Ever since watching Arrival in 2016 I have been of the opinion that Denis Villeneuve is one of the greatest directors working in Hollywood right now. His ability to blend art house style filmmaking with high sci-fi stories but present them in a way that are easily digestible by the masses is nothing short of incredible. His other films such as Enemy, and Blade Runner 2049 only cement this fact that Villeneuve can make even the most inaccessible of science fiction concepts accessible to anyone. So, when news broke that Villeneuve’s filmmaking dream had come true and he was given the ability to adapt Frank Herbert’s legendary science fiction novel Dune, I was excited to say the least. Much like The Lord of the Rings, Dune was considered unfilmable, and a weak 1984 attempt by David Lynch only cemented that claim, but similar to Tolkien’s Middle Earth all Dune needed was the right director; and I’m thrilled to say that Villeneuve has done the impossible once again and Dune finally has a big screen adaptation worthy of the name it bears.
It is the year 10191. Interstellar travel is made possible by the mining of the Spice Melange found only on the desert planet of Arrakis, making it the most precious resource in the known universe. The Empire has ordered that House Atreides, led by Duke Leto I (Oscar Isaac), take over mining operations on Arrakis following the withdrawal of House Harkonnen. The Duke sees this as an opportunity to ally with Arrakis’ hostile natives, the Fremen, and make the first step towards intergalactic peace among the Houses. But once House Atreides arrives on Arrakis they must contend with the hostile desert environment, vicious giant sandworms, Fremen assassins, and the damaged mining equipment left behind by the Harkonnens.
In the lead up to travelling to Arrakis, Paul (Timothee Chalamet), the Duke’s son, has been having dreams of what awaits his family on the desert planet; nightmares of a city burning, his friends dying, and a Fremen woman (Zendaya). With the help of his mother (Rebecca Ferguson), Paul must uncover the truth behind these dreams and realise his potential from the powers he has gained from his training with the mystical sisterhood, the Bene Gesserit.
Meanwhile Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) plots an invasion of Arrakis to destroy a weakened House Atreides, retake what was once theirs, and reclaim their title as the most powerful House in the Empire.
It is the year 10191. Interstellar travel is made possible by the mining of the Spice Melange found only on the desert planet of Arrakis, making it the most precious resource in the known universe. The Empire has ordered that House Atreides, led by Duke Leto I (Oscar Isaac), take over mining operations on Arrakis following the withdrawal of House Harkonnen. The Duke sees this as an opportunity to ally with Arrakis’ hostile natives, the Fremen, and make the first step towards intergalactic peace among the Houses. But once House Atreides arrives on Arrakis they must contend with the hostile desert environment, vicious giant sandworms, Fremen assassins, and the damaged mining equipment left behind by the Harkonnens.
In the lead up to travelling to Arrakis, Paul (Timothee Chalamet), the Duke’s son, has been having dreams of what awaits his family on the desert planet; nightmares of a city burning, his friends dying, and a Fremen woman (Zendaya). With the help of his mother (Rebecca Ferguson), Paul must uncover the truth behind these dreams and realise his potential from the powers he has gained from his training with the mystical sisterhood, the Bene Gesserit.
Meanwhile Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) plots an invasion of Arrakis to destroy a weakened House Atreides, retake what was once theirs, and reclaim their title as the most powerful House in the Empire.
Dune’s story is incredibly dense, which owes to its status as an unfilmable novel. But Villeneuve manages to efficiently deliver all of the necessary information in a way that is easy for audiences to grapple with, without losing the elegance of its delivery, or the importance of even the smallest details of Dune’s universe. The film's only detriment is the misleading marketing which fails to inform anyone who sees it of the film’s actual title...Dune: Part One. Considering the length and complexity of the novel, squeezing everything into one film would have done a massive disservice to the source material and the result would have been messy, superficial, and rushed (similar to David Lynch's attempt). This film exists as an adaptation of the first half of Dune’s story, so those expecting a complete tale will be disappointed to know that the journey is far from over by the time the credits roll, leaving much left unanswered and the story ultimately unresolved. The film’s title card doesn’t hide this fact from you, so you will know very early on that this isn’t a complete product, but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying an otherwise thrilling masterpiece of filmmaking. The biggest problem with this of course is that Dune: Part Two may never come to pass. Had cinema attendance not been impacted by COVID-19 then this is a conversation that probably wouldn’t even be happening, but in light of the world’s current state and cinema attendance below average, if Dune doesn’t break even on its $165 million budget (requiring roughly $300 million to do so) then Part Two could never see the light of day. Hopefully Warner Bros. will remain open to a sequel even if Dune doesn’t perform quite as well as they envisage.
