User reviews

I must admit, I still believe "Frank Herbert's Dune" to be unfilmable. I realised that, watching Dune: Part One in my local movie theater today. That's why people who have read the book should see this movie adaptation as a single piece of art.

Forget the book while watching this movie. Dune, the book drives on the thoughts and inner emotions of the characters - the things that are left unsaid. Visually, that can only be adapted to a certain extent.

Villeneuve has done a better job than anyone could ask for. I think he had to compromise on not bringing even more details to the movie, considering that the majority of the people will not have read the book. The information overload would have been difficult to follow for most.

This movie is definitely slow, so if you are accustomed to constant dopamine stimulation then you might find it boring.

The visuals in combination with the sound/music are hauntingly beautiful and will stick in your mind for a long time. I got goosebumps almost throughout the entire movie.

Dune: Part One definitely serves as a stepping stone for Dune: Part Two, and more to come... If you are looking for action, Dune: Part Two is definitely the movie to be waiting for. So grab some friends and go watch this movie.

Make "Dune: Part Two" happen.

This is only the beginning.

A work of art, the cinematography, the music the designs all beautiful. Two and a half hours that passed like nothing and makes you crave for more. The pacing may seem a bit slow at first, but it blends perfectly into the telling of the story. The characters are well writen and played and even some minor inconsistencies within these characters is overshadowed by the pure beauty of the cinematography and the impressive storytelling. Great Movie. Hoping for Part two soon.

Visually beautiful, narratively well constructed, good interpretations by the actors and actresses, and a new sci-fi world ready to be explored and expanded in a second movie.

Excellent movie. That is all I have to say. Well done to all the cast, director, writers and team behind this treasure.

Haven't been floored or thoroughly transported by a film since The Lord of the Rings until now. Dune is thrilling and emotionally authentic. The best part about the movie is that it takes it's audience seriously and does not just traps them into a cinematic odyssey but also takles the storyline critically.

Performances are incredible especially Oscar Issac and young Timothée Chalamet. The movie is itself captivating and the visually breathtaking cinematography is God like.

This movie is big. It's meant to be on the big screen. The visuals are captivating, the music is mesmerizing and the actors are convincing.

This is an adaptation of the Dune novel from 1965, and it covers about half the book. I have read the novel long ago, but I'm mostly familiar with the Dune universe from the Command & Conquer game Emperor: Battle for Dune. It's a vast universe with politics, religion, tribes and houses. The movie does an excellent job of placing you in this grand setting without over-explaining everything, but also without feeling completely lost. For someone new to the Dune universe you can easily recognize who the "good" and "bad" guys are and follow the plot, without knowing who all the different names refer to. But it's not dumbed down so that those who will recognize the names feel patronized. This is very hard to pull off, but I think this movie did so masterfully.

I would describe it as a mixture between Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. You follow individuals in a grand and complex world. The majority of the movie takes place on a desert planet, so it really needed an amazing soundtrack to elevate the experience - and it has. Hans Zimmer turned down Tenet to work on Dune, and I think he made the right choice.

However, this is only "Part 1", as it says in the beginning of the movie, so you know it won't be a complete story. I was ready to watch Part 2 as soon as it ended, but will have to wait. LOTR The fellowship of the Ring would be an insignificant movie without The two towers and The return of a king to complete the story. Together they are great, individually they are not enough. So it is with Dune - It is a great introduction, but it desperately needs a part 2 to conclude the story. And there better be a Part 2!

I'm a long time fan of the dune universe. Have read all the books multiple times and of course I've seen Lynch's version. This version is a lot better. Excellent world building, visually stunning and full of star power. It moves slow, which on the plus side gives it the chance to go into detail, but on the negative side means by the end it's not even at the halfway point of the first book. So it ends at the moment the mythology is just picking up. Which made me leave the cinema wishing to see part two, which unfortunately they haven't even started filming.

So IMHO the reviews giving this movie a 10 or calling it the movie of the year are overly positive. It's a visually stunning start to a potentially mind blowing universe, but mainly an introduction to that universe. Maybe when the story is finished (wouldn't surprise me if they need three movies for the first book) it will be mind blowing and perfect, but for now this movie is a great introduction to the duneverse. Good, but not great. Yet.

