Yes I agree, the dune universe is an amazing place to let yourself get lost in. And to think that somebody thought all of it up, an entire universe existed in somebody's mind!
not to be nerdy but actually, this universe had a matrix moment roughly 10,000 years before this movie, in which they fought against thinking machines ( A.i. basically ) and outlawed all thinking machines. " Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind" - OC Bible. all calculations are done with the human mind, even plotting space travel is with the mind.
@@calebshaw6007 I feel like Warhammer 40k borrowed a lot of tropes from Herbert's writing, particularly about a lost, dark age of technology, and superstition set in to stymie progress
@@ssshhhjjj192 I concur. It is pure genius how Frank Herbert was able to put together all these details into one coherent storyline. There is an explanation for everything so much so, that one change can throw off the entire story. I can’t wait until they part 2 and Dune Messiah. Hopefully they’ll get Children of Dune. No matter what it’s gonna be amazing.
Another cool thing to remember from the books, the Sardaukar respect the Fremen's fighting prowess so much, that they "hunt" the Fremen for a good fight. And often lost.
I’m not so sure the pogrom was “respect” as much as it was “we stumbled on a fighting force that’s actually powerful enough to oppose the imperium and we can’t let that be known so we have to wipe them out”
@@zaneharoldson2293 Yea that is an element of it in the books, but it is also pretty explicitly implied that Sardakaur hunted them and looked forward to fighting them because they are said to be deadly fighers and Sardakaur are warrior fanatics.
I like how they show the Atreides soldiers beating the Harkonnens first, then the Sardukar beating the Atreides soldiers easily, followed by Duncan Idaho beating several Sardukar soldiers. It's a perfect way to conceptualize their relative skill levels and give some context as to why Duncan Idaho is a legend in the world of Dune
This comment doesn't make sense. If anything atreides are the far superior soldiers. They are already known for the combat. This scene alone shows perfectly that. Really think about it. Atreides were unprepared for this battle. They literally only woke up minutes ago. They were unorganised. These handful of atreides managed to hold back a larger number of harkonnens. The sardukar didn't kill the atreides with "ease" cause of the skill level. It's cause a small number of atreides were surrounded from both side. If a handful of atreides managed to do that much damage. Imagine what a well prepared army of atreides would do?
@@j.garcia6206 yes, that’s the point isn’t it? The Emperor set the Atreides up to fall because Leto was popular amongst the Great Houses, and had developed an army just about as good as the Sardaukar (albeit much smaller at the time). He couldn’t let that stand.
@@j.garcia6206hey were shielded and awake enough to properly fight, and they pivoted to face the Sardaukar since the Harkonnens were backing off. They got carved to bits. Fully equipped they would probably hold out longer simply because they would be in a stronger formation, but the Sardaukar are clearly better fighters than the average Atreides grunt. If they were similar in skill, they would have held against them and the Harkonnens crushing their flank would be what killed them. That's not what happened. They pivoted fully to face the greater threat and were cut down in fifteen seconds.
For new fans; the dune series inspired a lot of modern sci-fi, basically laying the entire foundation for other stories like StarWars and Startrek. And for fans of WarHammer40k; the Sardukar are the main inspiration for the Space Marines faction.
I remember reading Dune after reading about 10 warhammer 40k novels and I was like ... WAIT A MINUTE! You could tell that everything in 40k literature was massively inspired by Dune
I wish more movies would take note of that. Theres plenty of real vets that would kill (pun intended) just to be an extra in these movies and give them a better sense of realism.
Perfect comparison is the original 'Thing' and the later rehash. In the original everyone looked like research base personnel, in the later remake everyone looked like typical Hollywood actors.
In the later novels, it is shown that the Sardaukar actually admired Duke Leto for his leadership and honour. They also secretly held a deep contempt against the Padishah Emperor for his short-sighted pettiness and incompetence. If the Emperor hadn't been so stupid he could have betrothed Irulan to Paul and peacefully passed on his throne, but tyrants could never see past their own needs.
Is there reference in book that backs it up. I mean Sardaukar are fantaic warriors, that are brainwashed since childhood to disregard their own safety and will for the emperor. I having hard time to imagine that they admired Duke Leto and had contempt towards their "god".
A subtle detail I love about these guys is their fight choreography. The Atreides and Harkonnen soldiers are trained, but still very human. They struggle, they flail when they're in trouble, they stutter-step and back off when there's a stalemate. But the Sardaukar move strangely, hunched and tense and always scanning around them like some kind of apex predator. When they're fighting, they hold guards and never stop advancing until they're dead. I feel like the only time you actually see them act human is when Duncan surprises them in his final stand. It really helps sell them as enemies you just can't even fight back against.
In the book the Atreides soldiers are right at the level of the sardaukar. They just do not have the numbers to take on the emperor. That is why the Atreides willingly move to Arrakis because they theorize that the brutality of the Harkonen has created a similar training ground for a group of people the same as salusa secundus has for the emperor. They are not surprised by Duncan's fighting style.
@@bayareaartist999actually the books described the Atreides as an excellent fighting force, but it’s the Baron scrambling for theories when he says they’re the best fighting force. Otherwise it’s described that they’re elite but only a handful are better than Sardaukar. Idaho & Halleck being examples.
@@polarfroge "The Sardaukar had never been prepared for such happenings as this day. They'd never known anything but victory which, Paul realized, could be a weakness in itself. He put that thought aside for later consideration in his own training program."
@@theAverageJoe25 yep. Sardakaur might be one thing,but to pauls horror at the situation that will happen,fremen, especially feydakin were nigh gods of war that put even him to shame somewhat by virtue of a undying fanaticism and the deserts rage
In the book, the Sardukar were disguised in Harkonnen uniforms to conceal the Emperor's involvement in the attack. But I like this change since it demonstrated the different fighting styles of each faction.
It was a good option for the books but a strange one. Iirc, despite the Harkonnen uniforms every soldier who sees them fight just goes "yeah they're Sardukar" because their fighting style is so distinctive and identifiable. To have something like that in the film would have cluttered it.
I think it’s better that they look distinctly different than the Harkonnen soldiers. It’s a means of intimidation and demoralization for their enemies. The Sardaukar are the Emperor’s best in terms of not just fighting, but also loyalty. Fighting Sardaukar means you’re fighting the emperor and he himself has sealed your fate.
Also in the book the sardukar sent 2 legions and not 3 battalions. The baron had a legitimate argument with the duke... the baron sent the duke a formal letter to end an ancient fude. He knew the duke wont accept the decline gave the baron a leagal legitimately justification to act against the duke... the fight was legitimate as long as it was only between the 2 houses. But when the emperor got involved the leagal legitimatcy was no longer valid... that is why the sardukar pretended to be harkonen. Why did the emperor got involved? I recall reading the first book. The emperor felt threatened by the duke. When Tufir Hawat was in captivity by house harkonen he revealed the reason the emperor wishes the duke's downfall was because the duke managed to train some of his troops to reach the level of the sardukar and even surpass them. Plus the fact the duke became very popular in the great houses of the lansarad the emperor saw him as a threat to his reign. The baron's plan to bring the duke down was only phase one of his agenda. The baron wanted to overthrow the emperor... How? With the fremen... He wanted raban to be hated on arakis and eventually send fayde to replace him... The baron wanted fayde to kill raban and pretend he had no idea that raban was so cruel... Hoping this action will cause the natives of arrakis to be devoted to him and he would be able to use the fremen to overthrow the emperor
Combine Turkish words "serdar" and "fedakar" so that you get "sardaukar". *Serdar:* commander, leader, chieftain, warlord, hero and *Fedakar:* devoted, self-sacrificing, altruistic, unselfish, dedicated.
the sardaukar are literally based of jannisaries, the undying loyalty to your monarch and the man in a pulpit whos either preaching or reading out holy verses
One detail I love about the Sardaukar in this film is that their uniforms are white because blood shows clearer. They wipe their blades on their suits to "mark" themselves. It's their way of displaying their kills on their uniforms. Since their war paint is the blood of human sacrifices, why wouldn't the Sardaukar mark themselves with the blood of their fallen enemies as a point of pride and intimidation? And these were the Sardaukar at their weakest. I can only imagine how formidable they were in their prime.
They really do look like futuristic butchers which is very fitting. Also I heard that at their prime, the Sardaukar were on par with Bene Gesserit acolytes though I don't know what the original source was for that
I always like how when Petyr alludes to keeping the terms of a deal: "three battalions, as agreed." the commander immediately cuts him off with "the Emperor commands it. It is done." As though to say, "there is no deal, we do what the Emperor commands". And almost a bit like framing the working relationship between him and Petyr: "If the emperor commands we turn on you, we will. I'll cut your face off and wear it like a mask if the Emperor commands it."
Yes. Villeneuve really did good with the Sardaukar, that scene shows how much disdain they have for the Harkonnens and is one of the best in the movie. Sadly the rest of the movie wasn't on that level when it came to bringing the setting alive.
I love how it shows Atreides holding back Harkonnen forces but the Sardaukar almost instantly cut them to pieces. It's a good visual for quickly showing the skill difference in the different clans' warriors.
Good point. But they also had the high ground (lol) against the Harkonnens while the Sardukar simultaneously had the high ground while they were also sandwiching the Atriedes.
I think it’s more Hammer and Anvil. The Atreides forces are good. Almost Sardaukar level. With the Harkonnens in the front acting as the anvil, and then the Sardaukar at the back as the hammer, they got crushed.
There were/are cadets of atreides trained by duncan and gurney that are even superior to sardaukar, in books they sent 10 batallions, almost 180k strong even when harkonen already outnumbered atreides. it is one of the reasons emperor feared duke, given time atreides would have been stronger than sardaukar even without freman.
Sardukar represented in the movie like a mixture of worst feared armies of history. Priest chanting a prayer like Mongols, soldiers line up and dressed like Samurai, warriors faces are tattooed and bearded like Vikings. Scary enough for me.
@@magicman3163 true but 40k is also much larger and more detailed we know only the broad strokes of dune we know even the most small details of 40k plus it has unreliable narrators Dune is somewhat more reliable
Supposedly Frank Herbert refrained from writing a lot of fancy tech and epic battles into Dune on purpose, so there would be less distraction from the philosophical and political themes.
Herbert never implicitly wrote this, but for thousands of years after the events of Dune, Sardaukar children had to get their parents to check in the closet and under the bed for Duncan Idaho’s.
That scene on the Sardaukar planet in Imax was insane to hear and see. Closest thing to Warhammer 40k we will get until they make an actual warhammer 40k movie. Cant wait for part 2! The book gets really weird and awesome, cant wait to see what they do with some of that!
Honestly I can totally see them re-using some of the props and costumes in this film for a possible 40k film, or more appropriately 30k/Horus Heresy. Maybe repaint and modify the Sardaukar costumes for a particular Imperial Army regiment (maybe Solar Auxilia if they add extra armor plates) - or Stormtroopers if 40k - and get whoever did the fight choreography for them to do any melee fight scenes involving Space Marines
EXACTLY what i thought when watching it too. Of course, its cause 40k was heavily inspired by dune, among other things. This is probably the closest we're ever gonna get to a proper (well made) warhammer 40k movie sadly
One thing that I noticed, was Duncan was skilled enough that his shield only flashed four times. 1 - The first dart hit his shield. 2 - The second dart hit his shield in the hallway. 3 - The Sardaukar grabbed him right before he did a roll with them. 4 - The Sardaukar landed a blow, and it stabbed him. Sardaukar could barely touch him, but when they did. It was precise.
