I Watch Films: Dune (1984)

Dune (1984)

Spice extends life, permits foresight. It comes from the desert planet Arrakis. The Padishah Emperor assigns Arrakis, also known as Dune, to Duke Leto Atreides, leader of a noble house whose military training threatens the Emperor. He intends to betray him, Leto's enemy Baron Harkonnen to take control.

The trap closes but Leto’s pregnant consort Jessica and his son Paul escape into the desert. There live the Fremen, who have been primed by the Bene Gesserit, a mystical sisterhood, to expect a messiah. Paul drinks the water-of-life – a product of the Sandworms that live on Dune – and has visions of the future. With this he is able to set his own trap, years in the making, to strike back at the Emperor and the Harkonnens.

If you’ve read Dune then this all makes some sense, as the film hits the highlights, all the scenes that are easily remembered. Perhaps unfortunately that’s almost all it hits, so characters are introduced, do their thing and then are barely glimpsed in the background of a couple of other scenes. Paul’s story, and perhaps Jessica’s, and we get enough of Baron Harkonnen to really establish him as a villain.

On the other hand there’s some magnificent film making here, some great art direction. Lots of scale, showing how big things are, and then cramming characters into small spaces. Annoyingly the film doesn’t trust the actors to show us, giving lots of voice-overed thoughts. And despite them it still barely stitches together as a story.

Watch This: Gorgeous, amazing science fiction epic
Don’t Watch This: Read the book, or maybe the newer, two-part one that gives it more room to breath (not this one though)