Rating: 
Summary: spectacular sci-fi epic!
Review: Don't let the made-for-TV label of this sci-fi epic dissuade you. It's every bit as visually impressive as any sci-fi film I've ever seen, and given the low budget (20 million) I'm really quite shocked as to how all the filmmakers involved pulled it off. But this is entirely a group effort. There are no big name stars involved (William Hurt comes the closest, though he hasn't a lead role in a while). As a matter of fact, most of the big names come in the technical category, with cinematographer Vittorio Storraro doing a masterful job behind the camera and Graeme Revell composing another fine score.This is a very well-acted film all around. Alec Newman is good and convincing as Paul Atreides, playing the character as being a bit impatient at times, but that makes him seem all the more believable and human. William Hurt and Ian McNeice play the opposing leaders of House Atreides and House Harkonnen. Hurt, unfortunately, looks a little sedate at times. He's not bad, quite decent in fact, but just not up to his full talent. McNeice is very good as the Baron, playing the part as a calculating and intelligent villain... Matt Keeslar has a magnetic presence as Feyd Rautha, the most dangerous fighter of the Harkonnen. Keeslar went on to get the lead role in the Stephen King miniseries Rose Red and did a pretty decent job in that film, too. Coming in the best of all the actors is Saskia Reeves as the Lady Jessica. This is simply an amazing performance, and she plays the part of an honorable woman with strength, courage, and warmth. I can't believe I've never seen Reeves in anything else before. Great adventure adds to the epic nature of the film. There are a few exciting encounters with the giant sandworms (Which are magnificently rendered, by the way). Even more adrenaline-pumping are the knife fights, which are well-choreographed and fast-paced, particularly the duel between Paul and Feyd, which even has extensive use of martial arts, something both Newman and Keeslar seem adept at...When it comes to the technical aspects, I must say I absolutely love this movie's look. The colors are vibrant and gorgeous. The planetscape shots are breathtaking, as are scenes of spacecrafts traveling in space and through even larger spacecrafts. The guild navigator is a superb creature design, and the scene it's placed in is appropriately awe-inspiring. The production design is a knockout. The interior of the palaces, spacecrafts, and caverns are complex and brilliantly designed. The costumes are also superbly rendered, particularly the House Atreides attire. All in all, a superb example of how to adapt a beloved novel and a superb example of great entertainment. This is highly, highly recommended for anyone with even a remote interest in the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Great, but you'd better have a pretty good attention span.
Review: Okay, I'm not saying this film is boring, because I sure as heck enjoyed every minute of it. The thing is, the miniseries runs for nearly 4-and-a-half hours and it's not as fast-paced as, say, Starship Troopers. So in order to enjoy it, you'd best be prepared for a movie that will take its time unfolding the story. But believe me, it will be worth it and you'll find yourself glued to the screen, too.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is simply the best made-for-TV film I've ever seen. I've heard of a director's cut edition that's 30 minutes longer. ...
Rating:
Summary: Please! It's obvious die-hard Lynch fans hate this movie.
Review: It's really hard to take seriously the opinions of die-hard David Lynch fans who hate this movie because they simply can't see that anything made with a conventional approach in mind can actually be, well, good! They claim many faults for this miniseries, particularly stilted acting from Alec Newman. Uh-huh, as if Kyle Machlachlan was any good of an actor himself (And yes, Newman is a much better Paul Atreides than Machlachlan was). There's a reason why only Dune fans know who Machlachlan is. Fans of the original also claim that this miniseries has poor special effects. Never mind that I completely disagree with that, it just seems like they're trying to [fake] their complaints. Critics hated the movie, critics liked the miniseries, cult fans of the original like the movie, cult fans of the original hate the miniseries, do you notice a pattern here? I get the feeling Lynch fans watched the miniseries just so they could bash it. Considering how many of them consider the original Dune to be the best sci-fi movie of all time, I seriously doubt they went into watching the miniseries thinking, "Well, I sure as heck hope this is going to be even better now that it's taking a very different and more conventional approach!" Let me put it this way, non-Lynch fans will almost certainly love this remake. Die-hard Lynch fans will never see beyond their own one-dimensional outlook.
Rating:
Summary: Forget the Negative Reviews, this movie is AWESOME!
Review: Although I am a huge sci-fi fan, I never could get into reading the Dune books...that is until I saw this movie. I was stunned, thrilled, totally awed! No, I'm not easily impressed but this movie was absolutely excellent. Sure, there are some big and small departures from the book (which I have now read and totally loved - BECAUSE the movie got me interested in it!)...Some of the departures are a bit unecessary, but they still work. What this adaptation did that so few adaptations are able to do is to maintain the original spirit of the story. That is no mean feat, given the magnitude and brillance of this story. The acting is excellent, the special effects are first rate, the music is gorgeous and very appropriate. See this movie, wheather you've read the books or not. It absolutely stands alone (in spite of what a previous reviewer said) or as an excellent visual companion to the book... Frank Herbert was in a class all by himself. He added such depth and breadth, such nuance, such amazing detail to his works, that is absolutely impossible to ever put it into a movie in its entiriety, but this movie does a damn good job, nonetheless.
