Rating: 
Summary: A study of messiah-figures
Review: The Lynch adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic was my first encounter with the mystical world of DUNE. I was only in my mid-teens then and you can imagine how shocked I was after watching the movie: it was VERY WEIRD! Now in my thirties, I see the whole Dune series so differently, all thanks to the TV series. In fact, after watching the TV series, I scoured book stores to buy another copy of DUNE (which I threw away after reading it in my teens!)! I gave up my search and finally ordered them from Amazon! In a weird and inexplicable way, I could never forget, till today the strange icons of DUNE: the god-like Navigators and their mysterious spacing-guild agents (one wonders why the Navigators, who can traverse the universe without moving, need to be 'chaperoned' around by humanoid guild agents!?), the mystical Bene Gessirit witchdom and its antithetical Mentat counterparts (who worships "...Logic & Statistics."), the CHOAGM commerce system not unlike our terra equivalent WTO, the WORMS, the SPICE MELANGE (so rich in imagination and detailed description by Herbert that you could almost be deceived into thinking that it actually exists in the universe!) the systematic breeding program to cultivate a KWISATZ HADERACH - a messiah figure...the central theme running through all the DUNE books. (sorry folks, DUNE is about messiah-figures, NOT about SPICE or Space-travel.) Herbert was a genius in creating all these idioms of a highly provocative and complex yet so intriguingly and enticingly real world (and thereby human). Yet, when he created the world-view in DUNE, he had intended it to be a series of studies on messiah-figures. In other words, he attempted to humanise something which is divine and immortal. He played God and tried to think like God when constructing the Mahdi/KWISATZ HADERACH/messiah Paul Muab'dib Atreides. Personally, the whole DUNE series of books is Herbert's personal search for God, whether futile or otherwise, nobody knows. But thanks to him, I get to write this review and enjoy his story! On the above basis, I think the DUNE TV series outperforms the Lynch adaptation. The messiah psyche was explored in much greater depth and with greater sensitivity as well, pay close attention to the private conservations between Jessica and Paul...when Jessica had intrigued, whether she believed or not, to perpetuate the godliness of her son amongst the Fremen just to preserve their lives. It makes you wonder whether gods are incidental, self-made or truly divine. See also how frustrated Paul was when he couldn't see the future and was driven to risk his life by taking the poisonous Water of Life. Is this how a messiah becomes created? Read the next book DUNE:MESSIAH to see how Paul's life ended... Other nuggets in the TV series provide compelling comparison with the movie version, e.g. a blue-eyed (caused by consuming spice) Navigator who looks more humanoid than the orange (spice color) gas spewing bug-like Lynch version. MUCH, MUCH better WORMS in the TV series, and a better depiction, i.e. explanation of the Water of Life from Shai-hulud. With the exception of Paul & Chani, everyone on the TV series looked better. Special mention must go to Emperor Shaddam IV, the Italian actor who also acted in Hannibal and Jessica, Saskia Reeves, who added that all important touch of human vulnerability into her character. I give 5 stars to the TV series because despite all its short-comings (e.g. too short, awful costumes, sets that were less opulent and grand than the Lynch sets), it fleshed out the critical details of a great story and more importantly, it was just long enough to provide a more satisfying characterisation of the protagonists, thereby adding depth to the story where the Lynch version failed. In summary, get the TV series if you are NEW to DUNE and can't be bothered to read the book...and chances are that after watching the TV series, you will still find too many questions unanswered and end up buying the books! The curiosity will drive you to buy the books, IF you like sci-fi and opulent epics.
Rating: 
Summary: Dune Buffoon!
Review: I read all the Dune books well before the first movie came out. They were awesome! When David Lynch made his version, I was pleased by his visual interpretations. I understood too, that it is nearly impossible to recreate the book on screen. Well, Obviously I should have waited for more reviews to come in before I bought this wasted attempt of a Dune remaking. I certainly agree with most of the negative comments in the reviews herein. First off, as a general goal, a second try at a Dune production should at least be a little better than the first. This one wasn't! I was especially surprised at William Hurts terribly weak portrayal of Duke Leto. My jaw dropped every time he mumbled his lines on screen. My gosh, is this guy really playing a leader? terrible! and the other actors? terrible too! It looked like half of it was filmed on a simple stage with plastic rock outcroppings. what a famine for the eyes! and the clothing and props? heck, I could make better ones out of paper mache'! This series S-U-C-K-E-D! (it doesn't deserve any further mention...)
