MBAR said:

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zap said:

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TCTTS said:

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Sociopath reviews DUNE 2 https://t.co/lanKWp2jd3

— devincf (@devincf) March 19, 2024

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"The best part is, by the end of the film, you simply stop caring about Chani. She's reduced to a mere speed bump on the crescendo of the plot and the greatness of Paul's prophetic rise and acceptance of fate. She doesn't even matter by the climax. We're watching brilliant atomic blasts, skyscraper sized sand worms, and epic duels for the future of the universe, and we're supposed to care about her pouting? She believes only in herself. How timid and miniscule. Paul has grown beyond her perspective and her small mind. So have we, by the beautiful accident of Villeneuve's cinematic aesthetics, which prove there are things far greater than ourselves out there."

I tend to agree with the sentiments above.

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"the greatness of Paul's prophetic rise"

There is no prophetic rise. Do people really not get this point? There is manipulation and an epic conjob set in place through the use of religion. Chani believes in her people being free and she sees them being used as nothing more than pawns in this imperial game of power. Her people are the most amazing army in the universe and they won't get what they actually want because they're following a conman who has no interest in doing right by them.

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It's both.

This is so incredibly well said...

It's astonishing how few people understood Dune.

It's as if they cannot reconcile the concepts of a good man and a bad outcome existing together.

This is the whole point of Dune. It is a cautionary tale about the merging of church and state, about the dangers of cults of… https://t.co/4REPXEDXfs

— Devon Eriksen (@Devon_Eriksen_) March 19, 2024

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It's astonishing how few people understood Dune.

It's as if they cannot reconcile the concepts of a good man and a bad outcome existing together.

This is the whole point of Dune. It is a cautionary tale about the merging of church and state, about the dangers of cults of personality, of idolatry.

If you think "Paul is bad", you've missed the whole point of the story, which is that structures of power have a life of their own, and they constrain those who wield that power.

If Paul were bad, then the possibility would remain that placing a good man in his position would lead to a good outcome. But because Paul is not bad, we are able to see the implication that Paul's position, not Paul's character, is what leads to the numerous bad outcomes of the books.

Being prescient, he sees this, and much of the story of him and his heir, Leto the second, is devoted to his struggle, not against external enemies, but the constraints of his own power and position and legend.

The "golden path" is dimly glimpsed thread of possibility whereby a good outcome for humanity can eventually be achieved, but it will come about as the result of the destruction of everything that Paul and Leto have built.

The fact that they strive for that outcome is a testament to their moral character.

This is why Tolkien hated Dune. It was a direct contradiction of the basic authoritarian theme of Lord of the Rings. In Lord of the Rings, power is simple; it is wielded by a central authority, and all must kneel. The only question is whether it is to be an evil authority or a good one, Sauron or the True King who has Returned.

There is no notion of a bureaucracy which has its own influence and character, nor is there any notion of bad outcomes from good intent, no notion that the world is complex, that outcomes are hard to judge, that suffering might arise from mistake as easily as from malice.

Just find noble king, place on throne, done.

In Dune, Paul IS the noble king, and the evil of his rule arises not from Paul the man, but from the institution of kingship itself.

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The "golden path" is dimly glimpsed thread of possibility whereby a good outcome for humanity can eventually be achieved, but it will come about as the result of the destruction of everything that Paul and Leto have built.

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I essentially posted this earlier in the thread. One of the first, actually. Granted, it was spoiler tagged.

Yeah, I mentioned a while back that I liked how Chani of the movies is basically shown realizing (along with the audience) that she's losing her Paul (the good guy that she loved) to the political/religious machine once he goes south and definitely once he is "resurrected."

I feel like this meme does a good job conveying how most of us felt about Walken being cast.

Had my 4th viewing last night. I think I can count on one hand the number of films I've seen 3x in the theater and I'm 99.99% sure this is the only film I've seen 4x.

First and 4th viewing were in 1.43 IMAX.
The 2nd was standard run of the mill theater.
And the 3rd was 1.91 IMAX.