The story itself can be best described as Game of Thrones meets James Cameron’s Avatar. A vast sci-fi epic which sees houses at war over a precious resource, with the fate of a planet and its indigenous people at stake. Some are at war on a battlefield, and others wage war with treaties in intergalactic politics. Real world parallels can be drawn to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in the 2000’s under the pretence of bringing peace to the region, but in reality, just wanting to drain the region of their oil. The Fremen are caught between a rock and a hard place, with the Atreides offering them what they consider to be a better life in return for the Spice (a life the Fremen do not want), and the Harkonnen simply wanting to eradicate the Fremen and take Arrakis and all its natural resources for their own. The Atreides bear a resemblance to the Roman Empire that conquered Europe, ‘bettering’ civilisation by force but allowing natives to live so long as they cooperated; and the Harkonnen’s look more like the Hun’s, destroying everything in their path until they’re all that’s left.
The idea that the white man can save these seemingly primitive indigenous people is a narrative that’s certainly been done to death...both fictionally and in the real world, but Dune manages to make it incredibly engaging thanks to the complicated politics at play, and it's not quite as straightforward as it all may seem.
The story itself can be best described as Game of Thrones meets James Cameron’s Avatar. A vast sci-fi epic which sees houses at war over a precious resource, with the fate of a planet and its indigenous people at stake. Some are at war on a battlefield, and others wage war with treaties in intergalactic politics. Real world parallels can be drawn to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in the 2000’s under the pretence of bringing peace to the region, but in reality, just wanting to drain the region of their oil. The Fremen are caught between a rock and a hard place, with the Atreides offering them what they consider to be a better life in return for the Spice (a life the Fremen do not want), and the Harkonnen simply wanting to eradicate the Fremen and take Arrakis and all its natural resources for their own. The Atreides bear a resemblance to the Roman Empire that conquered Europe, ‘bettering’ civilisation by force but allowing natives to live so long as they cooperated; and the Harkonnen’s look more like the Hun’s, destroying everything in their path until they’re all that’s left.
The idea that the white man can save these seemingly primitive indigenous people is a narrative that’s certainly been done to death...both fictionally and in the real world, but Dune manages to make it incredibly engaging thanks to the complicated politics at play, and it's not quite as straightforward as it all may seem.
Dune features a stacked cast with the already mentioned Oscar Isaac, Timothee Chalamet, Rachel Ferguson, Zendaya, and Stellan Skarsgard; but it doesn't end there with Jason Momoa taking on the role of Paul’s friend and trainer, Josh Brolin is the Duke’s second in command, Dave Bautista is the nephew of Baron Harkonnen, and Javier Bardem as the leader of a Fremen tribe. To say that Dune features fantastic performances is something that doesn’t even really need to be addressed, but despite all of these great performances the way the script is written can mean that some of the more emotional moments aren’t quite as hard hitting as they should be. It lacks the emotional gravitas of many major blockbusters, but I wouldn’t go so far as saying it’s completely stoic. Chalamet does a good job of injecting Paul with hope, joy, and sadness; and Isaac carries a great deal of emotion in his eyes and facial expressions despite the script and framework for the characters not allowing for such input most of the time. Ferguson delivers Dune’s most memorable performance however, and whilst everyone is great in it, she is truly exceptional and steals every scene she is in.
If you’re planning on watching Dune for Bautista, Skarsgard, or Zendaya then prepare for disappointment as they aren’t in the film all that much. Zendaya in particular who was featured very prominently in the films promotional material is only in the film for a handful of short dream sequences before showing up in person at the end for a single scene. They’re all major characters in the story so I can only imagine they’ll play a significantly larger role in Part Two, but as of now their time in the film is fleeting at best.
