Dune Is Meant To Be Experienced On The Big Screen (Dune) (Spoiler-Free Review)
For those who don't know, Dune is based on the infamous sci-fi novel by Frank Herbert, first published in 1965 which follows a franchise of books, that is still being established long after Herbert's passing. Dune has been considered as inspiration to a lot of iconic sci-fi stories we know and love such as Star Wars and Star Trek when it comes to space opera elements but it has also inspired stories like Game of Thrones with its political themes. Although adapted once before into a movie and miniseries (both of which I have never seen), this adaptation might just make itself known to be 2021's answer to the Lord of the Rings trilogy - and this is a big 'if' considering since everyone really wants it to do well for a sequel to actually happen and consider itself in the same caliber as the LOTR franchise.
Known as Dune Part One in its title card, this beginning of a journey is set in the 101st century, where we meet young Paul Atreides and his family of House Atreides, assigned by the Emperor to become owners of the planet Arrakis. Previously owned by the Harkonnens, the desert planet is the gold mine when it comes to salvaging spice, a sand-like element that is used to power the transportations and machines used in the galaxy. This rare element can only be found on Arrakis, and whoever owns this planet is considered wealthy.
The Harkonnens however, are angry that their only source of income has been taken away and been given to a prestigious family. Their leader Baron Harkonnen, attempts to get rid of the House of Atreides to gain back his profit gain. In the midst of that, Paul, our hero, finds himself having visions of a grim future involving the well-being of his family, the fate of the House Atreides, and other people he is yet to meet, including the Fremen girl, Chani.
As we all know, director Denis Villeneuve'w original intention was to adapt all of it and film it in two parts back-to-back but in the end, only managed to film the events part one due to... you know what, I'm not actually sure why anymore. However, this first half is definitely the right way to not only introduce this story to newcomers to this vast franchise but also to really make an adaptation that resonates with the fans of the book series whether they came across it recently or have been reading them since it's publication as well as it honors Frank Herbert's imagination.
When watching Dune, what compelled me the most was not entirely based on the talent that is featured in this film but what was Villeneuve's vision towards Dune and the way the director handles this story is clearly shown throughout every scene. It is almost too obvious that everyone working on this film including the director, were big fans of books, attempting the adapt the hell out of it, even if it was only adapting 50 percent of it.
Hans Zimmer, another fan of Dune, composes his best music by far for this adaptation by not only relying on his loud bombastic ways of presenting themes that portray these relatable characters and otherworldly yet familiar events that occur in the film but by also really changing the way you hear the musical score in a film. One of the main reasons why audiences should watch Dune in theatres at least once is due to the sheer intensity of Zimmer's music as it fills up a cinema room in every way possible. There aren't many movies right now that show off music this way and it is a real treat to see that Dune and Hans Zimmer really show how without a musical score, there is no film.
Without spoiling anything to anyone who has not read the book, Dune is the film of the month and everyone should be heading to the cinema to watch it right now before it releases on HBO Max later this week which leads to pirated 4K versions of the film get out all over the internet. Experience the Dune in its cinematic form, whether it's IMAX or the Dolby Atmos, to hear and feel every aspect of this epic space opera.
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