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Like Leto said to his son at in front of his father's grave, the Emperor is afraid of House Atreides' influence and House A has the support of other Houses, they can if they want make a move on the Emperor so, he kicks the Harkonens out of Arakis, they are pissed of plus don't like House A so, they'll want to attack them, Emperor's like here's my army, go do ur thing, u get rid of House Atreides for me u get back ur Golden Goose, win win... Politics Power Play.... 💁🏾♂🤦🏾♂
The implications of the Barons pet are SO messed up. Dune is a fully human story, in a fully human universe. There are no aliens. It's entirely possible that this "thing" is what the Harkonnens made the doctors wife into. Mutated on a molecular level. Theres a line in the movie about them "plucking people apart like dolls"
Jessica was (is) Leto's concubine. He's not married for the hopes of a Political marriage, but they do still love each other. The Emperor feared House Atredies rising power (In both fighting force and political influence) and therefore worked with their generational enemies the Harkonnen to take them down. And you nailed the Greek implications. Paul is a direct descendent of Agamemnon (From the Illiad)
It's not "for the hopes of a political marriage", it's to hold out that carrot for others. He has loved no other and expresses as much a few times in the book.
@@dyskordian Pretty much all nuance and politics are missing from the movie, but I feel (and this is something the miniseries did quite well) that the way her role as 'concubine' and not wife says about how Leto (presumably at Jessica's suggestion) handles politics.
@@saberstrike000 They're missing from the book, too. It's just nonsense the reader fills in with their own (largely absurd, and grossly incorrect) assumptions. The entirety of their society falls firmly in the "too stupid to exist" category, with most of the characters being "too stupid to win". Nothing about the events follows any kind of natural cause-and-effect. . I like a lot of things about Dune, including even some things regarding its overall plot. But I'm really way past being sick and tired of people cocksucking certain "classics" with no objective comprehension of its actual liabilities or assets. Disturbingly reminiscent of bible-nuts.
@@DoremiFasolatido1979 Honestly, I agree with you (excessive vehemence excluded) that most classic (and a lot of modern) sci-fi doesn't hold up under basic sociological or economic scrutiny. And I could have chosen a better word than 'nuance' as admittedly, Herbert paints in very broad strokes. But there's a difference between broad strokes and finger painting. There's an almost complete lack of exposition in the movie beyond "these be the bad guys," and "guess who's the chosen one." And while it may not be realistic or excessively complex, I do think Herbert included and intended more cause and effect than that in the book.
I love the Gom Jabbar test. At the end she calls him a human, because the test is meant to determine if a person is a human or an animal. Animals obey their instinct, like the instinct which tells you to pull your hand away from pain. Humans use their judgment, like the judgment which tells you that, in that situation, to avoid pain means death, while enduring it is the only thing you can do to live. It's like a really simple yet revealing test, isn't it? "Can your judgment overpower your most urgent instincts?"
@@king_supreme1102 Well, in the context of what's happened: 10k years after computers are gone, you have little choice but to uber up your stock, as it were, as well as learn more advanced techniques of psychology, etc. And we're left with Herbert's definition of "human;" it fits the culture, for sure, and as a basic definition which Mesopotamians would have understood and argued back then . . . It makes for a compelling argument.
Except that Dune has good writing, a good 'script'. You might say the same thing about the Bible, really. Hero-messiah stuff is popular with people who are entirely self-obsessed. What if you just took care of the people around you and never started on the whole prophecy thing?
@@ericstahmer720 Star Wars was amalgation of inspirations from Dune to Akira Kurosawa to Flash Gordon serials to post-WW2 WW2 movies with aerial scenes as well as spaghetti westerners. It's always a bit silly when someone tries to interject that "It was actually inspired by this or that" because it's ultimately a hodge-podge of it all.
It is amusing when Natalie cites things like Star Wars or The Matrix while watching Dune, not knowing that Dune is a foundational story in science fiction - and movies like Star Wars and The Matrix sourced ideas from the book. Also, if you do read the book (this movie is only the first half of the original book, and it had several follow on sequels too), it is explained that a lot of the mystical/prophetical aspects are actually more of a political manipulation too.
Wonderful comment!! Yes the Bene Gesserit had infiltrated many cultures and implanted messiah legends among their people over the centuries. The Fremen were one who believed in a prophecy of a messiah coming to free them but it was one implanted into their culture by the Bene Gesserit as a tool.
23:05 The slow blade penetrates the shield because the shields have to let air in. The shields are set to stop anything moving faster than the flow of air required to let the user breathe. So gas attacks can make it past the shields. On a side note about the shields, a reason they do not generally use lasers is that if a laser hits a shield, both the laser and the shield will go nuclear.
I liked your comment, but it is not completely true, there is a chance for them both to go nuclear, or just one of them, that's why it's not a practice anymore.
It’s a bit silly though, because air molecules are moving nearly the speed of sound, but in all directions . It is only the aggregate difference or net effect that we call wind
@@PickledShark it actually makes perfect sense, you’re talking particle interactions that move with no loss of kinetic energy. The shield stops anything already losing kinetic energy and reduce it to zero
@@PickledShark This, along with stillsuits being a death sentence for a desert environment, are simply products of writers not being scientists. Just gotta accept it for the story.
So, fun fact for a rewatch to help make things make more sense: Paul has 2 types of visions. Ones that are possible futures, and ones that WILL happen. The visions that are all hazy, out of focus, lens flare covering most of the frame, those are possible futures. The visions that are clear, in focus, unobscured...those are inescapable.
Okay, now I have even more questions! Paul's vision of him being stabbed to death by Chani was crystal clear, does that mean he is very close to going down that path?
@@AbbaZabbaOlyFrn if you look at Chani killing Paul in a metaphorical sense, along with the voice saying “Paul Atreides must die for the Kwisatz Haderach to rise.” (Which I interpret ‘Paul’ as being his previous life.) It could be taken as her giving him the knife that killed ‘Paul Atreides’. Or nothing I said makes any sense and I’m way off base.
Exactly, in one of the books I think (I've read all 6, and had 6 copies of DUNE, but that was around 40 years ago, so the threads of my memory may be broken) he describes it as being many threads and he was trying to find one that avoided the Jihad crossing the universe, killing in his name.
One of the big things to know about the “prophecy” is that the Bene Gesserit planted all of these legends and prophecies across tons of worlds so that if a Bene Gesserit was ever in trouble they could play into the legends and use them to their advantage.
You're one of the few people whose reactions I watched that didn't call Duncan finding them in the desert "convenient" because you're the only one who noticed they had a beacon in the tent.
@@rolandcooke ......the note in the kit from the Doctor literally says "there is an Atreides beacon in the fremkit, god willing they will be able to find you". I would assume that If humanity has the technology they have in the series that they aren't using a radio beacon. Probably something encrypted that only a person from their house would be able to see.
Fun fact: when it says Year 10191, that's according to a far future calendar. According to the Dune Encyclopedia, that starts around 16,200 AD, making this closer to 26,391 AD.
Fun fact: the original author of the book, Frank Herbert, was inspired by the sand dunes in Florence, Oregon. Also, I got to see this movie in theaters and holy hell was the bass loud. Paul doing The Voice and the various chants and whatnot literally shook my seat
I went back and rewatched the movie in a Dolby theatre after seeing it in a normal one and wow it was nuts! The Voice, the dragonfly-like Ornithopters and the score went so fucking hard I loved it.
As an Oregonian that's spent summers in Florence visiting my cousins that live there I want to know more about Herbert's influence. Unfortunately the current 'Spice' of Florence is meth. Also in the 80's there was a Han Solo trilogy of novels that heavily involved Spice & that's partly what the movie Solo was based on. Great read but the Lando trilogy was better. Vuffi Raa!!!
I just find it sometimes a bit odd that people dont Google if the movie is based on something like a series of highly influential scifi books starting from the 1960's. Since then some people assume that the movie is imitating those other movies when In fact it is the opposite of that.
Yeah the soundscape in the theater was amazing. One thing I loved, was how Hans gave all the factions their own flavor of sound/music, and would layer it into the background if they were significant in a scene. Like how when in the big fight near the end, it's Atreides vs Harkonnen/Sardaurkar, the music swells with the bagpipes as the Atreides charge, and then that music literally clashes with the introduction of the Harkonnen/Sardaurkar music, when it's introduced. But my favorite was the Bene Gesserit suite of music. As they are introduced, their music is layered with this susurrus of a female choir, all whispering, hinting at secret things, behind the scenes, manipulation, and deception, perfect soundscape for a group of Grand Viziers. But whenever they would actually stop being deceptive, and use their potent combat skills, the whispering would fade and you'd hear a single woman's vocals, howl out like a banshee unleashed. It was just SO fucking good! xD Loved that film.
"Are these vaguely Greek names?" Yes. House Atreides traces its lineage back to Agamemnon, king of the Mycenean Greeks and aggressor of the Trojan War. Also, the year 10191 is a bit misleading. That's actually 10191 AG, "After Guild", or after the foundation of the Spacing Guild which provides all interstellar travel in the galaxy in the absence of AI. We have no idea how far into the future it really is (and no, I don't consider Brian Herbert's fanfiction canon.)
Even moreso, the name Atreides is from the mythic Atreides family, the dynasty of Atreus, of which Agamemnon was one of many members. Spoiler alert: the Atreides were cursed by the gods for the sins of one of their ancestors and suffered many hardships, involving cannibalism and familicide, until the last of their line was finally able to appease the gods, redeem the sins of his forefathers and break the cycle; this ends up playing into the fate of House Atreides, even after Paul's rise to power and for centuries afterward, implying that the curse is still part of their bloodline.
Also, Harkonnen is a finnish name, derived from Härko, the bull. Letos father died by miscalculating during a literal bullfight. Letos bull is bigger, but he is still trying to pull off a metaphorical bullfight.
My favorite thing about the visions with Jamis is that they set you up to think that Jamis will literally teach Paul the ways of the desert. Paul killing Jamis is the lesson. Jamis taught him the ways of the desert. I was a friend of Jamis.
Adds another layer to, "I was a friend of Jamis." As if a minute decision, a different choice of path up the rocks, or a different word, and Jamis would have been his best friend. Alas, it was probably striking Jamis and disarming him that did it.
@@Ginkoman2 from a literal interpretation yes, that's what the visions do, but when you consider the actual narrative at play, and the creative choice to mislead the viewer while also informing them
Well and it shows the nature of Paul's visions. They aren't like prophecies, they are potential futures unfolding, they're was a future were Paul was friends with Jamis, and he did teach Paul about the desert. But the in the future that actually happened Jamis challenged Paul and died.
The politics, if I remember correctly: House Atreides is related to the Imperial House (House Corrino). The Atreides are really well liked among the noble houses and the emperor is jealous/fears usurpation. The emperor plots with House Harkonnen to take Arrakis/Dune from them and give it to the Atreides. It's a poisonous gift. This takes the Atreides out of a position of strength in Caladan and makes them vulnerable in a new world they don't fully control. The Harkonnen and the Atreides are in a feud between the families. If they come into conflict no other noble house can intervene. The Harkonnen use this feud as justification to attack and kill the Atreides and take back Arrakis/Dune. The emperor supports the Harkonnen with his imperial troops, the Sardaukar. This is done in absolute secret. If the other noble houses were to learn about it they would unite together against the Harkonnen and the Imperial House (House Corrino). This way, the Emperor takes out the Atreides without a full-on galactic war, with the purge disguised as a feud between two Houses.
Also, in this universe, the Emperer isn't all powerful, the congress of all the great Houses combined wield as much power as the Emperor and could oppose him even though he has the best military. But what he does is what the Houses most fear, is the Emperor taking on each House one at a time.
Not to mention that it's safest for the Emperor to back the Harkonnen and allow them to control Arrakis, as they are so yucky and cruel that the other houses would probably never unite under their leadership so they can never make a viable play for the throne.
Dune isn't meant to remind you of Star Wars. Star Wars is meant to remind you of Dune! It's the granddaddy of sci-fi. Thanks for the reaction! Dune is an awesome story to experience, I'm glad Dennis did it justice.
The reason why so many other sci-fi films have echoes of Dune in them is that they were all inspired by it: the first Dune book came out in 1965. Star Wars ripped off the superfical cool-looking bits of a desert planet, for instance. Others leaned hard into the prophesy/chosen-one stuff, but be advised that those themes are WAY more complex and subtle in Dune than they appear at first glance. Not sure if it came across, but Spice isn't just valuable, it's VITAL. Spice is the only substance that lets human navigators steer starships across interstellar distances, and computers aren't an option in Dune, since there a revolt against 'thinking machines' (The Butlerian Jihad) thousands of years previously. This means that Spice is analogous not to real-world spices, but to _oil_ . If you want a modern economy in the real-world, you can't not be interested in oil. If you want FTL spaceflight in Dune, you can't not be interested in Spice. Just as with oil, powerful interests seek to acquire, control, monopolize and deny Spice.
The stronger argument is that Foundation (early 1940s) inspired all Sci-Fi films including Dune. Foundation is one the grandfathers of Sci-Fi, Dune is only one branch
Thank you, I was just about to write a post myself about the fact Dune was the catalyst for so my sci-fi movie to follow. I would say 70% of the audience I was with in the cinema was like Natalie reaction, hadn’t a clue what they were watching, and that’s in no disrespectful to Natalie. I always tell people watching Dune for the first time, it of it being like the space dynasty version of Lord of the Rings. (I realise in not, but I’m just trying to get people to understand the epic scale of the story)
@@mangalegends The navigators have been mutated by spice and breathe it constantly. Spice gives them limited prescience -- the ability to see the future, or one of many futures -- and they use this ability to steer a vessel that is moving faster than light. Before navigators and spice, many FTL ships were lost due to various hazards in space.
The visions he sees aren't of the future that is necessarily going to happen, but one of the possible futures. This is how the spice allows space travel. They plot charts by seeing possible futures based on what route they take. So when he saw becoming friends with Jamis it was a future where they become friends, but the combat would happen eventually and Paul would not be able to bring himself to kill Jamis.
I interpreted the vision to be metaphorical; Jamis taught Paul the ways of the desert by forcing Paul to kill him. He was a "friend" in a sense that without him, Paul wouldn't have been able to grow up and accept the harshness of Arrakis.
There also seems to be a visual cue for how far off Paul's path any given vision is. The distant possibilities have more gold blur. Compare the visions of Jessica with a new child vs. where Jamis offers to teach.
Paul pretty much uses the visions to navigate. In this time of his life, his main goal was to avoid the holy war as much as possible, but also staying alive. So in a way it forced him on a very specific path, but also the path of least death on a galactic scale. There was no way to avoid the holy war without him dying.
I've spent longer than I care to admit trying to figure out what it was that Leto muttered to make the Baron lean closer and I finally got it: "The day the flesh shapes and the flesh the day shapes". It's taken straight from the book, where it is Leto's final thought before he dies. Also, the fact that Leto and Jessica aren't married is a pretty important point for both their characters in the book. Normally a nobleman of Leto's standing would have a wife as well as several concubines. Jessica is just a concubine, but out of respect (and love) for her, he never sought out another. Leto absolutely could (and would) marry her, but since there is a lot of houses who would be very keen to have their daughters marry him, he decided to remain unmarried to be able to use himself as a bargaining chip, even though he never actually intended to go through with it. The fact that they never married is Leto's biggest regret, because it represents every matter in which he chose to focus on politics rather than his family.
Basic things to roll around in your head: 1) "The Emperor is a dangerous, jealous man." He's nervous that Duke Leto is becoming too popular among the great houses and could weaken his control over the Imperium, but he can't just kill him because that would result in chaos. So he secretly helps the Atreides' long-time rivals, House Harkonnen, to take them out by providing his own armies, so it looks like just another slapfight between houses. 2) The Lisan-al-Gaib is a prophecy that was actually started by Bene Gesserit missionaries centuries ago ("A path has been laid for you","They see the signs", etc) as part of a contingency so that if a sister ever found themselves stranded on this planet (or others), they could use that prophecy to perform miracles and keep themselves from being bothered by the locals. Something of a criticism of blind faith and abusing spirituality but also a realistic observation of how one man's magician is another man's miracle-worker. 3) However, Paul is also the latest in attempts by the BG's to create this super being, whiiiich is actually a reference to a phenomenon in the Torah/Talmud, the _kefitzat haderech_ or "shortening of the way". Jewish teleportation, in essence. In Dune it's more of a generalized super-being idea, that this individual will be more powerful than any BG sister could, and they'll be able to wield this person for their own political benefit (as if they're not already scheming everywhere - there'll be an HBO Max series about them coming soon!). They may say they have the good of all humanity in mind, but does that ever turn out to be accurate? 4) So, what happens if you abuse local religious belief by pretending to be a messiah, but then you actually have the training and genetic planning and wondrous spice drug to pull it off? Sounds like a recipe for greatness or great awfulness. Herbert quote: "Power does not corrupt, but it attracts the corruptible". We've seen throughout history (ancient and recent) how placing faith in singular personalities can cause people to commit terrible acts, believing themselves righteous. Paul is scared of what the future holds, and is being done in his name. And that's why you can probably compare Paul's story to that of Michael Corleone from The Godfather; a reluctant heir to a family dynasty who is forced to make moves to save those he loves, but it may cause more problems than it solves.
Good post. The only clarification I'd make is that Paul wasn't supposed to be the Bene Gesserit's latest attempt to create the K.H. Jessica was ordered by the Bene Gesserit to have a daughter (as a trained Bene Gesserit she has the ability to control that). The daughter was to be wedded to another bloodline and then their son would be a Bene Gesserit controlled super-being. Jessica chose her love for the Duke over her orders and gave him a male heir, Paul, completely messing up their plans to mix bloodlines. He's obviously not under direct BG control but does have the potential to be the KH which is why the Reverend Mother tested him with the box. They are pretty annoyed with Jessica. By disobeying their orders she completely risked their centuries long plan.