The reason the Atreides forces were so scary, was Duncan Idaho, Gurney Halleck and Thufir Hawat, each of them designed, implemented and actively taught what they knew to the troops. Duncan trained them in swordsmanship, Gurney in fighting and Thufir in tactics and strategy, the Harkonnen alone, would, at best, achieve a pyrrhic victory.
Beautiful analysis. The Baron is the equivalent of bringing elephants through the Alps??? Nooo one expected elephants. It was unthinkable. Just like the Baron empty nearly a century’s worth of profits just to accomplish his goal of a House vendetta. I respect that level of inter generational campaign. Then again, this universe is very long term minded after all. It’s fascinating to see all the different sects always focus on goals beyond one human generation. Such a contrast to today’s culture of quarterly earnings for example. I love Dune.
@@Wingly113 It isn't fully explained in the movie but Thufir Hawat is so much more than that. He's a mentat master of assassins trained in all manner of assassination techniques used in the Dune universe. He simply makes the mistake in underestimating how much the Baron was willing to spend in his war against House Atreides. The Baron used his sheer wealth as a weapon.
I love how the Sardaukar are well-trained enough to proceed in a loose formation, while the lesser-skilled Harkonnens are strictly 'by the line'. It's kind of like real life where the rank and file always maintain a strict unit and special forces just kind of float around them.
Every faction has their individual focus. The Sardaukar are a strike force, the tip of the spear. The Atreides have the best-trained infantry. The Fremen are skilled guerilla fighters. And the Ginaz Swordmasters are probably the best individual fighters and martial artists. While the Harkonnen lack a strong ground force, their main strength is probably their air and space power.
I like how during most other fights you'll see both combatants' shields flashing as they're getting hit but when Duncan takes out those four in the hallway his shield never flashes until he gets shot, they couldn't even touch him
You do know that sandworm probably died the moment it swallowed the Sardukar, right? Water is poison to them, something I wish the filmmakers had remembered.
@@44excaliburI’d imagine a worm 400m + would need a lot more water to kill it. Poison potency depends on quantity and base lethality. Cyanide will kill humans real quick in small doses, while something like detergent will need a bit more. Based on what we saw with the small worm being dunked in water, I’d assume you’d need to somehow dunk 400m+ worm in water to really do damage.
Such a nice touch that the Atredies instantly identify the Sardaukar and provide a call-out in battle. It's probably just a way to inform the audience of who they are, but at the same time sort of shows how well educated in uniform and tactics to the point that they specifically identify who's on the field.
That might also have been due to the Sardaukar being legendary as the Emperors Blade's and thus a force to be wary off, and seeing them suddenly touch down behind the lines is something to call out for, not just "Enemy behind the line!" but *Sardaukar* behind the line..
Yes and yes, they call them out to let each other know that they have a more important target to deal with now, and to remind the audience both that the Sardaukar are a big deal, and that since the Sardaukar serve the emperor, that means the emperor is officially against the Atriedes. In the book the Sardaukar were disguised as Harkonnen soldiers because the emperor didn't want anyone to know he was involved, but the movie changed that so they wouldn't have to have characters explain it in another scene, and so it would be easier to follow who's who visually.
@@thecianinator It's certainly one subplot that didn't hurt to get cut, along with the shell-game of who's the traitor from the first third. I guess they could simplify it as well to leaving no witnesses.
And also the possibility that some of them thought the Sardaukar were there to *help* them. After all, the Emperor has given control of this most important to the Atreides. Surely if the Harkonnens sought to take back the planet, the Emperor would send his best warriors to help his loyal vassal.
@@praetor9822 Eh, I'm not sure about that-it would've been hard for the Emperor to know about that surprise attack soon enough to send Sardaukar to help. In the book the Sardaukar are simply disguised as Harkonnens because the Emperor has to appear neutral, so I imagine he'd get flak for supporting the Atreides too obviously as well.
The fact the Freman and Sadukar have the same ancestors blows my mind. Like they were already genetically predisposed to being planet wide death dealers. Seeing how they clash on the fields of Dune will be a sight to see. Especially since the Sadukar are so overwhelmingly confident in the wake of the Atreidies attack. They must have felt like baby-sitters to the Harkonnens and were genuinely startled that someone had the audacity to ambush them. Fremen fight not for the Emperor, but genuinely in the belief that even in death, they have purpose. Water for the tribe. It always goes back to what's best for the Tribe. No one fights harder than when you fight for home.
One thing I really liked about this visualization of shield fighting was that it justified the use of dual-wielding bladed weapons. Generally, that style of fighting is very cool in films to watch, but rarely actually practical in real life. However, in shield fighting it makes a great deal of sense, as the first blade is the quick kindjal, serving as a deflection or distraction, while the second is the slow follow-up that pierces the barrier. Quick on defense, and slow on attack.
Can't wait to see the Fedaykin and Sardaukar legions in Part 2. And I hope this film series becomes successful enough that we finally get an adaptation of God Emperor so audiences can witness Leto II's fanatical Fish Speakers army.
@@Barkbatosu you're confusing two different characters, Chris is playing the Padishah Emporer in Dune part 2, the God Emporer is a character from Book 4 in the dune saga
In the book, the Harkonnens had a hard time fighting the Atredies because House Atredies troops used personal shield generators. If a Harkonnen trooper fired a lasgun at someone wearing an active shield, it would have caused a fatal and explosive feedback to the one using the lasgun. The Sardaukar in the book also disguised themselves as Harkonnen because revealing themselves in having a hand in the destruction of House Atreides would have put the rest of the Landsraad on high alert, and the Noble Houses of the Landsraad would have teamed up against House Corrino - the Emperor's House. In fact that's why the Noble Houses formed the Landsraad in the first place - to protect themselves from being picked off one by one by the Emperor and his Sardaukar. Gurney and Duncan's extensive combat experience let them know immediately that they were fighting Sardaukar because of their distinctive fighting style.
@@slinksjoch The Landsraad was already in place, having been formed 12,000+ years before the setting of Dune. They rose in prominence after the Butlerian Jihad but had always been a collective of the Noble Houses to keep the Emperor in check.
It does a little more than send feedback. A lasgun hitting a shield creates an atomic explosion. Nothing like setting a nuke off in the middle of a sword fight to guarantee there are no survivors on either side
The way personal shields get depicted in this movie feels less like "The Slow Blade Penetrates The Shield" and more like... there's a 30% random chance the shield will turn red and you're just screwed.
Notice that when the Sardaukar approach the Atreides soldiers, the Harkonnen soldiers stood back while the Sardaukar finished off the Atreides soldiers. Even though they were on the same side, the Harkonnens knew better than to get between the Sardaukar and their prey. Also, when the Atreides soldiers fought the Harkonnen soldiers, the Atreides were holding their own and inflicting more casualties despite being outnumbered and under equipped. It was only when the Sardaukar entered the fight that the Atreides soldiers were completely outmatched.
Denis is simply in a league of his own. It's amazing how he can create this tension that makes it almost hard to breathe. He did the same in Sicario and Arrival and I freakin' love it!
I liked the idea that because technology has advanced so much, in that a persons personal shield can deflect… basically even microscopic organisms, combat has actually had to revert to using swords and spears, because guns are, except for special purposes, at this point useless.
i did not get engaged with his personnage... we didnt saw him anough to realy feel something. for me it was yhea the typical jason mammoha his bad ass let him do bad ass shit but it is filler to the story...
@@antoine4199 A lot of it is carryover from the books. We're talking about Duncan Idaho the character, not Jason Mammoha the actor and his performance.
@@antoine4199 Duncan's character is really explored much later on, in the books following Dune. Tbh, in the larger scheme of things Paul would not be considered to be of that much importance, he only really plays a big role in the first book. Duncan becomes a far more central character later on. But, I'm afraid that we will never see that, coz the studio might not be invested in making films out of the other books. It's always only the first one that gets all the attention.
I have no idea why they didn't do that. How difficult would it have been to bring back the same actor? And why were they speaking English in part two? So stupid.
One thing I thought was a particularly fun detail in the second movie is how in the end all of the surviving Sardaukar surrounding the emperor have their faces fully uncovered and the Fremen (aka the good/“good” guys) are masked and obscured. It’s a subtle visual reversal between who is humanized and who is the faceless threat.
@@costco_pizza yeah but that's like the whole point of the series, the guy who wins turns out to not be good at all. doesn't mean the sardaukar are necessarily good though.
I think it’s a reminiscence of Mongolian throat singing, you can find some similar songs on UA-cam. But I agree with you, something’s special about the chant. Like the sort of “sharp turns” the singer makes with his voice, so alien but so thrilling
@@cryptid_cactus First, there are several voices, not one. Second, the sound designer went out of his way to amplify the bass frequencies. Overall, this movie has probably the best sound design I've heard to this day. Or maybe it's just so new and different it feels "best"
I love how the Atreides soldiers didn’t go out like some storm troopers (or Gondor soldiers) and went out fighting and literally dying by the sword. 👌👌
@@ProvidenceNL are you sure the Gondorian “soldiers” were depicted in the movie as strong soldiers who can hold up the white city in 2 days? In my opinion they were just mid evil storm troopers getting fucked up in every scene, if you can let me know which scene showed them as strong as you stated aside from needing help from Gandolf I would love to know. Oh and Gondor has been there since the second age so it was “thousands upon thousands” of years.
@@handsomefatboy Im not sure why you are making this comment at me? I was lamenting the way the movies depicted Gondor, and how it made them look weak even though in the books the army of Gondor had been standing strong for thousands of years.
If the Sardaukar are deployed against you, the only choice is to fight to the death. If you look throughout the history of Dune, the Sardaukar are notorious for slaughtering EVERYBODY once deployed. Many Houses rebelled against the Imperium over 10,000 years and the a very large number of them were slaughtered on their knees begging for mercy.
The intro to the Sardukar unnerved me… the singing/chanting, how all the soldiers was so still, the brief shot of the dead having their blood drained 😅 whoooo 🥶
I feel like the initial exchange between Piter and the Sardaukar bashar is underrated and overshadowed by the throat singing memes. "Na! Shaduka, ki ukabaade. Sakusa akista faade." - the delivery and alliterating syllables make for a very sing-song like delivery, it feels like this is a poem or motto being quoted almost mechanically as a response. There's something very intimidating about his overwhelming, seemingly trained confidence, a zealotry to it. A perfect introduction for the Sardaukar on the big screen
I think this was originally spoken in english.. there are not many shots of the lips.. but the commander looks like hes speaking eglish. When the got the idea they could fairly easily add it in post... not many would notice. My friend can read lips.. I think I'll ask her to take a look...
Sardaukar remind me of the Knights Templar in the first scene where their uniforms look almost like white robes. It is amazing how Dune has this perfect balance between the almost archaic and technologically advanced. No other franchise has ever done it so well.
bro i went completely geek bat shit for this movie. im not even sci fi guy but this was really good. i watched in the cinemas for first time in many years and that movie was really the perfect cinema movie
The Sardaukar had absolutely nothing in common with knight templars though. They were heavily inspired by Janissaries and Mamluks - professional slave-soldiers. Except that they weren't slaves but former prisoners.
@@POSPA36 It shows him computing some stuff in his mind. You can see Thufir doing the same when calculating the cost of the Herald's visit to Caladan. Mentats are basically human supercomputers, developed as an answer to the ban on AI and fueled by Spice.
Oh wow, I never noticed that Duncan has a suspender belt that he uses to jump on the Saraukar at 2:50. I always just thought he had a decent vertical leap.