Watching Dune was such a pleasure. Frank Herbert's world building, Hans Zimmer's sound, Denis Villeneuve's directing, and the cast's performance combined to tell an intimate coming-of-age story. It was a wonderful experience, layered with creativity, beautiful landscapes and fantastic music. Everything was done so meticulously that there's something in it for everybody.

I'd been meaning to read the book for years and with the film coming out I thought it was about time to get into it before watching this.

Having read it, I can see why it was deemed unfilmable. So much of the plot is held within character's internal monologue and very complex political interactions. Unfortunately while the film looked great and was faithful to a few of the scenes, it failed dreadfully to bring any depth to the story. There is no background to speak of with any of the characters who appear and disappear as quickly as they came. From this point of view it has to be seen as a failure, both for people who have read the book and find it lacking. And those who haven't, who either won't get it at all, or will see some weak mystical Matrix / Star Wars type hybrid.

Disappointed with this, I think I'll seek out the series.

Everything from the visuals to the score and acting was easy 10/10. The only issue I had was the development and backstory behind each of the main characters, which I feel could've been handled a bit better. This film is definitely not going to be everyone's cup of tea when it comes to pacing, but I personally liked that it took its time and had no issue with it. Dune is easily one of the best films I have seen in a long time and in terms of scale and epicness it is right up there with Lord of the Rings.

As a fan of the book, I really wanted to like Dune. And perhaps as a fan of the book my expectations were too high. Dune had the potential to be one of the great films of recent times. The material - if difficult to adapt - is there. Themes that, despite the book's publication date of 1965, seem ever so relevant today: natural resource exploitation to the detriment of the environment; drug addiction and its geo-political consequences; rebellion against colonial occupation; the power of religion as a political tool; a cautionary perspective on the western hero journey. This story could have hit a serious chord with today's audiences. Alas, Villeneuve's film depicts the plot of Dune, but fails to tell its story. It marches through the plot points, bringing them to life with impressive visual style, but fails to hone in on the themes above. We're left with a solid sci-fi adventure that really could have been so much more.

It's possible Villeneuve was not the right director for this adaptation, despite his professed love for the book. He is no doubt an accomplished director with a strong track record, but I always suspected he was more of a technical maestro than an emotive storyteller, and Dune seems to confirm that. In the end, there is a shortage of scenes that are memorable on an emotional level. Furthermore, there is a serious lost opportunity to inject suspense into the first act of the film, instead turning it into a plodding exercise in exposition. Thus the feeling of fatalism that pervades the book is nowhere to be found. Character moments which would have required no additional screen time, such as Gurney's penchant for singing, are lost, and the character development suffers as a result. Equally confounding is the lack of focus on the spice, which really should have been a "character" in its own right.

My other major gripe is with the score and pacing, which feed off one another. Pounding, rhythmic scores like Hans Zimmer's seem to be all the rage these days, but am I passé for wanting a melodic refrain that emotionally reinforces the climactic moments? Once it gets going, Zimmer's score never lets up and never gives the audience a chance to catch their breath. The pacing gets stuck in one speed with no time to dwell on the important moments, a surprising blunder for a director you would expect to know the value of varying pitch and tone. To be fair, Dune is not an easy book to adapt, and properly telling this tale probably required more runtime than the studio was willing to stomach. However, I still would have expected Villeneuve's passion for the material to run a bit deeper than surface level.

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If you haven't read the book or seen the old movie this is gonna be super confusing and as such also boring to you. Cinematography is cool and I watched it in 4D at the movies which was a cool addition, but otherwise the movie kinda boring ngl. 6/10 cause of the cool visuals,in general 5/10 meh.

I dont think I've ever forced myself to watch a movie so much before and this was only because of all the good reviews. I found it incredibly boring... I made it just over an hour and half when I realised I had no idea what was going on or knew any of the characters names.

From what I remember it had good effects and was shot nicely.

Admittedly, I knew nothing of Dune before watching it, so if your a fan you might love it. But I never knew nothing of Harry Potter, Hunger games, Lord of the rings, game of thrones, maze runner etc etc before watching any of them and still enjoyed all of them.

