Dune Two'd last night. Big fan, but have only ever watched the 3 movies. There was only one original movie, and it pretty much went as far as the first newer movie correct? And how many books/is the series complete?
It's been quite a while since I've seen Lynch's movie, or read the book, but I'm pretty sure D2 doesn't get us to the end of either Lynch's movie or the book. I'm curious about D3 - is there enough material left in book 1 for a full movie, or will D3 bleed into Messiah? Given Villenueva's pacing, I guess I shouldn't be surprised if he can turn two chapters into a 3 hour movie! As for how many books - there are 4 books written by Frank Herbert, and then a number of books written by his son & other co-writers.
The first Dune novel ends with Paul defeating the Emperor and taking the throne, so the Lynch movie covers this, and so do Villeneuve's two movies. After the first novel, there is Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse Dune. All of those are by Frank Herbert. The rest are written by Kevin Anderson and Brian Herbert and they all suck.
The Kevin Anderson/Brian Herbert novels are super dumb. They involve... Spoiler ...the return of the machines from the Butlerian Jihad, led by a robot called Omnius Prime. OMNIUS PRIME.
We watching the HBO show? Looked it up, and it's about one of the son's books. Some cool cats told me those ones suck/are dumb.
I probably should not watch or read any more of his son's books. I think I read the first three of his books and then stopped. I probably should not have watch Rings of Power either, but sometimes I just have to know what they did and then try to understand why they do these things. There are probably better things to do with your time, but I continue to obsess with this mythology.
Just completed reading Dune and Messiah, and watching the two newest films. Story-wise, I've been most interested in Paul's anti-hero arc and to see where it concludes. I think Messiah concludes it well. Frank Herbert said everything he wanted to say in Dune, but then felt the need to say it louder for those in the back with Messiah. Having lightly read through the wiki pages for the follow up books, it seems like it gets a little too cyclical for my taste, so I'm going to end my Dune journey here. I understand why the films took the decisions they did, but do wish that a few of the more gratuitous, lingering shots were replaced with some of the iconic scenes from the book that were omitted- I don't think the addition of Count Fenring would have been confusing, as well as an addition of the Guild at the end. Ready for Part Three!
Yeah, you can stop after the first two or three books. Regarding the new movies, something tells me Villeneuve wanted to sidestep the political and economic aspects and focus more on the story's criticism of religion. I was just rewatching Part 2 yesterday and that theme feels much stronger to me than it did when I saw it in the theater. It seems that Tim Blake was cast as Count Fenring for the second movie and shot scenes that were cut. It would have been interesting to see that thread explored in the film. The Dune: Prophecy series was pretty atrocious.
That's super disappointing. Tim Blake Nelson is amazing. The ending of the film (and book) is such a quick escalation that having one imperial beat without showing the emperor would have felt right. Having him speak to the Baron, sitting in the arena with Lady Fenring and then bowing out from dueling Paul would have so worked.
Fortunately Mrs AS and I aren't familiar with or invested in the source material, so it seemed like a pretty good watch to us luddites in the cheap seats.
I'll set aside nitpicks with how the showrunners decided to depict the Bene Gesserit and their abilities, my core issue was that it wasn't science fiction. It didn't even try to ask questions about what an interplanetary civilization would have to deal with in the wake of a massive upheaval like the Butlerian Jihad. A story about something like the Jihad has been done to death (Terminator, The Matrix, etc.) but there are so many interesting possibilities to explore about a society that decides to discard computers and how they would have to adapt without them. Instead it just presented what I felt was a generic story about palace intrigue and revenge that could have been set anywhere. They could have just done this series as a Game of Thrones spinoff without any changes. And when half of your story needs to be told in flashbacks, perhaps you need to reconsider what you're doing and why. If you trace the development of the series back to the beginning, it seems like Villeneuve himself was involved and they were producing something much more complex that tied in to the movies. At some point along the way the original showrunners left, and Brian Herbert and his co-author Kevin J. Anderson got involved and then it was redone so it could fit into the framework of their lousy 20+ prequel and sequel novels. When you watch the credits there are something like 30 plus producers listed. Never a good sign.
I'd invite you to join us under our rock in complete naivety, but it sounds like your lobotomy would leave a big ol' scar and Mrs AS is kinda squeamish! Pay-per-view or subscription only?
Believe me, halfway through that first Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson novel I wanted the gom jabbar treatment right up the nose but I couldn't find a Bene Gesserit who would do it.