To add to your first point, he also weakens House Harkonnen. They'd become the wealthiest house in the Imperium thanks to the spice but their attack has cost untold billions and they have to rebuild the infrastructure they destroyed in their attack and prior to the handover to the Atreides. You don't even see the man but he's manipulating the entire Imperium to maintain his grip on power. And everyone is going along with it because they can't choose otherwise. He destroys the most powerful House in the Landsraad and all it cost was loaning 3 legions of Saurdaukar to House Harkonnen.
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” - Frank Herbert, Dune. Frank Herbert's Dune can actually be used as a way of life. Some of the best lines in literature.
"I must not feel pain. Pain is the flesh-killer. Pain is the little-explosion that brings total apocalypse. I will face my pain. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the pain has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." It's kind of stupid. At risk of sounding like a Trekkie, Spock would say something like "Fascinating. It's like a Vulcan technique but highly illogical."
@@Mansplainer2099-jy8ps it will be illogical to Spock. But to me the whole point is to simply let the fear take hold of you to the point where fear is the natural state of mind, fear is what is expected and at that point it can't surprise you or hurt you anymore.
"They Seem Like A Religious Group, Only With Powers" You nailed it, Natalie And yes, typically the Bene Geseret are comprised of women, whereas the men are typically members of The Spacing Guild
The Spacing Guild are comprised of men, some of whom go on to become Navigators and thus become something non-human, but not alien, either. Men also become mentats or warmasters (ie. like Duncan Idaho, who is a graduate of the Ginaz School - they are among the elite warriors of the Imperium, though not to be confused with the Sardaukar, who belong to the Emperor).
@@ADADEL1 There weren't any female mentats in the first three books by Frank Herbert. There was a Bene Gesserit who trained as a mentat in God Emperor of Dune, but did so illegally, as Leto II had forbidden mentat training. After Leto II's death, the Bene Gesserit did whatever they wanted, since they were basically running what was left of the Imperium by that point. I don't consider anything by Kevin J. Anderson/Brian Herbert to be canon.
@@ADADEL1 Heretics and Chapterhouse take place 1500 years after Leto II's death. The Bene Gesserit are basically running everything, albeit in a cautious rivalry with the Tleilaxu and the Ixians, so if they want to become Mentats, there's really nobody who can stop them. It's been years since I read these books, but I seem to recall that Bellonda was a Mentat (could be mistaken in this; I really couldn't stand that character).
Studios with dense source material ought to hire this woman to see how well they are conveying complex ideas. She does a great job of piecing her way through this with no knowledge of the book.
I'm always surprised how these "professional" movie reviewers are so slow. I mean for example is it so hard to realise that spitting on the table means respect on that world? Even after Duncan immediately repeats and "explains" the custom? Why even do you have to mention that it is weird yet alone explain that "it kind of makes sense"... Also the baron explained why the emperor put the Atreides there and then she couldn't figure that out either
@@luigicampo4008 She makes movie reviews on youtube for a living. Its her profession. Maybe not her main source of income idk because I'm not following her channel but I was talking generally about people like her. Also I used " " precisely because I didn't mean it like she really is a pro and I was hoping that people would get my point and not try to argue my word choice meaninglessly but obviously I underestimated your "good will".
One of the things I love most about the Dune universe is how all the cultures are blended together. It’s been so long and humanity has mixed so much that you have a house with a Greek name, a Spanish bullfighting tradition, Celtic and Danish style artwork, and bagpipes for their herald music.
...though to be nitpicky, the Greeks had bullfighting *long* before the Spanish - it was the central religious ritual of the Minoan culture (though they didn't kill the bulls).
"It's a self-fulfilling prophecy." More accurate than you realize. Dune isn't a classic White Savior type book. It's a _subversion_ of the idea. Prophecy is a trap, and Paul will be forced to become a monster in order to survive.
Well also the prophecy is sort of fake. The bene gesserit planted it in dangerous places in case one of them got stranded there. Paul just capitalized on it.
The thing you said about a trap made me realize something. He survived the gom jabbar by doing the human thing and suffering to protest his species. But it’s a metaphor for his whole storyline because he flinches at suffering for the solution to the prophecy trap (god emperor weirdness)
The spitting isn’t so much a “gift” as it is a show of respect by sacrificing some of your body’s water. It’s such a cool idea for a culture that lives on a desert planet. Frank Herbert is a master of world and culture building in his story telling.
When she was saying how it was cool that the idea of water on a desert planet would be thought of that way, I was thinking, wait till she sees the beginning of part 2.
The whole thing about the spitting is because of the fact that Arrakis was a massive desert and had absolutely no rainfall, therefore water was a extremely precious commodity on that planet
When Paul was fighting the Freman, (approx. 32:00) Jessica mentioned that he had never killed before. But just as important, Paul was trained to fight with shields, but Jamis fought shieldless his whole life. Shield fighting requires slow attacks, so when the tribe saw this they thought Paul was playing with his opponent.
The Dune books have always been notoriously difficult to make and put onto film, but i think they did an excellent job with this movie. Denis Villeneuve is one of the greatest living directors and this is proof of just how good he is. Turning an almost impossible project into fruition.
@@Baronstone Dude, for REAL!!! I'm a bit miffed that I had to scroll this far down and click on a reply before someone mentioned the miniseries. It was loads better than the original film and I'd say that it even surpasses this new iteration in terms of storytelling. The new film is pretty, yes, and the affects are gorgeous. But, I don't feel it does justice to the story any better than the miniseries did.
A bit of background on this Universe: The Dune series is set in humanity's far future, at a very strange and awkward time in history. After a Sky-Net style machine uprising that devastated the galaxy, humanity has outlawed all AI, and any highly advanced computers through which AI might emerge. Thus, specialized human beings have had to take the place of these computers, arguably the most crucial being those of the Spacing Guild, who use extremely high doses of spice to take the role of navigation computers, and plot faster-than-light routes through space. While FTL travel is technically possible without the spice/a navigator, an unplotted journey is likely to result in destruction or being irreconcilably lost.
Random thoughts (and maybe spoilers): - the human spider thing was Dr Yueh’s wife - shai hulud loosely translates to old man; was Paul talking to Gurney or the worm? - Harkonnen comes from the Finnish word for ox - Leto and his farther were both bull fighters - the reverend mother who tested Paul was Lady Jessica’s birth mother - they don’t think he’s the kwisatz haderach because his visions ‘don’t come true just as he sees them shortly after the vision’ because he sees further than that, seeing multiple futures earlier on and not just the inevitable one, which the Bene Gesserit were not aware of and mistook it as faulty visions - you know the Atreides brought the ornithopters because they’re based off dragon flies and they come from a water world, now misplaced in a desert - you know the Harkonnens left them the outdated tech because you see Rabban look at a field of spice harvesters in the opening monologue attached to more advanced carryalls that we don’t see later in the movie - the Baron survived partly because his shield slowed down the poison (you saw how quickly it spread in the room and his shield turn red) and partly because he floats to the ceiling - the Baron was ‘put’ on the ceiling like the bulls head that killed Leto’s father - the people who’s blood was painted on the Sardaukar were failed Sardaukar trainees - the Fremen follow the Lisan al Gaib because he will turn Dune into a paradise planet... which will kill the worms, which removes the spice, and the Fremen are all now addicted to the spice and would die without it - they didn’t cover Paul’s mouth because until him, no men were trained in Bene Gesserit skill sets, so they didn’t know he could use the voice like Lady Jessica - the Hunter Seeker is attracted to motion - Paul hides in the hologram to obscure his movements. The Hunter Seeker senses him blink and flies to his eye - the scene is tense because the slightest twitch would mean his death - the date palms are sacred because they represent the future terraformed world promised by the Lisan al Gaib - Oscar Isaac has one of the top 5 best beards in film history - not only was Dune Hans Zimmer’s and Denis Villeneuve’s passion project, it was also their Covid project - the vibrating sand was practical - sand actually moves like that when vibrated and injected with air - the voice is layered with the user’s voice and one of the user’s ancestral reverend mothers which you unlock the memories of through Bene Gesserit training - the cinematographer for Dune also did Rogue One and The Mandalorian - People think Paul is a weird sci fi name but everyone’s cool with a protagonist named Luke - I loved this movie
"Oscar Isaac has one of the top 5 best beards in film history" it's indeed a great beard ; I don't remember if he had one in his movies like u can see on Google image but Mel Gibson fully grown beard is my top, just Epic
"I must not fear....fear is the mind-killer." This is the beginning of the most famous passage in the whole Dune canon. Its referred to as the "Litany Against Fear." Google the expression. You're right in that it IS a potent meditation.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain Its so good had to cut-paste it to here
The shield slows down the movement of the gas, so the Baron is able to escape the worst of it. He is too heavy to move effectively under his own power, so he uses suspensors to lift him and carry him around. Drum sand is sand that has naturally compacted in such a way that it behaves like a drum, amplifying the sound of your steps. Paul’s vision of Jamis represents a possible future, what would have happened if Jamis had never challenged him to the duel.
It's interesting to think that a possible future that never happens was used to influence his decision in the present to quit fighting the storm and go with the flow.
@@lemmonsinmyeyes there is an in-universe explanation, but I’m not a huge fan of it or the circumstances leading up to it. Villeneuve I think is mainly going for him being greedy and gluttonous. Instead of what the books say.
In the vision, Jamis said that he would teach Paul the ways of the desert. In a way, he did. For the first time in his life, Paul has had to kill a man with his own blade. A bitter but important lesson. It's a sign that while Paul's visions may be imperfect, there may still be truth in them.
Natalie. Please for the love of god never stop what you do. I work almost 3 jobs and at the end of the night I come home and watch your videos and they bring me so much joy. I've always been the guy to try and get my friends to watch movies i've seen just to see their reaction. You're content makes me so relaxed and happy. Much Love!
"He can check vitals just by touching him?" Backstory time: There was a war between humans and AIs (around 16,200 AD). When the humans finally won (lead by Atreides' descendant 10,191 years ago), they outlawed AIs and so began the development of super smart humans. Personal note, I like to think the AI war was started by Ava, created by Nathan Bateman/Oscar Isaac, from the movie Ex Machina. 😉
I like Frank Herbert’s original idea of the Butlerian Jihad more than what we got in the prequels. Where robots and computers were weaponized by the worker classes that maintained them and used in a bloody Bolshevik-like revolution that was later put down by the religious anti-thinking machine rebels.
I think a good way to look at this film is as a documentary, or as watching a history unfold. There's a grander scope at play, it's not simply a story about a protagonist.
The whole thing about “lisan al-gaib” is that it’s a legend purposefully seeded on Arrakis to enable the Bene Gesserit to manipulate the people. That’s what Paul meant when he said that they believed what they were told to. It’s worth noting that the Bene Gesserit seed different legends on different planets, but that of “lisan al-gaib” is reserved for the most desperate and hopeless of places.
I'm sure someone's already mentioned this, but one of the things I find most fascinating about Dune is how Frank Herbert used established ideas, like the "chosen one" architype, to look at how dangerous "charismatic leaders" are. This film touches on some aspects of what is to come, but it plays out a lot like a typical Hero's Journey. Yet, Paul isn't, or at least will not become, a hero. We can sympathize and empathize with him, because we see the world through his eyes. But ultimately...Well, that's for Dune Messiah if it gets made, I guess.
That's why the book is so good. While other stories with a prophecy take the route of "all according to the design", Dune takes the opposite route. The design of the Bene Gesserit was for Paul to be exiled to another planet, where he could be "guided" better and become a religious icon in a controlled and safe location, while now he's in a hostile world where everything is out to kill him and there's no one to tell him what the "path" is.
@@SuddenReal Meh, that changes once you read the next couple of books in the series because it talks about the golden path that Paul was too afraid of to start humanity down due entirely to the blood that would be spilled along that path.
15:18 actually something that is a bit lost in the movie is that the Bene Gesserit did a whole intervention into the religion of the Fremen, so when they needed it, they'd use it. So the Fremen are primed to recognize the signs of the Lisan-al Gaib, so the Reverend mother and the son who has to use them find it easy to mingle with them.
Remember when the Reverend Mother asked him if his dreams came true, exactly as he saw them? He said, "Not exactly." Now think of his visions from a more metaphorical perspective, and you'll see that all his visions were indeed true. That realization was mind blowing to me.
@@highdark4 Sure! In his visions, the fremen that he saw teaching him their ways, but who Paul wound up fighting and killing, did indeed serve to teach him the ways of the Fremen, that Fremen fight to the death when challenged. That's a HUGE lesson. And the vision of Chani wounding him with the kris knife was symbolic of how Paul WAS wounded by her giving him the knife to fight with, and the wound was his loss of innocence, because he had never killed a man and was reluctant to do so. So his visions DID come true, just not exactly as he saw them. all his visions came together in that moment, and I thought that was brilliant on Villaneuve's part as it was the climax of the first movie. That's how I saw it anyway.
@@Anautistictherapist That's a good analysis. I've read the book so I figured he was answering "Not exactly" because he was saying his dreams don't come true exactly as he sees them, i.e. he sees potential futures rather than one fixed future.
@@joshuafischer684 That's also a really good point. Perhaps his place in the Bene Gesserit purpose gives him the ability to see possible futures, and the spice refines this ability to actually see the future. Interesting!
@@Anautistictherapist That's the essence of it. The Bene Gesserit have the ability to see the experiences of the lives of their progenitors but not the future. The Kwisatz Haderach is a male with Bene Gesserit abilities who can see the lives and experiences of his descendants. The spice is what enhances this ability.
Paul's arc is actually more of a deconstruction of the archetypal Hero's Journey story, but it's hard to have the right context as to why with what you've been shown so far. As you said, there's a lot of things being put on his shoulders in quick succession, and that's going to quickly become a theme for him moving forward.
I’ve loved Dune for about 25 years. Wrote my university entry essay on the first book. The story gets so unimaginably wild and huge, so if you dig this movie, don’t be afraid to check them out. Btw, for a universe SOOOOO loaded with terminology and names and factions, you’re one of the only reactors I’ve seen to “get” it and follow it extremely well. That’s not an easy feat, so it made the video even more fun for me.
The Planet Caladan definitely has Scottish influence. The Roman name for Scotland back in the day was Caledonia, so, you can make the connection there.
Remember that visions tend to be interpretive rather than literal. The krysknife given to Paul by Chani (Zendalya's character) leads to the "death" of Paul Atreides which allows the Lisan-al-Ghaib/Kwisat Haderach to be born. And the voice that you were hearing during Paul's duel with Jamis was that of the Reverand Mother.
See watching the movie I got half of the vision, the part saying he needed to die so that the Lisan-al-Ghaib could be born, but now that you word it that way it makes perfect sense. I was so confused why the first vision had her stabbing him, I couldn't put the two together. :D But you explained it perfectly!
This might remind you of Star Wars a lot because George Lucas actually took a lot of inspiration from Dune. (The Voice = The Force. Arrakis = Tattoine etc.)
More like stole it. I mean whole Jedi society is based on Bene Gesserit as mythical cult. And whole prequels surounded with politics and Emperor is based on Dune with Emperor and relationship between houses like Atreides and Harkonnen.
@@nenorii3234 That's not exactly fair. Dune in turn owes a lot to Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, the grandfather of all space opera, and Lucas took a great deal of influence from that, as well. Lucas was also inspired by the old Flash Gordon serials, as well as Akira Kurosawa's samurai films.
The way I heard it ages ago, George Lucas wanted to make a Dune movie, but couldn't get the rights to it, so he made his own thing, heavily influenced by Dune
Having been a dune nut for many years I'm totally stoked that Villeneuve finally got the first part of this story right as the first film totally skims over way too much stuff but to totally understand this universe you'll have to read the books. The characters in this film act differently to humans of our day because it is set so far into the future humankind has evolved in different ways.
That last element you mentioned is what I find so lacking in most sci-fi outside of 40k, the idea that the *distant* future will be alien not only in technology, climate, clothing and war but also in how people act or think. An unconscious evolution of the universal mindset, so slow and gradual but inevitable.
I love DUNE (books and this film) but really hated the 1984 movie. Paul kills the sand worms with rain at the end... he stopped all spice production. The story could NOT continue after that. It also nearly destroyed Kyle McLaughlin's career. I didn't see him again until the Flintstones Movie probably 10 years later.
@@Blynat honestly, i think the '84 movie got a lot of things right.... it is severly soured by the stupid ending and the unnecessary additions though.. i still have the feeling that lynch just didn't understand paul's role and was influenced way too much by the whole star wars space jesus story
Villeneuve deliberately avoided overwhelming the audience with an exposition dump. He gave all the information required to understand the main plot, but everything else is only shown or implied, not outright explained.
I was avoiding this until I saw the movie, because while I know the story inside and out, I wanted to see this version blind. I have to say, seeing you absolutely get *everything* about it really puts the lie to the critics saying it's too complicated or weird for new viewers to understand. No. You got everything, and the subtext, immediately.
It's just a very well made film, the story is made easy to follow by most people. I also haven't read the book, but I think I got the overall story. I love it, very interesting and mature.
Can’t wait to watch this reaction, but I’m already gonna say that this is the kind of film that needs to be experienced in theaters, if not in IMAX (though I think Eternals has all the IMAX screens now). Every shot is a cinematographic wonder and deserves, if not needs, the big screen!
I watched the movie on HBO Max first, and then went and saw it in IMAX a week later. Let me just say, the IMAX experience is something else. I have never seen a more epic film with a more epic soundtrack in a theatre.
The Fact that the director said himself this movie was a love letter to cinema carries that much weight. Saw it in Imax first and then at Home and surprisingly enough it was the lack of big sound that hit me the hardest. And turning up the volume didn't exactly solve the issue too. Definitely Imax that experience for the first viewing if possible.
Nat: He's going to kill Jamis? I thought that he was going to be friends with Jamis. Jamis was going to teach him stuff. Book Paul: I was a friend of Jamis. Jamis taught me that when you kill, you pay for it.