What captivated me the most about Dune though is how it looks and sounds. Villeneuve’s manages to squeeze so much out of his cinematographers, editors, and composers, and Dune is a tour de force of overwhelming spectacle. I’m a strong advocate for IMAX at the best of times, but I simply cannot imagine watching Dune on anything smaller than the side of a house. The scale of this film is outrageously large, but what makes that scale truly memorable is how something extremely large is always shown in relation to something we can comprehend the size of. Massive spaceships that we see next to rows of soldiers, a close up of actors in a ship whilst a giant sandworm can be seen in the background, the distance between places highlighted by the scale of vehicles, which themselves have been sized up against people. Where a Marvel film for example will just show you a big spaceship for location reference, Dune will take the time to show you just how big that spaceship is in relation to the area it occupies, or the occupants within it. But despite this immense scale the film is mostly shot with close ups of characters in mind, they’re always the focal point and everything expands from that point outwards. I can’t even imagine watching this film on something as small as a TV, let alone a mobile device like a tablet or smartphone, it simply was not designed to be viewed on a screen so small.
Aiding this impressive scope is the gorgeous cinematography from Greig Fraser. I could take a screenshot of any frame in Dune and it would be a work of art, the film is truly gorgeous to behold. The sands of Arrakis bathe the screen in a rich golden glow, in stark contrast to the Harkonnen home world of Geidi Prime with its dark and damp industrial complexes. The way the film looks, and the way shots are paced and cut together gives the film some real momentum during the more exposition heavy sequences. Battles too are clean, with no shaky cam to make things look messy or hide poor fight choreography, Dune revels in what it allows you to see and it wants to show you as much as possible; everything is just so stunning to behold. This is made even more compelling thanks to Hans Zimmer’s simply incredible score, heavy on the drums and exotic vocals, Dune sounds powerful and otherworldly.
If you’re planning on watching Dune for Bautista, Skarsgard, or Zendaya then prepare for disappointment as they aren’t in the film all that much. Zendaya in particular who was featured very prominently in the films promotional material is only in the film for a handful of short dream sequences before showing up in person at the end for a single scene. They’re all major characters in the story so I can only imagine they’ll play a significantly larger role in Part Two, but as of now their time in the film is fleeting at best.
What captivated me the most about Dune though is how it looks and sounds. Villeneuve’s manages to squeeze so much out of his cinematographers, editors, and composers, and Dune is a tour de force of overwhelming spectacle. I’m a strong advocate for IMAX at the best of times, but I simply cannot imagine watching Dune on anything smaller than the side of a house. The scale of this film is outrageously large, but what makes that scale truly memorable is how something extremely large is always shown in relation to something we can comprehend the size of. Massive spaceships that we see next to rows of soldiers, a close up of actors in a ship whilst a giant sandworm can be seen in the background, the distance between places highlighted by the scale of vehicles, which themselves have been sized up against people. Where a Marvel film for example will just show you a big spaceship for location reference, Dune will take the time to show you just how big that spaceship is in relation to the area it occupies, or the occupants within it. But despite this immense scale the film is mostly shot with close ups of characters in mind, they’re always the focal point and everything expands from that point outwards. I can’t even imagine watching this film on something as small as a TV, let alone a mobile device like a tablet or smartphone, it simply was not designed to be viewed on a screen so small.
Aiding this impressive scope is the gorgeous cinematography from Greig Fraser. I could take a screenshot of any frame in Dune and it would be a work of art, the film is truly gorgeous to behold. The sands of Arrakis bathe the screen in a rich golden glow, in stark contrast to the Harkonnen home world of Geidi Prime with its dark and damp industrial complexes. The way the film looks, and the way shots are paced and cut together gives the film some real momentum during the more exposition heavy sequences. Battles too are clean, with no shaky cam to make things look messy or hide poor fight choreography, Dune revels in what it allows you to see and it wants to show you as much as possible; everything is just so stunning to behold. This is made even more compelling thanks to Hans Zimmer’s simply incredible score, heavy on the drums and exotic vocals, Dune sounds powerful and otherworldly.
Dune is a film that must be experienced in the cinema and on the biggest screen you can possibly find. I loved every moment of its two-hour and thirty-six-minute runtime and felt as though I had truly been transported to another world. A compelling and intricate story, powerful performances, and one of the most stunning audio-visual experiences I have had in quite some time; Dune is nothing short of a masterpiece. It may be incomplete, but that shouldn’t stop you from having an incredible and unforgettable time. I hope to the powers that be that Dune: Part Two will see the light of day, and Villeneuve has also expressed interest in adapting the other Dune novels to the big screen provided he is given the ability to. Could this be the birth of the next great sci-fi cinematic franchise? I most certainly hope so.