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Dune (the movie)

57 replies

Kanaloa · 25/10/2021 05:04

Considering possible cinema choices for this weekend and wondering if anyone has seen the new Dune movie yet?

Is it one of those that it’s a bit pointless seeing if you haven’t read the books? Or can it be enjoyed as a stand alone film? Also, is it generally any good, would anyone recommend it?

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MargaretAnjou · 26/10/2021 08:38

DH and I watched it and we thought it was dreadfully boring and we wonder whether we missed something because the reviews are great! I don't know much about Dune, but wanted to see it as I love this type of genre. DH had seen the first film and said it was bad.

I had to planed to read the book but now am not sure!

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Kanaloa · 26/10/2021 20:08

Oh dear the bad reviews come in after we’ve now booked the tickets 😂 anyway we are seeing it on Friday and I’ll report back whether it was so thrilling we immediately booked to see again or so dull we fell asleep half way through!

If nothing else it is two hours and forty minutes child free where nobody (I hope) will ask me to put their socks on or wipe their nose for them.

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colouringindoors · 26/10/2021 20:27

Saw it last night. I'm not a particular science fiction fan, but I loved it! Visually stunning, extraordinary soundtrack. Storyline rich in symbolism and mythology. See it on the biggest screen you can Grin

8misskitty8 · 26/10/2021 22:50

Sorry, it was a snooze fest for me. I was really disappointed as the trailers looked good.
Film was really drawn out, and at the end I thought is that it ? Story could have been condensed to 90 minutes. Sometimes it was hard to hear what they were saying, especially Rebecca Ferguson. Questionable acting from some of the cast too. Beautiful scenery though.

Won’t be going to see the 2nd film.

For me it was lord of the rings all over again, looked epic in trailers but actual films were in my opinion rubbish.( I gave up on those after falling asleep watching film 2 )

WotgunShedding · 26/10/2021 23:30

@PhlegmDelacour

I'm going against the grain here as I really disliked it. I thought the score was too loud and overly dramatic in non dramatic moments, I thought some of the dialogue was very unclearly spoken / hard to understand and I thought too much time was invested in cinematography and effects and not enough in actual plot or character building. Not a fan of most of the acting either.

Plot was easily to follow though.
Was looking forward to it and very let down.

Agree with all of this. We went into it blind and understood what was happening but it was so drawn out with the world building that I lost interest in what the characters got up to (which was not much!)
MintyCedric · 27/10/2021 00:08

I saw it last week, having started the book after someone recommended it earlier in the year but not got very far.

On the whole I enjoyed it, but it did feel a bit like a very lengthy prologue.

I got the impression that a fair bit of nuance and character development was sidelined in favour of big action scenes and special effects (which were seriously impressive tbf)...but happy to be corrected by someone who's read the book.

It actually made me want to read the book in full, so I guess it must have been pretty good.

SleepingStandingUp · 27/10/2021 00:10

DH said it was good, but slow. I saw Boss Baby 2 instead. I highly recommend it.

Obviouslynotallthere · 27/10/2021 08:27

Went Last night . Ds2 has already seen it and hasn't stopped talking about it. I loved it. Amazing way to get back into cinema after such a long break. We saw it on imax. I'm going again. I love sci-fi. I hadn't read the book or saw the 1984 film. It's an amazing visual movie for the big screen. The story is paced to follow with some ease and the music score supports well. Loved it all.

TrueGrit54 · 27/10/2021 14:17

Saw it yesterday, knew nothing about it (DH loved the books). It looked amazing, it was a bit overly loud I thought, great acting, I understood most of it. DH thought it was great, DS 17 (very fussy about films) was glad we saw it and DD 15 enjoyed it.

My only criticism is there was no humour, it’s a bit bleak. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Mandalorian you get humour and interesting creatures. Dune is a bit serious but I did enjoy it. DD is getting book one from Waterstones today.

JerkintheMerkin · 27/10/2021 14:55

Saw it last night and really enjoyed it. A bit of annoying mumbling from the actors here and there though. Ended at the right place to set up part 2 but I could have easily watched the next one straight after such is my love for sci-fi. Was bloody loud though. At the end I thought the cinema speakers were going to pop Confused

Dilbertian · 27/10/2021 21:10

@TheShadoutCrepes I've PMd you.

Xiaoxiong · 29/10/2021 09:21

We saw it yesterday knowing nothing about the plot at all - a friend had described it as "game of thrones meets star wars for grownups" which was a pretty good description!