I've rewatched this scene a million times, and it never fails to impress. The contrast of the primitive and the futuristic. The language-and the fact that it doesn't sound too removed from something we might hear in some places on earth now. The throat-singing invoking a dark, fanatical, militant-ritualistic feeling with the troops. The look of the main Sardaukar-as others have said well-he looks "experienced" in a frightening way. 1:13 something I truly appreciated for the first time today-the masterful sound design as the chant comes to a crescendo and stops, transitioning sonically into the rise of the troops and their boots coming into position at the same time. Just awesome.
I love the sideways looks of suppressed fear and obvious extreme care in choosing his words that the Mentat gives when talking to the Sardaukar leader, who doesn't even bother to look in his direction. Beautiful acting to show the relative confidence & danger levels in the two men.
I agree! Wonderfully acted. But... are any other book readers bothered by seeing Piter de Vries on Salusa Secundus with the Sardaukar? The fact that the Sardaukar come from the prison planet is supposed to be a closely guarded secret, and the Baron clearly doesn't know. Only Hawat/the Atreides seem to have figured it out. I get the reason for the change-- it's a visual shorthand to show the Harkonnens and the Emperor working together that works well for movie storytelling. But it's such a wonderful detail from the book, especially when the Baron is meeting with Count Fenring and makes his big flub about wanting to turn Arrakis into a prison planet.
I love how this movie hammered in the fact that Sardaukar - even in small numbers - are *always* a threat. The Harkonnen guardsmen are scary too, but in more of an 'inexorable formations' kind of way.
I really hated how the books basically did anime power levels. "The sardaukar are the greatest warriors ever and he's 10 pages detailing why..... and a single fremen just killed 5 of them because of tough living conditions or something."
@@BillMayonaise that’s something that never made sense to me either. It would make more sense if they explained how fighting in unfamiliar territory and constant guerilla ambushes were able to whittle down the sardaukar ranks, rather than just “they’ve lived in a desert their whole lives and for some reason are tough enough to outskill elite warriors with advanced equipment and technology who’ve been brought up under similar conditions”.
@@mat3693 The books do overhype harsh living conditions, but the Sardaukar didn't have advanced technology on Arakis. Specifically, they couldn't use shields which all their training revolved around. Paul nearly got wrecked by a random Fremen for the same reason, he trained to fight with shields, they trained to fight without. That said, if the Sardaukar had the strategic flexibility to use mass lasguns given the lack of shields, that would have been it for the Fremen.
The fremen were equal to sardukar as it was but you have to remember that Paul taught him the atreides or bene geserit fighting style so that makes them the most lethal fighting force in the imperium
They were undone by their hubris. They believed themselves incapable of defeat, and set out to fight an unknown enemy. Anyone who has read the "Art of War", knows that is the recipe for defeat.
@@moritzwysotzki5401 First off, it's "novels" when talking about works of literature, not "books". Second what is your point? Am I wrong to state that the downfall of the Sardaukar is a classic example found in other works?
By the books accounts the fremen caused a large amount of sardaukar deaths for almost no losses, and harkonen losses were recorded at five to one, though they were more likely counting dead civilians as fremen too. Fremen in cities were great fighters but in the desert they were pure death, some of the most deadly ambush troops in dune.
Sardaukars don't know how to fight in desert as they are specially trained to slice slowly to penetrate the shield - which is main reason why they are losing heavily against fremen in the Dune.
That’s one thing I don’t like about the book. You never really get a moment that sells the Sardaukar as the elite soldiers they are hyped up to be. And the Fremen, while chads, mostly win through ambushes. I would have liked to see the Fremen get drawn into a trap and a fair fight showing them that “Oh fuck, the guys deserve their rep,”
@@shadowofhawk55 That's exactly what I think. Sardaukars are growing up in most cruel planet in the Universe where only some survive and they must use all their skills to do so. Only the best of the best actually become Sardaukar.. yet they only feel like slightly better Average Joe swordsmen. I expected crazy moves in combat.. when they assaulted Duncan Idaho why didn't they group together and cooperate? They ran at him one by one to get killed off.. I mean I expected SO MUCH MORE from them. They should be perfect all-rounders hell their life is all about fighting they should be absolutely unbeatable. They only got one good scene and that was on the stairs where they ambushed and sandwiched Atreides soldiers from behind lol - and remember that these Atreides soldiers were woke up in middle of the night, wore pyjamas and wielded spears or whatever lol.
@@roastinpeace2320 Yeah. I mean, that’s more setting Duncan Idaho up as a Chad than anything. But we could’ve gotten some more scenes with the Atreides stuff, like one Sadaukar mowing through a dozen soldiers.
@@shadowofhawk55 Hopefully in Part 2. If not, i'll be ultimately disappointed. And yes Idaho is gigachad but it still made no sense lol. Sardaukars seemed like little kids wielding blades for their first time when fighting Idaho.
Fun fact : They talk English. Sardaukar are an efficient breed of warriors, meant to take the quickest and efficient road, and their language is as them : Efficient. They only get rid of some letters and sound, making this raspy tongue, using only few words. (Example : "“It is done” “It s-d-" “Et’sa-duh”) Also, as someone said in the comments : Piter de Vries says "As Agreed", but the Sardaukar answers "As the Emperor's Commands", making very clear to who his loyalty goes to, with only few syllables. Also², the only word he doesn't trim is "Sardaukar". Badass.
@@tbphillips9649 With the guttural tone and the trimmed down language, it just seems he talks a foreign language, which is really well done by the conlang dept.
The fact that Duncan says that when crossing blades with the emperor's guard was highly dangerous, yet he killed that many by himself, shows how good he was
The Sardukar may look like they are swinging at full speed, but the reality is they are swinging just slow enough to pass through the shields, resulting in their blades moving faster than the average swordsman when delivering a killing blow.
Translation: They who are born of fire and stone, Forged in battle's heart, Unyielding in death's face, Will of the Emperor made manifest, Terror to their foes. They are the Emperor's finest warriors, Chosen from the harshest worlds, Trained to fight and to kill. They are the terror of their enemies, The hammer that crushes all in its path. Source: trust me bro
Salusa Secundus is one of my favorite scenes. Its like someone snatched a few pages from a "Metabarons" or "Technopriest" graphic novel and stuck them in the middle of a movie.
One of the neater aspects of the personal shield as seen here in this version of Dune is the concept that they don't make you invincible. Even if a sword/knife doesn't penetrate and cut you, the blunt force of being hit can cause a shock. We see this when Duncan throws a sword, or when he knees a guy in the face. To put this into our modern world's perspective, it's like if someone hit you across the head with a baseball bat while you wore an army helmet. Sure the bat didn't make contact with your skin but you bet your ass your brain is scrambled eggs. Can't wait for part 2!!!
i'm not sure how to feel about this depiction of shields, because shields were supposed to make guns useless, simply deflecting anything fast moving whether it be a bullet or a shockwave. wouldnt old fashioned artillery or grenade launchers be extremely effective in combat if blunt force/displacement is a threat? my thoughts are that maybe the slower a hit is the more energy it transfers into the shield wearer and skillfully thrown weapons or kicks are slow enough. if throwing weapons works imagine how effective shock troops with something like bola launchers or thrown spears with blunt tips that deform to transfer more energy could be at breaking enemy formations. or how a guy with a simple ball on a chain used to knock people down from a distance would force everyone to change their approach. i guess flamethrowers would work great as well but stuff like that goes against the code of honor.
Like how the Atreides are in a formation, while the Sardaukar are just walking in casually? The Sardaukar treat the organized Atreides as just targets to be cut down, no need for an organized formation to break and kill the Atreides.
that throat singing sounds uniquely terrifying (because of the cutting/extremely fast and unhuman modulation) and mighty at the same time. It totally enchants the scene
It gives me a Maori/Viking/Samurai war cry type vibe if that makes sense. I mean if you heard this coming to your shores you would run as fast as you can.
And that right there is why we never got a face-off between Duncan and Rabban, a man who can solo a squad of Sardukar and a beast who didn’t enter the field until the enemy combatants were all in chains.
a detail I really loved about Idaho's last stand against the Sardaukar, was that some felled enemies still writhe in pain on the ground, not all of them instantly dead though mortally wounded. It wasn't needed but it makes the already short combat scenes that much more brutal and realistic, more realistic in fact, than many "historical" film who claims to depict history. Denis is a genius, we are truly lucky to get movies that are still worth watching in theaters.
I love when you see the Atredies soldeirs fighting the Harkonnen if you pay attention not a single Atredies Soldier died to Harkonnen hands even though they had no armor on. The Harkonnen are so corrupt and inept that they stood no chance against a significantly smaller force and had the Sardaukar not helped they would have lost.
Simply an astonishingly shot scene. Invoking something simultaneously ancient and futuristic, like the Muslim call to prayer, mixed with a massed Japanese Shogun assembly. That sound track the chanting just incredible. Villanueve and Zimmer are pure genius.
if you read the books you'll find that there is a lot of blending of Islam and Zen Buddhism, not just in the lineage of the Zensunni religion but philosophically as well.
- Why the Baron needs us? Harkonens outnumbers the Atreides! *Piter runs some calculations in his head. Scene cuts to Duncan screaming at Harkonens, while they run* - Well...
It very much looks like Villeneuve had the Sardaukar general's actor speak the words in plain English, then dubbed an alien language over it, but with the same mouth movements. That's so awesome.
2:33 That slight pause and side step. Idk if that’s a brief moment of hesitation on the Sardaukar because he recognizes Duncan Idaho. But I found it interesting… like a “Oh Sh!t thats Duncan!”
Herbert posits Duncan Idaho throughout his novels as the ultimate example of the Human Being. A creature capable of superextending his physical limits in order to achieve the higher order beliefs that define his existence. A monster of a man, acting serene, from a place of love, with no concern for himself. This particular abstraction was understood unpredictably correctly by v and co
@@again5162 my understanding of the novels is that Leto II designates him in his Golden Path design to be reincarnated specifically because of his actions in his first two lives in Dune and Messiah. Granted, this might not have been Herbert's initial design for the character, but it certainly seems to have worked out that way.
@@weekendjail1417 In this case I'd just polemise that it's any loyalist Space Marine they go through trials of exposure, but at the same time they aren't really taught to do so at the cost of their battlebrobthers, Spartans in childhood gotta litreally fight and kill each other to survive and thin their numbers like Sardukar, but Space Marine only with each other to the death by the order of their suprevising Astartes.
“Then you should just go take one,” Hawat sneered. “Yes,” the Fremen said. “We took one. We have it hidden where Stilgar can study it for Liet and where Liet can see it for himself if he wishes. But I doubt he’ll want to: the weapon is not a very good one. Poor design for Arrakis.” “You…took one?” Hawat asked. “It was a good fight,” the Fremen said. “We lost only two men and spilled the water from more than a hundred of theirs.” There were Sardaukar at every gun, Hawat thought. This desert madman speaks casually of losing only two men against Sardaukar!
"where Liet can see it for *HIMSELF*" Denis is an awesome director, but some bullshit should be ignored. Dune is a "sexist" universe with sexes very diversified (in favor of women who are capable of enslaving men, but (usually) not vice versa, I might add), so I hope there will be no more pointless changes like this.
I liked how they kept Duncan as the bad ass he was in the first book. Those Sardukar definately talked about him back at barracks for the next few years of their lives......
@@arrowtt3364I remember reading somewhere that although they were obviously outclassed in skill by the atreides army, Harkonnen troops were anything but useless. The reasoning being that the harsh and brutal upbringing of the average Harkonnen conscript on geidi prime turned them into naturally tough, resilient but also vicious fighters.
