alien@gcc-opus.ARPA (Alien Wells) (12/27/84)
When I went to see Dune I wasn't expecting much. I had read the press and gotten personal reviews from friends. I expected cameo appearances, choppy plot, a loss of most of the intricacies of the book. After all, it would clearly take at least a 4 hour movie to do justice to the book. What I was NOT expecting was the CHANGES from the book. The emperor was setting up the House Atreides because of a SECRET WEAPON they were developing? The Baron Harkonnen turned from a suave, sohpisticated, intelligent yet evil plotter into a bumbling, disease ridden idiot? And where did those HEART PLUGS the Baron was so fond of come from? And why were the Sardaukar breathing green gas? And why were they so incompetant? To me, the major theme of Dune was that adversity breeds strength. The emperor was in power because of his Sardaukar, raised on the inhospitable prison planet of Salsa Secunda. Paul is able to lead the Fremen to victory because they were even better fighters raised in an even worse environment. Is any of this in the movie? Is any of the subtle interplay of people and forces apparent? No, what we have is a heroic young man escaping evil nasties, drinking magic water to become superman, handing out secret super weapons to his bumbling fremen friends (who showed no fighting talent whatsoever), then destroying the evil Imperial forces by calling them names without losing a single man! Of course, he gets the girl along the way. And don't forget the classic Hollywood ending where he commands the heavens to open up and the rain to pour through! What I find particularily upsetting is Herbert's raving about how wonderful the movie is and how it is a perfect adaptation of the book. Granted, he is getting a share of the profits, but he seems to sincere ... This lends strength to a theory I have. Dune is an acclaimed masterpiece. All the Dune sequels were trash. (Not just my subjective opinion. Not only do most of my SF friends agree, but a recent SF poll we took here had Dune in the top 10 (I believe #1), with the sequels to Dune in the worst 10 (we had votes for best and worst).) Herberts prior work showed no great talent. Furthermore, his praise of the movie shows he has no great love for the original. Question: Who did Herbert get as a ghost writer for Dune? In fairness, I should point out the good parts. The sets were wonderful. They did an incredibly good job at painting a feudal-industrial society. The casting and acting were wonderful! If only they had had reasonable script writing and cutting ... it could have been wonderful. I'll close now, the more I think about it the more disappointed I get. For the occasional movie goer - pass this one up. Movie addicts should probably see it, but don't expect much. For you Dune addicts: If you liked the sequels to Dune, you'll probably like the movie. Otherwise, let it pass. Alien
rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) (12/28/84)
Well said, Alien! I could never manage to read beyond page 63 of DUNE; it was just too episodic, unlike Tolkien's RINGS books. But I was aware that the book was more complex and sophisticated than the film. Herbert's cloning of a primitive "arabist" version of Islam was reduced to ludicrous neo-Nazi terms in the film (which reminded me of 30s films Leni Riefenstahl made for Hitler, except those were much better made than Lynch's turgid paean to fascism). I particularly loathed the vicious homophobia added to the portrayal of Baron Harkonnen, or Feyd-Rautha, for that matter: while Herbert himself is homophobic in DUNE (I tore up my copy of it into tiny pieces Wednesday night after seeing the film and threw it into the trash), the movie amplifies it to a screech with liberal doses of gore, putrefaction, & sadism. Why did big name actors lend themselves to the debacle? It's ironic to see Linda Hunt or Juergen Prochnow (who's starred in various films by Wolgang "Das Boot" Petersen, including a gay film in which Prochnow portrays a "pederast", ie, he's attracted to teenage boys) abetting such an effort. The sets were literally awesome, but the screenplay and dialogue would've flunked even the afternoon soaps. May Herbert & Lynch choke on their melange! Remember Ozymandias, Ron Rizzo