Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I eagerly anticipated the release of this miniseries, being a huge Dune fan. I was, unfortunately, disappointed by the finished product. Now the 1984 movie changed some fairly important plot elements to fit the Dune story into two hours but it did maintain the integrity of the characters. This Dune miniseries also altered the plotline but at the same time made significant changes to the personas of major characteres. As I watched it, I felt that the miniseries was untrue to Frank Herbert's legend, and as the it went on, I became only more convinced.
Rating: 
Summary: A fine attempt, but still an incomplete vision of the book
Review: This mini-series was made for and aired originally on the SciFi channel in December 2000, and its origins are evident throughout the series. John Harrison shows true affection for Frank Herbert's original material, both in his screenplay adaptation and in his direction, but there are times when budget constraints are painfully obvious.Overall it is a fair adaptation and probably more faithful than David Lynch's 1984 version, but, like Lynch, Harrison fails to make the film completetly accessible. The Dune mini-series can be enjoyable without reading the Herbert's novel, but it is best appreciated by comparison to the narrative of the novel. The acting throughout is adequate overall, but I missed Sting as Feyd Harkonnen. I really liked William Hurt and Alec Newman (Duke Leto and Paul) who both did a fine job embodying their characters, but I found Giancarlo Giannini (Emperor Shaddam IV), Ian McNeice (Baron Harkonnen) and Saskia Reeves (Lady Jessica) unconvincing. The setting and scenery in the first two-hour episode were fantastic, but all of the desert and siech sets were dissappointing - the matte paintings they used as backdrops in many of these sets were obvious and jarring. The cinematography and camerawork, however, were consistently well handled. If you enjoyed reading Dune, you will like this mini series. And if you're like me you will be pleased to know that John Harrison will be making two sequels, most likely Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a great movie!!!!
Review: I really haven't read the book, but a friend at school who has told me about the movie. I watched it but really didn't get it, I recorded it and watched it again, this time I got it. Since I'm a fan of fantasy and sci-fi, I loved it. I will be looking forward to reading the book. And I highly recommend to those mostly who have already read the book in case you are stomped by it the first time you watch it
Rating: 
Summary: Cool, especially for a mini-series
Review: I saw the movie on SCI-FI last Sunday, and it was surprisingly well done. Old Dune, with a major facelift. Nothin' wrong with that
Rating:
Summary: Saw it On Sci-Fi Channel (Scini-Series)
Review: When i saw this movie on Sci-Fi, i knew it would be good, and it was. Great effects, great story line. The backgrounds of some scenes were a little bad, because they were painted backdrops. Some other building interriors were verry good, the clothes were amazing. The effects for the worm, the eyes, and the space scenes, were amazing. It is a must see.
Rating:
Summary: What is an adaptation?
Review: True, this film is a faithful adaptation of Frank Herbert's perfectly realized piece of literature. In fact, the novel is one of the most brilliant exercises in the medium of writing ever. There is nothing that has such an awesome thematic and epic scope. But this film is NOT a great film. The greatest adaptations, a transfer of the tones and feelings of a work in one medium to another, are the ones that abandon what confined the work in the source medium and allow the other medium to embrace it with its own equal but different qualities. This miniseries was a complete disappointment because it was not Dune as a film, but rather a stage version that seemed to be shot in one performance. For being a brilliant and imaginative piece of science fiction, this film has no visual enginuity at all. It is monotonous and the director, who is very self rituous about making a definative Dune, has absolutely no vision at all. Herbert's vision does not need to be completely reiterated. the work stands alone. So why then even make a film? Because it is a way to convey the scope and power in a different medium, creating a sister experience that enhances the other. There is no passion or aesthetic in this Dune. It is a staging, like a book on tape version, making it wholly unnecessary. It has everything in the novel but its drive, its conviction, and its power. What bothers me the most is that film is a perfect medium to convey the subtleties and themes of this story. Imagine what a visionary director could do with the consciousness-expanding moments in this work. the novel tells us what drinking the water of life did, we do not need it to be read to us by an actor, a film can make us experience it, and allow us to ponder it. Lynch's version, however different from what many imagined as the Padishah Empire, took these risks, and for that, his work remains the film to see, and experience. Oh by the way, the portrayal of Paul was terrible (as if he was cast because he was a Mark Hamill look a like) as were the battle scenes. Dull and mostly concocted of reused and reused stock footage. Also, for being nearly 6 hours, it did not take its time with the characters and their emotions. This is the high school production of Dune. Plus the score lacked any depth at all. Just don't bother with it.
Rating:
Summary: Dune-a masterpeice finally faithfully adapted
Review: This Sci-Fi special was really awesome! I loved the way the story unfolded just as in the novel. I saw David Lynch's film when I was 13, and I found it pretty lacking. The miniseries was able to put all the complexity and intrigue of Dune into a very nice special effects package. The Dune universe was sufficiently captured as best as it could be. All of those Dune-maniacs who complain that this isn't true enough to the book, are full of nonsense. No one would watch a 15 hour movie, it would cost about $100 to buy at home, and they still wouldn't like it. The miniseries kept me interested and a casuall observer could understand it very easily. I reccomend this for your Sci-Fi collection.
Rating:
Summary: A great science fiction epic!
Review: This is a truly great miniseries. While it differs from the novel in more than a couple places, it captures the feel and spirit of the original DUNE novel flawlessly. The special effects were great (for television movies), the acting perfect, and above all one of the greatest sci-fi stories ever written.
Rating:
Summary: DVD Please!! Tape is dead!
Review: It's beginning to look like this is going to be a love it or hate it movie among the Dune fans/fanatics. It seems clear that this movie was made for the masses while trying to appeal to the fans. (Fanatics will never be satisfied unless every line from the book is used and the visuals agree with THEIR vision.) As one who has read the books, I found a lot of "stuff" was missing, BUT the storyline was intact. There's way too much in the book to cover at once, and it looks as if, unlike the Lynch version, Harrison tried to tell the basic story without getting involved with the details upon details that make the written version a wonderful read. How many complained that "The Bible" was disappointing because it left "stuff" out?? This is clearly not a big screen SciFi action epic; it's a story about the struggle for power and a boy forced into manhood and leadership -- in an SF setting. The sets give it a big screen feel, but the pace is for a more patient audience. The voice-over explanations of the earlier version are not needed as those infinite details aren't used, or are left to play out later. (Some might take exception with me about "the tooth", and they might be right.) This is Frank Herbert's Dune, but not "The Complete Dune." Being "faithful" to a work is one thing. But, as almost any Stephen King movie proves, going overboard for accuracy and detail does not necessarily make a great movie. And to demand it puts an unrealistic constraint on a director's right to artistic expression. This movie is a great companion to the book, NOT a replacement for it! And I believe it has something to offer SF (but not SciFi) fans who haven't read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Renaisance festival or DUNE?
Review: It was painfully obvious that the screenwriter and the director had never read the original novel. For all the special effects they gave us they never were really able to give us a reason to hate the harkonnens, to like the atreides, or to fear the fremen (or the sardukar). The actors were awful, the costumes were hideous, and the music was mostly heisted from the David Lynch version. No one really felt any pain and suffering, it felt like one big gay renaisance festival, full of chipper little renaisance folk. Skip it, unless you like that kind of fruity crap.
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