@@mat3693 The Harkonnen soldiers were basically thugs and poorly paid, poorly trained conscripts...the Atreides also considered them cowards...and they showed it when the Harkonnen soldiers walked away from Duncan and allowed him to fly away in his ornithopter
The Sardaukar are a military force from Frank Herbert's Dune universe, primarily appearing in the 1965 science fiction novel Dune, as well as Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999-2001). They are soldier-fanatics loyal to the Padishah Emperors of House Corrino, who have ruled the known universe for over 10,000 years at the time of the events of Dune. The key to House Corrino's hold on the Imperial throne, the Sardaukar troops are the most formidable professional military in the universe in that time. They are secretly trained on the inhospitable Imperial prison planet Salusa Secundus, and the harsh conditions there ensure that only the strongest and most "ferocious" men survive. Sardaukar training emphasizes ruthlessness, near-suicidal disregard for personal safety, and the use of cruelty as a standard weapon in order to weaken opponents with terror. Their uniforms are described as gray with silver and gold trim. As Dune begins, the 81st Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV sends Sardaukar to join the forces of the Baron Harkonnen in their attack on the stronghold of Duke Leto Atreides on the desert planet Arrakis. The Atreides forces are crushed and the Duke killed, but Leto's concubine, Lady Jessica, and son, Paul, escape and find refuge with the native Fremen of Arrakis, a tenacious people with secretly large numbers and fierce fighting skills. Paul's training in Bene Gesserit martial arts and galvanization of their rebellion under his command make the newly allied Fremen forces unstoppable, superior even to the Emperor's Sardaukar. Using the Bene Gesserit compulsion technique called the Voice, Paul himself manages to compel the Sardaukar Captain Aramsham to humiliate himself by surrendering. However, Aramsham's Sardaukar stoicism is so great that he will not even give his name until Paul uses the Voice again. The defeat of the Sardaukar and Paul's stranglehold on the supply of the all-important spice melange allows him to depose Shaddam, marry his eldest daughter Princess Irulan, and ascend the throne. In Dune Messiah (1969), Shaddam retains a single legion of Sardaukar in his exile on Salusa Secundus. Paul's concubine Chani later recognizes Sardaukar spies hidden among a visiting Spacing Guild entourage, and they are killed. It is also revealed that a "wise Sardaukar commander" had retrieved the corpse of the slain Atreides Swordmaster Duncan Idaho, which had been entrusted to the Tleilaxu and used to create a ghola duplicate. During the events of Children of Dune (1976), Princess Wensicia, younger daughter of Shaddam IV, initiates a plot for her family and the Sardaukar to return to power. By this time, Paul has improved conditions on Salusa under the guise of making the planet more hospitable for the exiled Corrinos, but with the intent of rendering it an ineffective training ground for more soldiers. Though Wensicia's son Farad'n has tried to maintain the strict discipline that keeps the Sardaukar at their best, when Wensicia's efforts fail Farad'n voluntarily surrenders the army to the new Emperor, Paul's son Leto II Atreides. The text of God Emperor of Dune notes that, during the 3,500-year reign of Leto II after the events of Children of Dune, one of Leto II's many Duncan Idaho gholas had led the remnants of the Sardaukar in an unsuccessful revolt. Leto II finally abolishes the Sardaukar corps, replacing them with the all-female Fish Speakers. Leto believes that male-dominated military organizations are essentially predatory and will turn on the civilian population in the absence of an external enemy. A line of Dune action figures released by toy company LJN in 1984, styled after David Lynch's film, included a figure of a Sardaukar warrior.
One thing i hate about Part 2 is that we never, or almost anything at all hear the language of the saudakar, atleast from their officers. missed chance!
I think it works better for the Sardukar to be in their own uniforms versus the book version. The reality hitting the Atreides soldiers that they were truly betrayed by the emperor and sent there to die can be a good stab to morale.
"He's gone, and now the whole point of his sacrifice is undone because we stood on the other side of the door the whole time while he could have been buying us time so now he died for nothing."
ladies and gentlemen... i present the inspiration for warhammer 40ks Astartes: the Sardaukar. What they are doing here in this scene is something that the blood angels and/or the blood angel sucessor chapters would most likely do before battle..
Hello fellow 40k person. Literally the first thing I thought when seeing the Sardaukar for the first time in this film was "Space Wolves? Is that Leman Russ?" (You know, aside from the whole blood thing lol, but yeah you know, Emperor's executioners and all, the whole vibe, and the look of their Primar-- uh, leader?) I knew about Dune before 40k but had a very limited understanding of the Dune universe because I was a kid when I half paid attention to the original Dune film and played the 2001 Dune RTS computer game. This movie was amazing and makes me want to start reading the novels. I have not seen a film tis good in the Action/Adventure genre in a VERY long time. Also, I'm sure you'd probably agree, but the team behind this film are probably the only crew I would actually trust to make a Warhammer 40,000 movie(s) and not completely ruin it. (Assuming GW didn't step in and ruin it themselves to try to pander to children of all ages)
It is kinda funny, the Space Marines took a lot of inspiration from Dune, but here I wouldn't doubt they borrowed a little inspiration from 40K to show the more cultish side of the Sardaukar and their fanaticism. But yes I could totally see this as a pre battle rituals for the Blood Angels or one of their successors.
@@weekendjail1417 Not to mention Leto II being the literal God Emperor in the novels, giving the first example I can think of in Sci Fi of an immortal ruler of their own known universe.
Technology so advanced, that it reverts humans back to ancient hand to hand combat. Poetic and genius.
Yes I agree, the dune universe is an amazing place to let yourself get lost in. And to think that somebody thought all of it up, an entire universe existed in somebody's mind!
not to be nerdy but actually, this universe had a matrix moment roughly 10,000 years before this movie, in which they fought against thinking machines ( A.i. basically ) and outlawed all thinking machines. " Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind" - OC Bible. all calculations are done with the human mind, even plotting space travel is with the mind.
@@calebshaw6007 I feel like Warhammer 40k borrowed a lot of tropes from Herbert's writing, particularly about a lost, dark age of technology, and superstition set in to stymie progress
@@trypt1 They borrowed the navigators, anti-AI stance, even the god-emperor.
@@ssshhhjjj192 I concur. It is pure genius how Frank Herbert was able to put together all these details into one coherent storyline. There is an explanation for everything so much so, that one change can throw off the entire story. I can’t wait until they part 2 and Dune Messiah. Hopefully they’ll get Children of Dune. No matter what it’s gonna be amazing.
Another cool thing to remember from the books, the Sardaukar respect the Fremen's fighting prowess so much, that they "hunt" the Fremen for a good fight. And often lost.
thats a fancyful notion
I’m not so sure the pogrom was “respect” as much as it was “we stumbled on a fighting force that’s actually powerful enough to oppose the imperium and we can’t let that be known so we have to wipe them out”
@@zaneharoldson2293 Yea that is an element of it in the books, but it is also pretty explicitly implied that Sardakaur hunted them and looked forward to fighting them because they are said to be deadly fighers and Sardakaur are warrior fanatics.
Man I wanna be a Fremen so bad
@@francisabellana445 you really don't...their lives are brutal
I like how they show the Atreides soldiers beating the Harkonnens first, then the Sardukar beating the Atreides soldiers easily, followed by Duncan Idaho beating several Sardukar soldiers. It's a perfect way to conceptualize their relative skill levels and give some context as to why Duncan Idaho is a legend in the world of Dune
Well said friend. I always loved Duncan the most..I was very excited by book 2 and 3.
This comment doesn't make sense.
If anything atreides are the far superior soldiers. They are already known for the combat.
This scene alone shows perfectly that.
Really think about it. Atreides were unprepared for this battle. They literally only woke up minutes ago. They were unorganised. These handful of atreides managed to hold back a larger number of harkonnens.
The sardukar didn't kill the atreides with "ease" cause of the skill level. It's cause a small number of atreides were surrounded from both side.
If a handful of atreides managed to do that much damage. Imagine what a well prepared army of atreides would do?
And then there's the Fremen actually capturing Sardukar alive...
@@j.garcia6206 yes, that’s the point isn’t it? The Emperor set the Atreides up to fall because Leto was popular amongst the Great Houses, and had developed an army just about as good as the Sardaukar (albeit much smaller at the time). He couldn’t let that stand.
@@j.garcia6206hey were shielded and awake enough to properly fight, and they pivoted to face the Sardaukar since the Harkonnens were backing off.
They got carved to bits.
Fully equipped they would probably hold out longer simply because they would be in a stronger formation, but the Sardaukar are clearly better fighters than the average Atreides grunt. If they were similar in skill, they would have held against them and the Harkonnens crushing their flank would be what killed them. That's not what happened. They pivoted fully to face the greater threat and were cut down in fifteen seconds.
For new fans; the dune series inspired a lot of modern sci-fi, basically laying the entire foundation for other stories like StarWars and Startrek.
And for fans of WarHammer40k; the Sardukar are the main inspiration for the Space Marines faction.
I've always considered Dune the LOTR of the sci-fi genre
Herbert's work will still be shaping storytelling until the year 10191...
I remember reading Dune after reading about 10 warhammer 40k novels and I was like ... WAIT A MINUTE! You could tell that everything in 40k literature was massively inspired by Dune
Dune is our grandfather science fiction.
Basically @@Orbowitz
I love how they don't look like actors. They look like real life, terrifying veteran soldiers who have seen combat.
Ya... the look of the actors is older... more convincing of having survived through combat... definitely not rookies...
I wish more movies would take note of that. Theres plenty of real vets that would kill (pun intended) just to be an extra in these movies and give them a better sense of realism.
That's what is called "good actors"
Perfect comparison is the original 'Thing' and the later rehash. In the original everyone looked like research base personnel, in the later remake everyone looked like typical Hollywood actors.
@@Lorgar64 Ok come on now, Windows is peak male masculinity and that's a fact
In the later novels, it is shown that the Sardaukar actually admired Duke Leto for his leadership and honour. They also secretly held a deep contempt against the Padishah Emperor for his short-sighted pettiness and incompetence. If the Emperor hadn't been so stupid he could have betrothed Irulan to Paul and peacefully passed on his throne, but tyrants could never see past their own needs.
Well said! House Corrino had ruled the known universe for so many years it had become complacent and politically naive.
Exactly. Like real life. Look at our leaders.
Is there reference in book that backs it up. I mean Sardaukar are fantaic warriors, that are brainwashed since childhood to disregard their own safety and will for the emperor. I having hard time to imagine that they admired Duke Leto and had contempt towards their "god".
@@johnstitt2615 lol tell me you're a pretentious 20something without telling me you're a pretentious 20something...
Tell me you're an ageist pos without telling me youre an ageist pos. Oh wait, you did.
"Duncan, no! You can't throw away your life like a video game character who'll just respawn later!"
"DUNCAN YES!"
does he respawn tho?
more than once @@domain6491
I see that DBZ Abridged reference
@@domain6491You don't want to know his fate.
Genius! 😂❤
A subtle detail I love about these guys is their fight choreography. The Atreides and Harkonnen soldiers are trained, but still very human. They struggle, they flail when they're in trouble, they stutter-step and back off when there's a stalemate. But the Sardaukar move strangely, hunched and tense and always scanning around them like some kind of apex predator. When they're fighting, they hold guards and never stop advancing until they're dead. I feel like the only time you actually see them act human is when Duncan surprises them in his final stand. It really helps sell them as enemies you just can't even fight back against.
That's why the sardaukar collect duncan and preserve him in a tank to be brought back to life as a ghola.
Well said Magbiy.
@@bayareaartist999what ? 😮 I gotta read the books lol
In the book the Atreides soldiers are right at the level of the sardaukar. They just do not have the numbers to take on the emperor. That is why the Atreides willingly move to Arrakis because they theorize that the brutality of the Harkonen has created a similar training ground for a group of people the same as salusa secundus has for the emperor. They are not surprised by Duncan's fighting style.
