The new Dune 2 trailer may very well be the best trailer for a movie I've ever seen

[Fat Elvis]

I really liked the first installment, and the previous trailers for Dune 2 were good, but my jaw hit the floor watching this one....

[BWillie]

98% of people who watched the movie never read the book.

[ThaVirus]

I’ve never read the books.

Which reminds me: is Paul a total Mary Sue in the books as well? I get that the fact that he’s a competent fighter is earned but he’s also the prophesied savior, can do that voice thing, called the biggest sand worm ever on his first try, and is the only male able to drink the worm juice and survive?

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

I’ve never read the books.

Which reminds me: is Paul a total Mary Sue in the books as well? I get that the fact that he’s a competent fighter is earned but he’s also the prophesied savior, can do that voice thing, called the biggest sand worm ever on his first try, and is the only male able to drink the worm juice and survive?

I mean, he’s the Kwisatz Haderach. The result of a millennium of breeding programs to produce a Chosen One.

It’s kind of the point.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Here's something else that bothered me a bit -- they undersold the importance of Spice. Again, I think, to simplify Paul's motivations and character.

Because "Paul is a religious zealot who's bought into his own bullshit" is a LOT easier than "Spice is the material that makes interstellar travel possible and makes Arrakis the most important economic zone in the known universe..."

Suddenly Paul doing what he did is far more defensible - The best defense is a good offense when EVERYONE would gladly conquer your planet and strip mine the whole damn thing.

But again, if you're going to make Chani a noble heroin and Paul a savage zealot, you can't introduce that aspect of it. You can't so much as whisper about the Spacing Guild and their influence on events. Because that would make Paul's actions even more defensible and Villeneuve's general disdain for religious fervor couldn't be hammered home as readily.

Don't they talk about how important spice is and that it is required for safe interstellar travel? How it's the most expensive thing in the galaxy. It was when Paul was watching the documentary thing before he left for Arrakis.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I mean, he’s the Kwisatz Haderach. The result of a millennium of breeding programs to produce a Chosen One.

It’s kind of the point.

Ah, I must have missed that then.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

I’ve never read the books.

Which reminds me: is Paul a total Mary Sue in the books as well? I get that the fact that he’s a competent fighter is earned but he’s also the prophesied savior, can do that voice thing, called the biggest sand worm ever on his first try, and is the only male able to drink the worm juice and survive?

Yeah - Idaho pretty much said it.

The Bene Gesserit breeding program has gone on for millennia with the sisters 'prodding' certain pairings in an attempt to create a male reverend mother that would have all the benefits of other memory along with prescience and ideal physical characteristics that would allow for those sort of physical feats.

And when he died (and his son turned into fish a couple thousand years later....yeah, shit gets weird) the Bene Gesserit went to work looking for ANOTHER version of him and came up with later versions similar to him like Miles Teg.

And as it turned out, Paul probably wasn't even the Kwisatz Haderach anyway - Duncan Idaho was. But again, you can probably blame Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson for that particular piece of shit plot twist and you're better served to not even consider it.

It's similar to the Hitchhikers Guide series - really, just stop after So Long and Thanks For All The Fish and you'll be much happier for it.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

Don't they talk about how important spice is and that it is required for safe interstellar travel? How it's the most expensive thing in the galaxy. It was when Paul was watching the documentary thing before he left for Arrakis.

Maybe they briefly mentioned it.

But in the books, the geopolitical and socioeconomic elements of Spice production are ENORMOUS. In many ways, more important to Paul than any sort of religious fervor.

And I think they hand-waived that in favor of streamlining (and overly simplifying) the motivations of the characters. They wanted to make the movie more accessible for non-readers and in so doing, made it too black and white. They kinda eliminated some of the ambiguity that made the original trilogy as powerful as it was.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Agreed.

And then having to explain toddler Alia going out there doing grownup shit was just going to really send people cross-eyed.

But you couldn't very well have her out there doing toddler shit either. So they moved up the timeline to simply avoid the cognitive dissonance.

It's not terribly unlike GOT just aging up the characters in the series vs. the books. Because for viewers, seeing these people run shit at 13 yrs old just wouldn't make sense to them.

And like you, I have to remind myself that when I tried to watch Dune BEFORE I read the books, I was bored and ultimately a bit lost. So if they're going to appeal to the folks that haven't read the books, they had to change a few things up. It's a little difficult for me to think "okay, how would the uninitiated absorb any of this" when I've read 10 of these books when you include the prequels.

I just don't think the Chani thing was the right way to go about doing it.

I continue to call bullshit on the unborn Alia thing. Like it would have been difficult to put a midget in black robes and CGI a baby face on it. Hell, even the '84 movie and the miniseries did okay with it without the benefits of modern special effects and a massive budget.

But sadly, I do agree that they were definitely targeting people who never read the book. More specifically, they're targeting people who have never read ANY BOOKS. At least not the kind that don't prominently feature color drawings of superheroes. That's great for BWillie. For me, not so much.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Frazod

I continue to call bullshit on the unborn Alia thing. Like it would have been difficult to put a midget in black robes and CGI a baby face on it. Hell, even the '84 movie and the miniseries did okay with it without the benefits of modern special effects and a massive budget.

But sadly, I do agree that they were definitely targeting people who never read the book. More specifically, they're targeting people who have never read ANY BOOKS. At least not the kind that don't prominently feature color drawings of superheroes. That's great for BWillie. For me, not so much.

I'm not saying it couldn't have been done.

I'm saying it would've been ****ing weird for audiences with no concept of the books. This baby shows up and kills the damn Baron? WTF?

Trying to explain how all that abomination stuff works would've sent the audience cross-eyed and messed with pacing a TON.

Again, I think as folks that have read the books, we have to consider the cognitive dissonance that would've come to those that haven't. These movies don't get made if they're just for the book readers so we have to accept concessions to those that AREN'T if we want to see some of these things brought to the screen.

The LOTR series is a fantastic example of this. It's such a good complement to the books that the entire Tolkien universe is better for them existing. If that means that the ents get a little less back story or Tom Bombadil gets essentially ignore...okay. As a book reader, I'm bummed by that, but it's a trade I'm more than willing to make to have these movies exist.

I'm fine with excising Alia from the story in the short term for the sake of story and appeal to the common audience. I just think there are OTHER creative decisions made that did more damage than that WITHOUT making the movie better or more accessible to the audience writ large.