Well, one good thing about the movie was that I got to laugh at Sting's "acting".
Well, one good thing about the movie was that I got to laugh at Sting's "acting".
"It's his eyes, Roland thought. They were wide and terrible, the eyes of a dragon in human form" - Roland seeing the Crimson King for the first time.
"When the King comes and the Tower falls, sai, all such pretty things as yours will be broken. Then there will be darkness and nothing but the howl of Discordia and the cries of the can toi" - From Song of Susannah
During my junior year of high school my English teacher and one other guy in my class were huge Dune fans, so my teacher worked the Lynch movie into the class schedule. I think we spent about a week on it, so he could explain everything and point out where it differed from the book, etc.
That was what sparked my interest and he's the reason I eventually read the series. Took me almost 10 years before I got around to reading them, but I did it.
I actually saw the movie before I ever read the books so there was a lot in the books that was colored by this. For instance, Paul Atreides will always look like Kyle MacLachlan to me. This isn't true of all of the characters but he played the part so well that it stuck. Because of the movie the book had that Baroque feel to it. I think this was one of the things that made me read the book in the first place. I was intrigued by this futuristic feudal society...Houses headed by Dukes, Barons, Counts, etc. with their own private armies, Family Atomics, the Padishah Emperor and his Sardaukar. The music was powerful too. It all drew me in and added to my enjoyment of the books. But I was completely unprepared for the depth of the story as a whole and just how entertaining it actually ended up being. I still like the movie ok...enough to buy it.
First of all let me clear up some confusion. It isn't the writing itself that I hated...although I didn't think it was as good as Frank's.
My mind was not made up by the House series. The House series I enjoyed to a certain extent. There were parts I didn't like and it could have been better. There are inconsistancies that pissed me off but altogether I thought it was some decent, if not great, backstory on some of the greatest secondary characters ever put on paper. You must understand that House and BJ are very different in that the House series sticks to familiar territory, discussing the events right before the birth of Paul Atreides. KA and BH don't have as much room to manouvre and fuck things up the way the did with BJ.
With Butlerian Jihad, I like to finish things I start and like I said before, there were some good parts. The Fremen parts were great and I did enjoy Erasmus and his relationship with Omnius. These parts kept me going more than anything else. Looking back, hindsight being 20/20, it wasn't enough.
Like I said at the beginning of the post, it wasn't the writing itself I hated. It was the twists that the BJ took that I didn't approve of. Norma Cenva's character is fucking ridiculous. The precursors to the Bene Gesserits...electricity hurling wizardesses...silly and just plain wrong. And the events of the Battle of Corrin, pathetically contrived and stupid. It could have been done much better. More than anything I was just disappointed that these books were nothing like anything Frank had written. (aside from the Fremen parts)
I felt that BJ, more so than House, was a sellout, a completely successful attempt to churn out any old pulp, slap the Dune name on it, and make money. They really should have taken the time to find someone that could write in Frank's style and depth. If they had, not only would these books have made money but they would have stood the test of time. As it is they won't. They drag down Frank Herbert's legacy into the mire of mediocrity.
Oh...and I do NOT believe that BJ was based on anything that Frank had in mind. I most certainly do not believe that Hunters of Dune, etc was based on any "outlines" that Frank left behind. This was a story made up to make people like me shut up about how badly KA and BH are fucking up Frank's story.
Pffft. Whatever. Nothing sucks that hard.
It's been a long time since I've read the Dune books so I'm going to dig out Dune tomorrow and reread it. I loved the first one immensely and liked the others but some of them were a bit hard to follow at times.
"You can lead a whore to culture but you can't make her think." - Duma Key
zoneseek@thedarktower.com
This is the little girl that played Alia, Paul's sister in the 84 movie...
The Tardis (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) duh!
blackrose: you'll be surprised how leaving it for a few years and then revisiting will improve your understanding of it, its worked for me. I first read them when i was about 15 and had trouble following some parts of the last 3 books, but since then have re-read it and its made a whole lot more sense
"You can lead a whore to culture but you can't make her think." - Duma Key
zoneseek@thedarktower.com
Yeah i gotta see the 1984 movie again. They drastically changed the storyline didnt they? Didn't they cut out the majority of the Fremen sections?
"You can lead a whore to culture but you can't make her think." - Duma Key
zoneseek@thedarktower.com
ya. Neither the 84 movie nor the Sci-Fi version did a good job with the story. But both focused on key points. Like I said, the 84 version did a good job with the spice and it's effects on Paul. The Sci-Fi version tried to show glimpses of his actual power. The casting in the 84 version was alright, the casting in the sci-fi was horrible. But the sci-fi told a lot more of the story, and they followed it up with Children of Dune. And I don't know, I'm a Dune fan, so I think I'm going support however it's done. NO movie is like the book. there's always something different. I also bought the stupid arse books that Brian and KJA wrote. I still read them because I'm a fan.
