MovieChat Forums > Dune (2021) Discussion > What's the point of the 'thopters'?

What's the point of the 'thopters'?

posted 2 years ago by TerraFirma69 (1962)
8 replies | jump to latest

They've obviously mastered gravity or at least have some magical thrust system with all the other craft (including everything from skyscraper sized transports to the small spotter units for the spice harvesters - and the Baron, hells why isn't everyone using whatever he's using to float about?), so why are they using such a clumsy vulnerable craft for small transporters/fighters?

If it's because they look 'cool', it's an awful and insulting choice.

[–] Burk48917 (11117) a year ago

I assumed it was a means of propulsion better for the sand environment and it's potential harm to mechanics, since other crafts seem to work on a induction/expulsion type of lift. It's the same reason you keep a jet-ski out of the sandy water, but a propeller is fine.

[–] [deleted] a year ago

Yup. Style over substance with Villeneuve. It's why his movies fail eventually.

[–] quartz (443) 8 months ago

is it based on the book?

[–] TerraFirma69 (1962) 8 months ago

I believe they originated in the books, yes.

[–] Martindo (58) 8 months ago

Yeah, they are in the book and they were called "ornitho-" because they were designed to be like birds. This was part of Herbert's grand(iose) vision that he could combine nature, history, and all of the world's religions into one unified future.

[–] quartz (443) 8 months ago

cool

Dune is one of the few scifi books I have actually read. I could remember some of it and compare the film to the book contents

I mean I have an engineering background and the way they actually fly, is the worst kind of engineering (the wings vibrate) I just figured they look cool

[–] Martindo (58) 8 months ago

Good point. But science fiction always involves speculation, some of which is deemed impossible by modern technology and some of which really is impossible.

[–] Valerian (10534) 8 months ago

Toy size thopters may be doable.

Aerodynamic Performance of a Dragonfly-Inspired Tandem Wing System for a Biomimetic Micro Air Vehicle
frontiersin.org/files/Articles/787220/fbioe-10-787220-HTML-r1/image_m/fbioe-10-787220-g004.jpg

frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2022.787220/full