Before I start, I am not very knowledgeable of Herbert's saga, having read only the first DUNE book when I was a kid.

Denis Villeneuve has really delivered an interesting, character building, and visually spectacular sci fi opus. While he had already proven himself in handling delicate material with Blade Runner 2049, I think Dune strikes an even better balance, partly due to the phenomenal source material, which however poses more challenging tasks to the writers and director due to the inherent political backdrop of the storyline.

Even the stellar cast, which are all very recognizable faces and could take away from the world building of the movie deliver excellent performances, and Timothee Chalamet (of whom I am not always the biggest fan) seems born to play the role of Paul Atreides.

DO NOT listen to predominantly American professional reviewers who accuse the movie to be a slow burner and a slog towards the end: in the last few years the "Marvel pocorn" movies have dominated the big budget landscape and the reviewers are just not used to immersing themselves anymore in an actual story.

IMDB obviously needs to get counter meassures for review bombing in check.

Everbody giving the same score, critizing exactly the same (which is BS) and having only 1 review per account. It saddens me deeply the internet has succumb to this kind of culture. I never wrote a review, but I feel this project really doesn't deserve whats going on. Hence my first review

I new what Dune was about, but was new to the story. Villeneuve scceeds in letting you experience how the world works, rather than explaining everything. And there seems to be a rich and well thought-out lore to comprehend. From tech to society, culture and environment its a blast and perfectly directed.

The cast is superb and it shows in every scene. I expected nothing less form big names like Momoa, Zendaya and Isaac, but this was my first movie with Chalamat. Consider me a new fan. He nails Paul's inital teenage mindset and his personal growth. Most importantly he delivers a stunning performance in scenes I imagine are really hard to do, like the box scene.

I also want to mention Stellan Skarsgård who gives us a captivating antagonist. The Harkonnen are generally done very well, but Skarsgård's Baron is way up there with other beloved movie antagonists.

What a visually stunning film. The world created and the architecture in it was priceless. The costume design magical.

Great casting considering they were replacing such iconic performers in the Lynch's version. The young actors brought a great fresh perspective to the story, but lacked the depth these characters deserve.

The sound 'design' more like a soundtrack was dominating, singular, intrusive and did not support the narrative. It swallowed the film. Is it too late to change it? :)

Although Lynch was too ambitious and made a lets say a 'flawed' film, he did manage to take us in the phenomenological realm that Dune 2021 missed.

This great story needs more screen time and I'm glad it received it.

To me this movie really is 10/10 and i'm not afraid to say it. Easily my favorite movie of 2021. There's no competition even. Visually stunning, Action was good, well directed. Acting was very believable.

I haven't read the book and i really liked the movie. Made me curious to learn more about characters and world, but it was very solid first chapter in my opinion. I'm pretty sure others who haven't read the book can get hooked as well, because even if you don't know anything about it, who doesn't like epic looking spaceships and giant sandworms?

To elaborate even further, i think this movie will win over lots of Star Wars fans, who have been disappointed in Star Wars in recent years. Unlike Disney Star Wars, Dune is way more mature and has actually deep lore and interesting characters.

Much can be said of Denis Villenueve's DUNE PART 1. It is stunningly beautiful to look at. The cinematography is compelling and deserves to be seen on the big screen. The cast. Some the best actors working today. Stellan Skarsgard's Baron Harkonen channels Brando's Colonel Kurtz quite well. Special effects. Top notch. Music, properly grandiose.

You know what can't be said about DUNE PART 1?

That it's any fun. Or that it's entertaining.

Timothy Chalemet has zero charisma and zero chemistry with Zendaya. I still don't get why he's such a big star at the moment. Maybe it's just me...

Some don't recall David Lynch's 1984 version with the fondness it deserves. And while a bit jumbled at times. Somewhat hard to understand at others. During its original theatrical run a glossary page was handed to movie goers before each screening. (Wish o had one of those!)

But it was tight. It was weird and wonderful in a way that the new version fails to be. Lynch took roughly the same amount of time to give us an adaptation of the whole novel. And it was an entertaining and engrossing cinematic ride.

