[GuestHNUser]

> There's no character development to speak of, the plot is secondary, and visual spectacle is placed front and center.

I totally agree with this take, but I think Dennis' directing/writing is full of 'Telling' instead of 'Showing', not that he took "Show Don't Tell" to the extreme. The entire movie is full of instances where the audience is told aspects of the characters/world, but isn't shown them in the first Dune movie:

- We are told the Atreides ruled Caladan, but at no point is the audience shown who the Atreides' subjects are, or how their subjects feel about the Atreides. The only shots the film has on Caladan are beautiful yet empty areas of the Scottish Highlands. Where are the people they rule over? What does their way of life look like? None of this is shown, but it should have been.

- On Arrakis, we are only ever told how strong and powerful the Fremen are from characters like Duncan Idaho. In fact, the only time we get to see the Fremen fight is at the end of the movie when Paul, the child _who has never been in a life or death fight before_, makes a fool of a supposedly strong Fremen fighter! Dennis clearly wants the audience to perceive the Fremen as strong, yet he fails to illustrate their strength on screen. I understand that Dennis wants Paul to be seen as powerful too, but the resulting scene undercuts everything that the movie has told us about the Fremen's fighting ability.

If it isn't already clear, I don't think Dennis Villenueve is a particularly good film maker (though this is not to call him a bad one). He likes to have large empty scenery shots which are almost monochrome. I find that it makes his imagery striking but, ultimately, boring. For instance, his shots in Bladerunner 2049 mostly depict an empty wasteland that, though striking in its scale, doesn't drive one's imagination. The original Bladerunner's shots are so cluttered with detail and color that it fills every location with a unique character. This is why I think Bladerunner inspired so much other media after it; the audience's imagination can't help but linger on the sets and one off characters of the original film.

[cgriswald]

I agree with the original poster. The novel was extremely expositional, with epigraphs, italicized personal thoughts, and shifting points of view. The film is the novel with all the exposition removed. I see the film not just as an adapatation, but as a direct response to Lynch's version which includes all the exposition you could like.

> - We are told the Atreides ruled Caladan, but at no point is the audience shown who the Atreides' subjects are...

I'm not sure why this is particularly needed and it isn't really in the novel. The importance of Caladan in the novel is that it is wet (which we do see); and that the way Caladan is ruled (whatever that is) must necessarily be different than how Arrakis is ruled (air/sea versus desert power). I'll have to rewatch the film to see if this can be gleaned from it; but it seems largely irrelevant what day-to-day life is like for Caladanians not in the Duke's direct employ and if the Duke is particularly loved or hated there.

> - On Arrakis, we are only ever told how strong and powerful the Fremen are...

This is also true of the novel. The main characters know more about the Fremen than anyone and very little at that. The Duke believes the Fremen are his 'desert power' because of the comparison to the Sardaukar on Selusa Secundus and because their estimates of the number of Fremen are greater than those of the Harkonnen or Emperor. Duncan Idaho confirms these suspicions, but the Fremen are largely mysterious even then. We also have the interaction between the Shadout Mapes and Jessica to hint at their capacity for violence.

[GuestHNUser]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

> I'm not sure why this is particularly needed and it isn't really in the novel...

I know saying this is sacrilegious to some sci-fi fans, but I think that the novel, Dune, could do with improvement. Neither the book nor the movie spend enough time fleshing out the details of their characters, which in my opinion robs both of them their ability to connect more deeply with the audience. The scene where Duke Leto explains to Paul that they will require desert power to rule Arrakis, for instance, did not have to be set such that the characters were alone on an empty cliff above the shoreline. There could have been a city full of culture upon this shoreline with great boat yards and planes over the sea to show the audience the empire that they are leaving behind on Caladan. I want both the novel and the movie to flesh out the details which make the audience engage with the fact that Caladan is a comparative paradise to the harsh, prison-like planet called Arrakis. It would suck to be forced to leave behind all the great work that the Atreides' forefathers put into Caladan. But, ultimately, both the film and the novel fail to fully engage their audience with these facts since they don't flesh out the details about the environment and people that the Atreides rule. At least that is my opinion.

There are a number of things I'd like to change or improve upon if I had the chance to edit Dune (novel or film): the story's allusions to the Cold War fight for oil in the middle east; the poor decision making by the Harkonnens; Dr. Yueh's murder of Duke Leto etc. But I don't want to ramble on too much. My point is that I think the film could have improved upon the novel in a number of places, instead of following the novel to its detriment.

[colanderman]

Just want to say I agree about the book. I like the book, but I've never felt connected to any of the characters. There's simply no reason given to particularly care about any of them, any many simply appear to fill a role and then disappear as quickly.

The Villeneuve movie at least gives personality to Stilgar.