Rating:
Summary: Movie magic at its best.
Review: Sci-fi miniseries about a young man who becomes a messiah to a group of tribesmen on a desert planet called Arrakis. Frank Herbert's adaptation is an epic presentation, running at 265 minutes (long but never dull), boasts fine performances (Especially Saskia Reeves), incredible special effects and production values, and exciting action sequences. Often awe-inspiring, always entertaining and engrossing, a true example of pure movie magic at its best. Immeasurably superior to the 1984 David Lynch version.
Rating:
Summary: The best sci-fi film of this young decade.
Review: There's been a LOT of sci-fi films released so far this decade. Most of it has been [junk] (Battlefield Earth, Highlander: Endgame) and only a few have been good (the very underrated Mission to Mars, Pitch Black) but the best of all the sci-fi movies released this decade is, amazingly enough, a straight-to-TV flick. Well it's actually a miniseries but you get the point. Made in the cheap (20 million, I hear), Frank Herbert's Dune is a spectacular visual achievement that sets a new standard for special effects on television. Hell, some of it's even more awe-inspiring than the stuff we see in theaters! It's also one of the only few movies I can think of that actually features no sound in outer space, and there are breathtaking shots of spacecrafts flying around and through even larger spaceships. Even better, the movie works above being just a visual spectacle. The story is totally riveting, and there's not a moment when the movie's pace comes to a dead halt.
Rating:
Summary: Comparing the two.
Review: When it comes to comparing this recent miniseries to the 1984 film, I really see no surprise as to which one is better. The story-Essentially, both movies have the same plot. Some scenes even feature dialogue stated verbatim, but easily, the miniseries wins in this category because of its comprehensibility and considerably longer length. The script is also less reliant on inner monologue, which actually insulted my intelligence after awhile. Direction-David Lynch may have a lot of fans, but I don't really see that much in the way of talent. John Harrison does a much better job. The pacing is better, and so is his style, which may seem conventional to some but is direct and gets the point across. Both movies rely on big battle scenes and knife fights, and Harrison is also a much better action director, keeping all such instances of fighting at a frenetic pace. Acting-The most important role is Paul Atreides, and while neither Kyle Machlachlan or Alec Newman are perfect, Newman is still better, mainly because he acts much like how a normal human would, by that I mean he has faults and occasional impatience. After all, being a leader to so many people should be frustrating. Newman does a mostly good job and the fact that he doesn't look so weird (unlike Machlachlan) is a definite bonus. The cast of the miniseries is generally better, except maybe in the role of Gurney Halleck, a part Patrick Stewart certainly excelled at. Don't get me wrong, P.H. Moriarty is fine in the role, just not as good as Stewart was. Special effects and sets-Definitely the miniseries. The spacecrafts and outer space scenes in the movie looked like something from a 50's B-movie. The shields looked like something from an Atari video game. The miniseries' production design is genuinely awe-inspiring and the giant worm special effect is one of the best examples of CGI I have ever seen. So, the winner is the miniseries, which is really better than the original in all the important categories. Actually, the most important all of must be entertainment value. Seeing how it is David Lynch's film was as boring as movies come, there was no doubt any remake would be more enjoyable as is the case here.
Rating:
Summary: Delightfully faithful and entertaining adaptation.
Review: To be honest, I never really had much desire to watch this miniseries. The story's great, no doubt about that, but David Lynch's movie was a stinker, and I was pretty certain after that that any attempt to adapt the novel once more would also fail. Well, after looking at the very cool box art (on the VHS version), I decided to finally give it a chance. Next thing I knew, I found myself immersed in another universe and alternate reality that was convincing and engrossing. As an adventure movie, Dune features lots of tension and plenty of good action. As a political film, it features treachery and much planning. As science fiction, it creates an entirely believable reality and captures the imagination. Yes, at 265 minutes it will definitely test some people's patience, but if you do enjoy a movie that is centered around its story and characters, you will find this miniseries a joy to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Made-for-TV has never seemed more big screen!
Review: I don't know about you all, but this miniseries adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel should have been a theatrical release. So many of the special effects, the sets, and the cinematography is so breathtaking that it's hard to believe the producers didn't decide on a big screen release to capture all the grandeur, something the original Dune film was missing. This one's got a lot of great parts, but most importantly it's consistently entertaining and ends satisfyingly.
|