I hated the whole thing. Why exactly did they feel the need to throw in imaginary scenes with Jamis that simply did not happen in the books. Paul never saw Jamis because they had just arrived in the deep desert when his fight with Jamis happens. So had not needed to deal with prescient visions at that time and had no idea what any of it was supposed to mean. He did not see Jamis coming, if he had, they would have done things to avoid the fight in the first place.
@@Baronstone it was a way for the filmmakers to visually showcase the idea that Paul's visions are not just showing one future but many possible futures. I mean I guess they could have had a yoda "always changing, the future is" moment, but Denis prefers to show and not tell (well for the most part).
And the movie says that for the kwisatz haderach to rise, Paul Atreides must die during his vision of the fight with Jamis. In a way, I think that Paul killing Jamis killed off the last bit of hesitation he had with joining the Fremen, and that vision of the fight was the movie explaining that. It wasn't a literal interpretation of events that needed to happen, but a metaphorical one explaining how Paul's mind-set would change once he was a killer.
@@doublethyme1202 That was my interpretation as well. Paul Atreides, as he understands himself, has to die (figuratively). I like the idea of the visions not being literal. We're used to seeing literal visions in sci-fi movies, it's an old trope (this thing WILL happen). It's more interesting to see a movie where a character has visions that are more dream-like, coded almost, and the character has to work out the meaning.
It is an extremely difficult book to adapt to a movie...which was a major issue for the prior version...but I have to say, they did a incredibly good job doing so here. It definitely required 2 movies to tell the story properly [just as LOTR required 3]. I watched it when it first released in Europe and then watched it again when it released in the USA and immediately followed up that weekend listening to the entire audiobook. I am incredibly impressed by how well they covered the first 60% of the novel, with only minimal change or alterations...most of which were minor and shouldn't interfere with remaining faithful to completing the story in the next movie. It is also superb visually...and the acting is strong throughout!
I love this film, but Dr. Yueh was the one of most unfortunate casualties in this script. Being so underdeveloped really undercut the potential weight of his betrayal.
"The Voice" was a purely vocal technique where the Bene Gesserit would alter their vocal tones to command an individual to a task. The vocal tone is tailored to a specific person based on observations of their personality. It cant be used on a group, only an individual. That's why you see Paul looking over objects in the room when trying to use the voice on his mother. He's looking over images of Leto's father, and thinking how his grandfather's shadow has affected his mother.
It can't be used as effectively on a group, but someone skilled in the voice can still use it to help sway their audience when speaking to large groups.
I really liked how it was used on the Harkonnens taking the concubine and boy to their death in the book. Such an interesting and developed concept when given more detail and time to breath which was not possible in the movie. It's far more and also far less than magic.
@14:00, Thufir their spymaster has served House Atreides for three generations. He worked for Duke Leto’s dad and would have worked for Paul as well. Thufir is like a grandfather to Paul. He was offering to resign because he was worried that he is too old for the job. The thought of Paul dying due to his possible slip up is too much to bare.
The difficulty of adapting the book is a lot of these things are explained but without huge exposition dumps it's difficult to explain in a movie format. This whole movie was just a setup for the second half of the first book. Also, this isn't the 2nd Dune, exactly. There was a Dune movie from the 80's but it was pretty rough, then SciFi did an adaptation mini-series that was much, much, better around 2000 and was just the first book but was like five hours in total. As far as the political intrigue goes it's fairly simple actually. There's a bunch of "houses" (think GoT). They all have their own planets. The Harkonnens had been in charge of Dune and spice production which is required for space travel. Thus that house has a ton of power. One of the other rich houses is Paul's House Atredies. Beyond just being wealthy (like the Harkonnens from the spice production) they are also actually respected (because Leto is a good honorable man). Other houses listen to Leto, and are doing so more and more. This is a threat to the Emperor and undermines his power. The Harkonnens only real power is wealth, they don't have the respect of the other houses (and therefor could not get the other houses to band together against the Emperor). The Emperor literally hatched a plan to kill Atredies and make sure his power was secure. He colluded with Harkonnen to get Atredies to go to Dune, but before they could actually get settled and start benefiting from the spice production Harkonnen would wipe them out and the Emperor would deny any involvement, hence the secret meetings with the Emperor's shock troops.
"The Great Houses look to us for leadership and that threatens the Emperor... by taking Arrakis from the Harkonnens and making it ours, he sets the stage for a war" "Oh... I wonder why he did that" GIRL! Listen! I understand Duke Leto has a beard that's difficult to avert the eyes from, but the words he speaks are still relevant.
But soooo sexy though! The casting of Dune is magnificent. Obviously the Baron is incredible, and Paul is very good and so on, but the casting of others like Stilgar and Leto are a perfect match. Especially Stilgar.
@@wahn10 yo, she was asking bomb questions though. There are other reactors I watch that I’m concerned most of this will go over their heads. Natalie seemed like she had a pretty strong grasp on most of it.
@@paulatredies9242 i like watching her because she's perceptive and intelligent and i never facepalm cuz of her missing obvious things. also her videos aren't infested with ads like other reacters.
Still, doesn't it seem like kind of a roundabout way to eliminate an enemy? Or is it because they're so much more vulnerable on Arrakis as opposed to their home-planet, that it was essentially a lure?
The treason of Doctor Yueh is far more grave than you realize. In this age, Doctors at the service of the Great Houses would go through a mental conditioning, during their training (the diamond mark on the forehead is the indicator that he has that training), so it would be impossible for them to betray their House. Yueh would have suffered, both physically and emotionally, by going against is conditioning, so put that in perspective. Try and read the book. It's one of the great gems of Sci-Fi and extremely layered with meaning.
The movie omits all of the discussion of Yueh's Imperial "Suk" conditioning, which makes him seemingly above ALL reproach, and also omits all discussion of the potential traitor that they believe (and the Fremen *know*) is in their midst -- we only get to see that there is a traitor when his betrayal begins. In every discussion, Yueh is dismissed as the potential traitor because everyone has absolute faith in the Suk conditioning. The Baron reveals at some point that he learned how to override the conditioning using a specific form of leverage; specifically, kidnapping Yueh's wife and threatening to torture and kill her.
It's interesting that you had the "not emotional" experience I've heard some people talk about. That was my experience watching the movie the first time. I just enjoyed the spectacular visuals and sounds in the theater (I read all the Dune books so I knew the story) so I liked it. But I said exactly what you did "I wasn't emotionally invested". I went back and saw it again and was really deeply emotionally moved by the scene in the stiltent and his father's death. Really all of the films emotions shine through it the more I see it and the more I find deep inside its subtext. To my surprise my family (who aren't heady Sci fi geeks like me) all really loved the movie and many of them cried during Duncan's death. So it's just interesting because I've heard lots of diverse reactions from this movie! Great video 😁
I agree with Natalie....I've read the books, seen the Lynch film and the Syfi network trilogy of the first 3 books, and Dune just ISN'T that much about 'deeply emotionally connecting to the characters'....it's a story about compelling themes, complex politics, and deep plot intrigue ("plots within plots", to quote the books themselves). And honestly, the Syfi version did a better job at adding 'emotional attachment' to their characters than the script in this film did, IMHO (I would've preferred Villeneuve traded out about 15 minutes of action set pieces, for instead 15 minutes of character building dialogue, really). It's cool though...Dune's elaborate plots and world building/exposition are so enthralling, one doesn't really need to feel attached to the characters (just finding out what happens next is enough).
@@DeathToTheDictators true but I think there's subtlety injected into the film version that makes it a more emotional journey. I agree with what you're saying. I had a similar experience reading the book.
@@Paradox-dy3ve Cool. And i recommend you check out the Syfy (it was still called The Scifi Channel at the time they aired it) version that's actually here on youtube (all 3 parts!), if you haven't already seen it....the special effects are cheesy, but Dune is NOT about 'action' (in fact, the actors deliver it more like a 'live play', than film acting/dialogue, which i think suits the material very well).
@@DeathToTheDictators Honestly, for all the cheesy effects, the ScyFy version had SO much heart put into it and some great performances, I honestly had the most emotional reaction to that version as compared to the other two. Also fun fact: the actors who played Paul and his dad also starred in a Hallmark movie of Frankenstein that was quite phenomenal and very book accurate!
The visions Paul had in the movie were possible futures. That is why you see people who are portrayed as friends and teachers in his visions even after they have died, or in the case a Jamil, before.
People felt more godly, ghostly in this than they did in the original. They kept the same kind of distant tone, but this was way less campy, and Paul Atreides is way more hardcore in this. My Dad always said that Paul Atreides is insanely fast in the books, and the actor and movie in general didn't do a good job of showing that. He is happy that the new Paul is inhumanly fast. Like a ninja :D
If you're like me and have not finished a single book you've purchased in years - the audio book for Dune is fire. I'm so glad I picked it up and get a fuller picture of the story. I really liked the movie and I think they did a good job with what they decided to keep in and what they cut. Some of that cut content isn't necessary but is still veryyy good. *thinking about Liet Kynes chapter*
Some cut had to happen, no way around them. But yes, the why the sardaukars are so fierce, the whole search and crossed accusations about who the traitor is, Kynes and a few others like the diner scene were very very nice in the novel.
The politics: the are three major power blocs: the Spacing Guild, House Corrino (The Emperor's House) and his Sardaukar, and the Landsraad (composed of the other Great Houses.) The Landsraad was formed to protect themselves against the Emperor, so that they wouldn't be taken out by the Sardaukar one by one. In the book, the Sardaukar attacked Arrakis while disguised as Harkonnen troops because of the Landsraad found out what the Emperor was up to, they would all attack House Corrino and House Harkonnen. But the Sardaukar have a distinctive form of combat that Duncan and Gurney instantly recognized while fighting them.
The worms don't let the Fremen ride them just because they worship them, their bodies have giant scaly plates over them that protect them from the sand and the Fremen use those pick things to prise the plates up and expose the soft tissue underneath which stops the worm from going under the sand so they can ride them like that. Thats actually what the doctor was getting ready to do when she set up the thumper after splitting up from Paul and Jessica but she was speared by the Sardukar before the worm got there and she got the worm to eat them instead. You see her get her pick things ready to go just before the Sardukar gets her.
_"I feel like every good, like, fantasy or sci-fi movie has like a prophet of some sort, or some kind of cool prophecy, you know..."_ Well, Dune probably has quite a bit to do with that. The books were a massive influence on the genre. (Though Asimov's Foundation trilogy probably also has quite a bit do do with it, especially being itself a significant influence on Dune; and of course both, and a lot of what came later, were also influenced by history and mythology.)
Lord of The Rings book is a Classic so it feels like an “old book”, but reading Dune feel like a fucking trip into the space-time-continuum. Life changing experience.
from all the old sci-fi books I read, its freaking weird how Dune doesn't feel old. I mean, when I see this movie with so many modern visual aesthetics, it feels so faithful to the book.
This reaction has me heading over to your Patreon for full length. As a huge Dune nerd since I first read the book almost 25 yrs ago when I was 16, this movie was everything I could've wanted!(I'm obviously an old hag 🤷🏼♀️) Villeneuve is the PERFECT one to bring the book to life as a self proclaimed lover of the material since he was a boy. Some reactors are more like "Not enough boom boom" instead of appreciating the world and character building, so it's refreshing to watch you fully immerse yourself in the world of Dune. So glad you enjoyed the movie and can't wait to watch the full thing along with you 👍🏻
I read the novel 35 years ago when I was 15, and the Lynch film scarred me so terribly I had a hard time sitting down to watch the miniseries. It was better, but still got some things off that there was no reason to go away from the source material for. This film was vindication! Loved it! Would have liked to seen more in Arrakeen before the Harkonnen attack (the dinner scene would have been perfect for the intrigue), but I'll accept this.
The books are also more brainy and detached emotionally, there's always long conversations explaining people's reasoning, but way less pure emotional moments. Even when we have them, they are rationalizations of the characters themselves. That's not to say that the characters are cold or bland, but the story focuses more on how their feelings affect the plot, and less on how the plot affects their feelings. (This may be also a consequence of the main characters being prescient, since 'having visions of the future all the time and trying to nudge events to change the future' makes for great plot and tension surrounding what will happen and how, but it undermines the impact of most emotional scenes. I.e the death of Duncan, if had not been foreshadowed by Paul's visions [and by proxy, labled as 'preventable'] would be way more powerful emotionally)
You understand that at the end and i think thats more useful for a movie, makes it hit harder after the fact once you realise things aren’t set in stone
The Voice is not like a jedi mindtrick, it's the other way around. Dune was a huge influence on Lucas and the mindtrick is kind of a clear ripoff of the Voice.
it reminds me more of the thum in skyrim, how pretty much anyone can learn it buts incredibly hard to, i haven't read the books so is it a thing where anyone can learn it or something else?
The voice is deep psychology. It is understanding who you are talking to and bypassing their conscious mind. It also requires extreme vocal control on the part of the user. So yes anyone can use it.... If they receive the decades of training both of self and understanding others.
Great commentary. :-) The second half of the story will touch upon this in further detail, but Paul actually had the right idea when he dismissed the whole "OMG, prophecy !" angle as something seeded among the Fremen to abuse their superstition. One of the main reasons Frank Herbert wrote the Dune novels was because of his dissatisfaction with "prophesied hero" stories, especially of the "political revolutionary" or "social leader maverick" sort. He found the science fiction of his time still filled with that sort of uncritical hero-worship. Paul's journey is less of a hero's journey and more of an antiheroic journey. Herbert made this doubly tragic, because Paul is overall a decent person (or tries to be), not some would-be tyrant. However, the people who start blindly following him as a prophetic figure, or even some sort of political or religious saviour, will cause a lot of harm in the process. The novel's meant to be a warning against fanaticism, and a comparison between blind superstition and more measured, self-reflective faith. Another big theme is the contrast between environmental and economic concerns and how hard it is to balance them at times. Dr. Kynes' and the Fremen's dream is to make Dune a little more hospitable, but if they remade the planet to be entirely Earth-like, the sandworms would die out and the spice would disappear (as their larvae are necessary to its creation). Some don't care about even a place like Dune having a complex environment, they only see the income from spice, while others realise there's more to the planet than just that. I'd love to see a few of the sequel novels adapted, after they finish off the first book with the second movie. Paul's personal journey is an interesting study in a young man who doesn't want to be a hero, doesn't want to be worshipped, and wants to do the right thing for his family and even people suffering under oppression, but he screws up several times or underestimates how much control he has over the whole situation. (This is why he's so rightly terrified of the visions while in the tent. A holy war, eagerly led in his name, and eventually bringing destruction even to the innocent he didn't want to get killed...) Herbert's big question was whether the remnants of the Atreides, now with the support of the Fremen, don't become nearly as bad as the Harkonnen. Paul himself, after a period when he considered vengeance for his father and exploiting the (fake) prophet legend as acceptable means to punish the Harkonnen, gradually grows remorseful for what his most ardent followers keep committing in his name. He's increasingly worried that his visions were never that clear to begin with, and he overlooked ways to avoid greater damage, but either hesitated, or did some other mistake. The later novels are largelly about him having to live with the fallout of his decisions. Including the fact that innocent people have been killed in his name, he carries part of the responsibility, can't deny it. He'd like to escape that terrible legacy, of becoming an empty icon rather than seen as a fallible man who has a fair bit to atone for (even though he's not malicious), but he knows it's not fully possible. He has to live with his sins and mistakes, so to speak. There's a constant looming question in his mind: How much control do I have over my fate, am I just making excuses for myself, or is this really inevitable and I couldn't really prevent some evil events ? Chani is an interesting part of that, as she's one of the few people who never revered him, and always saw him as just an ordinary human, with a few highly trained skills. In his later years, Paul gets an opportunity to fight back against the cult of personality built around him, but I won't spoil more. The Dune series is a fairly tragic and fairly dark story at times, but it's not without hope or without decency or without remorse. Herbert liked to stress that humans only progress when they don't throw their decency away. (Tellingly, Paul's most heroic moments in the series are whenever he's doing small acts of kindness, small compassionate deeds of everyday good towards others, without any high-and-mighty aspirations or dubious goals that backfire on him and others.) I'm really interested in how they adapt the second half, and the eventual sequels. There's a lot to explore in terms of characters and drama and some pretty heady themes about the dark but also good sides of humanity, especially as the series goes on.
One of the reasons I love this story so much is that Herbert followed the beats of the Hero's Journey with all of the hints of the Chosen One trope and then completely turned all of it upside down. His quote about charismatic leaders being hazardous to your health was his warning to the readers.
18:55 Yeah, that's a complicated situation. Jessica is Leto's bound concubine and the mother of his son, but Leto never married her for political reasons. He wanted to keep the option of a political marriage open that might secure the Imperial throne for House Atreides one day. It's probably Leto's greatest regret that court politics is in the way of their love.
They don't go into this, but Arrakeen (the capital and only city) is located at Arrakis north-pole so it is not subject to the higher heat experienced in the temperate and equatorial zones.
You'll see, it's a great great novel. And if you like it, there's 5 more after that! (I would stay away from the other, non Frank Herbert ones). But the first novel can also absolutely be read alone, albeit you'll miss some things that are set up early in it about what Paul really is, and a few others things.
Oh… you’re in for a treat. The books grow deeper and more complex with each sequel until Frank’s death. His son, despite finishing the series and writing more in that universe besides, never quite reaches his father’s complexity and insight. His ultimate message is to avoid messiahs and messianic thinking, but it’s so much more than that.
The film did a really good job of introducing people to the Dune universe. However, in Part 2 more things have to be explained to people new to the universe. The back half of the book goes into more detail on things anyway so I trust Villeneuve will explore concepts such as why there isn't AI and delve more into the role the spacing guild plays.
Not to be nitpicky, it’s not really a sequel but the second part of the story. Dune is a very long book, and Villeneuve did a good job, but still ony scratching the surface. I was leaving the movie theatre a bit unsatisfied, as i know that it was only part of the story.
