Any Dune fans nervous about upcoming min-series?

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2002-11-03 04:23pm

I sure as hell am. The actors playing LetoII and Ghanima look like they`re in their late twenties. In the novel they were nine. The director`s most impessive credit is V.I.P.

!!! Considering how this team fucked up the storyline last time, I won`t be keeping any bricks close to the television.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 2002-11-04 07:47am

It's a conspiricy i tell ya. Dune were such good books the envious "Movie Industry" are determined to fuck it all up. IS NOTHING SACRED ANY MORE??!!??!!

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2002-11-04 07:52am

I'm not worried. I know they aren't going to them to be close to the books. I would like to see them do a job job on them, the last one was pretty good though. The fact that a lot of the more important acters didn't return is not comforting thouugh.

In short, I plan on evaluating the mini series on it's own merits. Not with regard to the books.

Post by **Vympel** » 2002-11-04 07:57am

Haven't they already made one?

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2002-11-04 07:59am

Vympel wrote:Haven't they already made one?

They've made a mini-series of dune. Now they're making a mini series combineding the next two books in the saga.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2002-11-04 08:01am

Personally I think the Dune miniseries was rather good. There was alot of cheesy stuff, like imperial sets and costumes, but other then that I think they did a smashing good job. Especially when it came to the spaceships.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2002-11-04 08:13am

kojikun wrote:Personally I think the Dune miniseries was rather good. There was alot of cheesy stuff, like imperial sets and costumes, but other then that I think they did a smashing good job. Especially when it came to the spaceships.

It was good. The problem is they seriously butchered a lot of the philisophical concepts behind it. And they did get some stuff just plain wrong.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2002-11-04 11:19am

kojikun wrote:Personally I think the Dune miniseries was rather good. There was alot of cheesy stuff, like imperial sets and costumes, but other then that I think they did a smashing good job. Especially when it came to the spaceships.

Yup. Though the problems you mentioned where just due to the fact that it is a TV production and so there was a lower budget.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2002-11-04 01:49pm

I have the books and honestly, happy enough...both the movie and TV butchered and reworked so much it was funny after a while...but honestly...if someone believes that was Dune, I'll give them the book for free to see why it wasn't.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2002-11-04 04:27pm

The ornitophters sucked.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2002-11-04 07:21pm

Slartibartfast wrote:The ornitophters sucked.

You`re tellin' me! An ornithopter by definition is an aircraft operating on BIRDLIKE principles, like flapping wings. Someone on the staff read wingpods in the text and thought," duh, I know how to do dat!" DAMN THEM! When I first read Dune twenty years ago, I had a visualisation of an ornithopter that sticks with me yet. I`m in the middle of moving right now, but, after we get settled I will scratchbuild it, and post it in the appropriate forum.

Post by **Vympel** » 2002-11-05 07:31am

Westwood in the original Dune 2 RTS did an ornithopter perfectly.

Personally, I would combine the music of the David Lynch film Dune with the mini-series.

The music for the Dune feature film ROCKED. The Mini-series music sucked.

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2002-11-05 07:43am

The movie was quite watchable, and I found the set design to be quite fitting.
The mini-series was just abominable. Poor actors, unfit for their roles, cheap props and designs (especially in the desert scenes), and disturbing styling. And IMHO they did an even worse job with the original story line than the movie.

Post by **Vympel** » 2002-11-05 08:02am

I don't know- in some ways it was more true to the book than the film was, but it did do some stupid things (all that extra Princess Irulan stuff) and the sfx were quite cheap at times.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2002-11-05 11:15am

Frank Hipper wrote:
Slartibartfast wrote:The ornitophters sucked.
You`re tellin' me! An ornithopter by definition is an aircraft operating on BIRDLIKE principles, like flapping wings. Someone on the staff read wingpods in the text and thought," duh, I know how to do dat!" DAMN THEM! When I first read Dune twenty years ago, I had a visualisation of an ornithopter that sticks with me yet. I`m in the middle of moving right now, but, after we get settled I will scratchbuild it, and post it in the appropriate forum.

Exactly. They simply made some futuristic-looking crop dusters with rigid wings.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2002-11-05 08:11pm

They should've just borrowed the moth props from Lexx.

