Overheard two girls when exiting the theater: "I was just here for Zendaya, and she was hardly in it" haha.

The throat-singing scene with the Sardaukar really left an impression. I wonder how they came up with it, can't think of anything in the books it could be based on.

I've never read the book or watched the 1984 movie, and I like it quite a lot so much that I've seen it two times in the theatre. The audio/visuals alone make this a movie worth seeing, and I ordered the whole series after I got home from my first viewing. I truly hope this is profitable so we get at least part 2..

Saw it 3 times in IMAX in 24 hours and I haven’t read the book. Fell in love with this universe and didn’t want it to end. I plan to read the book to get even more detail and lore because I found it so interesting particularly the Bene Gesserit.

Excellent to hear you two reacting to the film, which I'll be seeing tomorrow. Looking forward to the full spoiler chat!

Saw it on HBO. I didn’t have a problem with the darkness. I didn’t read the books but I did like blade runner 2049 so I knew I’d like this. I didn’t have an issue following the story. It was really cool. Definitely the best sci fi movie I’ve seen in a long time some of the scenes would’ve been the one cool scene in other movies. Will see it with my fiancé in theatre’s on Saturday.

Don’t expect an extended cut. Villeneuve is well known to hate them, even called Apocalypse Now Redux a “terrible idea”, and answered Momoa’s comments by laughing, cheering his enthusiasm but saying he would never get his wish for a longer cut, that the theatrical version was the final one and exactly as he wanted it. Villeneuve did say some of the deleted material could well be rewritten for scenes in part two, so it’s uncertain how much “deleted scenes” we’ll ever get to see as extras. For the balisette, they filmed a scene where he played it but Villeneuve ended up cutting it for pace. He said he might do another one for part two where Gurney and Thufir are apparently to have a larger presence as Denis wanted to really well establish Duncan in part one (I guess he already has in the back of his mind his plans for Dune Messiah). Villeneuve is working on the script for part two. If greenlit in December, the studios want him to film in late 2022 for a late 2023 release.

Just saw Dune last night, absolutely phenomenal movie. Can’t wait for part 2.

I actually loved the pace. To me it felt kinda like the book in that Denny doesn’t hold your hand. It moves like life, over before you know it. On a rewatch I noticed even more moments of tenderness that actually had emotional depth. There is always so much happening it may take a few watches to catch the complete vision. We also definitely need a part 2.

I loved the movie. Mostly the visuals and sound. It’s like Denis Villenueve can’t miss. It motivated me to finally go read the book.

One thing I wish was a little different is the Paul and Jamis fight. In the book they describe how Paul is accustomed to fighting with a shield so his attacks are slower and that’s why the fremen think he’s toying with Jamis.

The thing I wanted more of is the trip from Caladan to Arrakis. Space folding etc

I had’nt read the book and went to see the movie. I loved it so much that I went back to the cinema and watched it again. After that I ordered the Dune trilogy book which I am currently reading. So, as a ”casual” , the movie, although fast paced and mysterius, got me extremely interested and amazed by the Dune universe. It was the most epic movie i’ve seen since Endgame and Avatar.

I really enjoyed the movie, a lot to be excited about. It did leave me wanting more for a lot of scenes. I’ve read the book 3 times and my this is my husbands first experience with Dune and he loved it, he wants to read the book now so yay!

I think Denis has condensed and distilled the important content for the masses, but if you're paying close attention there are TON of small details that say a whole lot. Especially with the Gom Jabbar scene. I loved it. Also my favorite book of all time

From the point of view of someone who's not read the book or watched the 80s movie, I'll say I found the movie's plot pretty accessible and easy enough to follow. As easy as all of Denis' previous works, at least.

There actually is at least 1 leitmotif in the soundtrack. Its the melody you hear from the female vocalist in the 2nd trailer. I was able to pick up on a few different version while watching and even more after listening to the OST at home. I'm not sure what "theme" it is, but I would probably guess its related to Paul's future sight, as it usually happens in scenes related to prophecy

Excellent discussion, gentlemen! Looking forward to your upcoming spoiler review.