Basically, House Atreides is too powerful for the Emperor's liking, but their forces on Caladan are too strong for the Emperor to assault, and he doesn't want to dedicate his personal army of Sardaukar in an assault on a Great House. That would cause the other Great Houses to close ranks against him, potentially toppling him from power. His solution is to give Arrakis to House Atreides. Since Arrakis is the sole source of spice, whichever house controls it becomes outrageously rich. But House Atreides will have to entrench their forces on Arrakis and train them in the ways of the desert. The Emperor plans to have the Harkonnens attack House Atreides before they can rebuild their strength, and sends some of his Sardaukar to stiffen the Harkonnen force in secret. This way, the Emperor removes House Atreides completely without blatantly showing his hand.
Paul's visions are probable/possible futures, not THE future. The spice and his Bene Gesserit training made his brain capable of predicting events. That's why Spacing Guild navigators use the spice. It enables them to plot the safest course and predict/avoid obstacles across space during interstellar travel....
21:18 - "He's a really good pilot, too!" Duncan is also an excellent climber, from his younger days of hiding from Harkonnen slavers. His climbing skills are said by some to be... well, literally orgasmic. (Apologizes in God Emperor....)
Paul's visions are glimpses of possible futures. About water. In the book the Amtal duel is fought without Stillsuits, so this important piece of tech is not damaged and water reserves in it are secured. Also they omitted the part when Paul sheds tears for Jamis, and everybody is in deep religious awe, because "he gives moisture to the dead!".
15:27 don't remember if they mention explicitly but one other thing you might be interested in about the shields is they have strong chance of nuclear explosion when hit by lasguns, and nuclear weapons are so taboo as to render the civilization hostis humanii generis and subject to planetary obliteration... which means the Harkonnens just flinging lasers at Duncan's thopter later is super duper reckless
It's not mentioned explicitly in the film. It's possible that the missile that hit him earlier knocked the shield out so their lasgun wouldn't go boom.
There's a recent Thomas Flight video on Dune mixing and soundscape/score. Very interesting for those who don't have access to a good theater, or Atmos. Like both the Voice and the Baron are the only voices to come out in surround instead of the central speaker. Interesting view for those who only have headphones (it's a shame they didn't do a HRTF binaural mixing down to stereo of this movie, maybe there's hope for the Bluray?).
The emperor is threatened by duke letos rising popularity within the lansraad. He teamed up with the baron harkonnen in order to eliminate the atreides. They set a trap by removing house harkonnen frlom arrakis and giving the governorship to duke leto. He then gave the baron 3 legions of his sardaukar soldiers to use in a surprise ambush attack on house atreides.
"It's like when Luke had to close his eyes to shoot the death star" THANK YOU UNIVERSE. You are the first reactor (I've watched dozens because I am obsessed with this movie) who noticed the obvious parallel. Of course, as probably many have already said, the book Dune came first, and George Lucas freely spoke of being inspired by it, amongst other texts and religions. (Bhuddhism and Taoism heavily flavour both Dune and Star Wars. Herbert of course drew heavily from Islam too, while Lucas drew from some First Nations American cultures)
Okay, nutshell. The Emperor felt threatened by House Atriedes, Leto mentioned the other Houses looked to them for leadership. They kinda left off how much Atriedes and Harkonnen fight each other. So the emperor pulls Harkonnen off Arrakis while secretly plotting with the Harkonnens. Basically, they turned Arrakis in to a mousetrap where the Harkonnens take back Arrakis and the Emperor no longer has to worry about the entire House. Leto was smart enough to know this. But he didn't count on Yuehs betrayal (he's supposed to have training that makes that impossible but they just left that out to streamline it). The fact Paul kills Jamis after having a vision being friendly with him tells us they aren't always literal. Because Jamis did teach him a valuable lesson. Etc. And you asked what Liet was drawing the sandworm in right before she was stabbed? Did you see her tools she had ready? Remember the Fremen riding the worm at the end? Yeah, that's what she was going to do.
my fav part of learning the history of the book after watching it is... when the new Sadaukar solders got initiated, blessed with the red stripe on the forehead, is the blood from sacrificed recruits that didnt become Sadaukar, nothing goes to waste!
The fighting between Houses Atreides and Harkonnen is an ongoing, daily thing. At one point in the book, someone (I think Gurney) has just returned from a raid on some Harkonnen spice reserves, in which they destroyed the spice. The funny part is that all of this travel between planets occurs under the watchful eye of the Spacing Guild. If the Atreides want to raid a Harkonnen world, they have to pay the Spacing Guild to take them there and back again. The Guild profit from EVERYTHING and no one dares retaliate because of fear of being cut off from all interstellar travel.
@@clayjohanson the spice reserve thing (and the whole Kanly concept) is exactly what I was talking about, thank you for fleshing it out. Not only did they sorta just leave that out (they really wanted to keep Leto clean for more impact later) but the Baron specifically mention the spice reserves being intact at the end.
@@clayjohanson what was always weird to me (dunno if that gets explained in later books, just have read the first and there it is not really explained) was that essentially, the spacing guild and whoever controls Arrakis are in some sort of deadlock... since everyone in the universe kinda needs spice, also the spacing guild themselves, but again, also whoever controls Arrakis would need the spacing guild one, for exporting spice and second importing goods cause Arrakis is not necessarily a natural resource vault... I mean food, water, weapons, materials, whatever. for that you absolutely NEED the spacing guild. they could make themselves even more powerful in principle by making an alliance with either the Harkonnens before or the Atreides and not even the Emperor would dare move against them. These two factions essentially control the universe, at least in my understanding. so even as a spacing guild, it would be in my best interest to oversee that spice mining does not lack, because that will reflect badly on my own business. so alone from that angle, I would have probably build and send armies down myself as the spacing guild, to see there is no quarrel. but that is never a thing, it is even an open secret that houses fight for power on Arrakis and the Spacing guild just deals with it. Also a strategy to run but I feel a much worse for them.
On top of this, by forcing the Harkonnen to hire his Sardukaur, he simultaneously drained the Harkonnen coffers. The emperor weakened two dangerously rising houses at once. A rich house (Harkonnens), and militarily excellent house (Atreides).
When I read the novel in the late '70s, more than 10 years after it was published, it blew my mind. It's one of those works of art that makes you feel proud you belong to the same species as someone who could make something like that. Of course, now that the tropes the novel introduced have permeated popular culture modern audiences will never have the same feeling.
Duncan's last stand is easily one of my top 3 or so favorite scenes in film history. Between the emotional swelling of the score leading up to Duncan closing and locking the door behind him, the great choreography, or the phenomenal acting by Timothe'e and Jason - it's one of the most brilliantly/expertly filmed scene that i've ever seen. Duncan was by far my fav character in the books and Jason absolutely killed it. Though his performance had a little "Momoa-ness", it's actually - more or less, how Duncan was written in the book, so his performance was actually extremely book accurate. A lot of people apparently originally hated his casting saying the only character he plays is the loveable Aquaman" architype. But if you've ever seen "Th Red Road," "Frontier," and especially "SEE", knows he's actually a really good actor with significantly more range than he's ever given credit for. So i was completely confident he do Duncan justice - and boy did he deliver! Great reaction, can't wait for Part 2 this November!
The 1984 Dune is actually pretty amazing. I love it! Star Wars took a LOT from Dune (and tons of other things). Spice mines of Kessel. And remember: He who controls the spice controls the universe.
I will just answer possible future questions and give interesting facts: - Greg Fraser is the cinematographer of this film as well as the upcoming Batman - The film was shot in Abu Dhabi, Hungary, Jordan, and Norway - Hans Zimmer dreamed of writing an ost to Dune - Paul's blue eyes mean that he has been using Spice for a long time, like Fremen - There was a war against machines in the Dune universe, and therefore there is no Artificial intelligence and advanced technologies, the inhabitants of different planets have abandoned them, and rely only on their skills, experience, skills in mechanics, engineering, etc... - The Bene Gesserit is an order of priestesses /witches / fortune-tellers (different cultures and mentalities perceive and call them differently) consisting only of women who have influence within political foundations and represent themselves as advisers/ mentors close to royal families (like Arethusa sorceresses from the Witcher universe, well, almost ...) --The bald guys who stood next to Vladimir Harkonnen (The Flying Fat Man) when he took a bath are Mentats, they are a living archive and a guide -Those who attacked the Atreides at night are the Sardukars, one of the strongest armies and the personal guard of the Emperor (the Harkonens are even less cruel compared to them, and unless only the Foremen can repulse them, by the way, they are one of the reasons why the Emperor was never dethroned) ruthless, real self-murderers, carry out any orders (somewhat reminiscent of the Outriders of the "Space Dogs" from the Avengers:Infinity War) when you saw a scene with Mongolian singing under a rain shower, then pay attention there people were sacrificed in the form of a ritual, this is one of their traditions...(according to the Aztec type)
Is anyone else having a playback issue where the audio is COMPLETELY unsynced from the video? It starts around 4:20 for me and continues through basically the whole video.
There's nothing in the movie that you need to read the book to understand, you'll be good with a rewatch. He's not necessarily a chosen one, character of destiny. The Bene Gesserit essentially engineered him, both by crossing bloodlines to create one of his abilities (scene of Paul asking what it means to be The One) and by planting prophecy on Arrakis to ensure that the natives believe him to be the messiah figure (Lady Jessica explaining that scene, plus explaining what Lisan Al-Gaib means). And then he sees the vision in the tent of what this engineering of him into this role will lead to (holy war, stack of burning bodies, legions of soldiers looking up to him and shouting his name) and he hates and and doesn't want it. It's definitely inspired stories like Star Wars and Matrix, but in this part, regarding the "chosen one" story, I think its a very unique take on it, one that was given to us in 1965 and I still havent seen replicated much (certainly not in mass-media).
If you are brand new to the Dune universe, this movie leaves out ALOT. Example, would you know what a Mentat was if you watched this movie - eff no! The movie certainly hints at what a mentat can do (a throwaway line just to "show" a mentat's ability), but does not explicitly define what they are nor how important they are to the story (Pietr De Vries was especially pivotal to the story and was basically just a 5 minute side character). SMH
@@boosterdemon7122 exactly. The book has so much, I think they did a good job touching on details they couldn't fully flesh out yet. I imagine it can be fleshed out in a sequel. I was so impressed they even took the time to show the stilltent gathering moisture in its ribs, when they barely touched on it. Little details those who read it see immediately (as well as Mentats, and the tech in baron harkonnen's back for him to float, etc).
@@umairrashid9345 yes, I know - it doesn't change the fact that the 1984 movie explained the universe much better and in half the time compared to this new version. Instead, this new version used a lot of it's time on Zendaya Hair product commercial time!
@@erichb4530 this new version spent a lot of time on what I would consider the WRONG details - showing water condensing on the still tent is cool and all, but why all the wasted scenes showing Zendaya making a Hair Product commercial out in the desert when that time could have been used to explain things to the audience? For example, if you were new to Dune, based on this movie, you wouldn't get just how significant it was that Dr. Yueh betrayed the Atreides (normally he wouldn't be able to due to his Imperial Conditioning which should have guaranteed his loyalty to House Atreides) and how that was broken by Pietr De Vries. It's all good for ppl who have already read the book, but for new ppl, it was really lacking.
Duke Leto was gaining favour among the other houses. This scares the emperor to set the Arrakis plan in motion. Bene Gesserith has been breeding for the One for centuries. Jessica betrayed the plan by giving Leto a son. It was supposed to be a daughter, married to Harkonnon son, perhaps producing the One.
About the Doctor's bargain, in the book, Dr Yueh knows that his wife is already dead; he's not an idiot. When the Baron tells him that the wife is dead, Yueh just calmly tells him, "Yes. But all I needed was a moment, you and me in the same room, to make things right." At which point Leto bites down on the tooth, killing the room. The doctor wasn't trying to get his wife back; he just knew that by saying that, the Baron would let his guard down and let the two in the same room with him. He knew the Baron wouldn't pass up the opportunity to taunt a "grieving fool" in person.
@@DoddyIshamel Not so; it was inevitable that the Atriedes would get scorched. So the doctor figured, if they were all gonna die, he may as well do it his way, and take the Baron with them.
Not quite accurate. Yueh doesn't know if his wife's dead, he just hopes that she is. So that the Harkonnens can't torture her anymore. He wants to confront the Baron to make sure, knowing the Baron will likely boast about her death before killing him. And of course he's also hoping for revenge via the tooth.
@@houseofaction If it wasn't him, then they would have turned someone else. In my head canon, his wife was the "spider with hands" creature, having been metamorphosized by the Harkonnen.
Denis made both Arrival and Bladerunner as "practise" for this, the film he wanted to make since he was a child. As a fan of the books, I can see how much a fan he is as well and wanted to do them "right", something that always felt denied to the source material, either through pacing/studio interference or budget. Everything in this looked like it should and felt right to me. IMO it would have been a crime to not greenlight the sequel
All of the Fremen have blue eyes. Not just the irises but also the whites of their eyes are turned blue by their constant exposure to Spice which is even in the air that they breathe.
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Like Leto said to his son at in front of his father's grave, the Emperor is afraid of House Atreides' influence and House A has the support of other Houses, they can if they want make a move on the Emperor so, he kicks the Harkonens out of Arakis, they are pissed of plus don't like House A so, they'll want to attack them, Emperor's like here's my army, go do ur thing, u get rid of House Atreides for me u get back ur Golden Goose, win win... Politics Power Play.... 💁🏾♂🤦🏾♂
His visions are possible futures. That’s why he kills Jamice instead of befriending him.
The audiobook is really well done
The implications of the Barons pet are SO messed up. Dune is a fully human story, in a fully human universe. There are no aliens. It's entirely possible that this "thing" is what the Harkonnens made the doctors wife into. Mutated on a molecular level. Theres a line in the movie about them "plucking people apart like dolls"
That is absolutely horrifying
There's a reason why the voice worked on the "pet".
Ixian Toy maybe?
@@nosoulboy13 Tleilaxu rather. They are into this kind of stuff.
The human centipede
Jessica was (is) Leto's concubine. He's not married for the hopes of a Political marriage, but they do still love each other. The Emperor feared House Atredies rising power (In both fighting force and political influence) and therefore worked with their generational enemies the Harkonnen to take them down. And you nailed the Greek implications. Paul is a direct descendent of Agamemnon (From the Illiad)
It's not "for the hopes of a political marriage", it's to hold out that carrot for others.
He has loved no other and expresses as much a few times in the book.
@@dyskordian Pretty much all nuance and politics are missing from the movie, but I feel (and this is something the miniseries did quite well) that the way her role as 'concubine' and not wife says about how Leto (presumably at Jessica's suggestion) handles politics.
@@saberstrike000 They're missing from the book, too. It's just nonsense the reader fills in with their own (largely absurd, and grossly incorrect) assumptions. The entirety of their society falls firmly in the "too stupid to exist" category, with most of the characters being "too stupid to win". Nothing about the events follows any kind of natural cause-and-effect.
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I like a lot of things about Dune, including even some things regarding its overall plot. But I'm really way past being sick and tired of people cocksucking certain "classics" with no objective comprehension of its actual liabilities or assets. Disturbingly reminiscent of bible-nuts.
@@DoremiFasolatido1979 Honestly, I agree with you (excessive vehemence excluded) that most classic (and a lot of modern) sci-fi doesn't hold up under basic sociological or economic scrutiny. And I could have chosen a better word than 'nuance' as admittedly, Herbert paints in very broad strokes.
But there's a difference between broad strokes and finger painting. There's an almost complete lack of exposition in the movie beyond "these be the bad guys," and "guess who's the chosen one." And while it may not be realistic or excessively complex, I do think Herbert included and intended more cause and effect than that in the book.
@@DoremiFasolatido1979 To be fair, Dune is meant to be overly dramatic, that's why it is and why it wouldn't actually work the way it does in the book
I love the Gom Jabbar test. At the end she calls him a human, because the test is meant to determine if a person is a human or an animal. Animals obey their instinct, like the instinct which tells you to pull your hand away from pain. Humans use their judgment, like the judgment which tells you that, in that situation, to avoid pain means death, while enduring it is the only thing you can do to live.
It's like a really simple yet revealing test, isn't it? "Can your judgment overpower your most urgent instincts?"
I interpreted that as the Bene Gesserit seeing themselves as other than, or maybe above, humans
@@king_supreme1102 Well, in the context of what's happened: 10k years after computers are gone, you have little choice but to uber up your stock, as it were, as well as learn more advanced techniques of psychology, etc. And we're left with Herbert's definition of "human;" it fits the culture, for sure, and as a basic definition which Mesopotamians would have understood and argued back then . . . It makes for a compelling argument.
@@king_supreme1102 no because if he wasn't human (by her definition) he'd fail, and she'd kill him.
Yo I'd be so fucking dead! 🤣
"Are you calling a Duke's son an animal?"
"Let's say that I think you might be human."
Dont know if you knew, but Dune actually inspired Star Wars, thats why they are so similar!
Not just Star Wars, Dune is the godfather of modern Sci-Fi!
It inspired a lot of the aesthetic, but the story of Star Wars was more inspired by Akira Kurosawa.
@@ericstahmer720 Once you get to Children of Dune the parallels are more than aesthetic.
Except that Dune has good writing, a good 'script'. You might say the same thing about the Bible, really. Hero-messiah stuff is popular with people who are entirely self-obsessed. What if you just took care of the people around you and never started on the whole prophecy thing?
@@ericstahmer720 Star Wars was amalgation of inspirations from Dune to Akira Kurosawa to Flash Gordon serials to post-WW2 WW2 movies with aerial scenes as well as spaghetti westerners. It's always a bit silly when someone tries to interject that "It was actually inspired by this or that" because it's ultimately a hodge-podge of it all.
It is amusing when Natalie cites things like Star Wars or The Matrix while watching Dune, not knowing that Dune is a foundational story in science fiction - and movies like Star Wars and The Matrix sourced ideas from the book. Also, if you do read the book (this movie is only the first half of the original book, and it had several follow on sequels too), it is explained that a lot of the mystical/prophetical aspects are actually more of a political manipulation too.
