Dune movie release.
I just watched the new Dune release on HBO. Here are my thoughts.
– You learn more about the story in the first five minutes of Lynch’s version than you do the entire movie.
– The emperor is behind the screen. Really? Who? What? Why? No clue.
– Other than Paul and Jessica, the characters are thin.
– Sardaurkar who? Why are they important? No clue.
– The hand-in-the-box scene lacks intensity. Real pain? It’s important. But they can’t show it because Lynch did.
– Dr. Yueh, a major character, has little to no background. You feel no empathy for him. And you can’t even understand him as he speaks.
– The movie inserts bits and pieces of the book without proper context.
– The new Dune tries to outdo Lynch’s movie. How? Apparently by ignoring the big story and inserting in minor scenes that stick out in the book but are mostly lost without the larger picture.
– The value of the movie is that is it mostly visual, obviously trying to wow the audience and possibly evoke emotions. Minus the substance that makes us think, like Herbert’s book and Lynch’s very complicated attempt, the movie succeeds.
– Overall, it’s a very modern movie: all presentation and emotion without content or substance.