By stretching the source material to two films, it creates boredom where there should be excitement. Scenes go on and on, when they clearly don't need to. I found myself expecting the credits to roll for the last twenty-five minutes or so of Villeneuve's film. And when Chani finally gave the (incredibly predictable) last line of the film, I breathed a sigh of relief.

I'm gonna go watch Lynch's version now.

That is all.

-SmokeyKorzeniowski.

This is an Amazing Movie for literally all children and Mature Adults. The acting was amazing, Zendaya really did well playing the fremen girl, and the Paul convincingly played Paul arthritis with emotion and strength!

I literally had a heart attack from the Adrenalin whilst watching the scene where the bad guys attacked arrakis. The special effects for the explosions and heavy guns was the best cgi I had ever seen!

If you are a child like myself please watch the movie, and if you're not twelve yet, just tell the workers that you are twelve, because they don't care.

That's it. That's it man.

Although the film is called 'Dune', the opening title refers to it as 'Dune Part One'. I knew, when I saw this, it probably should have been better to wait for Part Two before watching it. As a result some characters felt underdeveloped, and some simply vanished halfway through the movie. They also kept talking about Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) being 'The One', but the one for what? This somehow reminded me of Neo from 'The Matrix', also being 'The One'.

Regardless, 'Dune' is a spectacle of note. From the stunning visuals, state of the art CGI, production design, and cinematography, to good performances from a stellar cast and a great score, this is one amazing movie. Sure, the film won't satisfy everyone's palate, and if you're not a sci-fi/fantasy fan, 'Dune' will not appeal to you. However, one can't help but be impressed by what they've accomplished.

Ok, now, you can crucify me if you want, but for me there were some issues with the film. With the movie being so long, I later found myself thinking there's a hell of a lot going on, with very little happening. Maybe this is because this is not a completed movie (being Part One), but I didn't always understand the character motives, and I still don't really understand what Paul's real mission is. Spice is the most valuable substance in the universe, and I understand Paul follows in his Father's footsteps to preserve the spice production, but he is always on the move and I don't follow whereto. It sometimes also felt like they were holding back on the action sequences. Some of the action scenes ended so abruptly...

Also, large parts of the movie reminded me of other films, like 'Tremors', 'The Chronicles of Riddick', and 'Star Wars'. Then a number of credibility issues. The film is set in 10191, but there were medieval elements here as well. Will they still be using scrolls so far into the future to read messages from? Will they still read books? Will they address leaders as "My Lord"? This, and their costumes, felt very dated.

If the film was about 30 minutes shorter, it would have been much better paced, with all the unnecessary scenes on the cutting room floor. It was just too long to keep me entertained for the entire 155 minutes, no matter how astonishing the production values.

Ok, now that I've had my rant, 'Dune' is still an incredibly well made film, and worth watching at least once.

The movie was very slow. If you haven't read the book, you will probably be lost. Also, without proper character development you don't even get surprised or annoyed when a betrayal happens. Well, if you like cool visuals, maybe the esthetics of the movie will compensate for the lack of the plot and character development. As for me, I don't care about the visual effects too much and honestly the music got a bit annoying at times.

All in all this is one of the clear cases when I can say I liked the book much better.

What is it with this character counts, now I am simply writing so that I have enough characters to post my review.

It's been years since I've seen anything like this. I'm not even sure that I have.

I'm keeping this review short and spoiler-free, but I just wanted to say that this has become one of my favorite movies. Ever!

The acting is great, the designs and effects are grounded, the music otherworldly and cinematography is completely insane. And it takes the time it needs to build the world and story, in a good and refreshing way. It's one of the most beautiful movies I've ever watched!

This is a movie that needs to be seen in the cinema. The vast landscapes and wonderful, thunderous soundscape is made for the big screen!

I was expecting a lot to be honest, but it has delivered beyond that.

Scenic and fantastic worlds are build without CGI being the first thought that comes to mind.

The space part of the narrative is not something that fills up the time.

The music is maybe the most surprising part, it is really really good.

Without trailing off in details of script or story telling, it really isn't a story that builds to a single climax or fix point, it just delivers edge gripping narrative for 150 minutes.

I need to upgrade my Hi-fi for when it becomes available and I am looking really forward to part two!