A few things from last night:

- There were a few key moments of dialog that I missed or didn't tie together previously. The clearest example was Chani and Paul's discussion on her Fedaykin name that she hated (Desert Spring). I honestly don't even remember the others right now but this happened a couple of times. I can't wait to purchase and re-watch a bunch of times to see what else I missed.

- After my first viewing, I posted that I thought Pugh was my least favorite casting. After a few more watches I've changed my mind and would now say Bautista. I loved him as Drax, but really all he did in this film was yell. Pugh and Walken were just ok.

- This film in 1.43 >>>>>> 1.91 >>>>>>>>>>>>>> (x100) standard theater. It's just not even a contest. The gap from either of the IMAX formats to regular theater is gigantic.

- I'll double-down that this is a top 3 theater experience for me. I'll give honorable mention to SPR and The Passion -- and for similar reason -- those were so different from anything else I'd ever seen in terms of violence, gore, etc. The other two are:
1) Interstellar, which I highly anticipated as a lover of sci-fi but wasn't expecting to hit like it did at all, especially with young girls at the time.
2) Aliens. My mom has always loved both sci-fi and horror. Dad really doesn't care for either at all. So he stayed home and Mom and I drive to the "big" new theater at the Austin Arboretum. I was only 10 and this was the first rated R movie I saw in a theater (maybe ever?). I absolutely love this film and franchise to this day. This and ESB are absolutely my favorite sequels and easily top 10 favorites all time.

So anyway, Dune 2 fits somewhere among those 2 for me. The visuals in the desert, the black sun sequence, the sounds and score. Just a phenomenal film.

All I do is Nguyen said:

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My only disappointment was Christopher Walken's performance as the Emperor. I had reservations when I heard he was cast in the role but held out hope like I did for Ledger's joker and Pattinson's Batman. Alas I was left wanting more. Otherwise this was a 9.5/10

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odd. I thought that he was less Walken than normal, significantly.

All I do is Nguyen said:

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He didn't have his typical Walken rhythm or tone but he just didn't come across as arrogant enough to be emperor. He wasn't intimidating or have a commanding presence I would expect the emperor of the whole damn universe to have.

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It was not good.

There was one specific line that was very Walken-esque in terms of delivery cadence and intonation. They are talking about finding Muad'Dib in the desert, the camera pans away and fades to the next scene. Walken (and everyone else) is offscreen and says something like "I have to find him" or "I've got to find him". It's a cross between Walken and Will Ferrell doing Harry Caray. I definitely laughed because it was so out of place.

I wish the emperor was younger, more virile and more menacing but admittedly this was a minor nit for me.

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After a few more watches I've changed my mind and would now say Bautista. I loved him as Drax, but really all he did in this film was yell.

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The Beast Rabban was the most 2D major male character in the book IMHO. He was, well, a Beast. Not a good leader. Just a brute born into the right family.

This is wild...

Greig Fraser explains how Unreal Engine was used to plan shots in the desert for ‘DUNE: PART TWO’
pic.twitter.com/PUKuUjfCfg

— Denis Villeneuve Universe (@DenisVfilms) March 21, 2024

Been listening to both Dune soundtracks on repeat lately, especially while working or driving.

Just pulled up to the grocery store jamming to Gom Jabbar. It was near the end of the song after the awesome "Dune" chant lyric. The winds, strings, synth feel somewhat like wind on the top and the low end is just deep, rumbling sustain.

Turn off the car. Open the door. This is when my music cuts out. But there's an HEB employee with a leaf blower 20' away that just happens to be at the exact right pitch to fit in musically.

I'll be damned if I didn't just experience the Hans Zimmer audio version of the Instagram model vs In Real Life meme.

Saw it tonight. Hans Zimmer is just the absolute best right now.

Zimmer doesn't miss. So excited to see his music in concert

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Side note, StubHub fees are complete bull*****

$84 in fees for a $224 ticket. Ridiculous.

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I'm embarrassed to share the StubHub fee we paid for U2 Sphere tickets. 50th birthday is only reason I let it slide. However, I'll never use them again.

I'm still amazed over the ass raping we took on that. It was four months ago and I still can't sit down.