{"id":23694,"date":"2021-10-20T23:31:12","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T06:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=23694"},"modified":"2021-10-20T23:31:12","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T06:31:12","slug":"dune-doesnt-tell-the-entire-story-but-remains-a-top-notch-adaptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=23694","title":{"rendered":"DUNE Doesn\u2019t Tell the Entire Story, But Remains a Top-Notch Adaptation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This film debuts in movie theaters and on HBO Max October\n22nd<\/sup>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frank Herbert\u2019s science-fiction novel Dune<\/em> was published in 1965 and became one of its genre\u2019s most popular tales. Despite its lasting success, filmmakers have struggled for decades in their attempts to adapt the dense and detailed story to the big screen. A 1984 David Lynch effort featured striking visuals, but its story suffered from studio tinkering that resulted in a choppy narrative. Remarkably, the latest adaptation is a revelation. It\u2019s about as well-mounted as one could possibly hope for, providing more detail that was missing from the previous movie. If audiences can get past one minor issue with this feature, they are certain to be taken on an incredible ride.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Set in the year 10191, the story begins with the unseen\nEmperor of the Known Universe assigning command of desert world called Arrakis\n(also known as Dune) to the leader of planet Caladan, Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar\nIsaac). This sandy sphere possesses the \u201cSpice\u201d which is the most valuable substance\nin existence. It can extend life and enable interstellar-travel across great\ndistances. Mining the drug is a difficult task, with dangerous sandworms in the\ndeserts and indigenous Fremen ready to fight their planet\u2019s occupiers. Leto\narrives on Dune with wife Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and son Paul (Timoth\u00e9e\nChalamet). Paul shows great promise as a future leader, as well as strange extra-sensory\nabilities that include visions of the future. Despite his gifts, the new\narrivals don\u2019t realize that they have been set up to fail. The mysterious\nEmperor actually wants Atreides enemy House Harkonnen to seize power and slay\nthe family. Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd) and his nephew Beast Rabban\n(Dave Bautista) attempt to make good on the arrangement, leaving all in deadly\nperil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are even more characters and subplots to the story\nthan listed above. This includes Paul\u2019s relationships with trainers Duncan\nIdaho (Jason Mamoa) and Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), as well as an eerie\ninteraction with the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother (Charlotte Rampling), a\npowerful figure with frightening psychic abilities. It is easy to see why so\nmany have referred to the book as unfilmable, simply because of the volume of supporting\ncharacters. There is a lot of information to establish and the movie doesn\u2019t\nrush haphazardly, instead identifying the different characters and their\nmotivations in a clear and understandable manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In addition to the well-defined minor roles, we\u2019re also given\nmore time with protagonist Paul. Additional scenes are spent with the young man\nto understand his rationale and his doubts about his abilities. Labeled by some\nas a potential savior of the universe, Chalamet effectively communicates his\nfeelings of uncertainty, often treating his unusual talents as more of a curse\nthan a blessing. These moments make the character more relatable and the\napproach benefits the movie greatly. And when war breaks out and lives are lost,\nit has far more of an impact on the viewer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the feature also benefits from tremendous technical\nwork, including the production design, costumes and cinematography. This movie\nlooks like an epic and has awe-inspiring images, with sweeping and uniquely\nlensed desert vistas and impressive scenes involving giant sandworms and\nexplosive compound raids. It all looks remarkable. Naturally, the cold-hearted\nand cruel Harkonnen leaders also make a notable and intimidating impression,\nadding to the tension as they coolly wipe out their foes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, what is the downside to a movie that takes time to\ndevelop the world and characters living within it? Well, with a bulky and\ndetailed story, it\u2019s a process that requires a great deal of screentime. Too\nmuch, in fact, for just one feature. Alas, viewers should take note that this\nadaptation only covers the first half of the book. This means that the film ends\nin a muted manner, just as the drama is beginning to really gear up. It doesn\u2019t\nhave a big climax depicting a presumably jaw-dropping final fight between all\nthe parties who have been so carefully introduced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Still, what is onscreen is largely enthralling and this reviewer is anxious to see how it all plays out. And if this title ends up being a success, we should be in for a truly spectacular finale. Personally, I don\u2019t think this story could be effectively told in two hours, so breaking the novel into two chapters is the best route to properly adapting the material. In the end, viewers may not get the whole Dune<\/em> experience in this single film, but everything that is present is top-notch in every respect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This film debuts in movie theaters and on HBO Max October 22nd. Frank Herbert\u2019s science-fiction novel Dune was published in 1965 and became one of its genre\u2019s most popular tales. Despite its lasting success, filmmakers have struggled for decades in their attempts to adapt the dense and detailed story to the big screen. A 1984 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":23719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,1825,1944,3295,4153,5260,5753,5757,6360,6361,6362,6363,6365,7010,8896,10427,11045,15506,16758,17775,19013,22920],"class_list":["post-23694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-arrakis","tag-atreides","tag-book-adaptation","tag-charlotte-rampling","tag-dave-bautista","tag-desert","tag-desert-planet","tag-dune","tag-dune-film-review","tag-dune-movie-review","tag-dune-part-1","tag-dune-review","tag-epic","tag-harkonnen","tag-jason-mamoa","tag-josh-brolin","tag-oscar-isaac","tag-rebecca-ferguson","tag-science-fiction","tag-stellan-skarsgard","tag-timothee-chalamet"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23694\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}