Rating: 
Summary: DUNE
Review: A GREAT impovement over the previous movie of the same name.
Follows the book much closer.
Rating: 
Summary: Cheap and shallow
Review: The screenwriter for this movie either did not appreciate the book, or was simply told the events of Herbert's masterpiece and tried to write from there. This is the simple flaw of the Mini-Series- a collection of scenes that correspond with scenes from the book but completely lack the depth or feel imparted by Frank Herbert.The Harkonens, malevolant, incestuous, evil and disgusting in the book are now evil little clowns- almost laughable in their absurdity. Paul, a budding ruler wise beyond his years yet attempting to cope with his god-like potential, is a whiney brat with the leadership of a girl-scout drop out. In the book, we see Duncan Idaho- a reocurring character who is cloned throughout the entire series because of his dedication to the Atreides- fight to buy Paul and Jessica just a little more time to escape even knowing that he is mortally stricken and sure to die without aid. In the movie, he is no more than a valet driver helping the pair into a thopter before being blown up by a missile. A MISSILE! Cliff Notes would be a better representation of the movie. Many complain that David Lynch's Dune was horrible because it crammed the hole novel into scenes that were not exact reproductions of the book. But atleast Lynch captured the depth of the book, which is far better than capturing the breadth. This mini-series is a bunch of eye-candy- amounting to nothing more than illustrations for the book. If you have read Dune, and yearn to see poor illustrations of people riding sandworms, then watch this movie. I warn you, though, that if you understand the meanings of "Wheels within wheels" and "Here we will use Desert Power", then you will be outraged by this movie. Gah!
Rating:
Summary: Bring me spice!
Review: Ok,you have two choices here,either the film,or this tv version!In my opinion this is the one that is truer to the book,no thunderstorms at the end of this one!The effects are pretty good,the acting is ok,the plot is good,and the music is ok,but after watching the 1980's movie,then watching this,there's something missing!Ah yes,action!While there are some action scenes in this,the best being at the end,they are few and far between,and don't last for that long!In the movie we were treated to battle after battle,with the sarduakar in pretty cool suits,but in this they're wearing robes,and one had a tea towel on his head,meanacing?no!
If you want an action flick that isn't that true to the book,buy the film,if you want something true to the book,but,a little boring in places..buy this!
Rating:
Summary: Longer, more in depth
Review: First off, I must say I have only Dune of the Dune books. My first impression of Dune was the movie from the 80s, which did not greatly impress me with anything other than the cast itself. This version is longer than the other movie, and is much more enjoyable. A mini-series always allows more to be done with something than a feature film because of the obvious time constraints. People will watch something on TV 3 nights in a row for 2 hours, but will NOT sit through a dark theater for 6 hours. This added time allows the story to develop more. I cannot compare this to the books, but it is very enjoyable to watch. Good story, which I imagine is why the Dune series enjoys legend status in the realm of Sci-Fi, great special effects, and solid acting by the cast.
Rating: 
Summary: Dune from the Mirror-Universe!
Review: I've read the book, watched the original film by David Lynch and just watched this mini-series. Well, I tried. At the beginning of the second part, I just couldn't take it any more. The Bene Gesserit are portrayed as helpless females (especially his mother who IMHO can really take care of herself!), Paul Atreides resembles a high school bully with bad attitude who chases girls for a living and let's not talk about the finer points of Dune's multi-faceted story-line. The book is my favorite, but even David Lynch's adaption is much more in the spirit of the original (NOT in the specific details, obviously!) than this worthless version! Enough said.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time.
Review: I guess since we can have better special effects in movies now, a remake of Dune sounds like a good idea... I'm not sure that it really was. Having seen the previous movie, read the books and now having owned the miniseries, I can say - read the books, see the previous movie. This is really bad. The acting is horrible, the music, second rate and the direction is missing. I feel that the original Dune was perhaps the best adaptation of a book into a movie ever. Save your time, read the book, watch the older version...
Rating:
Summary: Stick with the Lynch version!!
Review: The big houses of the known universe battle for supremacy on the planet Arrakis, the one and only source for a substance called "Spice" that is essential to navigate through space, and much more. The one who controls Spice-earning on Arrakis is in fact in control of everything in the entire universe. The Emperor of the known universe, Shaddam IV., helps the (evil) House of Harkonnen to betray the (good) House of Atreides. But the son of Duke Leto, leader of the Atreides, survives their plot and continues to fulfil an old prophecy held by the Fremen, the only natural inhabitants of Arrakis' deserts. As their leader, he finally returns to destroy the House of Harkonnen and the Emperor's warrior army, putting everything the way it should be and bringing freedom to the Fremen. The legendary science-fiction novel by Frank Herbert is, of course, by far to complex to be described this short, and the 1983 theatrical film by David Lynch was trashed by many fans of the novel. After seeing this made-for-television disaster of an adaption, maybe they change their opinion. I found the Lynch film to be one of the best sci-fi films ever made - of course it lost much of the substance of the story, but all of the really essential parts made it into the film.
I made it through the television version in one sitting (273 minutes PAL). While adding some scenes of the novel not seen in Lynch's version it still manages to lose BY FAR more of the spirit and story created by the novel than even the theatrical cut of Lynch's film. Not one single actor of the cast manages to match his counterpart in the Lynch version, in fact every new introduction seemed totally ridiculous to me. The script was inferior by far, at every time, and the obvious lack of budget for a story of this proportions can be seen always and everywhere (set designs, costumes, slow pace/lack of action, miscasting...). The special effects (few and far between, and all done by CGI... of course) were fake-looking and simply terrible when compared to the fantastic SFX work in David Lynch's "Dune". And gone is the fascinating, powerful music score by Toto... The new score is forgotten the very same moment when the viewing of the film ends.
Ok, that sounds very hard for this new film... at least they tried... To be fair, it somehow still manages to entertain it's audience (at least a little bit), due to the genius of the story it's based on. And the effects scenes, while very CGI-looking, are still beautiful enough to be enjoyable.
"Dune" deserves another remake, but such a project definitely should have the dimensions of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. And Tim Burton would be my favourite director for it... That would be great!!
Now, where's my copy of the Lynch version?!
Rating:
Summary: This is worth owning
Review: If you were confused by the original movie and still haven't read any of the books, then this mini series is definately for you. It follows the book very closely and is easy to understand for anyone who likes sci-fi. The acting was pretty good all around as well. I thought that the actors in this film better portrayed what I thought the characters in the book looked like. The only complaint I have about this adaptation was that its limited budget (compared to the movie) was showing. Some parts were obviously done on a soundstage and a couple of sets did not look realistic. It was also obvious in some parts that a "blue screen" technique was used (this is where the actor is in a room and a moving picture is shown behind him to make him look like he's in another place).
Rating:
Summary: Lacking
Review: Being a big fan of Dune I was eager to see the series. I was however very dissapointed with the style, effects and especially the acting. The second rate actors made it very hard to get into the story beneath. Although it followed much more closely to the details from the book I found it inferior to its predicesor.
Rating:
Summary: Why this is better than the 1984 movie.
Review: What can I say? It's all already been said, but I just wish to reinforce that this miniseries follows the book MUCH more closely, has a much better developed storyline, and is just generally better. When viewing the original movie for the first time, it's a big disappointment if you've just read the book, and makes no sense if you haven't read the book. The miniseries delivers the story very well for anyone, even those who have never before read any of Herbert's material. Good show!
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