By: Andrew Wing

Dune (titled onscreen as Dune: Part One) is a 2021 American epic science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve with a screenplay by Jon Spaihts (writer on Prometheus, Doctor Strange), Villeneuve, and Eric Roth (writer on Forrest Gump, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and the 2018 version of A Star is Born). It is the first of a planned two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert, primarily covering the first half of the book. Set in the far future of 10,191 AD, the plot follows Paul Atreides, as he and his family, the noble House Atreides, are thrust into a war for the dangerous desert planet Arrakis, between the native Fremen people and the enemy invaders, and former rulers of Arrakis, the House Harkonnen.

The film stars an ensemble cast including Timothée Chalamet in the lead role as Paul Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Paul’s Bene Gesserit mother, Oscar Isaac as Paul’s father Duke Leto Atreides, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, the weapons master of House Atreides and one of Paul’s mentors, Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the enemy to House Atreides and former steward of Arrakis, Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban, the nephew of Baron Harkonnen, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Thufir Hawat, the Mentat of House Atreides, Zendaya as Chani, a young Fremen woman and Paul’s love interest, David Dastmalchian as Piter De Vries, the Mentat of House Harkonnen, Chang Chen as Dr. Wellington Yueh, a Suk doctor in the employ of House Atreides, Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Dr. Liet-Kynes, the Imperial ecologist and judge of the change on Arrakis, Charlotte Rampling as Gaius Helen Mohiam, a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother and the Emperor’s Truthsayer, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, the swordmaster of House Atreides and one of Paul’s mentors, and lastly Javier Bardem as Stillgar, the leader of the Fremen tribe at Sietch Tabr.

Following a failed attempt by Paramount Pictures to produce a new adaptation of Herbert’s novel, Legendary Entertainment acquired film and TV rights to the science fiction novel Dune in 2017. Development for the film began shortly after, with Villeneuve expressing interest in the project and officially signing on as director in January of 2017. He worked with both Roth and Spaihts to write the screenplay, deciding on breaking it into two parts and incorporating an updated 21st century adaptation of the classic 1965 novel. Filming took place from March to July 2019 at various locations including areas in Budapest, Jordan, Norway, and Abu Dhabi, and was filmed with a production budget of $165 million.

Dune premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2021. Warner Bros. Pictures theatrically released the film in 2D, 3D, and IMAX internationally on September 15, 2021, and a later release in the United States on October 22 and on the HBO Max streaming service on October 21 where it will be available to watch up to a month after its release. A sequel, Dune: Part Two, is scheduled for release on October, 20, 2023.

THE GOOD

I don’t even know where to start. Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you just how much I have been looking forward to Dune ever since its first trailer came out over a year ago when it was originally slated to be released in theaters on December 18, 2020. But, like so many other major films finally being released this year, the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to be delayed almost a full year later than originally planned. Enough about that though, the long-anticipated sci-fi epic from Denis Villeneuve is finally here and wow was it worth the wait.

I am going to hit on almost every aspect of Dune that I loved later in the review, but first things first, this movie is totally awesome in every way I had hoped and is nearly a perfect film in my eyes. I knew I was going to like this, and I just ate it all up. I mean it has the classic hero's journey tale and it is just one of those once in a blue moon films that you’ll get the chance to see, especially now, when original movies are hard to come by. It meets all the expectations that I wanted for it, and it exceeded my expectations as it feels more purposeful with its slower pace that I really enjoyed because it allows the audience to become immersed in the world that is Dune.

The best thing about Dune in my eyes is just its overall scope and the undeniable ambition of the film. Shortly after the novel’s publication in 1965, Dune was identified for potential film prospects, and multiple attempts to make such a film have been made (only feature film being David Lynch’s 1984 version), but it has been widely considered to be “unfilmable”, due to it being difficult to adapt to the screen because of its breadth of content and furthermore because of the passionate fans of the novel wanting any such film to not deviate much from the original material. However, if there is any director working in Hollywood today that could film the “unfilmable”, it would be Denis Villeneuve, and boy did he ever. Villeneuve read the novel when he was just a teenager and it had an immediate and long-lasting impact on him with his profound love for the story. In an interview, he said that every time he went back and read it, there was something different he took away from it. He was moved by Paul’s journey and specifically how his character embraces all of the other cultures and finds strength in being different. With all that said, similar to his 2017 film Blade Runner 2049, Dune was his dream passion project and let me just say he brought his dream to life.

