I'm more biased towards the '84 version, because that's the one I grew up with and am most familiar with, but it has its drawbacks. The 2021 version isn't so bad either, but it has its drawbacks too. Both are certainly better than that lame British miniseries they showed on Sci-Fi channel back in 2000 :P.
1984 Dune:
- covers the entire story, not just the first half
- the voice-overs of the characters' thoughts filled in a lot that people wouldn't have known just from watching the action
- most of the characters look the way they should (with a few exceptions)
- it's very dark
- fantastic costumes
- Paul was well-cast
- Lady Jessica was perfect
- Chani looked perfect
- Gurney Halleck was played by Patrick Stewart
- the stillsuits looked great
- could have lived without the diseased version of the Baron
- there were a few other gross moments too
- sandworms looked cheesy, and you could tell they were stop-motion, though that ride Paul made was still awesome as hell
- the weirding modules were cool, but kinda deviated against the Weirding Way combat style written about in the books
- memorable music
Dune 2021:
- only covers the first half of the story
- a lot of information is left out regarding the characters' thoughts, the culture of the empire, the Bene Gesserits, and how Spice works
- most of the characters look the way they should, but I have issues with a few of them
- Chani looks like a 12-year-old California girl that got lost on her way to Coachella or Venice, CA, and has little screen presence
- once again they try to insert the "coming-of-age" cliche into Paul's development, when it was pretty clear in the book and the first film that he matured faster than most teenagers after being raised only around adults
- the actress who plays Jessica rubbed me the wrong way when she made an idiot of herself about her character in an interview, because it was clear she really didn't read the background on Lady Jessica at all, otherwise she wouldn't have said such stupid things
- I liked seeing more of Caladan
- the costumes were more subdued in this film
- the spacecraft were EPIC
- they took away the mysteries about the Fremen and how the Baron so easily took back Dune from the Atreides
- the Baron was slightly less gross, but still not pleasant on screen
- they totally missed an opportunity with Lady Jessica in that garden in the palace on Dune
- the use of the music annoyed me because it was almost totally swallowed up by the sound-effects
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LetoAtreides (475)
a year ago
This is what I wrote after watching the new Dune and my opinion hasn't shifted after a second viewing.
"I'm a long time Dune fan, but I also try to put myself in the shoes of someone getting introduced to this universe for the first time.
I liked the movie but It was a bit bland and shallow.
You would think that by aiming for a two parts 5 hours movie, Villeneuve would have been able to show and explain way more than the 1984 movie. How is it that after 2:20 hours we've seen less and know fewer things than in Lynch's version by the time Paul and and Lady Jessica join the Fremen?
The pivotal dinner party, a glaring omission in 1984 Dune, is still not included.
The Harkonnens have way too little screen time and their cruelty is barely on display. The Baron has what? 3 scenes? Feyd is not shown or mentioned. Piter De Vries might well have been a unnamed extra. In fact, mentats are not explained at all and even Thufir disappears after the first hour.
Spacefolding is not shown either.
The music was forgettable. We are miles behind the outstanding 1984's theme."
Now that the casting of the emperor, Feyd, Irulan and the Fenring has been announced for part 2, the absence of these characters in Part 1 will be even more glaring.
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