I did miss some of the dialogue when people mumbled but it wasn't as bad as most (have got used to having subtitles on at home!) And I LOVED the costume and production designs, you could see they took a page out of the Lord of the Rings films and relied on lots of real costumes and settings rather than too much CGI or special effects (though there was plenty of that too).

Xiaoxiong · 29/10/2021 09:23

Posted too soon - DH and I both really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next one! It's definitely a film you walk out thinking "I'm glad I saw that in the cinema".

Doomscrolling · 29/10/2021 19:19

Anyone else doubling down on the Classic SciFi vibe and watching Foundation on Apple TV as well?

I’m enjoying revisiting stories I (nicked from my dad) read as a kid.

VenusStarr · 29/10/2021 19:30

I hated it. It was so dark at points and I found it boring, I drifted off at one point and the loud music woke me up. I didn't care about any of the characters. Was really disappointed with the ending as it means there's a part 2 and dh will want to go! 😂 I watched the original and didn't like that, so I knew I probably wouldn't like it. If you like that kind of thing, you'll love it (based on what dh thought).

BrownJenkins · 29/10/2021 22:39

Finally got to see it today.
Visually stunning. Really enjoyed it.
Had read the books many years ago and watched the 1980's film, several times, so knew what to expect.
It's such a complex story and therefore shouldn't be rushed, hence parts 2 and 3.
In my opinion it's Oscar worthy.

Commonparenth00d · 10/11/2021 19:36

I haven't seen it yet (and I will soon) but I haven't heard the best reviews from people that have seen it unfortunately...

You can't always trust reviews and I say go see it regardless of what anyone says. I am!

AmandaHoldensLips · 10/11/2021 19:37

I thought it was FANTASTIC!!!!!!

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Kanaloa · 10/11/2021 19:41

Totally forgot about this thread!! Anyway we did go and see it and the verdict was lukewarm. It was beautiful on the screen and very atmospheric. The sort of thing that I will probably see the sequel if it’s on but I won’t be counting down the days to see it.

The best part of the evening was after the film when I asked DH what he’d thought of the film and if he liked it and he said ‘I preferred when we went to see Baby Driver.’

Apparently that’s how long it’s been since we were at the cinema together not to see a kids film 😂

Now every film will be measured against the one evening we saw Baby Driver and had a Frankie & Benny’s. Or possibly in five years or something we’ll see another film and he’ll pronounce it ‘better than Dune in 2021.’

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Kanaloa · 10/11/2021 19:42

So to sum up I’d say it was okay. More impressive to look at than to watch if that makes any sense, but not terrible - definitely not Lord of the Rings territory.

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1990s · 13/11/2021 12:45

I thought it was incredible. Wanted to clap at the end.

Same reaction from everyone else I know who’s seen it.

Puffinhead · 13/11/2021 18:36

Just saw it today. It was good! But bloody loud. And quite tense, I don’t think I breathed properly throughout.

Costumes/sets/technical details were amazing.

MMM2 · 13/11/2021 18:40

Brilliant film, thoroughly enjoyed it .

SaharanDune · 20/11/2021 23:58

I am a big Dune fan since reading the book, way way back. Loved 2001 and 2010 and all this genre.

Dune 2021 had an 8 minute standing ovation on its intro screening. I thought it was a great film. I think some things could have been done better given the substantial change in special effects over the last 30 years. We should have seen more worm. We should have seen more awe in space. Both the book and the first film have more in the second half, so the sequel in 2023 will be a joy. The characters were portrayed brilliantly. It is believable.

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Kanaloa · 21/11/2021 00:35

@SaharanDune

I am a big Dune fan since reading the book, way way back. Loved 2001 and 2010 and all this genre.

Dune 2021 had an 8 minute standing ovation on its intro screening. I thought it was a great film. I think some things could have been done better given the substantial change in special effects over the last 30 years. We should have seen more worm. We should have seen more awe in space. Both the book and the first film have more in the second half, so the sequel in 2023 will be a joy. The characters were portrayed brilliantly. It is believable.

I would have said the opposite - although lots of the scenery etc was beautiful, I felt sometimes like it was more for looking at than watching. Although not sure if that’s what you mean. I thought the actual story telling part could have been condensed massively and it ran for far too long.

Not to say it was an awful film, I don’t think it was. But definitely at times it was style over substance for me.

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