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Dune: Part One (2021)


Dune (titled onscreen as Dune: Part One) is a 2021 American epic science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve from a screenplay by Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, and Eric Roth. It is the first of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert, primarily covering the first half of the book. Among its numerous awards and nominations, it received 10 nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, and won the most awards of the ceremony with six: Best Sound, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, and Best Cinematography. A sequel, Dune: Part Two, is set to be released on October 20, 2023, covering the remaining story from the first novel.

A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future.

Freddy and Krasnaya Movie Review
***SPOILER ALERT***

K: Here we go to check out our second movie for our theme of the week, a movie that got 6 Oscars - Dune. It was a pleasant two and a half hour experience for my eyes, I can say. Dune is a visually beautiful movie, especially Arrakis with its endless and hot desert. Plus, the visual part can be attributed to the style of costumes, buildings, and equipment. All this masterly accompanies music composed by Hans Zimmer. The music is so skillfully built into the frame and edited with the sounds of the desert, flying helicopters, that it creates volume and does not interfere with the perception of the frame. You look at the picture and feel the coolness, heat, wind, the lightness of silk and the heaviness of armor. So I totally agree that Hans Zimmer deserves the golden statue for his amazing work.

F: I came to this new Dune (part one) with big expectations. I have to say that this is my biggest disappointment for 2022. Unlike you Krasanaya. I've found the visuals very boring. The color palette is monotonous and doesn't have any contrasts. And here is a guy that loves dark stuff! But in this movie everything is so excessively black or dark orange that it becomes dull. In the last desert scenes I even thought that my TV colors were acting up because the image was kind of faded. Just look at the awesome movie poster we've put up here. Do you see those colors in the movie? Nop. And for the music? Apart from the throat singing at The Imperial Sardaukar parade or whatever, I've found it annoying and forgettable. This movie won an Oscar for original score, sound and film editing. What a joke! I liked the vehicle's design, costumes, and the Baron character very much.  I was expecting something fresh, something new to Frank Herbert's Dune, but this was just a slow-pace-fall-asleep repackaging of something that's already been done before.

Lord Baron from Dune
Which Baron do you prefer from all the film and TV versions there are?
K: What I disliked about Dune was the way Denis Villeneuve presented the story. Due to the fact that I was not familiar with the universe in general, it was difficult for me to understand certain details of what was happening. The plot at the beginning rushed with such wild speed that from time to time I felt very confused. Everything is cut very chaotically, one location replaces another, and the time frame is completely erased. Let's say we see four different planets. So somehow they must be different. But they are equally sadly lifeless. All of the universes didn't get the color, culture, or way of life. I saw a nasty way of living with the Baron, and how Fremens were fighting for each drop of water, and that was it!

F: I can't even imagine how someone not familiar, at least with David Lynch's 1984 Dune can understand this movie. This is some serious bad story writing. I had to fight the urge to look at my phone. That's how boring this movie is. Probably in an IMAX theater this film would have gotten my interest, but still I doubt it 🥱. And those fighting scenes?? Such bad choreography. Unbelievable the money they spent on this. I think they should ban everyone (except Jodorowsky) from making a Dune movie. Just leave the books alone.

Dune 2021 Worms Suck
Carlo Rambaldi's worms from 1984's Dadid Lynch movie are way cooler.
K: And about the cast, for me, it is a “good” example of a film when it is not really necessary to talk about acting. I didn't get any feeling towards those characters, probably because they weren't revealed as they should. All the attention goes to the character of Paul Atreides. Timothée Chalamet tried to act out a little more than two emotions, but in most scenes, Chalamet remains himself not very charismatic and emotionless. If you aren't into the story and are a huge fan of Frank Herbert novels, I wouldn't recommend this movie.

F: The cast.... Oh the cast. What a dumb cast. Leto? (Oscar Isaac) Just feels like an American idiot with no sense whatsoever of royalty. Paul? (Timothée Chalamet) I'm not even going to comment. Duncan? (Jason Momoa) Bam, Pow, Boom, Whatever. Stilgar? (Javier Bardem) Irrelevant. Lady Jessica? (Rebecca Ferguson) Cries a lot. I only like the Baron. (Stellan Skarsgård) That's it for the cast. And where is Feyd-Rautha? Oh, you want to save him for the sequel? I'm not going to watch it even if someone pays me! What we learn (again) is that the Oscars are a fixed game, critics are paid, and the internet is infested with bots to praise and upvote this movie. This movie is a serious mind killer and just thinking about it pisses me off. 😡

Dune sucks ass
My face after watching Dune 2021.
Freddy's Score: 25/100
Krasnaya's Score: 39/100

FINAL SCORE

INTERVIEW WITH DENIS VILLENEUVE

CAST INTERVIEW

BEHIND THE SCENES

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