I loved the movie. I had complaints, but they were very minor compared to just the extreme awe I felt for most of this. It looked and sounded amazing, the sets and costumes and music, all that was perfect. And they were very book accurate, for everything that they kept. They even used actual book dialog in a few places, which I like to see in adaptations. And the shields and stuff worked very well on screen. I just hope the Wheel of Time adaptation can look half this good. They were very good at packing in little details into the background, like the boar head and the painting of the Duke's father. Am I the only one who couldn't help laughing at the throat singing on Salusa Secundus? Although speaking of, that scene was a great introduction for the Sardaukar.

The dinner party scene and all of Yueh's characterization are 90% done in internal monologues, I think Villanueve tried to not do any of that (unlike the sci fi series and Lynch's movie). I don't think they translate well to the big screen.

Literally every review I've seen said they wanted part 2. It better get greenlit soon

The only Dune content I’ve ever consumed is people reviewing the book. I knew virtually nothing. Thought the movie was flat out fucking incredible. Came home from the theater and instantly watched it again on HBO. And I should say, there’s not a single character that dies that I didn’t care about. In fact, there are characters that I didn’t see die who I hope didn’t, even though it’s highly insinuated they did.

Trying to get to the theater this week to see it! So excited!

Hadn't read the book or seen the old movie and TV series, but fell in love with this movie and saw it twice in the theatres and 4x at home (and planning on buying the BluRay hoping for deleted scenes).

I've seen it twice already and the soundtrack and general sound design was one of my favorite parts of the film. I cant wait for part 2 and will be rereading the book as soon as I finish AMoL.

I never read the books and since my teens I didn't really read any books at all anymore, but after watching this movie I ordered the first 6 books right away and I will devour them. This movie worked so well for me, even more so after rewatching it, and just left me wanting to know more about this universe and the people in it and I can't wait for the books to arrive

I hope there is a part 2 to this discussion. They really set it up for one

I was waiting for your review/discussion but now I need to carve out the time. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. I absolutely loved this adaptation. Filmmaking at its finest.

It's clear that Chani's perspective is the one that will give us the intimate look (in Part II) at Paul that you should expect from a Villeneuve film. Part I was about seeing Paul the youth mostly from the perspective of his parents and mentors. Now, with the "passing" of the youth and the "birth" of Paul Muad'dib, we're likely to get a depiction of Paul that's much more ambiguous and nuanced than in the Lynch film. Even in Part I, the "chosen one" theme had its atypically sharp notes that cast doubt on Paul as a "hero". Part II will likely make people thing about how they really feel about where this "hero" is taking us and it is through Chani's eyes that we'll judge him. None of this will require massive adjustments to the amount of on-screen time Chani gets in Part II. We will get to see the Emperor and Feyd with prominent roles (and see much more of Thufir and Gurney - and, I expect, we'll see Count Fenring too since he is one of the characters that establishes the limits of Paul's prescience even at its maximum strength.

This was fun. Thanks, guys!!

Wife and I just watched it and it was special. Can see it's influence in so much scifi over the years. It's motivated me dig into the books.

I didn’t read the book but I’m a huge fan of denis and I think it’s one of his best

I'm only 80 pages into the book, but I went and saw it in IMAX today and loved it! I'm even more excited to read more of the book(s) and really hope that they do Part 2.

Yess, here we go!

Saw it three weeks ago now. Going again tonight.

I just saw Dune and I really enjoyed it Some very good actors in there and the sandworms were impressive! And now I'm going to read the books again..😊

As a Dune fan I thought the movie was great visually, but in terms of the movie’s story in general I thought something was missing and some of the major characters were just not fleshed out enough. I was especially disappointed that the dinner party scene at Arrakeen was not filmed. I was also disappointed that the plot point and repercussions of the Harkonnen’s feeding Hawat false clues that make him suspect Jessica instead of Dr. Yueh as the one person close to Leto who may be a traitor was not filmed. Those two scenes would have created great dramatic effect within the movie. The not filmed Atreides military raid on Giedi Prime to destroy the Harkonnen spice hoards would have been nice touch also.

