New "Dune" Trailer

[Lonnie]

Great cast...looks very well made...hopefully does justice to the Herbert novel.

[TotallyOz]

Thanks for sharing. Looks fantastic. My goodness. This brings back memories of my childhood. I read this when I was so young I don't even remember much about it other than staying up late at night to read and mostly not understand what I was reading but continued to read.

Timothée Chalamet looks sexy as always. I can never get enough of Jason Momoa. This looks fabulous!

[JKane]

I'm a huge Dune nerd and have been eagerly awaiting this movie for years!  

I went to a special IMAX preview they did the night before the release of this new trailer.  

It included the first 10 minutes of the film plus the sandworm attack on the spice harvester scene plus some behind the scenes and then this trailer.  

That is was shot for IMAX was clear and I am planning to see it on an IMAX screen at least once (then probably Dolby Laser once or twice more).  

Very excited!

[JKane]

My thoughts on what I saw...  

The first 10 minutes is entirely new (not from the book).  I'm not sure how to feel about that.  Part of me thinks it's a studio requirement to add Zendaya to this part of the movie... part of me hopes it's just Villenuve working his way out of the trap of in-head exposition through the book and Lynch movie.  It's obvious Villenuve loves the book, so I'll keep hoping.  

The visuals and music are fucking stunning.  They finally got the Atredies Ornathopter to work on screen as described.  

They are splitting the book into two movies, but as of yet the second is unconfirmed.  There's also talk about a show based in the universe about the Bene Gesserit sisterhood which sounds promising, though I think setting it basically before the movie would be an unfortunate choice (since how everything must end up is established).  

[Lonnie]

Review: Dune’s Day: New $165 Mil Take on Sci-Fi Classic with Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac is Stunning, Granular, Moody, Artful

• ■Movies

by Roger Friedman - September 3, 2021 12:45 pm

0 1789

Ah, “Dune.” It seems like yesterday that David Lynch gave us the hoary epic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s landmark sci-fi novel.  Kyle MacLachlan headed up a very eclectic and weird cast, even for 1984, that featured a legend (Jose Ferrer), a rock star (Sting), and a sitcom actor from “Rhoda” (Kenneth McMillan).

Here’s the thing about the old “Dune” from 1984. When you watch it now, you see it had a lot of heart but looks really dated. It’s like watching a rerun of “Lost in Space.” Made eight years after “Star Wars,” the OG “Dune” looks like it came from the 60s now, before special effects were perfected.

So let’s remake it, someone said. With a new cast, lots of Big Deal actors, starring teen sensation Timothee Chalamet, famous for his love of peaches in “Call Me By Your Name.” His Paul is much younger looking that MacLachlan’s and degrees more androgynous. But he captures the screen like James Dean or a young Leo DiCaprio with his tousled hair and aquiline nose. He is the Conflicted Young Man of the 2020s.

As for Sting, his one of a kind 1984 “Dune” character, Feyd, was not recast for the update (I’m actually surprised they didn’t go for Adam Levine). And a main male character, Dr. Kynes, played by Max von Sydow the first time around, is now a Black woman in the the form of the excellent Sharon Duncan Brewster.

The rest of the cast is formidable: Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin. I clapped when Stephen McKinley Henderson came on screen, and we get really nice work from Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, and especially Stellan Skarsgard. Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista are there as signposts for fans of certain kinds of blockbusters.

Denis Villeneuve is our director this time. He made “Arrival” and tends to create cold atmospheres. His “Dune” is the opposite of Lynch’s, methodical and cerebral, set against pastels and smoke and long stretches of moodiness. It’s a two and  a half hour movie so for an hour or so, that’s all fine and beautiful and you’re really invested in the idea that this time, something might happen while the main cast, living in space way in the future, can find “spice” — a rare commodity — on the desert planet.

But you know, there was a book, and we’re still following it. (Although in today’s press conference Josh Brolin admitted he never read it, and I doubt much of the cast did, either.) So whatever the “spice” is, it doesn’t actually add spice to an often bland meal. Chalamet’s Paul is trained by his father to take over the quest to colonize the dreary sandworm plagued planet of Arrakis, get past the shifting sands of its deserts, and spice things up. Like Hamlet and Luke Skywalker before him, Paul wrestles with this idea, but once his dad — Oscar Isaac is indelible as Leto, the movie hinges on his performance — is out of the picture, Paul sticks close to his mom (Ferguson) and remains ambivalent to say the least.