Great comment
In order to truly understand how Dune influenced other sci-fi movies you have to see Jodorowski's Dune: ua-cam.com/video/BNGzBhWwmEE/v-deo.html
Wonderful comment!!
Yes the Bene Gesserit had infiltrated many cultures and implanted messiah legends among their people over the centuries. The Fremen were one who believed in a prophecy of a messiah coming to free them but it was one implanted into their culture by the Bene Gesserit as a tool.
They comment on the political manipulation in the movie.
Foundation series by Isaac Asimov is also a big part in Dune and future SciFi
23:05 The slow blade penetrates the shield because the shields have to let air in. The shields are set to stop anything moving faster than the flow of air required to let the user breathe. So gas attacks can make it past the shields.
On a side note about the shields, a reason they do not generally use lasers is that if a laser hits a shield, both the laser and the shield will go nuclear.
I liked your comment, but it is not completely true, there is a chance for them both to go nuclear, or just one of them, that's why it's not a practice anymore.
It’s a bit silly though, because air molecules are moving nearly the speed of sound, but in all directions . It is only the aggregate difference or net effect that we call wind
@@PickledShark it actually makes perfect sense, you’re talking particle interactions that move with no loss of kinetic energy. The shield stops anything already losing kinetic energy and reduce it to zero
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@@PickledShark This, along with stillsuits being a death sentence for a desert environment, are simply products of writers not being scientists. Just gotta accept it for the story.
So, fun fact for a rewatch to help make things make more sense: Paul has 2 types of visions. Ones that are possible futures, and ones that WILL happen. The visions that are all hazy, out of focus, lens flare covering most of the frame, those are possible futures. The visions that are clear, in focus, unobscured...those are inescapable.
Super interesting. I never realized that before but now that you mention it, it's clear as day. Thank you.
Okay, now I have even more questions! Paul's vision of him being stabbed to death by Chani was crystal clear, does that mean he is very close to going down that path?
@@AbbaZabbaOlyFrn if you look at Chani killing Paul in a metaphorical sense, along with the voice saying “Paul Atreides must die for the Kwisatz Haderach to rise.” (Which I interpret ‘Paul’ as being his previous life.)
It could be taken as her giving him the knife that killed ‘Paul Atreides’.
Or nothing I said makes any sense and I’m way off base.
The Jamis visions are pretty clear...
Exactly, in one of the books I think (I've read all 6, and had 6 copies of DUNE, but that was around 40 years ago, so the threads of my memory may be broken) he describes it as being many threads and he was trying to find one that avoided the Jihad crossing the universe, killing in his name.
One of the big things to know about the “prophecy” is that the Bene Gesserit planted all of these legends and prophecies across tons of worlds so that if a Bene Gesserit was ever in trouble they could play into the legends and use them to their advantage.
Hmmmm, is Herbert saying something about the role religion plays in world politics? Curious!
@@CrayCruz
Is a criticism of people who blindly follow messiahs
Absolutely, but also Paul is not some god/force/whatever-created 'messiah', but a product of human breeding and planning for centuries.
@@GedUK And that's, I think, the most critical part. The cynical look at Messiah figures.
@@johnblackham3552 maybe he's just a naughty boy?
You're one of the few people whose reactions I watched that didn't call Duncan finding them in the desert "convenient" because you're the only one who noticed they had a beacon in the tent.
Seems like a lot of people missed that...
ohhh I missed that, thanks for the explanation!
What's not explained is why that frequency could be trusted in the slightest....!
Doctor Yui really thought of everything.
@@rolandcooke ......the note in the kit from the Doctor literally says "there is an Atreides beacon in the fremkit, god willing they will be able to find you". I would assume that If humanity has the technology they have in the series that they aren't using a radio beacon. Probably something encrypted that only a person from their house would be able to see.
Fun fact: when it says Year 10191, that's according to a far future calendar. According to the Dune Encyclopedia, that starts around 16,200 AD, making this closer to 26,391 AD.
@@RobTheWatcher he likes to read lol
@@RobTheWatcher I read books like W. Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men or Star Maker, which look many millions of years into the future..
The Encyclopaedia has been retconned, but I suppose it still matches with the expanded verse.
yeah, its since founding of the guild... and that was.. yea over 10k ad
@@toh786 Brian's books are not canon
Fun fact: the original author of the book, Frank Herbert, was inspired by the sand dunes in Florence, Oregon.
Also, I got to see this movie in theaters and holy hell was the bass loud. Paul doing The Voice and the various chants and whatnot literally shook my seat
I went back and rewatched the movie in a Dolby theatre after seeing it in a normal one and wow it was nuts! The Voice, the dragonfly-like Ornithopters and the score went so fucking hard I loved it.
Yes! Most movies may not be worth seeing in IMAX but this was a rare exception.
As an Oregonian that's spent summers in Florence visiting my cousins that live there I want to know more about Herbert's influence.
Unfortunately the current 'Spice' of Florence is meth.
Also in the 80's there was a Han Solo trilogy of novels that heavily involved Spice & that's partly what the movie Solo was based on. Great read but the Lando trilogy was better. Vuffi Raa!!!
I just find it sometimes a bit odd that people dont Google if the movie is based on something like a series of highly influential scifi books starting from the 1960's. Since then some people assume that the movie is imitating those other movies when In fact it is the opposite of that.
Yeah the soundscape in the theater was amazing. One thing I loved, was how Hans gave all the factions their own flavor of sound/music, and would layer it into the background if they were significant in a scene. Like how when in the big fight near the end, it's Atreides vs Harkonnen/Sardaurkar, the music swells with the bagpipes as the Atreides charge, and then that music literally clashes with the introduction of the Harkonnen/Sardaurkar music, when it's introduced.
But my favorite was the Bene Gesserit suite of music. As they are introduced, their music is layered with this susurrus of a female choir, all whispering, hinting at secret things, behind the scenes, manipulation, and deception, perfect soundscape for a group of Grand Viziers. But whenever they would actually stop being deceptive, and use their potent combat skills, the whispering would fade and you'd hear a single woman's vocals, howl out like a banshee unleashed. It was just SO fucking good! xD Loved that film.
"Are these vaguely Greek names?"
Yes. House Atreides traces its lineage back to Agamemnon, king of the Mycenean Greeks and aggressor of the Trojan War. Also, the year 10191 is a bit misleading. That's actually 10191 AG, "After Guild", or after the foundation of the Spacing Guild which provides all interstellar travel in the galaxy in the absence of AI. We have no idea how far into the future it really is (and no, I don't consider Brian Herbert's fanfiction canon.)
Even moreso, the name Atreides is from the mythic Atreides family, the dynasty of Atreus, of which Agamemnon was one of many members. Spoiler alert: the Atreides were cursed by the gods for the sins of one of their ancestors and suffered many hardships, involving cannibalism and familicide, until the last of their line was finally able to appease the gods, redeem the sins of his forefathers and break the cycle; this ends up playing into the fate of House Atreides, even after Paul's rise to power and for centuries afterward, implying that the curse is still part of their bloodline.
And the Brian Herbert turned Agamemnon in to an evil cyborg tyrant in his later books.
@@erikrungemadsen2081 Lmao, really? What an absolute hack.
Also, Harkonnen is a finnish name, derived from Härko, the bull. Letos father died by miscalculating during a literal bullfight. Letos bull is bigger, but he is still trying to pull off a metaphorical bullfight.
I think is around the year 23,350 A.D. according to Herbert's Dune books....
My favorite thing about the visions with Jamis is that they set you up to think that Jamis will literally teach Paul the ways of the desert. Paul killing Jamis is the lesson. Jamis taught him the ways of the desert.
I was a friend of Jamis.
isnt it just that his visions just show him posible futures? people still have their free will.
Adds another layer to, "I was a friend of Jamis." As if a minute decision, a different choice of path up the rocks, or a different word, and Jamis would have been his best friend. Alas, it was probably striking Jamis and disarming him that did it.
@@Ginkoman2 from a literal interpretation yes, that's what the visions do, but when you consider the actual narrative at play, and the creative choice to mislead the viewer while also informing them
I have a poster on my wall I made saying 'I was a friend of Jamis'.
Well and it shows the nature of Paul's visions. They aren't like prophecies, they are potential futures unfolding, they're was a future were Paul was friends with Jamis, and he did teach Paul about the desert. But the in the future that actually happened Jamis challenged Paul and died.
The politics, if I remember correctly:
House Atreides is related to the Imperial House (House Corrino). The Atreides are really well liked among the noble houses and the emperor is jealous/fears usurpation.
The emperor plots with House Harkonnen to take Arrakis/Dune from them and give it to the Atreides.
It's a poisonous gift. This takes the Atreides out of a position of strength in Caladan and makes them vulnerable in a new world they don't fully control.
The Harkonnen and the Atreides are in a feud between the families. If they come into conflict no other noble house can intervene. The Harkonnen use this feud as justification to attack and kill the Atreides and take back Arrakis/Dune.
The emperor supports the Harkonnen with his imperial troops, the Sardaukar. This is done in absolute secret. If the other noble houses were to learn about it they would unite together against the Harkonnen and the Imperial House (House Corrino).
This way, the Emperor takes out the Atreides without a full-on galactic war, with the purge disguised as a feud between two Houses.
Nicely done.
Very well put.
Perfect summary.
Also, in this universe, the Emperer isn't all powerful, the congress of all the great Houses combined wield as much power as the Emperor and could oppose him even though he has the best military. But what he does is what the Houses most fear, is the Emperor taking on each House one at a time.
Not to mention that it's safest for the Emperor to back the Harkonnen and allow them to control Arrakis, as they are so yucky and cruel that the other houses would probably never unite under their leadership so they can never make a viable play for the throne.
Dune isn't meant to remind you of Star Wars. Star Wars is meant to remind you of Dune! It's the granddaddy of sci-fi.
Thanks for the reaction! Dune is an awesome story to experience, I'm glad Dennis did it justice.
Then the great grand daddy is Foundation
Yeah they mention spice mines in star wars
yea true but for someone who has never read the book they’ll obviously think of star wars while watching dune
The reason why so many other sci-fi films have echoes of Dune in them is that they were all inspired by it: the first Dune book came out in 1965. Star Wars ripped off the superfical cool-looking bits of a desert planet, for instance. Others leaned hard into the prophesy/chosen-one stuff, but be advised that those themes are WAY more complex and subtle in Dune than they appear at first glance.
Not sure if it came across, but Spice isn't just valuable, it's VITAL. Spice is the only substance that lets human navigators steer starships across interstellar distances, and computers aren't an option in Dune, since there a revolt against 'thinking machines' (The Butlerian Jihad) thousands of years previously. This means that Spice is analogous not to real-world spices, but to _oil_ . If you want a modern economy in the real-world, you can't not be interested in oil. If you want FTL spaceflight in Dune, you can't not be interested in Spice. Just as with oil, powerful interests seek to acquire, control, monopolize and deny Spice.
The stronger argument is that Foundation (early 1940s) inspired all Sci-Fi films including Dune. Foundation is one the grandfathers of Sci-Fi, Dune is only one branch
Thank you, I was just about to write a post myself about the fact Dune was the catalyst for so my sci-fi movie to follow. I would say 70% of the audience I was with in the cinema was like Natalie reaction, hadn’t a clue what they were watching, and that’s in no disrespectful to Natalie. I always tell people watching Dune for the first time, it of it being like the space dynasty version of Lord of the Rings. (I realise in not, but I’m just trying to get people to understand the epic scale of the story)
Warhammer 40k is one of the settings that really where like "Can i copy your homework?, Ok but don't make it too obvious"
So spice is fuel? I'm a little confused about how you use spice to travel space lol
@@mangalegends The navigators have been mutated by spice and breathe it constantly. Spice gives them limited prescience -- the ability to see the future, or one of many futures -- and they use this ability to steer a vessel that is moving faster than light. Before navigators and spice, many FTL ships were lost due to various hazards in space.
The visions he sees aren't of the future that is necessarily going to happen, but one of the possible futures. This is how the spice allows space travel. They plot charts by seeing possible futures based on what route they take. So when he saw becoming friends with Jamis it was a future where they become friends, but the combat would happen eventually and Paul would not be able to bring himself to kill Jamis.
Excellent point, thanks. It's a bit like a (particularly) crazy Nicolas Cage movie called Next, in which Cage was able to see each future possibility.
I interpreted the vision to be metaphorical; Jamis taught Paul the ways of the desert by forcing Paul to kill him. He was a "friend" in a sense that without him, Paul wouldn't have been able to grow up and accept the harshness of Arrakis.
There also seems to be a visual cue for how far off Paul's path any given vision is. The distant possibilities have more gold blur. Compare the visions of Jessica with a new child vs. where Jamis offers to teach.
Paul pretty much uses the visions to navigate. In this time of his life, his main goal was to avoid the holy war as much as possible, but also staying alive. So in a way it forced him on a very specific path, but also the path of least death on a galactic scale. There was no way to avoid the holy war without him dying.
@@Lightice1 This also may be a reference to a scene that may come up in part 2. No spoiler but the line "I was a friend of Jamis" comes up.
I've spent longer than I care to admit trying to figure out what it was that Leto muttered to make the Baron lean closer and I finally got it: "The day the flesh shapes and the flesh the day shapes". It's taken straight from the book, where it is Leto's final thought before he dies.
Also, the fact that Leto and Jessica aren't married is a pretty important point for both their characters in the book. Normally a nobleman of Leto's standing would have a wife as well as several concubines. Jessica is just a concubine, but out of respect (and love) for her, he never sought out another. Leto absolutely could (and would) marry her, but since there is a lot of houses who would be very keen to have their daughters marry him, he decided to remain unmarried to be able to use himself as a bargaining chip, even though he never actually intended to go through with it. The fact that they never married is Leto's biggest regret, because it represents every matter in which he chose to focus on politics rather than his family.
Basic things to roll around in your head:
1) "The Emperor is a dangerous, jealous man." He's nervous that Duke Leto is becoming too popular among the great houses and could weaken his control over the Imperium, but he can't just kill him because that would result in chaos. So he secretly helps the Atreides' long-time rivals, House Harkonnen, to take them out by providing his own armies, so it looks like just another slapfight between houses.
2) The Lisan-al-Gaib is a prophecy that was actually started by Bene Gesserit missionaries centuries ago ("A path has been laid for you","They see the signs", etc) as part of a contingency so that if a sister ever found themselves stranded on this planet (or others), they could use that prophecy to perform miracles and keep themselves from being bothered by the locals. Something of a criticism of blind faith and abusing spirituality but also a realistic observation of how one man's magician is another man's miracle-worker.
3) However, Paul is also the latest in attempts by the BG's to create this super being, whiiiich is actually a reference to a phenomenon in the Torah/Talmud, the _kefitzat haderech_ or "shortening of the way". Jewish teleportation, in essence. In Dune it's more of a generalized super-being idea, that this individual will be more powerful than any BG sister could, and they'll be able to wield this person for their own political benefit (as if they're not already scheming everywhere - there'll be an HBO Max series about them coming soon!). They may say they have the good of all humanity in mind, but does that ever turn out to be accurate?
4) So, what happens if you abuse local religious belief by pretending to be a messiah, but then you actually have the training and genetic planning and wondrous spice drug to pull it off? Sounds like a recipe for greatness or great awfulness. Herbert quote: "Power does not corrupt, but it attracts the corruptible". We've seen throughout history (ancient and recent) how placing faith in singular personalities can cause people to commit terrible acts, believing themselves righteous. Paul is scared of what the future holds, and is being done in his name.
And that's why you can probably compare Paul's story to that of Michael Corleone from The Godfather; a reluctant heir to a family dynasty who is forced to make moves to save those he loves, but it may cause more problems than it solves.
Good post. The only clarification I'd make is that Paul wasn't supposed to be the Bene Gesserit's latest attempt to create the K.H. Jessica was ordered by the Bene Gesserit to have a daughter (as a trained Bene Gesserit she has the ability to control that). The daughter was to be wedded to another bloodline and then their son would be a Bene Gesserit controlled super-being.
Jessica chose her love for the Duke over her orders and gave him a male heir, Paul, completely messing up their plans to mix bloodlines. He's obviously not under direct BG control but does have the potential to be the KH which is why the Reverend Mother tested him with the box. They are pretty annoyed with Jessica. By disobeying their orders she completely risked their centuries long plan.
To add to your first point, he also weakens House Harkonnen. They'd become the wealthiest house in the Imperium thanks to the spice but their attack has cost untold billions and they have to rebuild the infrastructure they destroyed in their attack and prior to the handover to the Atreides.
You don't even see the man but he's manipulating the entire Imperium to maintain his grip on power. And everyone is going along with it because they can't choose otherwise. He destroys the most powerful House in the Landsraad and all it cost was loaning 3 legions of Saurdaukar to House Harkonnen.
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
- Frank Herbert, Dune. Frank Herbert's Dune can actually be used as a way of life. Some of the best lines in literature.
"I must not feel pain. Pain is the flesh-killer. Pain is the little-explosion that brings total apocalypse. I will face my pain. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the pain has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
It's kind of stupid. At risk of sounding like a Trekkie, Spock would say something like "Fascinating. It's like a Vulcan technique but highly illogical."
“All men are not created equal, and that is the root of social unrest.” I live my life by philosophies of Dune. Since I was 11. Great stuff!
It is by caffeine alone i set my mind into motion.... no WAIT, it's spice! :-p
@@deusdark1 same difference :p
@@Mansplainer2099-jy8ps it will be illogical to Spock. But to me the whole point is to simply let the fear take hold of you to the point where fear is the natural state of mind, fear is what is expected and at that point it can't surprise you or hurt you anymore.
"They Seem Like A Religious Group, Only With Powers"
You nailed it, Natalie
And yes, typically the Bene Geseret are comprised of women, whereas the men are typically members of The Spacing Guild
The Spacing Guild are comprised of men, some of whom go on to become Navigators and thus become something non-human, but not alien, either.