@@bayareaartist999actually the books described the Atreides as an excellent fighting force, but it’s the Baron scrambling for theories when he says they’re the best fighting force. Otherwise it’s described that they’re elite but only a handful are better than Sardaukar. Idaho & Halleck being examples.
"We are the Sardaukar, the Emperor's blades. Those who stand against us fall." He's not bragging, just a statement of fact. Holy crap that is badass.
Until they meet the Fedaykin
Arrogance breeds failure. Always.
@@polarfroge "The Sardaukar had never been prepared for such happenings as this day. They'd never known anything but victory which, Paul realized, could be a weakness in itself. He put that thought aside for later consideration in his own training program."
Yeah. Works out great for them in the course of the novels /s
@@theAverageJoe25 yep. Sardakaur might be one thing,but to pauls horror at the situation that will happen,fremen, especially feydakin were nigh gods of war that put even him to shame somewhat by virtue of a undying fanaticism and the deserts rage
In the book, the Sardukar were disguised in Harkonnen uniforms to conceal the Emperor's involvement in the attack. But I like this change since it demonstrated the different fighting styles of each faction.
Not to mention, not many people have read the book or are familiar with the mythology of Dune. So, I thought it was a good change
It was a good option for the books but a strange one. Iirc, despite the Harkonnen uniforms every soldier who sees them fight just goes "yeah they're Sardukar" because their fighting style is so distinctive and identifiable. To have something like that in the film would have cluttered it.
I think it’s better that they look distinctly different than the Harkonnen soldiers.
It’s a means of intimidation and demoralization for their enemies.
The Sardaukar are the Emperor’s best in terms of not just fighting, but also loyalty. Fighting Sardaukar means you’re fighting the emperor and he himself has sealed your fate.
Also the obvious contrast between the effectiveness of Harkonnen troops against Atreides and then Atreides against Sardaukar.
Also in the book the sardukar sent 2 legions and not 3 battalions. The baron had a legitimate argument with the duke... the baron sent the duke a formal letter to end an ancient fude. He knew the duke wont accept the decline gave the baron a leagal legitimately justification to act against the duke... the fight was legitimate as long as it was only between the 2 houses. But when the emperor got involved the leagal legitimatcy was no longer valid... that is why the sardukar pretended to be harkonen. Why did the emperor got involved? I recall reading the first book. The emperor felt threatened by the duke. When Tufir Hawat was in captivity by house harkonen he revealed the reason the emperor wishes the duke's downfall was because the duke managed to train some of his troops to reach the level of the sardukar and even surpass them. Plus the fact the duke became very popular in the great houses of the lansarad the emperor saw him as a threat to his reign.
The baron's plan to bring the duke down was only phase one of his agenda. The baron wanted to overthrow the emperor... How? With the fremen... He wanted raban to be hated on arakis and eventually send fayde to replace him... The baron wanted fayde to kill raban and pretend he had no idea that raban was so cruel... Hoping this action will cause the natives of arrakis to be devoted to him and he would be able to use the fremen to overthrow the emperor
Combine Turkish words "serdar" and "fedakar" so that you get "sardaukar".
*Serdar:* commander, leader, chieftain, warlord, hero and
*Fedakar:* devoted, self-sacrificing, altruistic, unselfish, dedicated.
the sardaukar are literally based of jannisaries, the undying loyalty to your monarch and the man in a pulpit whos either preaching or reading out holy verses
@@jaif7327 By the way, the way they pray is similar to the mongol/turkish traditional throat singing.
Sacmalik😊
One detail I love about the Sardaukar in this film is that their uniforms are white because blood shows clearer. They wipe their blades on their suits to "mark" themselves. It's their way of displaying their kills on their uniforms. Since their war paint is the blood of human sacrifices, why wouldn't the Sardaukar mark themselves with the blood of their fallen enemies as a point of pride and intimidation? And these were the Sardaukar at their weakest. I can only imagine how formidable they were in their prime.
They really do look like futuristic butchers which is very fitting.
Also I heard that at their prime, the Sardaukar were on par with Bene Gesserit acolytes though I don't know what the original source was for that
I always like how when Petyr alludes to keeping the terms of a deal: "three battalions, as agreed." the commander immediately cuts him off with "the Emperor commands it. It is done." As though to say, "there is no deal, we do what the Emperor commands". And almost a bit like framing the working relationship between him and Petyr: "If the emperor commands we turn on you, we will. I'll cut your face off and wear it like a mask if the Emperor commands it."
Straight up tellin him facts haha
Pretty much. The negotiation was between the Harkonnens and the Emperor. The Sardaukar don't take orders from anyone but the Emperor.
indeed, he was showing a warrior's disdain for 'dealing'.
Yes. Villeneuve really did good with the Sardaukar, that scene shows how much disdain they have for the Harkonnens and is one of the best in the movie. Sadly the rest of the movie wasn't on that level when it came to bringing the setting alive.
@@bruanlokisson8615 Know your place Harkonnen! We're Warriors, not mercenaries.
I love how it shows Atreides holding back Harkonnen forces but the Sardaukar almost instantly cut them to pieces. It's a good visual for quickly showing the skill difference in the different clans' warriors.
Good point. But they also had the high ground (lol) against the Harkonnens while the Sardukar simultaneously had the high ground while they were also sandwiching the Atriedes.
I think it’s more Hammer and Anvil. The Atreides forces are good. Almost Sardaukar level. With the Harkonnens in the front acting as the anvil, and then the Sardaukar at the back as the hammer, they got crushed.
@@Gothic7876 Fear was probably a factor as well.
There were/are cadets of atreides trained by duncan and gurney that are even superior to sardaukar, in books they sent 10 batallions, almost 180k strong even when harkonen already outnumbered atreides. it is one of the reasons emperor feared duke, given time atreides would have been stronger than sardaukar even without freman.
@@dragonlore4147I think it was closer to 100 battalions was it not? 180k doesn't equal 10 battalions
Sardukar represented in the movie like a mixture of worst feared armies of history. Priest chanting a prayer like Mongols, soldiers line up and dressed like Samurai, warriors faces are tattooed and bearded like Vikings. Scary enough for me.
And human sacrifice like the mexica
It really is interesting to see the Dune universe to be both so ancient but also futuristic.
it's like grown ups' star war
@@oldcowbb i feel like that goes more for 40k than Dune but Dune is definitely close
@@killinspecialist196540k doesn’t have the same introspection and message as dune
@@magicman3163 true but 40k is also much larger and more detailed we know only the broad strokes of dune we know even the most small details of 40k plus it has unreliable narrators Dune is somewhat more reliable
Supposedly Frank Herbert refrained from writing a lot of fancy tech and epic battles into Dune on purpose, so there would be less distraction from the philosophical and political themes.
Herbert never implicitly wrote this, but for thousands of years after the events of Dune, Sardaukar children had to get their parents to check in the closet and under the bed for Duncan Idaho’s.
Can confirm
The Duncan Idaho’s found: bruh what year is this?
Given the nature of Duncan Idaho, you can never be too sure.
🤣🤣🤣
There's 100s of them roaming the galaxy, Ghola's hiding under the bed or in the closet.🤣
That scene on the Sardaukar planet in Imax was insane to hear and see. Closest thing to Warhammer 40k we will get until they make an actual warhammer 40k movie. Cant wait for part 2! The book gets really weird and awesome, cant wait to see what they do with some of that!
Yeah, I could definitely see this as a pre battle ritual for The Black Templars.
@@involuntaryanalysis They do kind of give off Black Templar vibes.
I’m sad I can’t go back and see this scene in imax again. It was so good.
Honestly I can totally see them re-using some of the props and costumes in this film for a possible 40k film, or more appropriately 30k/Horus Heresy. Maybe repaint and modify the Sardaukar costumes for a particular Imperial Army regiment (maybe Solar Auxilia if they add extra armor plates) - or Stormtroopers if 40k - and get whoever did the fight choreography for them to do any melee fight scenes involving Space Marines
EXACTLY what i thought when watching it too. Of course, its cause 40k was heavily inspired by dune, among other things. This is probably the closest we're ever gonna get to a proper (well made) warhammer 40k movie sadly
One thing that I noticed, was Duncan was skilled enough that his shield only flashed four times.
1 - The first dart hit his shield.
2 - The second dart hit his shield in the hallway.
3 - The Sardaukar grabbed him right before he did a roll with them.
4 - The Sardaukar landed a blow, and it stabbed him.
Sardaukar could barely touch him, but when they did. It was precise.
That sardaukar chant always give me chills
Hans Zimmer is an absolute genius.
I didn't know whether I was having a panic attack, an orgasm or a pooh! Most impactful scene! X
@@ninahocking5709💀
My favourite line is MMMM NNNGMMMM NNNNN, never fails to hit
If so, you should look up Mongolian throat singing. You'll probably enjoy it. For example, the song Wolf Totem by The Hu.
The reason the Atreides forces were so scary, was Duncan Idaho, Gurney Halleck and Thufir Hawat, each of them designed, implemented and actively taught what they knew to the troops.
Duncan trained them in swordsmanship, Gurney in fighting and Thufir in tactics and strategy, the Harkonnen alone, would, at best, achieve a pyrrhic victory.
Beautiful analysis.
The Baron is the equivalent of bringing elephants through the Alps??? Nooo one expected elephants. It was unthinkable.
Just like the Baron empty nearly a century’s worth of profits just to accomplish his goal of a House vendetta.
I respect that level of inter generational campaign.
Then again, this universe is very long term minded after all. It’s fascinating to see all the different sects always focus on goals beyond one human generation.
Such a contrast to today’s culture of quarterly earnings for example.
I love Dune.
The harkonnen would have lost without the sardaukar, a costly one, but they would have lost.
but Thufir is just head of security
@@Wingly113 thufir is the head of the spy network.
@@Wingly113 It isn't fully explained in the movie but Thufir Hawat is so much more than that. He's a mentat master of assassins trained in all manner of assassination techniques used in the Dune universe. He simply makes the mistake in underestimating how much the Baron was willing to spend in his war against House Atreides. The Baron used his sheer wealth as a weapon.
I love how the Sardaukar are well-trained enough to proceed in a loose formation, while the lesser-skilled Harkonnens are strictly 'by the line'. It's kind of like real life where the rank and file always maintain a strict unit and special forces just kind of float around them.
Indeed! Especially how the Harkonnens start retreating until the Sardaukar arrived. Atreides military, the finest in the Imperium.
I thought it looked a little too simple how they just show up behind them and this is the representation of their army being defeated...
Ability to hold the line is a greater show of quality in a soldier than individual martial-prowess.
Every faction has their individual focus. The Sardaukar are a strike force, the tip of the spear. The Atreides have the best-trained infantry. The Fremen are skilled guerilla fighters. And the Ginaz Swordmasters are probably the best individual fighters and martial artists. While the Harkonnen lack a strong ground force, their main strength is probably their air and space power.
Roman legions and Greek Phalanx would like a word with you.
I like how during most other fights you'll see both combatants' shields flashing as they're getting hit but when Duncan takes out those four in the hallway his shield never flashes until he gets shot, they couldn't even touch him
In Dune 1 They are the Emperors Blades
In Dune 2 They are worm poop
You do know that sandworm probably died the moment it swallowed the Sardukar, right? Water is poison to them, something I wish the filmmakers had remembered.
they can drown in water and it is toxic to their outer skin but they do contain fluids within their body so it makes sense they can eat humans
@@44excaliburyou must have missed when the Fremen sucked out all of the water
@@44excaliburI’d imagine a worm 400m + would need a lot more water to kill it. Poison potency depends on quantity and base lethality. Cyanide will kill humans real quick in small doses, while something like detergent will need a bit more. Based on what we saw with the small worm being dunked in water, I’d assume you’d need to somehow dunk 400m+ worm in water to really do damage.