As I said previously, the diehard fans of the novel out there made it very clear that any deviations from the original content without strong justification would potentially harm the film’s reputation, but that was never a fear with Denis at the helm for this project. He knows the source material probably more than anyone outside of Frank Herbert himself and because of that he was able to bring the book's vision to life on the big screen. In interviews, Villeneuve said he treated the novel as his personal bible by constantly referring to it when he had any doubts or questions while filming. Apparently all of the cast members read the novel as well, and with that piece of information it is no surprise why all of the characters were so well-played and authentic, because they all understood their own characters and Denis knew where to take them. Also worth mentioning despite myself not yet having read the book, the film stays extremely true to the source material and because of that, I don’t think a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 94th Academy Awards is out of the realm of possibility.

Continuing on with the possible and very likely Dune nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, you can go ahead and lock in a Best Picture nomination and also a Best Director nomination for Villeneuve. I will be hoping and praying so hard for Dune to win both categories, but the more likely one if I had to choose would be Villeneuve winning for Best Director. Why do I think so? Well because he truly is THE BEST DIRECTOR right now. If you take a look at Villeneuve’s filmography, the most impressive thing is that his next film is always better than his last film. Yes, I gave Blade Runner 2049 a perfect 10/10 score, but the overall scale of Dune surpasses Blade Runner 2049 if you ask me. His filmmaking style is just so original and unique and it is just so prevalent in all of his films, but especially this one. It is just unfathomable how he brought this story to life and I really don’t think any other director could have accomplished such a feat and that is saying something.

Obviously I have touched on the fact that Dune was considered by many to be “unfilmable” in and of itself, but there is no denying that Dune has inspired so many sci-fi properties over the years such as Star Wars. With that said, seven years after the release of Star Wars, Dune was finally able to be brought to the big screen in 1984 by director David Lynch. Now I decided to go ahead and check out the 1984 version before seeing the new one, and it certainly wasn’t the best. I didn’t hate it as much as the critics did, but I just think it was set up to fail because of the resources available to filmmakers in 1984. Dune is a movie meant to have perfect technical aspects, and that is why in 2021, where there are more resources and better technology, we see a far better Dune film that is just on another level compared to the 1984 version. As for this films improvements over the 1984 version, the particular things I liked included showing more of the Atreides homeworld of Caladan, less voiceover exposition, improved portrayal of Baron Harkonnen, there were stronger female characters and an overall more diverse cast, and last but not least, there were MORE SANDWORMS!

Yes, the overall scope of the film is what I loved most, but the sound is right up there for the best part of the film. I know I’ve talked and will continue to talk a lot about all the Academy Award nominations Dune will rack up, but I don’t know if there has ever been such a lock of an award to be won than there is for Dune and specifically Hans Zimmer to win for both Best Original Score and Best Sound. I mean it’s freaking Hans Zimmer for crying out loud, the legendary film score composer whose works include The Lion King (1994), Gladiator, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, and Dunkirk. The best way to describe the score for Dune is out of this world, and that is exactly what Denis and Hans were going for with this. They wanted audiences to feel like they were hearing sounds from another planet that they have never heard before and as an audience member myself, I can say they did exactly that. The music was just so damn good, and it honestly served as a great tool to help me understand what characters were thinking, feeling, and where they stood in the film.

As for the technical side of things when it comes to Dune, it just doesn’t miss. One area that I don’t think will get enough attention from mainstream audiences aside from it winning the Academy Award for it, but the editing for this film is so incredibly well done. The film has a runtime of 156 minutes, but despite its length, the film does not feel long at all and that is in large part due to its superb editing. The film takes its time and lets itself breathe, there is not one scene that feels out of place and every scene and every line of dialogue feels so important. You can just tell the filmmakers paid attention to every finite detail on this film, but the editing was so darn good and it deepened the overall story and that is why it will win the Academy Award for Best Editing. Continuing with the technical side of things and Academy Award wins, the visual effects were outstanding. Now the sets were built practically (all the spaceships), but the VFX are amazing with the defense shields everyone uses in combat and also that freaking humongous sandworm. Seriously though, if you don’t think it will win for Best VFX, just google a picture of the sandworm, it’s jaw dropping.

The visuals on this film are incredible. I never thought I would be in such awe just by looking at miles of sand in the deserts of Jordan and Abu Dahbi, but I was. They also filmed in Budapest and Norway, and the landscape set in every scene is just beautiful and mind blowing. Greig Fraser was the cinematographer for this and I don’t see any way he doesn’t collect his first Academy Award win for Best Cinematography. To add on to the overall look of the film, Dune just checks every box with its production design, costume design, and don’t forget about makeup and hairstyling too. It will certainly collect more nominations in all these categories too, but the production design and the level of it is insanely huge. Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet both said in an interview that they literally felt like they were on a different planet while filming. As for the costume design, I loved the uniforms for both the Fremen people and the Harkonnen. Also, the Bene Gesserit women looked fantastic with their all-black cloaks and face coverings. Lastly, the makeup artists for Dune were unbelievable and I can’t believe how well they did the makeup on Stellan Skarsgård for Baron Harkonnen. Just wow!