Men also become mentats or warmasters (ie. like Duncan Idaho, who is a graduate of the Ginaz School - they are among the elite warriors of the Imperium, though not to be confused with the Sardaukar, who belong to the Emperor).
@@Shan_Dalamani Bit of a necromancy but I seem to remember more female mentats in the books than male, but just not in the first book.
@@ADADEL1 There weren't any female mentats in the first three books by Frank Herbert. There was a Bene Gesserit who trained as a mentat in God Emperor of Dune, but did so illegally, as Leto II had forbidden mentat training. After Leto II's death, the Bene Gesserit did whatever they wanted, since they were basically running what was left of the Imperium by that point.
I don't consider anything by Kevin J. Anderson/Brian Herbert to be canon.
@@Shan_Dalamani Yea, and then in....Chapterhouse? or the one before there was a few Gesserit/mentats running around or at least one.
@@ADADEL1 Heretics and Chapterhouse take place 1500 years after Leto II's death. The Bene Gesserit are basically running everything, albeit in a cautious rivalry with the Tleilaxu and the Ixians, so if they want to become Mentats, there's really nobody who can stop them.
It's been years since I read these books, but I seem to recall that Bellonda was a Mentat (could be mistaken in this; I really couldn't stand that character).
Studios with dense source material ought to hire this woman to see how well they are conveying complex ideas. She does a great job of piecing her way through this with no knowledge of the book.
Seemed like her 2nd viewing to me! Just sayin!
It helps that we live in the metamodernist condition, where layers of subtext and metatext are par for the course.
I'm always surprised how these "professional" movie reviewers are so slow. I mean for example is it so hard to realise that spitting on the table means respect on that world? Even after Duncan immediately repeats and "explains" the custom? Why even do you have to mention that it is weird yet alone explain that "it kind of makes sense"... Also the baron explained why the emperor put the Atreides there and then she couldn't figure that out either
@@robertwinke7386 Who told you she's a "professional" movie rewiewer?
@@luigicampo4008 She makes movie reviews on youtube for a living. Its her profession. Maybe not her main source of income idk because I'm not following her channel but I was talking generally about people like her. Also I used " " precisely because I didn't mean it like she really is a pro and I was hoping that people would get my point and not try to argue my word choice meaninglessly but obviously I underestimated your "good will".
One of the things I love most about the Dune universe is how all the cultures are blended together. It’s been so long and humanity has mixed so much that you have a house with a Greek name, a Spanish bullfighting tradition, Celtic and Danish style artwork, and bagpipes for their herald music.
Yeah, one of my favourite aspects of that setting as well. :-)
isn't that all European cultures only?
...though to be nitpicky, the Greeks had bullfighting *long* before the Spanish - it was the central religious ritual of the Minoan culture (though they didn't kill the bulls).
@@snorpenbass4196 isn’t that the same people who have the mythological story of the Minotaur?
Was the bullfighting in the book?
"He's gonna lose his only friend!" It's amazing to me how this insight is so critical to the series of books ...
"It's a self-fulfilling prophecy."
More accurate than you realize. Dune isn't a classic White Savior type book. It's a _subversion_ of the idea. Prophecy is a trap, and Paul will be forced to become a monster in order to survive.
Well also the prophecy is sort of fake. The bene gesserit planted it in dangerous places in case one of them got stranded there. Paul just capitalized on it.
@@rmcphail2007 That too. Blind faith only gets you tyrants.
The thing you said about a trap made me realize something. He survived the gom jabbar by doing the human thing and suffering to protest his species. But it’s a metaphor for his whole storyline because he flinches at suffering for the solution to the prophecy trap (god emperor weirdness)
The people in the books are all mixed. Every character described is s shade of olive skin.
@@sld1776 You're taking it too literally. Paul is still coded as Western/White.
The spitting isn’t so much a “gift” as it is a show of respect by sacrificing some of your body’s water. It’s such a cool idea for a culture that lives on a desert planet. Frank Herbert is a master of world and culture building in his story telling.
When she was saying how it was cool that the idea of water on a desert planet would be thought of that way, I was thinking, wait till she sees the beginning of part 2.
The spice coffee scene is pure genius by Villeneuve.
The whole thing about the spitting is because of the fact that Arrakis was a massive desert and had absolutely no rainfall, therefore water was a extremely precious commodity on that planet
When Paul was fighting the Freman, (approx. 32:00) Jessica mentioned that he had never killed before. But just as important, Paul was trained to fight with shields, but Jamis fought shieldless his whole life. Shield fighting requires slow attacks, so when the tribe saw this they thought Paul was playing with his opponent.
The Dune books have always been notoriously difficult to make and put onto film, but i think they did an excellent job with this movie.
Denis Villeneuve is one of the greatest living directors and this is proof of just how good he is. Turning an almost impossible project into fruition.
Impossible? I would suggest you watch the 2000 miniseries
@@Baronstone Dude, for REAL!!! I'm a bit miffed that I had to scroll this far down and click on a reply before someone mentioned the miniseries. It was loads better than the original film and I'd say that it even surpasses this new iteration in terms of storytelling. The new film is pretty, yes, and the affects are gorgeous. But, I don't feel it does justice to the story any better than the miniseries did.
A bit of background on this Universe:
The Dune series is set in humanity's far future, at a very strange and awkward time in history. After a Sky-Net style machine uprising that devastated the galaxy, humanity has outlawed all AI, and any highly advanced computers through which AI might emerge. Thus, specialized human beings have had to take the place of these computers, arguably the most crucial being those of the Spacing Guild, who use extremely high doses of spice to take the role of navigation computers, and plot faster-than-light routes through space. While FTL travel is technically possible without the spice/a navigator, an unplotted journey is likely to result in destruction or being irreconcilably lost.
Random thoughts (and maybe spoilers):
- the human spider thing was Dr Yueh’s wife
- shai hulud loosely translates to old man; was Paul talking to Gurney or the worm?
- Harkonnen comes from the Finnish word for ox - Leto and his farther were both bull fighters
- the reverend mother who tested Paul was Lady Jessica’s birth mother
- they don’t think he’s the kwisatz haderach because his visions ‘don’t come true just as he sees them shortly after the vision’ because he sees further than that, seeing multiple futures earlier on and not just the inevitable one, which the Bene Gesserit were not aware of and mistook it as faulty visions
- you know the Atreides brought the ornithopters because they’re based off dragon flies and they come from a water world, now misplaced in a desert
- you know the Harkonnens left them the outdated tech because you see Rabban look at a field of spice harvesters in the opening monologue attached to more advanced carryalls that we don’t see later in the movie
- the Baron survived partly because his shield slowed down the poison (you saw how quickly it spread in the room and his shield turn red) and partly because he floats to the ceiling
- the Baron was ‘put’ on the ceiling like the bulls head that killed Leto’s father
- the people who’s blood was painted on the Sardaukar were failed Sardaukar trainees
- the Fremen follow the Lisan al Gaib because he will turn Dune into a paradise planet... which will kill the worms, which removes the spice, and the Fremen are all now addicted to the spice and would die without it
- they didn’t cover Paul’s mouth because until him, no men were trained in Bene Gesserit skill sets, so they didn’t know he could use the voice like Lady Jessica
- the Hunter Seeker is attracted to motion - Paul hides in the hologram to obscure his movements. The Hunter Seeker senses him blink and flies to his eye - the scene is tense because the slightest twitch would mean his death
- the date palms are sacred because they represent the future terraformed world promised by the Lisan al Gaib
- Oscar Isaac has one of the top 5 best beards in film history
- not only was Dune Hans Zimmer’s and Denis Villeneuve’s passion project, it was also their Covid project
- the vibrating sand was practical - sand actually moves like that when vibrated and injected with air
- the voice is layered with the user’s voice and one of the user’s ancestral reverend mothers which you unlock the memories of through Bene Gesserit training
- the cinematographer for Dune also did Rogue One and The Mandalorian
- People think Paul is a weird sci fi name but everyone’s cool with a protagonist named Luke
- I loved this movie
"Oscar Isaac has one of the top 5 best beards in film history" it's indeed a great beard ; I don't remember if he had one in his movies like u can see on Google image but Mel Gibson fully grown beard is my top, just Epic
"I must not fear....fear is the mind-killer." This is the beginning of the most famous passage in the whole Dune canon. Its referred to as the "Litany Against Fear." Google the expression. You're right in that it IS a potent meditation.
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain
Its so good had to cut-paste it to here
The shield slows down the movement of the gas, so the Baron is able to escape the worst of it.
He is too heavy to move effectively under his own power, so he uses suspensors to lift him and carry him around.
Drum sand is sand that has naturally compacted in such a way that it behaves like a drum, amplifying the sound of your steps.
Paul’s vision of Jamis represents a possible future, what would have happened if Jamis had never challenged him to the duel.
It's interesting to think that a possible future that never happens was used to influence his decision in the present to quit fighting the storm and go with the flow.
Ohhhh okay. You just answered all the questions I had when watching it
I feel like the baton becomes fat BECAUSE he floats everywhere lol. He’s the only fat harkanan
@@lemmonsinmyeyes there is an in-universe explanation, but I’m not a huge fan of it or the circumstances leading up to it. Villeneuve I think is mainly going for him being greedy and gluttonous. Instead of what the books say.
In the vision, Jamis said that he would teach Paul the ways of the desert. In a way, he did. For the first time in his life, Paul has had to kill a man with his own blade. A bitter but important lesson. It's a sign that while Paul's visions may be imperfect, there may still be truth in them.
Natalie. Please for the love of god never stop what you do. I work almost 3 jobs and at the end of the night I come home and watch your videos and they bring me so much joy. I've always been the guy to try and get my friends to watch movies i've seen just to see their reaction. You're content makes me so relaxed and happy. Much Love!
So, like, two jobs?
The protagonist’s entire people is being betrayed and slaughtered.
Natalie: I really like bagpipes 💁🏻♀️
Hey they sound awesome ok?
She never saw the movie or read the book, man. Cut her some slack.
@@eat_pray_porg8450 It was a light hearted joke. She’s going to be just fine
@@theswullnasty3353 - No worries, I hear you. To be fair, there is no real way to read tone, sarcasm, or inflection from comments online.
@@eat_pray_porg8450 you could infer from context he was kidding I don't get people like you.
"He can check vitals just by touching him?"
Backstory time: There was a war between humans and AIs (around 16,200 AD). When the humans finally won (lead by Atreides' descendant 10,191 years ago), they outlawed AIs and so began the development of super smart humans.
Personal note, I like to think the AI war was started by Ava, created by Nathan Bateman/Oscar Isaac, from the movie Ex Machina. 😉
I like Frank Herbert’s original idea of the Butlerian Jihad more than what we got in the prequels. Where robots and computers were weaponized by the worker classes that maintained them and used in a bloody Bolshevik-like revolution that was later put down by the religious anti-thinking machine rebels.
I think a good way to look at this film is as a documentary, or as watching a history unfold. There's a grander scope at play, it's not simply a story about a protagonist.
The whole thing about “lisan al-gaib” is that it’s a legend purposefully seeded on Arrakis to enable the Bene Gesserit to manipulate the people. That’s what Paul meant when he said that they believed what they were told to. It’s worth noting that the Bene Gesserit seed different legends on different planets, but that of “lisan al-gaib” is reserved for the most desperate and hopeless of places.
Paul's insight serves him well already.
el-gaib*
I was coming here to point this out. Thanks for explaining better than I would've!
@@Nexaes I even looked everything up to try to get the spelling right because it’s been a while since my last re-read 😅😂
@@Nexaes al-gaib*
I'm sure someone's already mentioned this, but one of the things I find most fascinating about Dune is how Frank Herbert used established ideas, like the "chosen one" architype, to look at how dangerous "charismatic leaders" are. This film touches on some aspects of what is to come, but it plays out a lot like a typical Hero's Journey. Yet, Paul isn't, or at least will not become, a hero. We can sympathize and empathize with him, because we see the world through his eyes. But ultimately...Well, that's for Dune Messiah if it gets made, I guess.
That's why the book is so good. While other stories with a prophecy take the route of "all according to the design", Dune takes the opposite route. The design of the Bene Gesserit was for Paul to be exiled to another planet, where he could be "guided" better and become a religious icon in a controlled and safe location, while now he's in a hostile world where everything is out to kill him and there's no one to tell him what the "path" is.
@@SuddenReal Meh, that changes once you read the next couple of books in the series because it talks about the golden path that Paul was too afraid of to start humanity down due entirely to the blood that would be spilled along that path.
15:18 actually something that is a bit lost in the movie is that the Bene Gesserit did a whole intervention into the religion of the Fremen, so when they needed it, they'd use it. So the Fremen are primed to recognize the signs of the Lisan-al Gaib, so the Reverend mother and the son who has to use them find it easy to mingle with them.
Remember when the Reverend Mother asked him if his dreams came true, exactly as he saw them? He said, "Not exactly." Now think of his visions from a more metaphorical perspective, and you'll see that all his visions were indeed true. That realization was mind blowing to me.
Can you elaborate ? I saw the film and read the book and don't quite understand what you mean.
@@highdark4 Sure! In his visions, the fremen that he saw teaching him their ways, but who Paul wound up fighting and killing, did indeed serve to teach him the ways of the Fremen, that Fremen fight to the death when challenged. That's a HUGE lesson. And the vision of Chani wounding him with the kris knife was symbolic of how Paul WAS wounded by her giving him the knife to fight with, and the wound was his loss of innocence, because he had never killed a man and was reluctant to do so. So his visions DID come true, just not exactly as he saw them. all his visions came together in that moment, and I thought that was brilliant on Villaneuve's part as it was the climax of the first movie. That's how I saw it anyway.
@@Anautistictherapist That's a good analysis. I've read the book so I figured he was answering "Not exactly" because he was saying his dreams don't come true exactly as he sees them, i.e. he sees potential futures rather than one fixed future.
@@joshuafischer684 That's also a really good point. Perhaps his place in the Bene Gesserit purpose gives him the ability to see possible futures, and the spice refines this ability to actually see the future. Interesting!
@@Anautistictherapist That's the essence of it. The Bene Gesserit have the ability to see the experiences of the lives of their progenitors but not the future. The Kwisatz Haderach is a male with Bene Gesserit abilities who can see the lives and experiences of his descendants. The spice is what enhances this ability.
Paul's arc is actually more of a deconstruction of the archetypal Hero's Journey story, but it's hard to have the right context as to why with what you've been shown so far. As you said, there's a lot of things being put on his shoulders in quick succession, and that's going to quickly become a theme for him moving forward.
Paul doesn't have hero journey, he isn't a hero, he is protagonist or anti hero.
I’ve loved Dune for about 25 years. Wrote my university entry essay on the first book. The story gets so unimaginably wild and huge, so if you dig this movie, don’t be afraid to check them out. Btw, for a universe SOOOOO loaded with terminology and names and factions, you’re one of the only reactors I’ve seen to “get” it and follow it extremely well. That’s not an easy feat, so it made the video even more fun for me.
The Planet Caladan definitely has Scottish influence. The Roman name for Scotland back in the day was Caledonia, so, you can make the connection there.
A better New Caledonia than that failed South American colony, then :)
Remember that visions tend to be interpretive rather than literal. The krysknife given to Paul by Chani (Zendalya's character) leads to the "death" of Paul Atreides which allows the Lisan-al-Ghaib/Kwisat Haderach to be born. And the voice that you were hearing during Paul's duel with Jamis was that of the Reverand Mother.
See watching the movie I got half of the vision, the part saying he needed to die so that the Lisan-al-Ghaib could be born, but now that you word it that way it makes perfect sense. I was so confused why the first vision had her stabbing him, I couldn't put the two together. :D But you explained it perfectly!
@@C0deB1u3 The real reason is the future isn't set. There are infinite possible futures. Chiani killing Paul is one. So is Jamis being Pauls mentor.
This might remind you of Star Wars a lot because George Lucas actually took a lot of inspiration from Dune. (The Voice = The Force. Arrakis = Tattoine etc.)
More like stole it. I mean whole Jedi society is based on Bene Gesserit as mythical cult. And whole prequels surounded with politics and Emperor is based on Dune with Emperor and relationship between houses like Atreides and Harkonnen.
Spice. Sandworms. The chosen boy.
@@nenorii3234 As if these concepts originate from Dune....take a history class
@@nenorii3234 That's not exactly fair. Dune in turn owes a lot to Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, the grandfather of all space opera, and Lucas took a great deal of influence from that, as well. Lucas was also inspired by the old Flash Gordon serials, as well as Akira Kurosawa's samurai films.
The way I heard it ages ago, George Lucas wanted to make a Dune movie, but couldn't get the rights to it, so he made his own thing, heavily influenced by Dune
Having been a dune nut for many years I'm totally stoked that Villeneuve finally got the first part of this story right as the first film totally skims over way too much stuff but to totally understand this universe you'll have to read the books. The characters in this film act differently to humans of our day because it is set so far into the future humankind has evolved in different ways.
That last element you mentioned is what I find so lacking in most sci-fi outside of 40k, the idea that the *distant* future will be alien not only in technology, climate, clothing and war but also in how people act or think. An unconscious evolution of the universal mindset, so slow and gradual but inevitable.
I love DUNE (books and this film) but really hated the 1984 movie. Paul kills the sand worms with rain at the end... he stopped all spice production. The story could NOT continue after that. It also nearly destroyed Kyle McLaughlin's career. I didn't see him again until the Flintstones Movie probably 10 years later.
@@Blynat honestly, i think the '84 movie got a lot of things right.... it is severly soured by the stupid ending and the unnecessary additions though.. i still have the feeling that lynch just didn't understand paul's role and was influenced way too much by the whole star wars space jesus story
@@Blynat also, you must've missed twin peaks then.. 😉
Villeneuve deliberately avoided overwhelming the audience with an exposition dump. He gave all the information required to understand the main plot, but everything else is only shown or implied, not outright explained.
I was avoiding this until I saw the movie, because while I know the story inside and out, I wanted to see this version blind. I have to say, seeing you absolutely get *everything* about it really puts the lie to the critics saying it's too complicated or weird for new viewers to understand.