Kettch · Post by **Kettch** » 2002-11-06 02:40am

Actually, the thopters gave them a pretty big head ache. If you get a hold of the DVD version they discuss the problems they had with making them look believable when taking Herbert literally. I agree that the design that they settled on was not cool. But it did look the part for a utility thoper. (Does a Huey look 'cool?')

On the other hand the Harkonnen combat thopters are much closer to the lassic thopter look.

Yes I agree that the Westwood versions look cool, but I have only seen the Dune 2K cut scenes (fun game) & they are only on screen for a few quick shots. Actually using them for sustained scenes in the Mini might have shown problems.

Vympel wrote:in some ways it was more true to the book than the film was, but it did do some stupid things (all that extra Princess Irulan stuff)

I must seriously disagree with you. Irulan is a very impressive character in the Mini (especially in the DVD cut). Also remember that until the last chapter our only encounter with her in the book is through those chapter quotes. While it makes for an interesting presentation in the book, who this mysterious writer is, the Mini does not allow for such set ups. They had to establish who she was further than just 3 opening paragraph long monologs for each night. Heck for a viewer who had never read the book Jessica's line at the end about Irulian & her books & writing would not have made sense.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2002-11-06 02:57am

but honestly why?

Irulan was a nothing more than a tool, she never needed filling out, and how they did it, basically was to add pointless meeting of her and Paul, and also some thing where they directly changed the book just so you can say she now is important.

In the second book she came into being and personally is why I couldn't stand how the mini series just decided a character that was nothing needed to be filled out.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2002-11-06 03:49am

Kettch wrote:
I must seriously disagree with you. Irulan is a very impressive character in the Mini (especially in the DVD cut). Also remember that until the last chapter our only encounter with her in the book is through those chapter quotes. While it makes for an interesting presentation in the book, who this mysterious writer is, the Mini does not allow for such set ups. They had to establish who she was further than just 3 opening paragraph long monologs for each night. Heck for a viewer who had never read the book Jessica's line at the end about Irulian & her books & writing would not have made sense.

In Dune Messiah, Irulan was a conspirator against Paul. Why they wrote her as an ally in the first miniseries escapes me. Admittedly, by Children of Dune she has given over to the Atreides heart and soul, such was not the case earlier. She`s also the most bumbling Bene Gesserit in the entire saga.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2002-11-06 10:21am

Kettch wrote:Actually, the thopters gave them a pretty big head ache. If you get a hold of the DVD version they discuss the problems they had with making them look believable when taking Herbert literally. I agree that the design that they settled on was not cool. But it did look the part for a utility thoper. (Does a Huey look 'cool?')

On the other hand the Harkonnen combat thopters are much closer to the lassic thopter look.

Yes I agree that the Westwood versions look cool, but I have only seen the Dune 2K cut scenes (fun game) & they are only on screen for a few quick shots. Actually using them for sustained scenes in the Mini might have shown problems.

You miss the point. Regardless of whether it looks cool or not, the definition of an ornitophter is that it uses flapping wings. You can't have an ornitophter that doesn't look like an ornitophter nor works like an ornitophter any more than you can have a helicopter without rotors or a jetplane without jet engines.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2002-11-06 10:24am

Or·ni·thop·ter

noun An aircraft that derives all of its thrust and nearly all of its lift from flapping wings. In addition, an ornithopter retains 'bird like' characteristics such as its main wing in front and its stabilizing surfaces aft.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2002-11-06 12:15pm

Utilitarian doesn`t really enter the equation when we`re talking about the ornithopter Duke Leto used on the spice mining inspection, which was a personal aircraft for the family. The book mentions " soft luxury" and when Gurney voices concerns about being overloaded, the Duke says Not this aircraft" or something thereabouts. I take that to mean it was something of a one of a kind job. Your average run of the mill 'thopter on Dune would have course been a beat up ugly pickup truck of the air, though.

Larz · Post by **Larz** » 2002-11-06 01:13pm

I'll watch it while ignoring what I know from reading the books... its the only way to appreciate any book thats been made into movies or miniseries'

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2002-11-06 08:57pm

Larz wrote:I'll watch it while ignoring what I know from reading the books... its the only way to appreciate any book thats been made into movies or miniseries'

AMEN!