Now wait: the first “Dune” movie was two hours long, and didn’t require a sequel. This one is labeled”Part One” up front, and comes in at 2:35. Plus, MacLachlan had a romantic thing going with Sean Young as Chani. (She was hot stuff in 1984.) Chani now is played by Zendaya, who doesn’t speak much until the end of the movie. (At today’s press conference she conceded not having met most of the cast after doing just a couple of days’ work.)

What jumps out in Villeneuve’s saga is the production. Every bit of it is Oscar worthy, from set design to costumes to lighting, make up, etc. Cinematographer Grieg Fraser has outdone himself from frame to frame, set piece to set piece, creating jaw dropping pieces of art that are impressionistic, sensational, and other worldly. Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner 2049” brought an Oscar to Roger Deakins, and this may be the case here as well.

This year has been big on production excellence– look at “Cruella,” for example. We’ve got crafts people at the top of their respective games. Fraser isn’t alone on “Dune.” Hans Zimmer’s music just pounds away, creating lots of tension with melody.

My only grievance is that hardly anyone in this film ever smiles. While the first half feels like “Star Wars” in sand, you remember all the fun of the George Lucas movie, the minor characters, the interplay. Everyone in “Dune” is grimly serious. You kind of wish someone would shake Paul’s hand with a joy buzzer, pull a snake out of a can, sit down on a whoopie cushion. I mean, they are looking for spice, aren’t they? They need a hot chili pepper in their recipe.

Still, new “Dune” should be a smash hit. It’s a big old epic, the kind we need right now, to sweep us away from viruses, hurricanes, and wars in real life. Put on a mask, get a tub of popcorn, and kick back. We need a break. This is it.

 

 

 

[caeron]

The initial reviews out of Venice are that it is quite stunning.

I'm hopeful. I loved that book as a kid. Previous efforts failed pretty badly (though Sting as sexy bad boy was not a bad consolation).

[Lonnie]

On 9/3/2021 at 3:03 PM, Lonnie said:

 the old “Dune” from 1984

I'm anxious to see the original again now released in 4k with lots of interviews and features before seeing the new one.

Entertainment » Movies

Review: David Lynch's Unfairly Maligned 'Dune' Arrives in Show-Stopping 4K from Arrow Films

by Sam Cohen

EDGE Media Network Contributor

Tuesday Sep 7, 2021

 

Of all the intellectual properties that Hollywood has gone to for financial wealth, Frank Herbert's "Dune" might be the among the most impossible to successfully adapt. Across all the miniseries and film adaptations of the popular science-fiction tome, David Lynch's 1984 attempt stands out as the most successful, albeit still hobbled by the vastness of Herbert's prose, among other things. Even with that said, it's a sprawling technological feat for its time, and is more distinct than most of the blockbuster slop we get served up. The film is even able to match the spirituality of the novel, as Lynch was, and still is, adept at charting the interior life of characters as it corresponds with their consciousness.

Arrow Films brings David Lynch's "Dune" to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray with a limited-edition release that pulls out all the stops for the unfairly maligned epic. "Dune" arrives here in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR, source from a 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative. The result is incredible, with a beautiful presentation offering a very film-like appearance, with nice notes of naturals film grain. One might think the upgraded resolution would show the seams of the special effects — many of which have naturally dated — but the deeper contrast and detail only accentuates the film's great artistry.

"Dune" follows the journey of Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan), the son of a powerful noble at war over the desert planet Arrakis. Arrakis is the source of spice, a drug-like substance that heightens enlightenment and allows for faster, deeper space travel. "Dune" has an all-star cast, including a handful of frequent Lynch collaborators, famous international performers, and even a music superstar, Sting!

If we are to take Lynch's filmography as a series of dreams being realized through filmmaking, then "Dune" may be the only work that escapes Lynch's grasp. Although the film is clearly hobbled by lack of depth on the universe as a whole, frequently needing to summarize in voiceover things there simply wasn't enough time or money to include otherwise, the story fails to grasp the ecological and sociological threads that the novel so richly depicts. Actress Virginia Madsen has even noted that she was signed on for multiple films, but that was dependent on the financial success of the first entry. Unfortunately, the box office numbers didn't support an argument for continuing the franchise.