The Tardis (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) duh!
I'm thinking Cozener might be wanting to sex that up for about two months straight.
"It's his eyes, Roland thought. They were wide and terrible, the eyes of a dragon in human form" - Roland seeing the Crimson King for the first time.
"When the King comes and the Tower falls, sai, all such pretty things as yours will be broken. Then there will be darkness and nothing but the howl of Discordia and the cries of the can toi" - From Song of Susannah
LOL!! She had parts in a bunch of movies and tv shows. She also plays classical piano and did a performance in London, I think. Ya, she turned out to be a winner. Hell she could have played the grown up version of Alia in the sci-fi Children of Dune..
The Tardis (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) duh!
I'd be happy to give her some parts to play with...
Hi ZoNeSeek you are spot on. I only intended to read Dune but once I finished it I started to read the rest of them. I found them so much easier to read and understand this time round and now starting Heretics of Dune. So far after the first book God Emperor of Dune is the best. I also found another book of Frank Herbert's in the house called Soul Catcher which I'm going to read when I finish Heretics and Chapter House.
Just finished Heretics and think it better then God Emperor of Dune. Starting Chapter House now hopefully it can keep up the momentum of Heretics. I read all these books before about 15 years ago and forgotten nearly everything that was in them especially the last two I read so it's like reading them for the first time again. Looking forward to the end now to see how it ends up.
Just finished Chapter House Dune. As I said before it was a long time since I first read them and at times found them hard to follow/understand. This time I took my time and really enjoyed them. The last three books to me are the best in the series. A lot more action packed and faster moving. There was a TV minis series made a couple of years ago that I didn't see which I'm now going to see if I can get on DVD. These books are so intense to read. Frank Herbert was a genius. If you like the ecology storyline I highly recommend Kim Stanley Robinson's Red/Green/Blue Mars trilogy. The are very complex but brilliantly written books.
I was/am a mega fan of the Dune universe. Tis my fav even above DT (pending mode)
Would it make you guys happy to know there are planes for yet another 'Dune' movie? Still not totally finalized but is in the early process.
For me my Fav's were actually the 'Legends of Dune' triplet.
Spoiler:
But I have to tell you after waiting 20 years to get the sequel to Chapter House was the highlight of this decade for me so far. (Been a bad decade i guess LOL!)
I'm looking forward to the first Paul of Dune triplet books which is due out this fall.
[QUOTE=aurora;126800]I was/am a mega fan of the Dune universe. Tis my fav even above DT (pending mode)
Would it make you guys happy to know there are planes for yet another 'Dune' movie? Still not totally finalized but is in the early process.
Interesting to see what it will be like compared to David Lynch's version. Have they started making it yet or is it just in development stage.
New movie status as of March 18th article on Scifi.com:
Paramount Adapting Dune Again
Peter Berg is attached to direct another big-screen adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic SF novel Dune for Paramount Pictures, Variety reported.
Kevin Misher, who spent the past year obtaining the book rights from the Herbert estate, will produce.
Herbert's 1965 novel is a sweeping, futuristic tale set on the remote desert planet Arrakis, which is the interstellar empire's sole source of the spice Melange, which causes immortality and facilitates space travel.
The beloved book, which is the first in a series of novels, also spawned David Lynch's 1984 film and SCI FI Channel's 2000 miniseries, starring William Hurt.
The Berg Dune is now seeking writers, with the producers looking for a faithful adaptation of the Hugo- and Nebula Award-winning book.
New Amsterdam's Richard Rubenstein, who produced SCI FI's Dune and its sequel, Children of Dune, is also producing alongside Sarah Aubrey of Film 44, Berg's production banner. John Harrison and Mike Messina executive-produce.
Wow great news. It's going to be interesting to compare the two versions together when this one finally comes out. If it comes out next year it will 25 years since David Lynches adaptation was released. That's hard to believe. I take it there's no mention yet who has the leading roles in this.
On the CG side its being claimed that this will require a 14-18 month dev cycle so think 2010 release "IF" it finally happens. Theres still a ton of stuff to go through before it becomes written in stone. But my fingers are crossed!
Finished reading Soul Catcher by Frank Herbert. So different from the Dune books. Enjoyed it but the ending left me cold. Anyboby else read it and if so what did you think of it.