa which was a huge miscast. His charisma is so damn high, it's hard to not see him as an action hero / the most baddass boss. That's why it works for Khal Drogo and Aquaman, but I just don't see him as an underling or a soldier.

However, it is a pretty picture.

[–] asom (6881) 3 years ago

Duncan Idaho = action hero ...

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

as someone who's never seen the lynch film, who's never read the books, and who has no attachment to the property or the characters or anything, and absolutely loved this movie, i'll only say that i'm not sure that people who are watching this at home are seeing the same movie i did.

i know lots and lots of people have great home setups, have great sound systems or great headphones and all that.

but there is an immersion that i think comes with seeing this on an imax or liemax screen that i just don't think comes with a home viewing.

i'm gonna see it a second time this week, hopefully. maybe when i do, i'll see more flaws. but i was absolutely dazzled by my first watch. i loved ogling it. i wanted to eye-hump this film for another 2.5 hours.

[–] Sej (17) 3 years ago

Correct, Damosuzuki, this is one movie where if you haven´t seen it on a big screen, you haven´t seen it at all. The entire experience is in the big screen. People who have seen it at home simply have no idea what they are missing.

[–] Iffy762 (1334) 3 years ago

I saw it tonight, didn't see it on an Imax, but I really enjoyed it. The music was big, the ships were big, the sandworms were big, I was happy. It went a little long: there were at least four points in the last half-hour I thought, "Ok this would be a good stopping point if they're going to divide it in two," and they kept going. As expected, Chani was pretty, and Timothee Chalamet was even kinda adorable.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

i absolutely agree that it probably could have ended a little earlier.
but overall, i'm not going to get too snippy over a movie as rich and generous as this one!

[–] DracTarashV2 (4496) 3 years ago

…. but this one pales in comparison. No way is the acting better in this new one. All it is are actors reading their lines in a slow, depressing, deadpan manner. Jason Momoa is just playing Jason Momoa again. The sets all look the same, like an ancient Egyptian granite city. Even the ships look like their made of granite. No imagination at all. Lynch's sets were all different for every new planet or location shown.

Excuse me, but…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Well as you can see, Lynch’s version has its fans and a bunch of them have predictably said this new one is an inferior film in every way (if this new one was the old one though, you’d see the unimpressed ‘OG’ fans express a different opinion). But these fans are in a small, kewl club. Good thing those not kewl enough to belong to said club, though, still see the “classic” Lynch film for the crapfest that it is. Not really a fan of the property in general, but this new one pales in comparison to Lynch’s kewl-to-like version? Heh, good thing the actual majority opinion isn’t reflected up here.

[–] fzane (1156) 3 years ago

uh, well yeah... the majority of people are also taking a so-called vaccine that was never even tested on animals. yep, that's right loser, i just called you an animal!

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

You're a rightwing nutjob who reads conspiracy garbage about COVID and believes it to be true. You have absolutely nothing to contribute to this board.

[–] fzane (1156) 3 years ago

oh poor poor medical mask wearing vaccine injecting wacko is butt-hurt? i could care less!

[–] brux (14807) 3 years ago

> The sets all look the same, like an ancient Egyptian granite city.

Those are so easy to computer model ... instead of actually designing a set they just make it big. The size of the ships these days in science fiction shows is also ridiculous.

They have these giant space ships, mother ships that are as massive as a small moon hanging motionless in the sky with no visible means of support or propulsion. It would take the entire energy output of the world to keep suspended that way if it could even be done.

It's just so stupid. Dune was fun to read 50 years ago, but it really has not aged well, especially with the I think 11 now, sequels. It's too much to believe.

[–] johnmiller (3976) 3 years ago

I wouldn't say it's a "slogfest." But, Villeneuve directs things in a dry, antiseptic, unemotional way. So, even though "Dune" is probably the greatest science fiction story ever, you don't feel it when watching this film.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 3 years ago

It is the best version yet. It suffers from the same thing the book suffered from. A shit story. I give no shits for anyone in the book nor in this movie. I give zero fucks about the Fremen and their fluctuating accents and inconsistent symptoms of Spice exposure.

Outside of the fact that it is based on a lame book, it was OK. 6/10

[–] 123Guy (7668) 3 years ago

this is possible the most perfect review of dune ever found on planet earth! thank you for this

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 3 years ago

Thanks.

I don't like Mamoa but I have to acknowledge that he is gradually getting better and better as far as acting goes. I did not like Aquaman but he showed slight improvement in it. A little better in this too. I don't care about the authenticity of his character portrayal. That is the writers fault. I just feel like I need to give him a tip of the hat for elevating from 2/10 actor to maybe 5/10 actor. A shame they made a dog's breakfast out of his Conan movie. He could have lived there if they hired decent writers and directors (ie. the fault of the producers)

[–] Scorpeus (92) 3 years ago

The way i understood it...

I never liked the Lynch version (84). I would always struggle to get past the 30 min mark... always figuring it was way above my head... and frankly, i thought, let it stay there!!!

Watching the DV version, I never looked at my clock. Instead, I was intrigued by all of it, and nothing "turned me off". Not the vehicles and how they differed from Star Trek ships, or Star Wars vehicles, nor how the battles in this time period are hand-to-hand as opposed to at a distance, with laser swords!

I liked the way the story was laid out. I liked every character and every actors' performance. I liked the music... it had its own unique style, just like the rest...

Duncan, in this film, is a Samurai/Server. I never got underling. I saw him as the one warrior on "team Atreides" that had the favour and love of the actual family he served. It is very old fashioned... and I appreciated its inclusion.

Even if Duncan was, as you say, an UNDERLING, his spirit made him the most valorous of Atreides warriors. And I appreciated that.

Films are great art... can effect all of us in fantastic ways...

I disagree.... but I get where you're coming from too... in me, the yearning for part 2 outweighs any instinct I might have to crap on this version in any way...

I thought everything in it was flawless... but who knows... maybe the "die hards" hate this film and love the Lynch version.... different strokes, i guess....

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14799) 3 years ago

It was easier for me to watch because I'd seen the David Lynch film, the miniseries, and read part of the book, though I was kinda disgusted by "Children of Dune" and didn't watch it all the way through. This movie was more of a "How are they gonna interpret the story here?" I was kinda disappointed that they deliberately skipped most of the iconic script lines from the David Lynch film and the book, considering they are very memorable and speak volumes about the main themes of the story. So it was more of a "See what they put in, leave out, and what's new?" kinda game.