As for special features, Arrow has attached a generous list of archival and newly-produced features that you could spend hours watching. The interviews with make-up effects artist Giannette de Rossi and production coordinator Golda Offenheim specifically round out this stellar release with insightful anecdotes about the massive, and sometimes unwieldy, production. Lynch himself has told people he doesn't want to talk about the film anymore, as it recalls a dream not fully realized for him.

No matter what you think about David Lynch's attempt at adapting Frank Herbert's sprawling saga of novels, Arrow Films has produced an incredible home entertainment release that rewards those who look back upon the maligned 1984 sci-fi epic.

Other special features include:

• 60-page perfect-bound book featuring new writing on the film by Andrew Nette, Christian McCrea, and Charlie Brigden
• Large fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dániel Taylor
• Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproductions
• Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dániel Taylor
• Brand new audio commentary by film historian Paul M. Sammon
• Brand new audio commentary by Mike White of The Projection Booth podcast
• "Impressions of Dune" — a 2003 documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with star Kyle MacLachlan, producer Raffaella de Laurentiis, cinematographer Freddie Francis, editor Antony Gibbs and many others
• "Designing Dune" — a 2005 featurette looking back at the work of production designer Anthony Masters
• "Dune FX" — a 2005 featurette exploring the special effects in the film
• "Dune Models & Miniatures" — a 2005 featurette focusing on the model effects in the film
• "Dune Costumes" — a 2005 featurette looking at the elaborate costume designs seen in the film
• Eleven deleted scenes from the film, with a 2005 introduction by Raffaella de Laurentiis
• "Destination Dune" — a 1983 featurette originally produced to promote the film at conventions and publicity events
• Theatrical trailers and TV spots
• Extensive image galleries, including hundreds of still photos
• "The Sleeper Must Awaken: Making Dune" — a brand new feature-length documentary by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures exploring the making of the film, featuring dozens of new and archive interviews with cast and crew
• "Beyond Imagination: Merchandising Dune" — a brand new featurette exploring the merchandise created to promote the film, featuring toy collector/producer Brian Sillman ("The Toys That Made Us")
• "Prophecy Fulfilled: Scoring Dune" — a brand new featurette on the film's music score, featuring interviews with Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, Toto keyboardist Steve Porcaro, and film music historian Tim Greiving
• Archival interview with star Paul Smith, filmed in 2008
• Archival interview with make-up effects artist Christopher Tucker


"Dune" is now available on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray from Arrow Films.

[Lonnie]

More History of Dune 

Looking Back at All the Utterly Disastrous Attempts to Adapt Dune

By The Editors

Dune(s).

The recent news that Denis Villeneuve, the Oscar-nominated director of Arrival, will helm a big-screen adaptation of Dune is a good-news-bad-news proposition. The good news: Villeneuve has an excellent track record. The bad news: Dune, the 1965 science-fiction novel by Frank Herbert, has long intrigued talented directors, only to leave their dreams in tatters. In the past 50 years, no less than Ridley Scott, David Lynch, and Alejandro Jodorowsky have taken runs at the sprawling novel, with disappointing, and occasionally catastrophic, results. Here, we present a time line of the pitfalls, near bankruptcies, and premature deaths that have greeted those foolhardy enough to tackle it.

 

1965: Frank Herbert writes Dune, an award-winning epic about interstellar factions feuding over a precious “spice.”

1971: Film producer Arthur P. Jacobs, responsible for the Planet of the Apes film series, acquires the film rights to Dune.

1973: Jacobs dies at age 51.

Illustration: Chris Foss

1973: The Dune film rights are acquired by a group of French film producers on behalf of Alejandro Jodorowsky, the director of cult hit El Topo. Jodorowsky tries to enlist, among others, Pink Floyd, Orson Welles, and Salvador Dalí as collaborators, but his ambitious project fails.

1976: Producer Dino De Laurentiis, who produced Fellini’s La Strada and Barbarella, acquires Dune’s film rights.

1977: Star Wars becomes a national phenomenon, stoking a market for space epics.