Omg, I’m soooo glad you did this review. I went to see it with someone who knows nothing about Dune. I have only read the book once but loooooooove it. So when it was over my friend turned to me and said it was a nice movie but the story was ok. So then I launched into the Butlerian Jihad, what a Mentat was and all the rest. After I was done she looked at me and said ok now I understand much better. The look of the movie was great and the actors were great. But it was just missing something. :(.

Saw it last night. Please go to the cinema to see this. It's amazing and definitely designed for the theater. I took my two teenage sons who have not read the book and my 19 year old decided to start the book today after the movie. Also, my boys and I loved the soundtrack. It's one of the first comments they made. And we had no issues with the light.

Have read the book three times and the movie twice. I couldn't be happier. I understand fully that sci-fi/fantasy book adaptations to film are daunting at best. It's not like adapting say a mistery or a drama which is set in our world. Scifi depends heavily on technology, foreign premises, jargon and analogies that are alien to our world. Dune is one of the most exhaustive, symbolic, broad and deep sci Fi epics ever written. It's no wonder that it is also one of the greatest. To take all of that and everything that it has ever meant to fans of the book to the screen is nothing short of a miracle. In some ways, I feel that Villeneuve has done a better job at not only giving us a beautiful gem of a movie in its own right but also a better adaptation of the book than Peter Jackson's adaptation of LOTR. A good adaptation doesn't simply mean stuffing the movie with everything in the book. If that were the case then Jodorowsky's Dune would be a reality at least as far its intended TEN hour run time and it still would have necessarily left out some of the precious Dune minutiae. Villeneuve distilled the book and curated his interpretations of Dune brilliantly. True, it's not what everyone would have done but God bless him, the love of the book shines through and I love him for that. Also, some of those scenes are so book accurate that I almost cried like a girl. It's as if Villeneuve had read my mind. For instance, the thopter scene with Jessica, Paul and the deaf Harkonnen. It was almost exactly how I had always imagined it. He left out things that I would not have left out but to think that my version would have been better is just me deluding myself like some Barista at Starbucks saying "yeah man, I would have totally gone another way. Venti Caramel Machiatto for Jason!!". Villeneuve is a master of his craft and my hope is that we see the second part of his interpretation of Dune. I for one would say that this is the best film interpretation of Dune and it isn't even close. Sure, the mini series is longer and is textually more faithful to the book but let's be honest, it is inferior in every other respect: design, the cast, score, the acting, in short, everything. It is so substandard not just to Villeneuve's but to film standards to the point of some of it being unwatchable. I won't even mention Lynch's version. That one is neither book accurate or good in most respects.

I havent read the books yet and I absolutely loved every second of the movie. It brought me to this channel actually. In fact, I'm going to buy the book today. My father and his mother both read the series and have told me how great it is my whole life. I was very very excited to watch this movie and I feel like it delivered for me personally. I rarely read outside of fantasy novels and I kept getting those vibes all over the place. ESPECIALLY when it came to prophecy. When done right, I dont think there is anything else I enjoy more. All that being said, I was left wanting. I was blown away...but it wasnt enough. It did get its hooks into me though and I cannot wait to start reading tonight!!!

I loved the movie. The only problem I have with dune the movie is that we are in the golden age of television. This epic deserves 12 plus hours and with the budgets and tech available for TV that is where a story like this would fit best.

i havent read any of the books and i watched this with my mother who is normally a little slow for grand sci-fi concepts/politics, the movie did a good job explaining itself and allowed you to keep up with the characters on screen , lots of world building without having to tell you too much. makes me want to read the books !

I really liked it but I can see how people would have issues with the pacing. But I still loved it, can’t wait for part 2

Haven't read the book, but loved this movie.

I got to watch in Hong Kong a week earlier. Though I have yet to read the novel, I am blown away by the adaptation.