Rating: 
Summary: Dissappointing Novelization
Review: This is supposedly the second crack at filming the first novel of Frank Herbert's Dune series. Set in a far-off future where drugs are used to expand human consciousness, and living computers replaced the thinking machines that had previously enslaved the human race, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, heir to the Dukedom of the Atreides family. Sent to rule the key world of Arrakis (AKA Dune), the Atreides family is nearly wiped out by its blood-lusting adversaries of the Harkonnen. Dune's importance stems from the fact that it is the sole source of Melange, a hallucinogenic spice that is relied on for much of the era's prosperity. In small quantities, it extends life and even youth. In greater quantities, it expands consciousness, turning its users into living computers called Mentats, or telepaths like the ceaselessly plotting Sisters of the Bene Gesserit. In its greatest quantities, spice turns men into "navigators", advanced life-forms who use thought control to guide spaceships through space-warps. Between the Emperor - the Universe's nominal ruler - together with the Bene Gesserit, the Navigators and the nobles who comprise the Landsraad, power is divided and nobody rules concretely. As a result, all are subject to a state of perpetual plotting and live a life forever on guard. The Harkonnen- Atreides war is only one of the more noteable Machiavellian plots. Thought dead by the Harkonnen, Paul and his mother Jessica, a secret sister of the Bene Gesserit, escape into the harsh desert of Dune, only to meet the Fremen, the poor but faithful and strong indigenous people of Dune. Between the melange, the harsh ways of the Fremen and his mother's Bene Gesserit training, Paul finds his mental capabilities changing but in ways never previously seen. To the remnants of the Atreides, Paul becomes a hoped for omen of revenge against the Harkonnen. To the Fremen, he becomes a leader, the promised saviour who will lead the fremen in a holy war against the empire that has used Dune as its reservoir of spice. To Jessica, Paul shows signs of becoming the mysterious Kwisatz Haderach, a genetically engineered super-being whose power will exceed even that of the dreaded navigators. Paul ofcourse has the least idea of what is happening to him, knowing only that it will lead him head-on with the forces that have embittered his life and those of the Fremen. Dune is a classic mostly because it resists attempts to re-interpret it as you'd get in movie or TV versions (or in "prequels" too). Though the first shot at a Dune movie (Dir. David Lynch, 1984) was a monster flop, this new version doesn't really surpass it, and only made me appreciate the earlier attempt. Freed from having to fit the epic story into something less than 3 hours long, this newer version goes a bit too long, unstructured and mis-timed. Some of the story actually takes its cue from the Lynch movie and not the novel it's supposed to be loyal too (here, as in the film, Baron Harkonnen rejoices at the death of his rival, Duke Atreides, though the book's devotees remember the moment as an embarassing moment for the Baron). The special effects are mostly CGI (though better CGI than on LEXX) and less exciting in most spots than the admittedly crude models of the '84 film. The neatness of CGI also robs the story of its oppressive paranoia (the main characters are supposed to see themselves as the sleep-in-the-upright-position type), while the sets look as real as something from a latter Dr. Who episode, and the characters lack the subtle sociopathologies that made them so much fun (the Baron's misogynistic side remains untouched). See the mini-series if you must, but not after you've read the book.
Rating:
Summary: Dune: Science Fiction at its best
Review: The first Dune movie did far from live up to my expectations. It was made in the 70's, I think, and was not what I would call a good movie. The tv mini series that premiered on the Sci-fi channel in December, however, is now one of my all time favorites. It has everything that a boxoffice smash would have! Amazing special effects, a dramatic love story and breathtaking music. Not to mention a great story line complete with twist in the plot that make you want to watch Dune again and again.
Rating: 
Summary: Given the limitations...quite good really.
Review: As a fan of the books (and a realist), I completely understand the impossibility of rendering the entire novel in movie form but this version does a better than fair job of condensing the book. Even in the extended, mini-series time frame, it seems a bit rushed at times but...on the whole I enjoyed the movie. The characters were there, the story was there, and the artistic design of the entire movie (costume, architecture, etc) was amazing.