1979: De Laurentiis hires Ridley Scott, fresh from the success of Alien, as his director. “Dune would be a step very, very strongly in the direction of Star Wars,” Scott says. But when his brother Frank dies unexpectedly, Scott drops out. He goes on to direct Blade Runner instead.

Sting in David Lynch’s Dune. Photo: Universal Pictures/Photofest

1981: De Laurentiis approaches David Lynch, director of The Elephant Man, to adapt Dune. Lynch accepts, turning down a concurrent offer to direct The Return of the Jedi.

1983: Principal photography on Dune begins in Mexico. The film features then-unknown Kyle MacLachlan and Sting. The soundtrack is by the ’80s band Toto, known for the hit song “Africa.”

1984: Lynch’s Dune is released and is a theatrical disaster. Costing $45 million, it grosses $31 million and is savaged by critics; Roger Ebert calls it the worst movie of the year. Writer Harlan Ellison later says, “It was a book that shouldn’t have been shot. It was a script that couldn’t have been written. It was a directorial job that was beyond anyone’s doing … and yet the film was made.”

1986: Dune author Frank Herbert dies.

1986: Stung by his experience, Lynch retreats to small-scale filmmaking, reuniting Dune stars Kyle MacLachlan and Dean Stockwell in Blue Velvet, which turns out to be a career-making masterpiece.

1988: As was common with movies at the time, an even longer, three-hour version of Lynch’s Dune is recut for TV. A clumsy prologue is added that uses concept art from the film. Lynch disavows this version, forcing producers to attach the pseudonymous “Alan Smithee” as the director’s credit. Lynch also removes his name from the writing credit, replacing it with “Judas Booth.”

1996: The film rights are acquired by Richard P. Rubinstein, who produced Dawn of the Dead and Pet Sematary.

2000: A Rubinstein-produced TV-mini-series version of Dune airs on the Sci-Fi Channel to generally good reviews. It wins two Emmys.

2007: A group of Spanish students releases a four-minute trailer for a fan-made version of Dune that was seven years in the making. The trailer is removed from YouTube at the request of the Herbert estate, and the film is never released.

2008: Paramount attempts to set up a new adaptation of the novel. Peter Berg and Pierre Morel (Taken) are attached as directors, but after four years the project is abandoned.

2013: Jodorowsky’s Dune, a documentary about that filmmaker’s early attempt to make Dune, premieres at the Cannes Film Festival to excellent reviews. Ironically, Jodorowsky’s Dune is, to date, the most critically successful film associated with Dune.

2016: Legendary Films acquires the film and TV rights to Dune.

2016: Denis Villeneuve releases Arrival, which earns an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. In interviews, he says, “Dune is my world.”

2017: Villeneuve is hired to direct a new adaptation of Dune.

*This article appears in the March 6, 2017, issue of New York Magazine.

[JKane]

13 hours ago, Lonnie said:

I'm anxious to see the original again now released in 4k with lots of interviews and features before seeing the new one.

Arrow Films brings David Lynch's "Dune" to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray with a limited-edition release that pulls out all the stops for the unfairly maligned epic. "Dune" arrives here in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR, source from a 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative. The result is incredible, with a beautiful presentation offering a very film-like appearance, with nice notes of naturals film grain. One might think the upgraded resolution would show the seams of the special effects — many of which have naturally dated — but the deeper contrast and detail only accentuates the film's great artistry.
 

 

Hmm, very interesting but I wonder which version this is.  I guess it implies it's the theatrical cut, because it keeps calling it David Lynch's.  

I personally prefer the "Alan Smithee" (/Dino De Laurentiis) cut.  Lynch's is chopped up to be confusing on purpose... aka Lynchian.  De Laurentiis put a lot of great stuff back in and several years ago a new version of this cut came out where the effects (mostly blue eyes in added footage) were completed and also had some of that special material, I believe.  

If you truly love 1984 Dune 4 hours of it is better than 2, right?  Yes, it has the clunky opening narration, but they didn't have to hand out instructional lobby cards with it...  