I’d agree with the assessment that the movie is awesome, and it should have been three hours. I was so enthralled that the time mostly quickly, and I would have been willing to sit through another 20-25 minutes just to get some extra character development of Yueh and Thufir Hawat, whose roles are underdeveloped in this version. Yueh’s motivations are largely lost in the rushed mid-movie sequences. We also could have gotten a little more of the Harkonnens, and a better sense of how space travel happens and the role of the spice. So I love the movie, I just wish there was more.

Seeing it tomorrow at Noon in IMAX, I'll come back to this review :) we're definitely getting part2, but I think Messiah is still up in the air.

Ruocchio, just finishing the first book of the sun eater and gotta say its pretty good. Great work

I was glad to hear you say that it was too dark in some places and that you sometimes had a hard time understanding what the characters were saying. I streamed the movie again when I got home and the lighting was much better on the small screen and with subtitles I was able catch up on all the dialogue. The bagpipe music was the best part of the soundtrack and I wonder how much more engaging the movie would have been with a sweeping orchestral soundtrack. Overall, I am very well pleased with this adaptation of the book and, like you, wish they had been able to include even more. But, the movie probably would have to been extended to at least 3 hours, if not more, and I'm not sure the normies would go for that.

@mikesbooksreviews, I think this is a great adaptation, sure their could've been more but for casual audiences it will work, I took like 12 friends, two of them were kind of mixed on it and the other 10 absolutely loved it

Stand out characters Liet Keynes. I really loved when she called the worm before dying. I was also surprised the impact of seeing prescient visions of a friendship with Jameson and then his death.

I agree the movie moved so fast. Wanted them to linger more on the big moments like LOTR did with Gandalf's - Fly You Fools and Boromir's last stand scenes. I understand streamlining the world for general audiences so a lot of the Dune universe was bypassed. The biggest absence I felt was how little Yueh was in the movie so his scenes with the Duke had little emotional context and impact. The points Christopher made about the score were spot on. This movie needed motifs much like Shore did with LOTR. BUT the movie itself was still great. Wish Villenueve approached this as a trilogy instead of a two parter.

If this doesn't get an Extended Cut then i'll scream !!!

Cheers for Isaac!

It's worth going multiple times in theatre. I love the movie. I never read the book or watched other version before. But it makes me want to read the book, already order the book

Loved the movie, my friend that haven't read the book liked it as well. I liked the sound, even though it wasn't that rememberable. I missed the dinner scene as well, but overall I think they developed the characters very well

Saw the movie today and loved it! I think your criticisms are valid. Some of these issues I had, but if they made the movie in my head, it would be 8 hours long. This is the best version so far put on film.

Great Review! I loved the movie but I have some of the same minor gripes as you guys do like the choice of soundtrack, I have the feeling that, sadly no longer with us, James Horner would have made a masterful job.

The movie screamed that there was a longer version filmed. That said, I'm willing to give it the full benefit of the doubt.

Hey, the VFX look great!

So much happened in the movie I felt like I have to read the book because I feel like there is so much I missed. It felt so quick.

I've never read the book but, interestingly enough, I've always had it. Seeing the movie, I'm actually deciding to put aside the books for now and wait where the movie series is gonna go. I want to see the whole story in movie format without having any context as to what's gonna happen next. The idea that I'm going to see the story unfold for the first time is something that will never happen again and reading the books will take that away from me. For me, the film felt like they squeezed as much as they could without compromising the overall plot. At least, that's what it felt like and I have nothing but respect and appreciation for the crew for putting such delicate care to the script, the props, the costumes, etc. I'm excited to see where this is gonna go. I hope they put as much care to the sequels and not have production companies dictate what's to be put into the films. The movie was beautiful. Admittedly, I wish I could have seen more of the cultures of the races in their garb, mannerisms, architecture, etc. Even with the little that they showed, I love how organic it all looked. How lived in it was. Does that even make sense? Anyway, thanks for posting this. I had to jump back into this channel after I watched the film for the first time. I saw Mike's first reaction to the trailer and it's got me going back to this channel for more. Glad to hear from you both! :)

Nice review. I watched it in the theater. I get what you mean about the soundtrack drowning out the dialogue in spots but I liked the soundtrack. I'm going to watch it with my wife today on hbo max with the subtitles going. I liked the movie, right now I think its my favorite movie of the year of the 50 movies i've seen.