@@melt6894 According to Frank Herbert, a single human has enough water to kill a sandworm.
Such a nice touch that the Atredies instantly identify the Sardaukar and provide a call-out in battle. It's probably just a way to inform the audience of who they are, but at the same time sort of shows how well educated in uniform and tactics to the point that they specifically identify who's on the field.
That might also have been due to the Sardaukar being legendary as the Emperors Blade's and thus a force to be wary off, and seeing them suddenly touch down behind the lines is something to call out for, not just "Enemy behind the line!" but *Sardaukar* behind the line..
Yes and yes, they call them out to let each other know that they have a more important target to deal with now, and to remind the audience both that the Sardaukar are a big deal, and that since the Sardaukar serve the emperor, that means the emperor is officially against the Atriedes. In the book the Sardaukar were disguised as Harkonnen soldiers because the emperor didn't want anyone to know he was involved, but the movie changed that so they wouldn't have to have characters explain it in another scene, and so it would be easier to follow who's who visually.
@@thecianinator It's certainly one subplot that didn't hurt to get cut, along with the shell-game of who's the traitor from the first third. I guess they could simplify it as well to leaving no witnesses.
And also the possibility that some of them thought the Sardaukar were there to *help* them. After all, the Emperor has given control of this most important to the Atreides. Surely if the Harkonnens sought to take back the planet, the Emperor would send his best warriors to help his loyal vassal.
@@praetor9822 Eh, I'm not sure about that-it would've been hard for the Emperor to know about that surprise attack soon enough to send Sardaukar to help. In the book the Sardaukar are simply disguised as Harkonnens because the Emperor has to appear neutral, so I imagine he'd get flak for supporting the Atreides too obviously as well.
The fact the Freman and Sadukar have the same ancestors blows my mind. Like they were already genetically predisposed to being planet wide death dealers. Seeing how they clash on the fields of Dune will be a sight to see. Especially since the Sadukar are so overwhelmingly confident in the wake of the Atreidies attack. They must have felt like baby-sitters to the Harkonnens and were genuinely startled that someone had the audacity to ambush them. Fremen fight not for the Emperor, but genuinely in the belief that even in death, they have purpose. Water for the tribe. It always goes back to what's best for the Tribe. No one fights harder than when you fight for home.
The Saudaukar quickly realise the Fremen aren’t like anyone they’ve ever faced before and actually push the Saudaukr into their first ever retreat
Wait till you see Leto II's Fish Speakers.
@@TheDarkIllumination - Wait till you see Murbella's Valkyries from the New Sisterhood.
Bro, you realize it's a movie right?
@@blokwar2703 it’s called immersion dummy.
One thing I really liked about this visualization of shield fighting was that it justified the use of dual-wielding bladed weapons. Generally, that style of fighting is very cool in films to watch, but rarely actually practical in real life. However, in shield fighting it makes a great deal of sense, as the first blade is the quick kindjal, serving as a deflection or distraction, while the second is the slow follow-up that pierces the barrier. Quick on defense, and slow on attack.
I love that initial scene of them on Salusas Secondis. The war chant. The human sacrifice being used for their blood. It’s great.
Can't wait to see the Fedaykin and Sardaukar legions in Part 2. And I hope this film series becomes successful enough that we finally get an adaptation of God Emperor so audiences can witness Leto II's fanatical Fish Speakers army.
Holy fuck I have been chatting to all my mates about this. I can't die happy until I see the God Emporer himself on the big screen
@@Muad_Dib420 it’s Christopher Walken lol
Yeah who TF do you even get to voice the god emperor? And what will he look like? And who will be Hwi Noree?
@@Barkbatosu you're confusing two different characters, Chris is playing the Padishah Emporer in Dune part 2, the God Emporer is a character from Book 4 in the dune saga
@@noahmendoza8548 I'd say whoever is cast to play Leto II in children of dune wi ll also be the god emporer
In the book, the Harkonnens had a hard time fighting the Atredies because House Atredies troops used personal shield generators. If a Harkonnen trooper fired a lasgun at someone wearing an active shield, it would have caused a fatal and explosive feedback to the one using the lasgun.
The Sardaukar in the book also disguised themselves as Harkonnen because revealing themselves in having a hand in the destruction of House Atreides would have put the rest of the Landsraad on high alert, and the Noble Houses of the Landsraad would have teamed up against House Corrino - the Emperor's House. In fact that's why the Noble Houses formed the Landsraad in the first place - to protect themselves from being picked off one by one by the Emperor and his Sardaukar.
Gurney and Duncan's extensive combat experience let them know immediately that they were fighting Sardaukar because of their distinctive fighting style.
The sardaukar would stand in triangles, back to back.
Was the landsraad not already in place before the sardaukar 'won' their first war? And kept in place to balance out the power of the Emperor?
@@slinksjoch The Landsraad was already in place, having been formed 12,000+ years before the setting of Dune. They rose in prominence after the Butlerian Jihad but had always been a collective of the Noble Houses to keep the Emperor in check.
It does a little more than send feedback. A lasgun hitting a shield creates an atomic explosion. Nothing like setting a nuke off in the middle of a sword fight to guarantee there are no survivors on either side
The way personal shields get depicted in this movie feels less like "The Slow Blade Penetrates The Shield" and more like... there's a 30% random chance the shield will turn red and you're just screwed.
Notice that when the Sardaukar approach the Atreides soldiers, the Harkonnen soldiers stood back while the Sardaukar finished off the Atreides soldiers. Even though they were on the same side, the Harkonnens knew better than to get between the Sardaukar and their prey. Also, when the Atreides soldiers fought the Harkonnen soldiers, the Atreides were holding their own and inflicting more casualties despite being outnumbered and under equipped. It was only when the Sardaukar entered the fight that the Atreides soldiers were completely outmatched.
Denis is simply in a league of his own. It's amazing how he can create this tension that makes it almost hard to breathe. He did the same in Sicario and Arrival and I freakin' love it!
I liked the idea that because technology has advanced so much, in that a persons personal shield can deflect… basically even microscopic organisms, combat has actually had to revert to using swords and spears, because guns are, except for special purposes, at this point useless.
Either useless or cause literal nuclear oblivion.
Yeah, it's pretty fucking mindblowing and such a logical creative way to have swords in Sci Fi, Frank Herbert was a genius
@@veritasabsoluta4285 Meanwhile Star Wars is like "Uhhhh... the force... Lightsabers are elegant..."
@@ST0AT Wish they actually showed a lasgun being fired. At least they got a few maula pistols in there
@@patrickstasyszyn291 *Points laser pointer to my head* I swear on the Messiah I will nuke us if anyone gets any closer
Duncan is the epitome of cool and unfortunately he's going to have to be cool for thousands of years
Ultimately though he is the true Kwisatz Haderach.
i did not get engaged with his personnage... we didnt saw him anough to realy feel something. for me it was yhea the typical jason mammoha his bad ass let him do bad ass shit but it is filler to the story...
@@antoine4199 A lot of it is carryover from the books. We're talking about Duncan Idaho the character, not Jason Mammoha the actor and his performance.
@@antoine4199 Duncan's character is really explored much later on, in the books following Dune. Tbh, in the larger scheme of things Paul would not be considered to be of that much importance, he only really plays a big role in the first book. Duncan becomes a far more central character later on. But, I'm afraid that we will never see that, coz the studio might not be invested in making films out of the other books. It's always only the first one that gets all the attention.
@@aneeshwagle8892 if the dune movies are profitable, the studio will continue utilizing the IP
That Sardukar Commander should be in Dune 2 as the one defending the Emperor. He looks like 10x badass
I have no idea why they didn't do that. How difficult would it have been to bring back the same actor? And why were they speaking English in part two? So stupid.
@@costco_pizza He was speaking English here, he's from Birmingham
@@billypribbo9668 hahahhahahahhahahahahhahahahaha 🤣
One thing I thought was a particularly fun detail in the second movie is how in the end all of the surviving Sardaukar surrounding the emperor have their faces fully uncovered and the Fremen (aka the good/“good” guys) are masked and obscured. It’s a subtle visual reversal between who is humanized and who is the faceless threat.
Just goes to show you that in the end the Sardaukar were GOOD people while the Fremen are the evil ones. I hate how the bad guy wins in Dune.
@@costco_pizza yeah but that's like the whole point of the series, the guy who wins turns out to not be good at all. doesn't mean the sardaukar are necessarily good though.
@@stanpines9011Are there truly good guys in the Dune Universe? Duncan maybe and Halleck comes close. Paul and the Fremen are definitely not.
god what I'd give for an clean, full track of the chant
I think it’s a reminiscence of Mongolian throat singing, you can find some similar songs on UA-cam.
But I agree with you, something’s special about the chant. Like the sort of “sharp turns” the singer makes with his voice, so alien but so thrilling
Not hard. If you have a DAW on your computer you can sample this .
@@cryptid_cactus First, there are several voices, not one. Second, the sound designer went out of his way to amplify the bass frequencies. Overall, this movie has probably the best sound design I've heard to this day. Or maybe it's just so new and different it feels "best"
I have never heard something more creepy. It makes my hairs stand up.
sought out this vid specifically to hear the chant again
I love how the Atreides soldiers didn’t go out like some storm troopers (or Gondor soldiers) and went out fighting and literally dying by the sword. 👌👌
Yeah, the way Gondor got depicted in the movies made it look like Gondor would have stood for 2 days, let alont century upon century.
Lmao Gondor soldiers 😂,
@@ProvidenceNL are you sure the Gondorian “soldiers” were depicted in the movie as strong soldiers who can hold up the white city in 2 days? In my opinion they were just mid evil storm troopers getting fucked up in every scene, if you can let me know which scene showed them as strong as you stated aside from needing help from Gandolf I would love to know. Oh and Gondor has been there since the second age so it was “thousands upon thousands” of years.
@@handsomefatboy Im not sure why you are making this comment at me? I was lamenting the way the movies depicted Gondor, and how it made them look weak even though in the books the army of Gondor had been standing strong for thousands of years.
If the Sardaukar are deployed against you, the only choice is to fight to the death. If you look throughout the history of Dune, the Sardaukar are notorious for slaughtering EVERYBODY once deployed. Many Houses rebelled against the Imperium over 10,000 years and the a very large number of them were slaughtered on their knees begging for mercy.
The intro to the Sardukar unnerved me… the singing/chanting, how all the soldiers was so still, the brief shot of the dead having their blood drained 😅 whoooo 🥶
I feel like the initial exchange between Piter and the Sardaukar bashar is underrated and overshadowed by the throat singing memes. "Na! Shaduka, ki ukabaade. Sakusa akista faade." - the delivery and alliterating syllables make for a very sing-song like delivery, it feels like this is a poem or motto being quoted almost mechanically as a response. There's something very intimidating about his overwhelming, seemingly trained confidence, a zealotry to it. A perfect introduction for the Sardaukar on the big screen
I think this was originally spoken in english.. there are not many shots of the lips.. but the commander looks like hes speaking eglish. When the got the idea they could fairly easily add it in post... not many would notice. My friend can read lips.. I think I'll ask her to take a look...