[JKane]

Also for fans of Dune who may want to re-read it before the premiere, it is one of the only books I've re-read repeatedly and each time I got something more out of it.  I especially enjoyed the latest time where I was part of an online book club, these videos are the discussions and they are very in-depth:

 

 

[Lonnie]

13 minutes ago, JKane said:

they are very in-depth

Thanks for sharing JKane...I'm looking forward to this... I'll have to get a new copy of Dune to follow along because mine is falling apart. 😀

[JKane]

Holy shit Dune is amazing!  

It is truly an adaptation, as such may be more faithful than other attempts that stayed word-for-word.  

Maybe starts off a bit slow but steadily builds.  

THE VOICE, the visuals, and the visual effects are fucking amazing.  

The soundtrack is forceful... maybe a bit to much so, maybe it'll grow on me but don't immediately need to have like I needed Toto's.  

Worth seeing in IMAX the first time if it's an option for you.  

I'm not sure whether my second viewing will be IMAX too or just a great Dolby Laser theater.  Have to wait to Oct 22nd for actual release (saw it at an industry screening).  

I believe October 22nd is also when it hits HBOMax and I'll watch it again there eventually but would strongly suggest a first viewing in a great theater.  

[Lonnie]

9 hours ago, JKane said:

Holy shit Dune is amazing!  

I'm not a bit jealous you got an early viewing...not at all.

[JKane]

7 hours ago, Lonnie said:

I'm not a bit jealous you got an early viewing...not at all.

 

If it helps I'm pissed I can't see it again for almost a month!  😁

[Lonnie]

2 hours ago, JKane said:

again for almost a month

[Pete1111]

On 9/8/2021 at 3:26 PM, JKane said:

Also for fans of Dune who may want to re-read it before the premiere, it is one of the only books I've re-read repeatedly and each time I got something more out of it.  I especially enjoyed the latest time where I was part of an online book club, these videos are the discussions and they are very in-depth:

 

 

@JKane,

 

How fortunate you connected with that book club.   The Internet knew to find you!  

 

I'm glad you commented on the book.  I definitely wanted to know if you'd recommend reading it.

 

Thank you!

[JKane]

I absolutely recommend reading the book, it is one of the greatest books of all time (not just Sci-Fi) and holds up better than most other iconic work of that age which that have been rehashed so much that they seem stale/predictable.  And it gets even better when you re-read it.  Haven't felt the need to re-read any other Sci-Fi.  Going along with the book club will get you even more out of it.  

HOWEVER, I think with all such things, I would recommend you watch the (new) movie BEFORE reading the book.  I think you always enjoy both more in that order because then you aren't thinking about what's missing or different so much.  

 

15 hours ago, Pete1111 said:

@JKane,

 

How fortunate you connected with that book club.   The Internet knew to find you!  

 

I'm glad you commented on the book.  I definitely wanted to know if you'd recommend reading it.

 

Thank you!

 

[Pete1111]

23 hours ago, JKane said:

I absolutely recommend reading the book, it is one of the greatest books of all time (not just Sci-Fi) and holds up better than most other iconic work of that age which that have been rehashed so much that they seem stale/predictable.  And it gets even better when you re-read it.  Haven't felt the need to re-read any other Sci-Fi.  Going along with the book club will get you even more out of it.  

HOWEVER, I think with all such things, I would recommend you watch the (new) movie BEFORE reading the book.  I think you always enjoy both more in that order because then you aren't thinking about what's missing or different so much.  

 

 

Ah, good point, JKane.  I'll put Dune in my reading queue.

That has been true for me with a recent LGBTQ movie that people were wild about.  I already loved the book.    But the movie was a "miss" for me.

 

[JKane]

Tomorrow is the big day (in the US), who has their IMAX tickets??  I have a pair for 6:30PM on Thursday. 

If you haven't already purchased you may have to go a week or two into the future...  As I've said, IMAX is really worthwhile for this movie if you have the chance.  Yes, it'll be on HBOMax too but even if you have a good screen and home theater IMAX with Dolby laser and Atmos is really worth it for first time.  Save home theater for 2nd or third (can't imagine not wanting to watch several times).  

 

AP loved it:  

https://apnews.com/article/film-reviews-entertainment-reviews-arts-and-entertainment-fiction-69aed702f55411a882161f3bfcda9bff

 

 

[JKane]

[JKane]

 

Also, if you haven't seen it, or want to again, ONLY ONE MORE WEEK ON HBO Max.  Leaves 11/22!!!