Not only is it one of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen, but it also has the heart, the story, and the performances to go along with it. If there was ever a cast that deserved the word “ensemble” before it, it is the cast of Dune. Denis Villeneuve knocked it out of the park casting each character with these star-studded actors, but none shined brighter than one of my favorite actors in the industry right now, Timothée Chalamet. I loved Chalamet’s performance as the lead character Paul Atreides. Chalamet is one of the best actors of this generation, and he is able to carry this movie on his shoulders in the lead role because of how well he embodies his character. He was also responsible for what I thought was the best acting of any scene in the film with his performance in the very iconic Gom Jabbar scene. For this scene, I was just sitting in my seat captivated by how intense a scene can be with no words being spoken and it just shows how talented an actor Chalamet is.

Outside of Chalamet’s performance, you could argue that Rebecca Ferguson had the best performance of anyone involved as Lady Jessica. I loved her chemistry with Chalamet in this, and she is just an amazing actress and she put it on display in all of the intense emotional scenes. I also thought Zendaya was amazing as the mysterious character Chani who, unless you have read the books, we don’t know much about. That gives me a lot to look forward to for Dune: Part 2 which is currently scheduled to release in theaters in October of 2023, because Chani seems very fascinating and as her character says at the end of the film, it is only the beginning. Other performances that stuck out to me were Jason Momoa playing a badass once again as Duncan Idaho, Dave Bautista being intimidating as always as Glossu Rabban, and Josh Brolin was sick as Gurney Halleck and he even had a few one-liners that cracked me up. Lastly, Javier Bardem was phenomenal in his few short scenes as Stillgar and he is just one of the greatest actors out there to be honest, but I might be a tad biased because Bardem did play my all-time favorite character in any film ever with his portrayal of Anton Chigurh in the Coen brothers’ 2007 film No Country for Old Men.

THE BAD

So yeah, if you haven’t caught on yet, I absolutely loved this film. There really isn’t anything to criticize about it if you ask me, but I will address some of the things I have heard people didn’t love about it. The first thing, and I’ve heard this the most, is the critique of the long runtime of 156 minutes. Yeah that is a long time and I understand it is hard for someone to find the time in their busy schedules to sit down and watch a movie for that long, but it is well worth it and trust me when I say it flies by. You will be so immersed in the film that you will lose track of time, and also as I’ve already mentioned, they did a fabulous job editing this film so you will never feel bored from beginning to end.

I have also seen a lot of people saying they have been confused. And while I wasn’t confused watching this, it might have had something to do with me going ahead and watching the 1984 version before so I knew a bit more about it. I totally see why people are saying that it’s confusing at times though, because I’ll admit sometimes while watching I couldn’t tell if Paul’s visions that he had many times throughout the film were actually taking place or if they’re just in his head/dreams. The best thing I can say to try and potentially help you from getting confused is to just do a quick search on the basic premise of the world that is Dune and to obviously pay attention during the film, you don’t want to miss a thing!

One thing I will say though, and this isn’t a critique, it is just my personal desire for the film is that I wanted more from some of the bigger name actors in this. Obviously Chalamet and Ferguson take up the most screen time as Paul Atreides and his mother and I loved every second of that, but I just couldn’t help but want more screen time from Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, and obviously Zendaya and Javier Bardem as the two biggest Fremen characters. However, the movie was already long and more from those actors would have certainly added on to the runtime. Also, Denis Villeneuve stayed true to the source material, so if in the book, Isaac’s character of Duke Leto doesn’t get many lines, I am not going to criticize him for staying true to the source material. And lastly, we are getting a sequel, so I strongly expect Zendaya and Bardem’s characters to play much bigger roles and I cannot freaking wait!

THE VERDICT

Simply put, Dune is incredible and is the best movie of the year. Denis Villeneuve cemented the fact that he is the greatest director working today by bringing his dream to life in the most massive and ambitious way possible. The production is so amazing from the cinematography, the production design, costumes, editing, VFX, and one of the most beautiful scores you’ll ever hear from the brilliant Hans Zimmer. It also features compelling storytelling from its star-studded ensemble cast led by Timothée Chalamet as the main character Paul Atreides. Dune just has it all.

It is easily one of the best theater experiences I have ever had, and I urge you to see it on the biggest screen possible! It exceeded all of my expectations, and it will without question stand the test of time and be regarded as one of the greatest science fiction films of all time.

That’s not all though, Dune: Part 2 is coming in 2023, and there is no denying that Denis Villeneuve will give us another cinematic blast unlike any we have ever experienced.