@@RAZR_Channel I thought the same, it looks dubbed over or very heavily edited
Sardaukar remind me of the Knights Templar in the first scene where their uniforms look almost like white robes. It is amazing how Dune has this perfect balance between the almost archaic and technologically advanced. No other franchise has ever done it so well.
bro i went completely geek bat shit for this movie. im not even sci fi guy but this was really good. i watched in the cinemas for first time in many years and that movie was really the perfect cinema movie
ironic that they look like templars, because dune part 1 is the beginning of the end for them
@as3723 you realize that took inspiration from Dune
The Sardaukar had absolutely nothing in common with knight templars though. They were heavily inspired by Janissaries and Mamluks - professional slave-soldiers. Except that they weren't slaves but former prisoners.
Riddick
1:20 one eye blinks, the other eye rolls back. I love little touches like this.
Is there a deeper reason for Pieter doing it?
@@POSPA36 It shows him computing some stuff in his mind. You can see Thufir doing the same when calculating the cost of the Herald's visit to Caladan. Mentats are basically human supercomputers, developed as an answer to the ban on AI and fueled by Spice.
@@Johann_Gambolputty_of_Ulm how do they compute?
@@AcidiFy574 Brain.
xhit i didn't even notice that before.
Oh wow, I never noticed that Duncan has a suspender belt that he uses to jump on the Saraukar at 2:50. I always just thought he had a decent vertical leap.
How did I not see that before 😅 good spot
I've rewatched this scene a million times, and it never fails to impress. The contrast of the primitive and the futuristic. The language-and the fact that it doesn't sound too removed from something we might hear in some places on earth now. The throat-singing invoking a dark, fanatical, militant-ritualistic feeling with the troops. The look of the main Sardaukar-as others have said well-he looks "experienced" in a frightening way.
1:13 something I truly appreciated for the first time today-the masterful sound design as the chant comes to a crescendo and stops, transitioning sonically into the rise of the troops and their boots coming into position at the same time. Just awesome.
I love the sideways looks of suppressed fear and obvious extreme care in choosing his words that the Mentat gives when talking to the Sardaukar leader, who doesn't even bother to look in his direction. Beautiful acting to show the relative confidence & danger levels in the two men.
I agree! Wonderfully acted. But... are any other book readers bothered by seeing Piter de Vries on Salusa Secundus with the Sardaukar? The fact that the Sardaukar come from the prison planet is supposed to be a closely guarded secret, and the Baron clearly doesn't know. Only Hawat/the Atreides seem to have figured it out.
I get the reason for the change-- it's a visual shorthand to show the Harkonnens and the Emperor working together that works well for movie storytelling. But it's such a wonderful detail from the book, especially when the Baron is meeting with Count Fenring and makes his big flub about wanting to turn Arrakis into a prison planet.
@@tanyadurman4366”Turn Arrakis into a prison planet.”
Oh, so basically Australia? 🤣😅
I love how this movie hammered in the fact that Sardaukar - even in small numbers - are *always* a threat. The Harkonnen guardsmen are scary too, but in more of an 'inexorable formations' kind of way.
I really hated how the books basically did anime power levels. "The sardaukar are the greatest warriors ever and he's 10 pages detailing why..... and a single fremen just killed 5 of them because of tough living conditions or something."
@@BillMayonaise Yeah. They should've been about even in combat.
@@BillMayonaise that’s something that never made sense to me either. It would make more sense if they explained how fighting in unfamiliar territory and constant guerilla ambushes were able to whittle down the sardaukar ranks, rather than just “they’ve lived in a desert their whole lives and for some reason are tough enough to outskill elite warriors with advanced equipment and technology who’ve been brought up under similar conditions”.
@@mat3693 The books do overhype harsh living conditions, but the Sardaukar didn't have advanced technology on Arakis. Specifically, they couldn't use shields which all their training revolved around. Paul nearly got wrecked by a random Fremen for the same reason, he trained to fight with shields, they trained to fight without. That said, if the Sardaukar had the strategic flexibility to use mass lasguns given the lack of shields, that would have been it for the Fremen.
The fremen were equal to sardukar as it was but you have to remember that Paul taught him the atreides or bene geserit fighting style so that makes them the most lethal fighting force in the imperium
I like that the battle definitely shows why the Sardaukar were needed. Those two lines of Atredes troops were holding against all those Harkonnens.
I sing this non-stop for an hour, each and every morning.
If you think about it, this scene is the beginning of the end, for the mighty Saurdaukar.
They were undone by their hubris. They believed themselves incapable of defeat, and set out to fight an unknown enemy. Anyone who has read the "Art of War", knows that is the recipe for defeat.
@@imabott7053 Or just those who read the Dune books lol
@@moritzwysotzki5401
First off, it's "novels" when talking about works of literature, not "books". Second what is your point? Am I wrong to state that the downfall of the Sardaukar is a classic example found in other works?
@@imabott7053 book, novel, same thing, lose the arrogant know it all attitude, it’s unbecoming
@@Nicolas-cu2xv stop promoting willful ignorance. It's self defeating.
By the books accounts the fremen caused a large amount of sardaukar deaths for almost no losses, and harkonen losses were recorded at five to one, though they were more likely counting dead civilians as fremen too.
Fremen in cities were great fighters but in the desert they were pure death, some of the most deadly ambush troops in dune.
Sardaukars don't know how to fight in desert as they are specially trained to slice slowly to penetrate the shield - which is main reason why they are losing heavily against fremen in the Dune.
That’s one thing I don’t like about the book. You never really get a moment that sells the Sardaukar as the elite soldiers they are hyped up to be. And the Fremen, while chads, mostly win through ambushes. I would have liked to see the Fremen get drawn into a trap and a fair fight showing them that “Oh fuck, the guys deserve their rep,”
@@shadowofhawk55 That's exactly what I think. Sardaukars are growing up in most cruel planet in the Universe where only some survive and they must use all their skills to do so. Only the best of the best actually become Sardaukar.. yet they only feel like slightly better Average Joe swordsmen. I expected crazy moves in combat.. when they assaulted Duncan Idaho why didn't they group together and cooperate? They ran at him one by one to get killed off.. I mean I expected SO MUCH MORE from them. They should be perfect all-rounders hell their life is all about fighting they should be absolutely unbeatable. They only got one good scene and that was on the stairs where they ambushed and sandwiched Atreides soldiers from behind lol - and remember that these Atreides soldiers were woke up in middle of the night, wore pyjamas and wielded spears or whatever lol.
@@roastinpeace2320 Yeah. I mean, that’s more setting Duncan Idaho up as a Chad than anything. But we could’ve gotten some more scenes with the Atreides stuff, like one Sadaukar mowing through a dozen soldiers.
@@shadowofhawk55 Hopefully in Part 2. If not, i'll be ultimately disappointed. And yes Idaho is gigachad but it still made no sense lol. Sardaukars seemed like little kids wielding blades for their first time when fighting Idaho.
Fun fact : They talk English.
Sardaukar are an efficient breed of warriors, meant to take the quickest and efficient road, and their language is as them : Efficient.
They only get rid of some letters and sound, making this raspy tongue, using only few words. (Example : "“It is done” “It s-d-" “Et’sa-duh”)
Also, as someone said in the comments : Piter de Vries says "As Agreed", but the Sardaukar answers "As the Emperor's Commands", making very clear to who his loyalty goes to, with only few syllables.
Also², the only word he doesn't trim is "Sardaukar". Badass.
It really sounds so different
@@tbphillips9649 With the guttural tone and the trimmed down language, it just seems he talks a foreign language, which is really well done by the conlang dept.
The fact that Duncan says that when crossing blades with the emperor's guard was highly dangerous, yet he killed that many by himself, shows how good he was
This shows just how strong Duncan is Sardaukar's are strong as hell and he just solos all of them
It wasn't actually mentioned in the books that he killed like 16 Sardakaur.
@@oskarfabian5200 19
@@csam9167 in prequels and thwy are not cannon
@@oskarfabian5200 no during the escape of hous atreides he killed like 19 of them i think
@@csam9167 I checked, you are right. I thought the number 19 was mentioned in one of the prequels but it is actually in Children of Dune.
I absolutely adore the disrupted Sardaukar throat singing when they during the battle.
1:54
The Sardukar may look like they are swinging at full speed, but the reality is they are swinging just slow enough to pass through the shields, resulting in their blades moving faster than the average swordsman when delivering a killing blow.
Translation:
They who are born of fire and stone,
Forged in battle's heart,
Unyielding in death's face,
Will of the Emperor made manifest,
Terror to their foes.
They are the Emperor's finest warriors,
Chosen from the harshest worlds,
Trained to fight and to kill.
They are the terror of their enemies,
The hammer that crushes all in its path.
Source: trust me bro
Man, the music when Duncan rose for one final row! An appropriate chant for such a loyal warrior.
The music in this movie was amazing. I mean ofcourse it will be with Hans Zimmer. The man doesnt miss.
Salusa Secundus is one of my favorite scenes. Its like someone snatched a few pages from a "Metabarons" or "Technopriest" graphic novel and stuck them in the middle of a movie.
Which is fitting, since the Jodo-Verse is heavily influenced by Dune.
@@xristosrizos8406 and Warhammer 40k with their techpriests
0:11 When you're drunk but still give the karaoke a go...
One of the neater aspects of the personal shield as seen here in this version of Dune is the concept that they don't make you invincible.
Even if a sword/knife doesn't penetrate and cut you, the blunt force of being hit can cause a shock. We see this when Duncan throws a sword, or when he knees a guy in the face.
To put this into our modern world's perspective, it's like if someone hit you across the head with a baseball bat while you wore an army helmet. Sure the bat didn't make contact with your skin but you bet your ass your brain is scrambled eggs.
Can't wait for part 2!!!
i'm not sure how to feel about this depiction of shields, because shields were supposed to make guns useless, simply deflecting anything fast moving whether it be a bullet or a shockwave. wouldnt old fashioned artillery or grenade launchers be extremely effective in combat if blunt force/displacement is a threat? my thoughts are that maybe the slower a hit is the more energy it transfers into the shield wearer and skillfully thrown weapons or kicks are slow enough.
if throwing weapons works imagine how effective shock troops with something like bola launchers or thrown spears with blunt tips that deform to transfer more energy could be at breaking enemy formations. or how a guy with a simple ball on a chain used to knock people down from a distance would force everyone to change their approach.
i guess flamethrowers would work great as well but stuff like that goes against the code of honor.
1:33 this shot with Harkonnen troops walking towards Atreides guards is so creepy and so cool in the same time. I really love this shot
pretty sure what you are talking about is a 'scene' between Harkonnen and Imperial forces as they join to attack then an Atreides force
@@oomahuntressprotectress848 what?
Like how the Atreides are in a formation, while the Sardaukar are just walking in casually? The Sardaukar treat the organized Atreides as just targets to be cut down, no need for an organized formation to break and kill the Atreides.
that throat singing sounds uniquely terrifying (because of the cutting/extremely fast and unhuman modulation) and mighty at the same time. It totally enchants the scene
It gives me a Maori/Viking/Samurai war cry type vibe if that makes sense. I mean if you heard this coming to your shores you would run as fast as you can.
The sound design for the Sardaukar is exceptional. Zimmer is simply the best.
since when was zimmer a sound designer
the throat singing is singlehandedly the coolest thing i've ever seen in a sci-fi movie
And that right there is why we never got a face-off between Duncan and Rabban, a man who can solo a squad of Sardukar and a beast who didn’t enter the field until the enemy combatants were all in chains.