What Mike says about the sound in the theatre. My wife and I were exactly the same. Said the same things. I missed so much dialogue because of sound distortion. I live on the other side of the world in South Africa so I was very interested to hear that experiences in a theatre elsewhere in the world was the same. Almost as the movie started I cringed and thought out loud, "turn down the volume"!

It opens here November 4th and I haven't read the book, but if I like the movies I'll check the book.

They did shoot baliset scenes but they were cut

What the hell was that spider-dog thing that was told off when the Baron and the space witch? Looked like something out of an Alien movie.

I have yet to read the book and I thought the movie was great will be reading the book asap now

I watched it without reading the book first, and I personally loved it

I was exited for 24 after seeing in kino , but after that : Any single word about why spece guild ,mentats, dr Yueh are so special. Like Mike said Thufir and Gurney have cameos ( Harkonens are baaaaad because Gurney shouted it to Paul). Why Pieter in that version even exist. Chani introduction is time missleading- like spice was taken out from Arrakis recently. For me is visual emptiness. Good part - Paul scenes ( when desert start to talk to him thats my favourite scene of all film), Duncan, poore Duncan, that salute with knive man!, Jessica. Little sandess I feel.

Bless the maker and his water.

My theatre was also dark. I even mentioned it to the theatre it was so off. I saw it on my laptop first, and it was a better purely visual experience.

I actually liked the atmospheric soundtrack. But I get how that isn't everyone's cup of tea. My niece watched it and understood it well for not having read the books. But she did think the Baron was capable of levitation as a magical power. I explained the suspensors and she said that would've made more sense if the movie had explained that better. But she's excited for another movie.

They couldn’t have put everything from the first half of the book in a 2 and a half hour long movie.. just couldn’t do it. What they did do was perfection.

I went yesterday with my brother who hasn't read the book, and had never watched the trailer. He said he liked it, but didn't understand a lot of it.

Mike, everything single point you made is exactly what went through my mind while watching this. I really loved the movie. But I don’t really know how people who have not read the book would truly understand what was happening that well in the first part of the movie or really know the characters.

I took my 11 year old daughter. She got it and was blown away.

I have ticket for Imax next week, so I am really looking forward to it... Its a difficult challenge. Some Dune book fans complain that there's a lot of things cut from the movie, or parts of the book that they really wanted... But some of the non-dune fans have said that the movie it too long, too boring, too slow... I mean its a 2.5-3 hr movie that some fans want more things stuffed into it, and other things say its too much. As a Dune fan, I do hope for a extended version, or at least a BluRay that gives us deleted scenes.

I agree with you guys on the soundtrack. I had the same reaction. But if you have the time, please take a moment to listen to the track "Herald of the Change". It has a creepy, chilling theme that I think is the main theme of the film. It gave me some more appreciation for the score.

I think the theatrical version of this movie is indeed the Villeneuve's director's cut. I know we all want to see more, but we also have to take into consideration that this is a movie made for theaters in mind. This is an ADAPTATION, not a literal translation from the book, which would be awful as a novel's structure doesn't really work as a movie. They are different mediums. The “disappearing characters” are clearly being saved for Part 2, it's very clear that's what's happening. Showing their developments here would spoiled the number of revelations in the next film.

Movie was awesome. I just feel It should have been even longer.

I would love to comment on one aspect of your review! (LOL) I found watching it a second time, I had less expectation knowing and enjoyed a lot of the "fast" scenes (like hunter seeker) seemed way slower and tense. The first watch went by so FAST! :(

I have not read the book or seen any other adaptation. I thought the movie was visually stunning and I liked the movie score. I did find the plot a little confusing though, particularly the political conflict. I needed to google some background to understand why the different players would make the choices they did. Doing the research really expanded the cast of big political players that are keeping things in balance which makes the specific conflict in the movie make sense from political and economic standpoints. I am now more interested in reading the book than I was before seeing the movie. And I would definitely see Part 2.

