Good day all. It’s been a while since I’ve done any reviews. Part of this was not being able to go to the theaters thanks to the Great Panicdemic of 2020. Studios were forced to hold back films that were “in the can” and ready for release. Many finally decided to do both a release into theaters and onto streaming services. The latest iteration of Frank Herbert’s seminal Science Fiction novel, Dune is a case in point.
Dune was released back in 1965 and is considered one of the classics of Science Fiction. (Isaac Azimov’s Foundation is another) I first read the novel when I was about 12 and it turned me on to science fiction. There have been several attempts to turn the book into a big screen film, the first being done in 1984. I saw this when it came out, and it, to be blunt, sucked. There was also a mini-series that I know I watched. It was so memorable, that I can’t recall anything about it.
When it was announced that yet another film had been made and was going to be released, I yawned. I fully expected it to suck as well, and I wasn’t going to spend a penny seeing it in a theater. Then it was announced that it would be on HBO Max. Since I already have a subscription, I figured, “OK, I can watch this for a bit and see if I just get nauseous or actually vomit.”
I watched it Saturday and all I can say is “WOW!” The cinematography is incredible and the CGI was just right. They actually created Herbert’s ornithopters and made them believable. (Hats off to the CGI people) Of course, there had to be sand worms and Shai-Hulud does make an appearance and dramatically so.
It’s been a while since I read the book. From my recollections, it looks like they tried to follow the book as well as they could. Of course, there was some dramatic license taken, and a few changes made. However, it looks like they were able to closely follow the book, unlike the 1984 disaster.
It also looks like I’m not the only one who is liking the latest version of Dune. According to Variety, the movie is doing very well this weekend.
North American audiences are seeing the spice flow on the big screen. Warner Bros. and Legendary’s “Dune” is expected to open at the top of the domestic box office, targeting a $33 million opening weekend haul. Other industry projections have the film opening as highly $39.1 million.
The studios’ adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal science-fiction novel of the same name launched to $17.5 million on Friday. “Dune” has generally earned auspicious reviews from critics, and the movie-going public is responding well too — the film landed an “A-” CinemaScore rating, indicating strong approval from audiences.
You can’t argue with that. Apparently, the film cost about $165 million to make, and between North America and overseas, they have blown past that into “PROFIT!” range. This means that they will probably OK the sequel, which is a good thing. About 2/3rd of the way through the movie I realized that there was no way they were going to be able to complete it in two and a half hours. That was a bit upsetting to me to say the least.
In conclusion, I will state the obvious. Go see this or watch it on HBO Max. it’s well worth the time. Heck, I didn’t even use my fast forward button, which is virtually unheard of for me. (No attention span what so ever) If you liked the novel, I think you will approve of this movie.
Thatisall
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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