No. You got everything, and the subtext, immediately.
It's just a very well made film, the story is made easy to follow by most people. I also haven't read the book, but I think I got the overall story. I love it, very interesting and mature.
Can’t wait to watch this reaction, but I’m already gonna say that this is the kind of film that needs to be experienced in theaters, if not in IMAX (though I think Eternals has all the IMAX screens now). Every shot is a cinematographic wonder and deserves, if not needs, the big screen!
This ^^
Yup. She explains this tho
I watched the movie on HBO Max first, and then went and saw it in IMAX a week later. Let me just say, the IMAX experience is something else. I have never seen a more epic film with a more epic soundtrack in a theatre.
The Fact that the director said himself this movie was a love letter to cinema carries that much weight. Saw it in Imax first and then at Home and surprisingly enough it was the lack of big sound that hit me the hardest. And turning up the volume didn't exactly solve the issue too. Definitely Imax that experience for the first viewing if possible.
Saw this in the cinema and gods it was amazing!
Nat: He's going to kill Jamis? I thought that he was going to be friends with Jamis. Jamis was going to teach him stuff.
Book Paul: I was a friend of Jamis. Jamis taught me that when you kill, you pay for it.
And then he cries.
And the Fremen are amazed. "He gives water to the dead!"
I hated the whole thing. Why exactly did they feel the need to throw in imaginary scenes with Jamis that simply did not happen in the books. Paul never saw Jamis because they had just arrived in the deep desert when his fight with Jamis happens. So had not needed to deal with prescient visions at that time and had no idea what any of it was supposed to mean. He did not see Jamis coming, if he had, they would have done things to avoid the fight in the first place.
@@Baronstone it was a way for the filmmakers to visually showcase the idea that Paul's visions are not just showing one future but many possible futures. I mean I guess they could have had a yoda "always changing, the future is" moment, but Denis prefers to show and not tell (well for the most part).
And the movie says that for the kwisatz haderach to rise, Paul Atreides must die during his vision of the fight with Jamis. In a way, I think that Paul killing Jamis killed off the last bit of hesitation he had with joining the Fremen, and that vision of the fight was the movie explaining that. It wasn't a literal interpretation of events that needed to happen, but a metaphorical one explaining how Paul's mind-set would change once he was a killer.
@@doublethyme1202 That was my interpretation as well. Paul Atreides, as he understands himself, has to die (figuratively).
I like the idea of the visions not being literal. We're used to seeing literal visions in sci-fi movies, it's an old trope (this thing WILL happen). It's more interesting to see a movie where a character has visions that are more dream-like, coded almost, and the character has to work out the meaning.
It is an extremely difficult book to adapt to a movie...which was a major issue for the prior version...but I have to say, they did a incredibly good job doing so here. It definitely required 2 movies to tell the story properly [just as LOTR required 3]. I watched it when it first released in Europe and then watched it again when it released in the USA and immediately followed up that weekend listening to the entire audiobook. I am incredibly impressed by how well they covered the first 60% of the novel, with only minimal change or alterations...most of which were minor and shouldn't interfere with remaining faithful to completing the story in the next movie.
It is also superb visually...and the acting is strong throughout!
Important characters are missing which would provide some context like the emperor and feyd and the Princess
@@imbatmanhi3363 - they dont really appear in the first half of the Dune novel anyway.
I love this film, but Dr. Yueh was the one of most unfortunate casualties in this script. Being so underdeveloped really undercut the potential weight of his betrayal.
But LOTR are 3 books
"The Voice" was a purely vocal technique where the Bene Gesserit would alter their vocal tones to command an individual to a task. The vocal tone is tailored to a specific person based on observations of their personality. It cant be used on a group, only an individual. That's why you see Paul looking over objects in the room when trying to use the voice on his mother. He's looking over images of Leto's father, and thinking how his grandfather's shadow has affected his mother.
It can't be used as effectively on a group, but someone skilled in the voice can still use it to help sway their audience when speaking to large groups.
@@donsample1002 Yes it is called the "Great Voice". Of course Paul has that talent.
I really liked how it was used on the Harkonnens taking the concubine and boy to their death in the book. Such an interesting and developed concept when given more detail and time to breath which was not possible in the movie. It's far more and also far less than magic.
@14:00, Thufir their spymaster has served House Atreides for three generations. He worked for Duke Leto’s dad and would have worked for Paul as well.
Thufir is like a grandfather to Paul. He was offering to resign because he was worried that he is too old for the job. The thought of Paul dying due to his possible slip up is too much to bare.
The difficulty of adapting the book is a lot of these things are explained but without huge exposition dumps it's difficult to explain in a movie format. This whole movie was just a setup for the second half of the first book.
Also, this isn't the 2nd Dune, exactly. There was a Dune movie from the 80's but it was pretty rough, then SciFi did an adaptation mini-series that was much, much, better around 2000 and was just the first book but was like five hours in total.
As far as the political intrigue goes it's fairly simple actually. There's a bunch of "houses" (think GoT). They all have their own planets. The Harkonnens had been in charge of Dune and spice production which is required for space travel. Thus that house has a ton of power. One of the other rich houses is Paul's House Atredies. Beyond just being wealthy (like the Harkonnens from the spice production) they are also actually respected (because Leto is a good honorable man). Other houses listen to Leto, and are doing so more and more. This is a threat to the Emperor and undermines his power. The Harkonnens only real power is wealth, they don't have the respect of the other houses (and therefor could not get the other houses to band together against the Emperor).
The Emperor literally hatched a plan to kill Atredies and make sure his power was secure. He colluded with Harkonnen to get Atredies to go to Dune, but before they could actually get settled and start benefiting from the spice production Harkonnen would wipe them out and the Emperor would deny any involvement, hence the secret meetings with the Emperor's shock troops.
"The Great Houses look to us for leadership and that threatens the Emperor... by taking Arrakis from the Harkonnens and making it ours, he sets the stage for a war"
"Oh... I wonder why he did that"
GIRL! Listen! I understand Duke Leto has a beard that's difficult to avert the eyes from, but the words he speaks are still relevant.
But soooo sexy though!
The casting of Dune is magnificent. Obviously the Baron is incredible, and Paul is very good and so on, but the casting of others like Stilgar and Leto are a perfect match. Especially Stilgar.
Natalie is fun and cute, but she is... easily distracted. LOL
@@wahn10 yo, she was asking bomb questions though. There are other reactors I watch that I’m concerned most of this will go over their heads. Natalie seemed like she had a pretty strong grasp on most of it.
@@paulatredies9242 i like watching her because she's perceptive and intelligent and i never facepalm cuz of her missing obvious things. also her videos aren't infested with ads like other reacters.
Still, doesn't it seem like kind of a roundabout way to eliminate an enemy? Or is it because they're so much more vulnerable on Arrakis as opposed to their home-planet, that it was essentially a lure?
The treason of Doctor Yueh is far more grave than you realize.
In this age, Doctors at the service of the Great Houses would go through a mental conditioning, during their training (the diamond mark on the forehead is the indicator that he has that training), so it would be impossible for them to betray their House.
Yueh would have suffered, both physically and emotionally, by going against is conditioning, so put that in perspective.
Try and read the book. It's one of the great gems of Sci-Fi and extremely layered with meaning.
The movie omits all of the discussion of Yueh's Imperial "Suk" conditioning, which makes him seemingly above ALL reproach, and also omits all discussion of the potential traitor that they believe (and the Fremen *know*) is in their midst -- we only get to see that there is a traitor when his betrayal begins. In every discussion, Yueh is dismissed as the potential traitor because everyone has absolute faith in the Suk conditioning. The Baron reveals at some point that he learned how to override the conditioning using a specific form of leverage; specifically, kidnapping Yueh's wife and threatening to torture and kill her.
@@clayjohanson He didn't just threaten. He did torture and kill her.
It's interesting that you had the "not emotional" experience I've heard some people talk about. That was my experience watching the movie the first time. I just enjoyed the spectacular visuals and sounds in the theater (I read all the Dune books so I knew the story) so I liked it. But I said exactly what you did "I wasn't emotionally invested". I went back and saw it again and was really deeply emotionally moved by the scene in the stiltent and his father's death. Really all of the films emotions shine through it the more I see it and the more I find deep inside its subtext. To my surprise my family (who aren't heady Sci fi geeks like me) all really loved the movie and many of them cried during Duncan's death. So it's just interesting because I've heard lots of diverse reactions from this movie! Great video 😁
I agree with Natalie....I've read the books, seen the Lynch film and the Syfi network trilogy of the first 3 books, and Dune just ISN'T that much about 'deeply emotionally connecting to the characters'....it's a story about compelling themes, complex politics, and deep plot intrigue ("plots within plots", to quote the books themselves). And honestly, the Syfi version did a better job at adding 'emotional attachment' to their characters than the script in this film did, IMHO (I would've preferred Villeneuve traded out about 15 minutes of action set pieces, for instead 15 minutes of character building dialogue, really).
It's cool though...Dune's elaborate plots and world building/exposition are so enthralling, one doesn't really need to feel attached to the characters (just finding out what happens next is enough).
@@DeathToTheDictators true but I think there's subtlety injected into the film version that makes it a more emotional journey. I agree with what you're saying. I had a similar experience reading the book.
@@Paradox-dy3ve Cool. And i recommend you check out the Syfy (it was still called The Scifi Channel at the time they aired it) version that's actually here on youtube (all 3 parts!), if you haven't already seen it....the special effects are cheesy, but Dune is NOT about 'action' (in fact, the actors deliver it more like a 'live play', than film acting/dialogue, which i think suits the material very well).
Well the music certainly doesn't help. It's not at all emotional like the music from the Lynch version.
@@DeathToTheDictators Honestly, for all the cheesy effects, the ScyFy version had SO much heart put into it and some great performances, I honestly had the most emotional reaction to that version as compared to the other two. Also fun fact: the actors who played Paul and his dad also starred in a Hallmark movie of Frankenstein that was quite phenomenal and very book accurate!
I would pay Natalie so much money to react to the David Lynch movie. Seeing her face when Sting shows up in his purple speedo would be worth it.
There wouldn’t be enough bleach to erase that image from her head
Despite it being imperfect thanks to Dino D.'s bad decisions, it is still a visual work of art which Frank Herbert liked.
@@treetopjones737 I would love to have seen a true "Director's Version" of Lynch's Dune....
The visions Paul had in the movie were possible futures. That is why you see people who are portrayed as friends and teachers in his visions even after they have died, or in the case a Jamil, before.
Why was Jason Mamoa beard a different length every scene he was in until he was a baby face?
People felt more godly, ghostly in this than they did in the original. They kept the same kind of distant tone, but this was way less campy, and Paul Atreides is way more hardcore in this.
My Dad always said that Paul Atreides is insanely fast in the books, and the actor and movie in general didn't do a good job of showing that. He is happy that the new Paul is inhumanly fast. Like a ninja :D
If you're like me and have not finished a single book you've purchased in years - the audio book for Dune is fire. I'm so glad I picked it up and get a fuller picture of the story. I really liked the movie and I think they did a good job with what they decided to keep in and what they cut. Some of that cut content isn't necessary but is still veryyy good. *thinking about Liet Kynes chapter*
Some cut had to happen, no way around them. But yes, the why the sardaukars are so fierce, the whole search and crossed accusations about who the traitor is, Kynes and a few others like the diner scene were very very nice in the novel.
Just careful of which audiobook you get. The first one released had an awful reader and was back before they put money into great recording quality
The book is fantastic. People are going to be completely blown away by Part 2.
The first half of the book is more interesting.
@@Hibbs4Prez though if you like battles and stuff Part 2 will be heavy on that.
Because anyone who read the book would know the the real stuff happens after Paul and his mother join the fremen
@@Hibbs4Prez give me Feyd!
As it was written !
The politics: the are three major power blocs: the Spacing Guild, House Corrino (The Emperor's House) and his Sardaukar, and the Landsraad (composed of the other Great Houses.) The Landsraad was formed to protect themselves against the Emperor, so that they wouldn't be taken out by the Sardaukar one by one. In the book, the Sardaukar attacked Arrakis while disguised as Harkonnen troops because of the Landsraad found out what the Emperor was up to, they would all attack House Corrino and House Harkonnen. But the Sardaukar have a distinctive form of combat that Duncan and Gurney instantly recognized while fighting them.
The worms don't let the Fremen ride them just because they worship them, their bodies have giant scaly plates over them that protect them from the sand and the Fremen use those pick things to prise the plates up and expose the soft tissue underneath which stops the worm from going under the sand so they can ride them like that.
Thats actually what the doctor was getting ready to do when she set up the thumper after splitting up from Paul and Jessica but she was speared by the Sardukar before the worm got there and she got the worm to eat them instead. You see her get her pick things ready to go just before the Sardukar gets her.
_"I feel like every good, like, fantasy or sci-fi movie has like a prophet of some sort, or some kind of cool prophecy, you know..."_ Well, Dune probably has quite a bit to do with that. The books were a massive influence on the genre. (Though Asimov's Foundation trilogy probably also has quite a bit do do with it, especially being itself a significant influence on Dune; and of course both, and a lot of what came later, were also influenced by history and mythology.)
Dune: Best selling scifi book of all time. It's had an impact.
Lord of The Rings book is a Classic so it feels like an “old book”, but reading Dune feel like a fucking trip into the space-time-continuum. Life changing experience.
It feels like your mind is floating elsewhere around the uncharted space
Legit, Dune was written in 1964 but it reads like it was written 10 years ago.
from all the old sci-fi books I read, its freaking weird how Dune doesn't feel old. I mean, when I see this movie with so many modern visual aesthetics, it feels so faithful to the book.
So very glad that Legendary stepped up to make sure that they get to make Part 2.
This reaction has me heading over to your Patreon for full length. As a huge Dune nerd since I first read the book almost 25 yrs ago when I was 16, this movie was everything I could've wanted!(I'm obviously an old hag 🤷🏼♀️) Villeneuve is the PERFECT one to bring the book to life as a self proclaimed lover of the material since he was a boy. Some reactors are more like "Not enough boom boom" instead of appreciating the world and character building, so it's refreshing to watch you fully immerse yourself in the world of Dune. So glad you enjoyed the movie and can't wait to watch the full thing along with you 👍🏻
I read the novel 35 years ago when I was 15, and the Lynch film scarred me so terribly I had a hard time sitting down to watch the miniseries. It was better, but still got some things off that there was no reason to go away from the source material for. This film was vindication! Loved it! Would have liked to seen more in Arrakeen before the Harkonnen attack (the dinner scene would have been perfect for the intrigue), but I'll accept this.
The books are also more brainy and detached emotionally, there's always long conversations explaining people's reasoning, but way less pure emotional moments. Even when we have them, they are rationalizations of the characters themselves. That's not to say that the characters are cold or bland, but the story focuses more on how their feelings affect the plot, and less on how the plot affects their feelings.
(This may be also a consequence of the main characters being prescient, since 'having visions of the future all the time and trying to nudge events to change the future' makes for great plot and tension surrounding what will happen and how, but it undermines the impact of most emotional scenes.
I.e the death of Duncan, if had not been foreshadowed by Paul's visions [and by proxy, labled as 'preventable'] would be way more powerful emotionally)
You understand that at the end and i think thats more useful for a movie, makes it hit harder after the fact once you realise things aren’t set in stone
The Voice is not like a jedi mindtrick, it's the other way around. Dune was a huge influence on Lucas and the mindtrick is kind of a clear ripoff of the Voice.
Like worms and Arrakis inspired the creation of Tatooine)
it reminds me more of the thum in skyrim, how pretty much anyone can learn it buts incredibly hard to, i haven't read the books so is it a thing where anyone can learn it or something else?
so bottomline is they're similar lol
The voice is deep psychology. It is understanding who you are talking to and bypassing their conscious mind. It also requires extreme vocal control on the part of the user. So yes anyone can use it.... If they receive the decades of training both of self and understanding others.
@@markcruz359 no, not similar... lucas clearly ripped off dune but misunderstood the main character to actually be the messiah 😕
Great commentary. :-)
The second half of the story will touch upon this in further detail, but Paul actually had the right idea when he dismissed the whole "OMG, prophecy !" angle as something seeded among the Fremen to abuse their superstition. One of the main reasons Frank Herbert wrote the Dune novels was because of his dissatisfaction with "prophesied hero" stories, especially of the "political revolutionary" or "social leader maverick" sort. He found the science fiction of his time still filled with that sort of uncritical hero-worship. Paul's journey is less of a hero's journey and more of an antiheroic journey. Herbert made this doubly tragic, because Paul is overall a decent person (or tries to be), not some would-be tyrant. However, the people who start blindly following him as a prophetic figure, or even some sort of political or religious saviour, will cause a lot of harm in the process. The novel's meant to be a warning against fanaticism, and a comparison between blind superstition and more measured, self-reflective faith. Another big theme is the contrast between environmental and economic concerns and how hard it is to balance them at times. Dr. Kynes' and the Fremen's dream is to make Dune a little more hospitable, but if they remade the planet to be entirely Earth-like, the sandworms would die out and the spice would disappear (as their larvae are necessary to its creation). Some don't care about even a place like Dune having a complex environment, they only see the income from spice, while others realise there's more to the planet than just that.
I'd love to see a few of the sequel novels adapted, after they finish off the first book with the second movie. Paul's personal journey is an interesting study in a young man who doesn't want to be a hero, doesn't want to be worshipped, and wants to do the right thing for his family and even people suffering under oppression, but he screws up several times or underestimates how much control he has over the whole situation. (This is why he's so rightly terrified of the visions while in the tent. A holy war, eagerly led in his name, and eventually bringing destruction even to the innocent he didn't want to get killed...) Herbert's big question was whether the remnants of the Atreides, now with the support of the Fremen, don't become nearly as bad as the Harkonnen. Paul himself, after a period when he considered vengeance for his father and exploiting the (fake) prophet legend as acceptable means to punish the Harkonnen, gradually grows remorseful for what his most ardent followers keep committing in his name. He's increasingly worried that his visions were never that clear to begin with, and he overlooked ways to avoid greater damage, but either hesitated, or did some other mistake. The later novels are largelly about him having to live with the fallout of his decisions. Including the fact that innocent people have been killed in his name, he carries part of the responsibility, can't deny it. He'd like to escape that terrible legacy, of becoming an empty icon rather than seen as a fallible man who has a fair bit to atone for (even though he's not malicious), but he knows it's not fully possible. He has to live with his sins and mistakes, so to speak. There's a constant looming question in his mind: How much control do I have over my fate, am I just making excuses for myself, or is this really inevitable and I couldn't really prevent some evil events ?