Rating: 
Summary: Tracks plot of book but ... "cheesy"
Review: I watched this with my 11-year-old daughter a few weeks after we read the book together. I agreed with her objections: Characterization/casting stunk. Jessica has less presence, Leto is older (in the book he's 15!) yet brattier, Leto seems made of cardboard, and Chani is definitely not "elfin" as in the book. The needs of Hollywood for the usual plot devices of boy-girl flirtations, impromptu fights, and chase scenes trumped the richer and more complex action in the book. What was with the grautitous introduction of Irulan early on, for example, and her "affair" with Feyd? If you see this without reading the book, a lot of what happens is less comprehensible because, in the book, it's conveyed by narratives of what people are thinking and their motives. Also, things like use of atomics to breach the "Shield Wall" - a mountain range - are explained in the book and left as question marks in this work. Even pronunciations of strange words and names that may seem natural to the reader are different. Some portions were ridiculous, for example Paul choosing the name "Maud-dib" after hearing the Fremen chanting it! His "Usul" name is never mentioned, nor the bit about his "inheriting" Jamish's wife and kids. My daughter's description, despite the very good special effects and closer tracking of the plot than the earlier movie (which she hasn't seen): "Cheesy!"
Rating:
Summary: Not even close to the Lynch version
Review: Okay, yes it is impossible to make a far enough ranging motion picture version of the DUNE saga, and this mini-series version suffers from that same problem which has plagued everyone who has ever tried to make a film version. I found this disappointing when compared to the Lynch version on many points. First, the acting; it is blatent that the quality of the cast of the mini-series serious lags behind the Lynch version at nearly every major character. I found myself missing Kyle Maclaughlin, Sting and even Patrick Stewart. Even William Hurt seems to be phoning this one in. Second, the effects and sets look seriously cheap. The desert scenes are performed in front of what looks like painted backdrops for a really elaborate high school production of Paint Your Wagon. Costumes seemed to be borrowed from the set of a special 2 hour Xena. I do like the choices the director of the mini=series made as far as cutting a few of the scenes to explain epic. Making this a jazzed up Cliff Note version of the Dune saga. I think I would love to see a version of this screen play with the Lynch's cast, effects and indeed Lynch's vision.
Rating:
Summary: Good entertainment but rather slow
Review: It is a TV film in three parts. It only concerns the first volume of the Dune series by Frank Herbert. It is both better and less good than the cinema film. It is better because it gives a lot more details and it takes time to analyze the various dimensions of the book, and particularly because it gives the full and final negociation between Leto II and the other proponents (the Emperor, the navigators of the Guild, the Bene Gesserit).So we are more satisfied after this series because we do follow the plot and the discussions of the book. But it is less good than the cinema film because it has a typical television rhythm, slower and cut up in sections to enable advertising to slip in. This cut up progression emphasizes the naturally slower rhythm. Of course, too, special effects are a lot less rich and brilliant, and anything that is slightly warped in the book is cleaned up in this TV series. So, it becomes more difficult to follow the extreme provocative value of the book in this adaptation, though we had that, even if too fast and too skimpy, in the cinema film. An entertainment more than a masterpiece. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.
Rating:
Summary: closer in plot but highly lacking in atmosphere
Review: In order to get any truly wonderful representation of the Dune saga, take the time to read the books. Converting them to film is certainly a difficult task and we all know people are going to argue over which Dune movie is better for ages. This version might be easier to follow in plotline for someone who has not read the books. However, it is almost completely devoid of the incredible atmosphere that Frank Herbert somehow managed to capture through his words. While the 1984 David Lynch version of Dune can be confusing if you haven't read the books (which I hadn't when I first saw it), it rules the field when it comes to sensation and envelops the viewer in the world of Arrakis. The newer version has poor bluescreen effects, sad acting, and a deplorable lack of atmospheric depth in which the viewer can steep. It is, however, good for a laugh. Especially in some of the more impractical and silly costuming. Afterall, who expects to look intimidating with a triangular sail attached to the backside of their pants? Certainly not Feyd.
Rating:
Summary: What the...<naughty expletives>?!
Review: I have read the entire series including the prequals by Brian. I came to Dune kind of backwards, I played the computer game, then saw the Lynch version, and then read the books, so bear with me. I greatly disliked the set and costume design of this production. The Bene Gesserit are above all practical, hats with "wings" are not practical. Many of the scenes in this miniseries seem rushed and lacked impact. I would not recomend this miniseries to anyone who's first exposure to Dune was the Lynch production, you will be dissapointed.
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