From the Page to the Screen – Dune
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From the Page to the Screen – Dune
Dune is a classic 1965 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. It’s considered to be one of the best soft science fiction books of all time and for many good reasons as it’s truly a remarkable read. Of course being such an epic story it led to an 80s adaptation and one currently in development.
THE 1984 VERSION
The film was released in 1984 and it received mixed reviews back then and even now it’s mixed, but it gained a cult following. It’s the most underrated David Lynch movie in my opinion as it was harshly judged upon when in reality it’s very solid across the board.
PLOT
The film follows the novel extremely close being very faithful which I love. None of it was sacrificed or rushed as the runtime is quite long fittingly so. However, the book’s pacing issues and a weaker middle part were even more problematic in the film itself.
WINNER – BOOK
CHARACTERIZATION
I liked this ensemble cast and everyone definitely did a good job. The Baron is a terrific villain as he was in the book, Paul’s very strong and his friends are great too, but Jessica could have been more memorable herself. Overall, these are solidly portrayed characters for the most part.
WINNER – BOOK
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EMOTION
Some of the parts in the novel, especially the more dramatic moments with betrayal and such, were so moving and definitely the emotion was felt there. The movie, however, is more cold than emotionally engaging which was a problem for me.
WINNER – BOOK
THEMES
There is no doubt in my mind that the book beats the movie in this regard as is usually the case in this category, but here the movie, although not entirely stupid or action-oriented, simply did not touch upon its themes properly whereas the book can be quite sophisticated.
WINNER – BOOK
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
I love the descriptions and the imagination of Frank Herbert. He wrote this book superbly, not the dialogue per say, but the fantastic imagery and world building. David Lynch also did an amazing job directing the film and it’s simply an audio-visual marvel thanks to stunning VFX and a beautiful score.
WINNER – TIE
BOOK 5: FILM 1
I actually really liked this movie adaptation and I find it to be quite underrated and a solid SF flick in its own right. However, it’s obviously inferior to the novel in most areas, especially in themes and also emotion so of course the book wins this one.
THE 2021 VERSION
The newest and ultimate adaptation was released in 2021 to strong reviews and it ended up receiving ten Oscar nominations. It was directed by the great Dennis Villeneuve, a self-proclaimed huge fan of the novel. That appreciation for the material came through as the movie is truly phenomenal.
PLOT
The script for the movie is one that is both faithful and surprisingly intricate due to it being split into two parts, thus the first part is meticulously detailed and wonderfully set up. The character relationships and all these different players and brewing politics were the highlights here with the only problem being that the movie was split into two parts.
WINNER – TIE
CHARACTERIZATION
The ensemble cast did a great job here as each actor looked and acted the part faithfully. The highlights were Timothee Chalamet as Paul and Rebecca Ferguson as Jessica. She is much better actually than she was in the book while the Baron was also creepier than he was in the previous movie version.
WINNER – TIE
EMOTION
Unlike its cold predecessor, this Dune adaptation was much more emotionally engaging and particularly terrific in the familial dynamics between Paul and his parents. As a result, the movie just might be better in this area than the original novel.
WINNER – FILM
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THEMES
Obviously, the novel wins in this area as usual. The political entanglements were fantastic, but other than that, the movie failed to explore the strong ecological themes of the source material.
WINNER – BOOK
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
Frank Herbert wrote the novel forcefully, but what Villeneuve did here is particularly impressive. He updated the novel to modern times thanks to the utilization of more modern technology, in particular the stunning spaceships. The effects, production design and cinematography along with the score all work in unison to make this an audio-visual spectacle for all ages.
WINNER – FILM
BOOK 3: FILM 4
Yes, I would actually say that the 2021 adaptation of Dune transcends even the original source material. The book is great, but the movie is more epic, more engaging and overall more moving and spectacular. Thus, it stands to reason that it will remain the number one adaptation of this novel for all of eternity.