Chani is an interesting part of that, as she's one of the few people who never revered him, and always saw him as just an ordinary human, with a few highly trained skills. In his later years, Paul gets an opportunity to fight back against the cult of personality built around him, but I won't spoil more. The Dune series is a fairly tragic and fairly dark story at times, but it's not without hope or without decency or without remorse. Herbert liked to stress that humans only progress when they don't throw their decency away. (Tellingly, Paul's most heroic moments in the series are whenever he's doing small acts of kindness, small compassionate deeds of everyday good towards others, without any high-and-mighty aspirations or dubious goals that backfire on him and others.)
I'm really interested in how they adapt the second half, and the eventual sequels. There's a lot to explore in terms of characters and drama and some pretty heady themes about the dark but also good sides of humanity, especially as the series goes on.
One of the reasons I love this story so much is that Herbert followed the beats of the Hero's Journey with all of the hints of the Chosen One trope and then completely turned all of it upside down. His quote about charismatic leaders being hazardous to your health was his warning to the readers.
18:55 Yeah, that's a complicated situation. Jessica is Leto's bound concubine and the mother of his son, but Leto never married her for political reasons. He wanted to keep the option of a political marriage open that might secure the Imperial throne for House Atreides one day. It's probably Leto's greatest regret that court politics is in the way of their love.
Well, third one. There was a miniseries on The Sci-Fi Channel in the early '00s. It covered the first 2+ books
Well two miniseries. First book the second covered the next two books . So three books . ( dune, dune messiah and children of dune ) .
They don't go into this, but Arrakeen (the capital and only city) is located at Arrakis north-pole so it is not subject to the higher heat experienced in the temperate and equatorial zones.
Dune is such a great movie. It made me, an 18 y/o who never read a book, start to read a novel!
You'll see, it's a great great novel. And if you like it, there's 5 more after that! (I would stay away from the other, non Frank Herbert ones). But the first novel can also absolutely be read alone, albeit you'll miss some things that are set up early in it about what Paul really is, and a few others things.
Good the books are amazing.
Oh… you’re in for a treat. The books grow deeper and more complex with each sequel until Frank’s death. His son, despite finishing the series and writing more in that universe besides, never quite reaches his father’s complexity and insight. His ultimate message is to avoid messiahs and messianic thinking, but it’s so much more than that.
I wish you a lot of fun, it’s not really an easy read, but a pretty satisfying one.
The film did a really good job of introducing people to the Dune universe. However, in Part 2 more things have to be explained to people new to the universe. The back half of the book goes into more detail on things anyway so I trust Villeneuve will explore concepts such as why there isn't AI and delve more into the role the spacing guild plays.
What happened to the playback of this video? The audio is out of sync by a lot going from the intro onwards
me too idk what it is works on my phone not pc
Dune was actually an amazing movie and I can't wait for the sequel tbh
Everybody opinion, this movie was boring asf to me and my gf. We saw it in iMax too
Not to be nitpicky, it’s not really a sequel but the second part of the story. Dune is a very long book, and Villeneuve did a good job, but still ony scratching the surface. I was leaving the movie theatre a bit unsatisfied, as i know that it was only part of the story.
Yes, it was awesome! People think saying it was boring just want to sound cool. It was GREAT and I can’t wait for more Dune movies!
Basically, House Atreides is too powerful for the Emperor's liking, but their forces on Caladan are too strong for the Emperor to assault, and he doesn't want to dedicate his personal army of Sardaukar in an assault on a Great House. That would cause the other Great Houses to close ranks against him, potentially toppling him from power.
His solution is to give Arrakis to House Atreides. Since Arrakis is the sole source of spice, whichever house controls it becomes outrageously rich. But House Atreides will have to entrench their forces on Arrakis and train them in the ways of the desert. The Emperor plans to have the Harkonnens attack House Atreides before they can rebuild their strength, and sends some of his Sardaukar to stiffen the Harkonnen force in secret. This way, the Emperor removes House Atreides completely without blatantly showing his hand.
Paul's visions are probable/possible futures, not THE future. The spice and his Bene Gesserit training made his brain capable of predicting events. That's why Spacing Guild navigators use the spice. It enables them to plot the safest course and predict/avoid obstacles across space during interstellar travel....
21:18 - "He's a really good pilot, too!" Duncan is also an excellent climber, from his younger days of hiding from Harkonnen slavers. His climbing skills are said by some to be... well, literally orgasmic. (Apologizes in God Emperor....)
Paul's visions are glimpses of possible futures.
About water.
In the book the Amtal duel is fought without Stillsuits, so this important piece of tech is not damaged and water reserves in it are secured. Also they omitted the part when Paul sheds tears for Jamis, and everybody is in deep religious awe, because "he gives moisture to the dead!".
I don't think the tears are omitted, yet. It depends on where Part II picks up the story.
@@Chyll07 You may be correct
Thanks for bringing it
15:27 don't remember if they mention explicitly but one other thing you might be interested in about the shields is they have strong chance of nuclear explosion when hit by lasguns, and nuclear weapons are so taboo as to render the civilization hostis humanii generis and subject to planetary obliteration... which means the Harkonnens just flinging lasers at Duncan's thopter later is super duper reckless
It's not mentioned explicitly in the film. It's possible that the missile that hit him earlier knocked the shield out so their lasgun wouldn't go boom.
The Sardaukar also go *hard.*
The soundtrack....in a Dolby theater.....had me levitating
There's a recent Thomas Flight video on Dune mixing and soundscape/score. Very interesting for those who don't have access to a good theater, or Atmos. Like both the Voice and the Baron are the only voices to come out in surround instead of the central speaker. Interesting view for those who only have headphones (it's a shame they didn't do a HRTF binaural mixing down to stereo of this movie, maybe there's hope for the Bluray?).
When they were on Salusa Secundus with the Sardaukar, and the throat singing started, I felt dat Melange kicking in.
The emperor is threatened by duke letos rising popularity within the lansraad. He teamed up with the baron harkonnen in order to eliminate the atreides. They set a trap by removing house harkonnen frlom arrakis and giving the governorship to duke leto. He then gave the baron 3 legions of his sardaukar soldiers to use in a surprise ambush attack on house atreides.
"It's like when Luke had to close his eyes to shoot the death star" THANK YOU UNIVERSE. You are the first reactor (I've watched dozens because I am obsessed with this movie) who noticed the obvious parallel. Of course, as probably many have already said, the book Dune came first, and George Lucas freely spoke of being inspired by it, amongst other texts and religions. (Bhuddhism and Taoism heavily flavour both Dune and Star Wars. Herbert of course drew heavily from Islam too, while Lucas drew from some First Nations American cultures)
Great Comment.
Okay, nutshell. The Emperor felt threatened by House Atriedes, Leto mentioned the other Houses looked to them for leadership. They kinda left off how much Atriedes and Harkonnen fight each other. So the emperor pulls Harkonnen off Arrakis while secretly plotting with the Harkonnens. Basically, they turned Arrakis in to a mousetrap where the Harkonnens take back Arrakis and the Emperor no longer has to worry about the entire House. Leto was smart enough to know this. But he didn't count on Yuehs betrayal (he's supposed to have training that makes that impossible but they just left that out to streamline it).
The fact Paul kills Jamis after having a vision being friendly with him tells us they aren't always literal. Because Jamis did teach him a valuable lesson. Etc.
And you asked what Liet was drawing the sandworm in right before she was stabbed? Did you see her tools she had ready? Remember the Fremen riding the worm at the end? Yeah, that's what she was going to do.
my fav part of learning the history of the book after watching it is... when the new Sadaukar solders got initiated, blessed with the red stripe on the forehead, is the blood from sacrificed recruits that didnt become Sadaukar, nothing goes to waste!
The fighting between Houses Atreides and Harkonnen is an ongoing, daily thing. At one point in the book, someone (I think Gurney) has just returned from a raid on some Harkonnen spice reserves, in which they destroyed the spice.
The funny part is that all of this travel between planets occurs under the watchful eye of the Spacing Guild. If the Atreides want to raid a Harkonnen world, they have to pay the Spacing Guild to take them there and back again. The Guild profit from EVERYTHING and no one dares retaliate because of fear of being cut off from all interstellar travel.
@@clayjohanson the spice reserve thing (and the whole Kanly concept) is exactly what I was talking about, thank you for fleshing it out. Not only did they sorta just leave that out (they really wanted to keep Leto clean for more impact later) but the Baron specifically mention the spice reserves being intact at the end.
@@clayjohanson what was always weird to me (dunno if that gets explained in later books, just have read the first and there it is not really explained) was that essentially, the spacing guild and whoever controls Arrakis are in some sort of deadlock... since everyone in the universe kinda needs spice, also the spacing guild themselves, but again, also whoever controls Arrakis would need the spacing guild one, for exporting spice and second importing goods cause Arrakis is not necessarily a natural resource vault... I mean food, water, weapons, materials, whatever. for that you absolutely NEED the spacing guild. they could make themselves even more powerful in principle by making an alliance with either the Harkonnens before or the Atreides and not even the Emperor would dare move against them. These two factions essentially control the universe, at least in my understanding. so even as a spacing guild, it would be in my best interest to oversee that spice mining does not lack, because that will reflect badly on my own business. so alone from that angle, I would have probably build and send armies down myself as the spacing guild, to see there is no quarrel. but that is never a thing, it is even an open secret that houses fight for power on Arrakis and the Spacing guild just deals with it. Also a strategy to run but I feel a much worse for them.
On top of this, by forcing the Harkonnen to hire his Sardukaur, he simultaneously drained the Harkonnen coffers. The emperor weakened two dangerously rising houses at once. A rich house (Harkonnens), and militarily excellent house (Atreides).
When I read the novel in the late '70s, more than 10 years after it was published, it blew my mind.
It's one of those works of art that makes you feel proud you belong to the same species as someone who could make something like that.
Of course, now that the tropes the novel introduced have permeated popular culture modern audiences will never have the same feeling.
Duncan's last stand is easily one of my top 3 or so favorite scenes in film history. Between the emotional swelling of the score leading up to Duncan closing and locking the door behind him, the great choreography, or the phenomenal acting by Timothe'e and Jason - it's one of the most brilliantly/expertly filmed scene that i've ever seen. Duncan was by far my fav character in the books and Jason absolutely killed it. Though his performance had a little "Momoa-ness", it's actually - more or less, how Duncan was written in the book, so his performance was actually extremely book accurate. A lot of people apparently originally hated his casting saying the only character he plays is the loveable Aquaman" architype. But if you've ever seen "Th Red Road," "Frontier," and especially "SEE", knows he's actually a really good actor with significantly more range than he's ever given credit for. So i was completely confident he do Duncan justice - and boy did he deliver! Great reaction, can't wait for Part 2 this November!
The 1984 Dune is actually pretty amazing. I love it!
Star Wars took a LOT from Dune (and tons of other things). Spice mines of Kessel.
And remember: He who controls the spice controls the universe.
I will just answer possible future questions and give interesting facts:
- Greg Fraser is the cinematographer of this film as well as the upcoming Batman
- The film was shot in Abu Dhabi, Hungary, Jordan, and Norway
- Hans Zimmer dreamed of writing an ost to Dune
- Paul's blue eyes mean that he has been using Spice for a long time, like Fremen
- There was a war against machines in the Dune universe, and therefore there is no Artificial intelligence and advanced technologies, the inhabitants of different planets have abandoned them, and rely only on their skills, experience, skills in mechanics, engineering, etc...
- The Bene Gesserit is an order of priestesses /witches / fortune-tellers (different cultures and mentalities perceive and call them differently) consisting only of women who have influence within political foundations and represent themselves as advisers/ mentors close to royal families (like Arethusa sorceresses from the Witcher universe, well, almost ...)
--The bald guys who stood next to Vladimir Harkonnen (The Flying Fat Man) when he took a bath are Mentats, they are a living archive and a guide
-Those who attacked the Atreides at night are the Sardukars, one of the strongest armies and the personal guard of the Emperor (the Harkonens are even less cruel compared to them, and unless only the Foremen can repulse them, by the way, they are one of the reasons why the Emperor was never dethroned) ruthless, real self-murderers, carry out any orders (somewhat reminiscent of the Outriders of the "Space Dogs" from the Avengers:Infinity War) when you saw a scene with Mongolian singing under a rain shower, then pay attention there people were sacrificed in the form of a ritual, this is one of their traditions...(according to the Aztec type)
The attendants next to the Baron while he was in the bath weren't Mentats, they were likely some of his playthings
Is anyone else having a playback issue where the audio is COMPLETELY unsynced from the video? It starts around 4:20 for me and continues through basically the whole video.
There's nothing in the movie that you need to read the book to understand, you'll be good with a rewatch.
He's not necessarily a chosen one, character of destiny. The Bene Gesserit essentially engineered him, both by crossing bloodlines to create one of his abilities (scene of Paul asking what it means to be The One) and by planting prophecy on Arrakis to ensure that the natives believe him to be the messiah figure (Lady Jessica explaining that scene, plus explaining what Lisan Al-Gaib means). And then he sees the vision in the tent of what this engineering of him into this role will lead to (holy war, stack of burning bodies, legions of soldiers looking up to him and shouting his name) and he hates and and doesn't want it.
It's definitely inspired stories like Star Wars and Matrix, but in this part, regarding the "chosen one" story, I think its a very unique take on it, one that was given to us in 1965 and I still havent seen replicated much (certainly not in mass-media).
If you are brand new to the Dune universe, this movie leaves out ALOT. Example, would you know what a Mentat was if you watched this movie - eff no! The movie certainly hints at what a mentat can do (a throwaway line just to "show" a mentat's ability), but does not explicitly define what they are nor how important they are to the story (Pietr De Vries was especially pivotal to the story and was basically just a 5 minute side character). SMH
@@boosterdemon7122 exactly. The book has so much, I think they did a good job touching on details they couldn't fully flesh out yet. I imagine it can be fleshed out in a sequel. I was so impressed they even took the time to show the stilltent gathering moisture in its ribs, when they barely touched on it. Little details those who read it see immediately (as well as Mentats, and the tech in baron harkonnen's back for him to float, etc).
@@boosterdemon7122 the second part is yet to come.
@@umairrashid9345 yes, I know - it doesn't change the fact that the 1984 movie explained the universe much better and in half the time compared to this new version. Instead, this new version used a lot of it's time on Zendaya Hair product commercial time!
@@erichb4530 this new version spent a lot of time on what I would consider the WRONG details - showing water condensing on the still tent is cool and all, but why all the wasted scenes showing Zendaya making a Hair Product commercial out in the desert when that time could have been used to explain things to the audience? For example, if you were new to Dune, based on this movie, you wouldn't get just how significant it was that Dr. Yueh betrayed the Atreides (normally he wouldn't be able to due to his Imperial Conditioning which should have guaranteed his loyalty to House Atreides) and how that was broken by Pietr De Vries. It's all good for ppl who have already read the book, but for new ppl, it was really lacking.
Duke Leto was gaining favour among the other houses. This scares the emperor to set the Arrakis plan in motion.
Bene Gesserith has been breeding for the One for centuries. Jessica betrayed the plan by giving Leto a son. It was supposed to be a daughter, married to Harkonnon son, perhaps producing the One.
I don't get this supposed betrayal, to be honest. Was she able to just "decide" the sex of her child? How?
@@MegaCityGhost Yes, because this is over 20,000 years into the future and they've advanced that far.
Audio is delayed by 10 seconds, if anyone watching just duplicates the tab and then mutes one of them, you can find a way to sync it
watching this in IMAX was easily one of the most memorable film experiences I've had.
About the Doctor's bargain, in the book, Dr Yueh knows that his wife is already dead; he's not an idiot. When the Baron tells him that the wife is dead, Yueh just calmly tells him, "Yes. But all I needed was a moment, you and me in the same room, to make things right." At which point Leto bites down on the tooth, killing the room.
The doctor wasn't trying to get his wife back; he just knew that by saying that, the Baron would let his guard down and let the two in the same room with him. He knew the Baron wouldn't pass up the opportunity to taunt a "grieving fool" in person.
Which makes the Doctor so much a worse person, he does all that damage just for a (failed) chance at revenge.
@@DoddyIshamel Not so; it was inevitable that the Atriedes would get scorched. So the doctor figured, if they were all gonna die, he may as well do it his way, and take the Baron with them.
Not quite accurate. Yueh doesn't know if his wife's dead, he just hopes that she is. So that the Harkonnens can't torture her anymore. He wants to confront the Baron to make sure, knowing the Baron will likely boast about her death before killing him. And of course he's also hoping for revenge via the tooth.
@@samwallaceart288 false if Dr Yue didn't disable the Atreides shields the harkkonnen and Sardaukar forces would have failed
@@houseofaction If it wasn't him, then they would have turned someone else.
In my head canon, his wife was the "spider with hands" creature, having been metamorphosized by the Harkonnen.
Denis made both Arrival and Bladerunner as "practise" for this, the film he wanted to make since he was a child. As a fan of the books, I can see how much a fan he is as well and wanted to do them "right", something that always felt denied to the source material, either through pacing/studio interference or budget. Everything in this looked like it should and felt right to me. IMO it would have been a crime to not greenlight the sequel
All of the Fremen have blue eyes. Not just the irises but also the whites of their eyes are turned blue by their constant exposure to Spice which is even in the air that they breathe.