I can't find a book review from Mike. I saw the series? Non spoiler review where he says more coming. A real book review...

I've never read the books. And I liked the movie alot but definitely didn't feel the movie gripped me to the universe people love. To how passionately they love it.

Dune requires a mini series, with Amazon level funding. What would $400 million get you if they filmed it to cover something like 9 hours (9 - 10 episodes maybe?) Overall, the ability to compress so much, while not requiring a massive amount of knowledge of the novel, was executed quite well.

The pacing of the music was good, saw Drax the entire time, and the actor who played Paul is gonna have a big opportunity in the next film to make or break the franchise.

As a non book reader, I’m dying for part 2! I don’t think I can wait 2-3 years to find out what happens. While I didn’t think it was the 10/10 masterpiece I was hoping for, seeing Dune in IMAX was an incredible experience. I’m hooked on the characters and the world and I need more now!

The movie was good I loved it, but the Dune mini series is still my favorite adaptation maybe because it's finished. A lot of ppl don't even know about the mini series

I'm a reader, don't much care about mindless flashing pictures, in a very abbreviated format compared to reading. I watched it 3 times now, but I should have re-read it yet again, I'd have finished half the novel in a casual reading speed. One's imagine while reading is much more satisfying.

Oh man do I need your spoiler review! I watched this last night on HBO (sorry) and I have not read the book (sorry again lol) I thought the movie was beautiful and feel like I got the main point but I was pretty confused. I kept feeling like there was something important that I was missing. I also didn't really understand the characters and their significance. Help me out man! Lol

As a non native speaker I watch every movie with subs the first time. Once I get what they're saying I watch the movie again without them and I'm good to go. I remember I watched BvS in the US with no subs and I WAS STRUGGLING.

Effing loved it. Best Sci-Fi film in a long time except of course BR 2024

I think longer novels are better adapted as tv series. Movies end up being abridged. I thought the soundtrack was kind of monotonous. It did get stuck in my head as I drove home. I want an ornithopter. I've loved Rebecca Ferguson since she played Rose the Hat in Doctor Sleep. Was that sign language in the book? I was a bit confused by Paul's visions and the voices he hears, but after watching Quinn's Ideas on youtube I understand it. I actually watched it in Dolby Cinema, but I'm not sure what the difference was. At least it was less crowded, like being in a vip room lol.

I agree with a lot of this review but STRONGLY disagree with the criticisms of the soundtrack. Of course this is subjective, as this is an opinion, but for me the soundtrack was phenomenal. It was other-worldly, epic, ancient yet futuristic, and yes, very atmospheric and powerful. This may be because I am a musician, but I 100% had the main motif playing in my head as I walked out and it is epic! You can best hear this repeated tune in the singing on the track "Ripples in the Sand". Totally respect that everyone has their different tastes but man this soundtrack was something else...almost meditative (and in the theater it put me in a trance at times). I'm doing work to it in the background right now!

So I bought Dune about a month ago, and didn’t get it read. Extensive TBR + mood-reading anyone? But anyway... I decided to bite the bullet and just watch the movie last night without reading it. And I LOVED it! I too was a bit disappointed to not see more Zendaya than I did. 😅 I had a lot of what the heck is going on moments at first. Still loved it! I’d say everything fully started clicking at somewhere in the 1/3-1/2 way mark. I fully intend on reading dune ASAP. I thought Tim did an incredible job. The character building throughout the movie was cool to see!

What was that terrible water discipine in the final shot though! Everyone walking along with their faces fully exposed. SMH.

Wow! Sand porn! Great beautiful shots of epic dunes & sick chanting & crazy alien rhythms and costumes. I loved it!!!

An audio-visual stunner. However, even as a Part 1 and at 2.5 hrs the film was way too short. I was shocked at how little screen time was given to the Baron and Harkonens. There was no real sense given to what the spice is and why it is so important. Too many important elements either underdeveloped or dropped completely. Final act wasn't as rigorous and meticulous as the first two and felt clunky and rushed. An extended cut would be nice but this is Villeneuve and he is committed to the fact that his theatrical cut is the final word.