Dune Movie Review

Frank Herbert’s Dune Movies Video Review

Author’s breakdown and comments…

I will start out by saying I LOVE Frank Herbert’s Dune so take this review with a slight grain of salt. (See Review chart below)

That being said I will give my opinion on what the best one is to watch if you do not have time to watch all of them (spoiler alert: Each of them is quite long in its own right).
My TOP PICK: Frank Hurbert’s Dune came out in 2000 from the SciFi Chanel as a TV mini-series. I think it was masterfully done and there was NO need to make another. After that, you MUST watch Children Of Dune, these two films will quickly become your top SciFi favorites.
The remake in 2021 of Dune that made it to theaters was quite good and visually stunning, I just felt they rushed it a bit, and the scenes were not perfect or had the emotional connection that was supplied by the 2000 Si-Fi mini-series.
If you have not watched both you will not understand what I mean and will probably think 2021 Dune is quite good, it’s simply not at the level I would want, but that is not to say I won’t watch the next one in the series. Simply put, it’s not a movie I would watch twice but I could watch the 2000 Si-Fi over and over again because I have an emotional connection with it.
Now to round out this list we better talk a bit about the 1985 Dune as well. Well, I could watch it a second time, years apart but it’s a bit corny for my tastes for the time period they did a good job, if you are a Dune lover then it’s one more you must watch.

Review Chart In (Order of Favorite)

– LOVE this MOVIE beyond compare!

– A MUST have for a Sci-Fi Lover!

– I don’t care what others say I think Alec Newman as Muad’Dib did an AMAZING job and he will forever be my favorite in this role!

– I think William Hurt as Duke Leto Atreides was not as bad as some people thought, wish he got into the role just a bit more but it was not an issue for me due to the tone and dimension of this movie. There was also one scene when he was talking he seemed comatose, I blame the director’s direction there.

– I think Saskia Reeves as Lady Jessica Atreides was an excellent actor choice HOWEVER they completely screwed up her character (was NOT true to Frank Hurbert’s Vision in my opinion) and made the character FAR too weak, I felt the character should have been stronger and more in charge instead of so fearful. If the director had realized to do this character correctly, the movie would be at a whole other level where I feel she would AND should have been the prominent actor setting the tone for the entire film, they really missed out.

– Note: I did not find a Blue Ray Version and I have the DVD version myself. Suspect they did not create a Blue Ray for North America Region possibly due to copy write reasons. If you know a link to a good Blue Ray version that works in North America let me know in the comments and I’ll update it.

– A PERFECT follow-up to Frank Hurbert’s 2000 DUNE!

– Note: This Blue ray is suppose to work in US Region as well. The one I bought was a long time ago so can’t tell for sure. Test it as soon as you get it.

-Underdeveloped and rushed storyline. Still worth a watch while it’s in theaters or once it comes out to BlueRay.

– Movie is visually stunning and the character design is amazing, a perfect pairing for the big screen.

– I Liked Everyone ELSES acting EXCEPT for the main character Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides I think EITHER he is not cast correctly for this role OR they want to show character growth as he gets older and will become insanely better as he gains character development.

This movie can easily be EXCELLENT (it’s NOT there yet) IF the vision was done correctly. There is an ART to storytelling and the director here is just not getting it right, I can’t even really blame the actor because if acted properly with the correct direction this can be AMAZING but it’s not and the cuts they made for the movie scenes were just all wrong, you can tell they are extremely rushed and sloppy.

– Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica Atreides WAS AMAZING, PERFECTLY DONE! This is EXACTLY how Lady Jessica should ALWAYS be portrayed, in command and in charge.

What they SHOULD do next is do a prequel with just her and kid Paul Atreides from infinity to early teenage years where the focus is her teachings to Paul, I am telling you this would be the PERFECT prequel and reach out to me if you want I’ll work as a consultant and can review scenes in making to make sure it is done PERFECTLY. I don’t care about the money, I want it to be done perfectly.

– All I can say about Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is FINALLY, a PERFECT portrayal of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen! Simply amazing, exactly what should have been done. (Only one thing should have been done differently with Dr. Yueh’s death scene, but that was not the actor’s fault, it was the creative direction, and they should have said “I can’t keep a traitor around even one of my own creation”.

– I think Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides was good enough nothing to write home about but he had one strong scene in the way he tells Lady Jessica to protect Paul and to WHOM he was speaking to, this was his best scene.

They botched up the scene that should have been his defining moment for “DAM the spice!!”. Essentially Duke Leto should have been the smartest man in the room, conniving, creative, and with TOTAL ambitions to become the emperor one day, this was NOT the feeling you get with his character. Instead, they worked to humanize the character and give him a warm and fuzzy “I’m here to be your friend feeling”, silly, silly mistake with this character. Hense I say this movie could have been great but wasn’t.

– Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho – Auquaman – Seriously as Duncan, ARE YOU INSANE!!! GARBAGE!! Biggest pandering to the audience I have ever seen! Jason did his usual typecast Super Hero style role and I can’t fault him for that but he is NOT the right person for this character, but all his scenes were over the top superhero feeling.

I thought he was completely the wrong person for this role. The only advice I can give you is to STOP caring about big names and care about amazing acting and who fits the role correctly. What an absolute disaster casting Jason for this role (Jason is NOT a bad actor, he is NOT suitable for this degree of drama, or would need MASSIVE amounts of direction to do this role correctly which he clearly did NOT receive).

At least if you are going to use Jason then you should change his appearance COMPLETELY (and you can do that its a Sci-Fi MOVIE!), ALL you ended up doing here is showing Aquaman in all his glory, but remember this is NOT an Aquaman movie, this is DUNE!

– I think Chang Chen as Dr. Wellington Yueh was a fine choice as an actor BUT what a TOTAL waste of Dr. Yueh’s character, this is a classic example of NO character development, there was SO much missed opportunity here I can not even begin to tell you, what a total waste.

I think you guys need help in a BIG way to salvage the remainder of these movies and to turn ordinary into extraordinary and you really need a creative genius to give you some pointers.

– This is the 1985 version of Dune, worth a watch AFTER you watch the other ones just for fun.

– Thought it was corny and some scenes were too sadistic.

– It was not a perfectly cohesive storyline in my opinion.

– It was a good effort for WHEN the movie came out.

– It’s not one of my favorites but I’d watch it again years down the line.