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Frank Herbert’s Dune

Mariana doesn’t like scifi, so whenever she goes on a trip I raid Blockbuster for my fix of the genre. This time around, I checked out the SciFi Channel’s production of Frank Herbert’s Dune.

I read Dune about ten years ago. I remember being totally engrossed by that world. The mysticism, the detail, the story—everything is thought out so well that it is virtually impossible to put down. Obviously, turning any 500+ page book into a movie is a huge challenge. But Dune, with all of its mysticism and backstory is an especially difficult movie to make.

In general, I am pleasantly impressed by the SciFi production. Since it lasts six hours, I watched it over two nights. The production team managed to get the major points accross, and most of the CGI effects are spectacular. The big disappointment: the locations, and, especially, the costumes. Shadam IV is dressed and coiffured to look like some kind of Las Vegas lounge singer. Locations look fake, especially in some of the desert scenes; the photographic backgrounds are terribly obvious. It all comes across as a set for the orginal Star Trek series.

June 16, 2002 | Archived in Random Notes