Jason Momoa made a solid investment by getting casted as Duncan Idaho
Momoa is good at Aquaman and acting like a big rough drinker. Not a Duncan Idaho imo
@@doasthouwilt543 i can see the potential in Mamoa to be a good Duncan, who knows maybe he'll impress us with his take on Hayt
It's a joke guys, if you get to read past the first 3 books you'll know why🤣🤣
Ya besides money Momoa's also getting a lot of punani from this role...why he left his wife
Errybody gangsta until the throat singing starts
a detail I really loved about Idaho's last stand against the Sardaukar, was that some felled enemies still writhe in pain on the ground, not all of them instantly dead though mortally wounded. It wasn't needed but it makes the already short combat scenes that much more brutal and realistic, more realistic in fact, than many "historical" film who claims to depict history. Denis is a genius, we are truly lucky to get movies that are still worth watching in theaters.
I love when you see the Atredies soldeirs fighting the Harkonnen if you pay attention not a single Atredies Soldier died to Harkonnen hands even though they had no armor on. The Harkonnen are so corrupt and inept that they stood no chance against a significantly smaller force and had the Sardaukar not helped they would have lost.
The Bashar is shivering not because of the rain, but because of his sheer eagerness to fight.
Sardaukars are the storm troopers for adults
Simply an astonishingly shot scene. Invoking something simultaneously ancient and futuristic, like the Muslim call to prayer, mixed with a massed Japanese Shogun assembly.
That sound track the chanting just incredible.
Villanueve and Zimmer are pure genius.
And the Hindu Tilak
its called Buddislam, a future religion in the Dune series
if you read the books you'll find that there is a lot of blending of Islam and Zen Buddhism, not just in the lineage of the Zensunni religion but philosophically as well.
The novel was called jihad
- Why the Baron needs us? Harkonens outnumbers the Atreides!
*Piter runs some calculations in his head. Scene cuts to Duncan screaming at Harkonens, while they run*
- Well...
Even years later the visuals stick to my mind like glue. These scenes are so legendary.
It very much looks like Villeneuve had the Sardaukar general's actor speak the words in plain English, then dubbed an alien language over it, but with the same mouth movements. That's so awesome.
2:33 That slight pause and side step. Idk if that’s a brief moment of hesitation on the Sardaukar because he recognizes Duncan Idaho. But I found it interesting… like a “Oh Sh!t thats Duncan!”
I love the depiction of lasers in this film.
Yeah it's refreshing to see.
It's just like they're described in the book.
Herbert posits Duncan Idaho throughout his novels as the ultimate example of the Human Being. A creature capable of superextending his physical limits in order to achieve the higher order beliefs that define his existence. A monster of a man, acting serene, from a place of love, with no concern for himself.
This particular abstraction was understood unpredictably correctly by v and co
Interesting take on Duncan Idaho, he lives 1000 lives so which one are you referring too? He is unexplainabaly reincarnated over 1000 times
@@again5162 my understanding of the novels is that Leto II designates him in his Golden Path design to be reincarnated specifically because of his actions in his first two lives in Dune and Messiah.
Granted, this might not have been Herbert's initial design for the character, but it certainly seems to have worked out that way.
Hamburger! Cheese Burger! Big Mac! Whopper!
Yo.. that's DJ Bloood.... don... B Dissin him ...
Sardaukar: If you ever asked yourself "What would viking astronauts be like?"
More like Space Spartans, their lore pretty much shows them to be more Spartans.
Space Janissaries
@@Galejro More like Space Wolves from 40k... without the wolf-ness.
@@weekendjail1417 In this case I'd just polemise that it's any loyalist Space Marine they go through trials of exposure, but at the same time they aren't really taught to do so at the cost of their battlebrobthers, Spartans in childhood gotta litreally fight and kill each other to survive and thin their numbers like Sardukar, but Space Marine only with each other to the death by the order of their suprevising Astartes.
Space Spartans for sure.
“Then you should just go take one,” Hawat sneered.
“Yes,” the Fremen said. “We took one. We have it hidden where Stilgar can study it for Liet and where Liet can see it for himself if he wishes. But I doubt he’ll want to: the weapon is not a very good one. Poor design for Arrakis.”
“You…took one?” Hawat asked.
“It was a good fight,” the Fremen said. “We lost only two men and spilled the water from more than a hundred of theirs.”
There were Sardaukar at every gun, Hawat thought. This desert madman speaks casually of losing only two men against Sardaukar!
"where Liet can see it for *HIMSELF*"
Denis is an awesome director, but some bullshit should be ignored. Dune is a "sexist" universe with sexes very diversified (in favor of women who are capable of enslaving men, but (usually) not vice versa, I might add), so I hope there will be no more pointless changes like this.
I love how in dune the individual fighter can be highly valuable. They are not operating a weapon system, they are the weapon.
The throat singing adds something to this scene that really lifts. Hard to put words to it…. Darker, mysterious, eerie.
I liked how they kept Duncan as the bad ass he was in the first book. Those Sardukar definately talked about him back at barracks for the next few years of their lives......
That Sardaukar throat singing kicks ass.
These visuals are SO powerful, full of darkness, foreboding, and utter brutality...yet it's all gorgeous to watch!
I hope these Dune films are successful enough to keep going for long enough for us to see Duncan Idaho's 'return'...
IIRC Villeneuve is planning to make the Dune Messiah, so Duncan's return is pretty much guaranteed.
For me this was one of the best scenes in the movie , directorially showing that without the sardaukars the harkonen troups were useless.
I wouldn't say useless, but the Harkonnens were utterly out of their league.
@@arrowtt3364I remember reading somewhere that although they were obviously outclassed in skill by the atreides army, Harkonnen troops were anything but useless. The reasoning being that the harsh and brutal upbringing of the average Harkonnen conscript on geidi prime turned them into naturally tough, resilient but also vicious fighters.
@@mat3693 The Harkonnen soldiers were basically thugs and poorly paid, poorly trained conscripts...the Atreides also considered them cowards...and they showed it when the Harkonnen soldiers walked away from Duncan and allowed him to fly away in his ornithopter
This scene alone got me into Tuvan throat singing. Beautiful writing and directing.
I love how they move in something akin to a modern combat glide while using ancient fighting techniques, it's such a cool mix of old and new
The Sardaukar are a military force from Frank Herbert's Dune universe, primarily appearing in the 1965 science fiction novel Dune, as well as Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999-2001).
They are soldier-fanatics loyal to the Padishah Emperors of House Corrino, who have ruled the known universe for over 10,000 years at the time of the events of Dune.
The key to House Corrino's hold on the Imperial throne, the Sardaukar troops are the most formidable professional military in the universe in that time.
They are secretly trained on the inhospitable Imperial prison planet Salusa Secundus, and the harsh conditions there ensure that only the strongest and most "ferocious" men survive.
Sardaukar training emphasizes ruthlessness, near-suicidal disregard for personal safety, and the use of cruelty as a standard weapon in order to weaken opponents with terror.
Their uniforms are described as gray with silver and gold trim.
As Dune begins, the 81st Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV sends Sardaukar to join the forces of the Baron Harkonnen in their attack on the stronghold of Duke Leto Atreides on the desert planet Arrakis.
The Atreides forces are crushed and the Duke killed, but Leto's concubine, Lady Jessica, and son, Paul, escape and find refuge with the native Fremen of Arrakis, a tenacious people with secretly large numbers and fierce fighting skills.
Paul's training in Bene Gesserit martial arts and galvanization of their rebellion under his command make the newly allied Fremen forces unstoppable, superior even to the Emperor's Sardaukar.
Using the Bene Gesserit compulsion technique called the Voice, Paul himself manages to compel the Sardaukar Captain Aramsham to humiliate himself by surrendering.
However, Aramsham's Sardaukar stoicism is so great that he will not even give his name until Paul uses the Voice again.
The defeat of the Sardaukar and Paul's stranglehold on the supply of the all-important spice melange allows him to depose Shaddam, marry his eldest daughter Princess Irulan, and ascend the throne.
In Dune Messiah (1969), Shaddam retains a single legion of Sardaukar in his exile on Salusa Secundus. Paul's concubine Chani later recognizes Sardaukar spies hidden among a visiting Spacing Guild entourage, and they are killed.
It is also revealed that a "wise Sardaukar commander" had retrieved the corpse of the slain Atreides Swordmaster Duncan Idaho, which had been entrusted to the Tleilaxu and used to create a ghola duplicate.
During the events of Children of Dune (1976), Princess Wensicia, younger daughter of Shaddam IV, initiates a plot for her family and the Sardaukar to return to power.
By this time, Paul has improved conditions on Salusa under the guise of making the planet more hospitable for the exiled Corrinos, but with the intent of rendering it an ineffective training ground for more soldiers.
Though Wensicia's son Farad'n has tried to maintain the strict discipline that keeps the Sardaukar at their best, when Wensicia's efforts fail Farad'n voluntarily surrenders the army to the new Emperor, Paul's son Leto II Atreides.
The text of God Emperor of Dune notes that, during the 3,500-year reign of Leto II after the events of Children of Dune, one of Leto II's many Duncan Idaho gholas had led the remnants of the Sardaukar in an unsuccessful revolt.
Leto II finally abolishes the Sardaukar corps, replacing them with the all-female Fish Speakers.
Leto believes that male-dominated military organizations are essentially predatory and will turn on the civilian population in the absence of an external enemy.
A line of Dune action figures released by toy company LJN in 1984, styled after David Lynch's film, included a figure of a Sardaukar warrior.
It's good that they didn't include the detail of the Sardaukar soldiers being dressed in Harkonnen uniforms.
One thing i hate about Part 2 is that we never, or almost anything at all hear the language of the saudakar, atleast from their officers. missed chance!
Love that roar/shriek when duncan gets back up for one more moment of badassery 💪😁
Best film of 2021
Hands down!
This is one of the few movies that had me fully invested while watching and cant wait for part 2
I think it works better for the Sardukar to be in their own uniforms versus the book version. The reality hitting the Atreides soldiers that they were truly betrayed by the emperor and sent there to die can be a good stab to morale.
"He's gone, and now the whole point of his sacrifice is undone because we stood on the other side of the door the whole time while he could have been buying us time so now he died for nothing."
ladies and gentlemen...
i present the inspiration for warhammer 40ks Astartes: the Sardaukar.
What they are doing here in this scene is something that the blood angels and/or the blood angel sucessor chapters would most likely do before battle..
Hello fellow 40k person. Literally the first thing I thought when seeing the Sardaukar for the first time in this film was "Space Wolves? Is that Leman Russ?" (You know, aside from the whole blood thing lol, but yeah you know, Emperor's executioners and all, the whole vibe, and the look of their Primar-- uh, leader?)
I knew about Dune before 40k but had a very limited understanding of the Dune universe because I was a kid when I half paid attention to the original Dune film and played the 2001 Dune RTS computer game. This movie was amazing and makes me want to start reading the novels. I have not seen a film tis good in the Action/Adventure genre in a VERY long time.
Also, I'm sure you'd probably agree, but the team behind this film are probably the only crew I would actually trust to make a Warhammer 40,000 movie(s) and not completely ruin it. (Assuming GW didn't step in and ruin it themselves to try to pander to children of all ages)
It is kinda funny, the Space Marines took a lot of inspiration from Dune, but here I wouldn't doubt they borrowed a little inspiration from 40K to show the more cultish side of the Sardaukar and their fanaticism. But yes I could totally see this as a pre battle rituals for the Blood Angels or one of their successors.
@@weekendjail1417 Not to mention Leto II being the literal God Emperor in the novels, giving the first example I can think of in Sci Fi of an immortal ruler of their own known universe.
Sardukar Best Quotes:
"Bim Boooraabiiiii" a.d 10004
"Bagmmmbeeeee" a.d 10034
"Bitch! We are the Sardukar!" a.d 10186