Anyone excited about "Children of Dune" on SciFi?

swannguy · February 24, 2003, 1:36am

2 more weeks and SciFi will show the second installment of one of SciFi’s greatest masterpieces…Dune:Children of Dune.

Are they going to produce all 7 original books?

Ike_Witt · February 24, 2003, 1:59am

First thing first, Frank only wrote 6 books, but it seems that he left notes for a 7th that will be written by his son, after he finishes the Butlerian Jihad trilogy.

I hope that Sci-Fi produces the entire series, but like anything else today - money talks. If the ratings are as good as they were for Dune, there is no reason to think that they won’t make Dune Messiah at the very least. Plus the first three books are a true trilogy. GEoD will be tough to do if for the only reason that the FX for Leto will be pretty expensive, I imagine.

Muad_Dib · February 24, 2003, 2:05am

No. I am not excited. After the first one, I wish a pox on all sci-fi channel execs.

Abe_Babe · February 24, 2003, 2:07am

Hell, yeah I’m excited.

I have no doubt that it’s gonna suck rocks, but I’m excited.

swannguy · February 24, 2003, 2:12am

Adam - I feel like such a loser…I read the series like 4 times in it’s entirity and still don’t know how many books.

DrFidelius · February 24, 2003, 2:15am

I wasn’t excited when Children of Dune came out as a book. I felt then (as I do now) that Herbert was diluting the impact of Dune by writing sequels.

Ike_Witt · February 24, 2003, 2:21am

What did the two of you not like about the show? Compared to the David Lynch film, Sci-Fi did a great job.

What would you have done differently?

It just seems to me that Dune will piss off anybody if it isn’t the way they pictured it in their mind while reading the book (s). I have said before that the best way to do the whole series would be as anime.

Keith_Berry · February 24, 2003, 2:48am

It is a different director this time around, and much of the cast is new as well, so even if you hated the last one (I like it fairly well, except for the stupid inane costumes) it wouldn’t hurt you to check out a few minutes of this one.

The Lynch version thrives on its style and scope (which is pretty impressive) but manages to be almost incoherent in narrative. The Sci-Fi version has all the world and then some to tell the story (which it does pretty well) and has a ambitious production design, but those phony deserts with curtained landscape backdrops do expect much from the viewer’s imagination.

The only way any filmed version of Dune will ever get the right balance of narrative coherency and production value is the Peter-Jackson/LOTR model…cut the narrative up into 2 or 3 separate movies and throw 300 million into putting them on screen. It’ll probably never happen, but who knows.

Muad_Dib · February 24, 2003, 7:50pm

Here is a review from the now defunct “Daily Radar” (Gosh, how I miss them) of the first part to the original Sci-fi channel Dune mini-series. It almost perfectly encapsulates how I feel.

What did Frank Herbert do to deserve this?

Part One of the Sci Fi Channel’s hyped Dune adaptation, the network’s first miniseries, aired last night to probably the largest audience in the network’s history. We’re huge supporters of science fiction here at Daily Radar, but if John Harrison’s version of the book continues along the path set out by the first part, Dune’s chances at legitimacy are in trouble. Bad acting, terrible costume choices, awful accents and adaptation choices that bewilder both the fan and newcomer go a long way to crush any hopes that this version will capture the essence of Herbert’s masterpiece.

Herbert’s work is a complex tale of a future society that undergoes an amazing transformation at the hands of a human superbeing. With a future society so alien to our own, half the intricacy of the book is merely explaining the culture in which the tale takes place. The difficulty for any director is illuminating this intricate world for the viewer or successfully whittling down the complexity in order to be more understandable. Unfortunately this task seems beyond John Harrison, much as it was for David Lynch. From the acting to the plot, Dune fails to tell the story completely or make it understandable for newcomers.
The acting is generally bad. Paul Atreides isn’t supposed to be a 15-year-old version of a whiny Luke Skywalker; he’s supposed to be a precocious teen version of the universe’s most developed human being, representing a breeding program thousands of years old. He’s supposed to the be the son of an incredibly powerful leader, trained in ways of the Bene Gesserit, with the ability to be a Mentat – the most powerful thinkers in the universe. Instead what we’ve got is a moody boy who wants to head into the Tashi station to get some power converters. Don’t worry, he’s not alone. Most of the acting doesn’t fit with the story, with the notable exceptions of Duncan Idaho, Shadout Mapes and Duke Leto.

The costuming looks like Elton John’s wardrobe closet exploded into the future. Why is Feyd wearing a kite on the back of his head? Were those stillsuits made by K-Mart? The accents are just as bad. The Bene Gesserit Reverend mother sounds like Count Dracula, and the Mentats all sound like her Transylvanian cousins.

Many of the sets are very well done, and the CGI scenes look fantastic. Any scene that’s all computer generated looks great. The budget of the series comes glaringly into focus, though, anytime there is a mixture of live action and CGI. So far that’s been most noticeable in two scenes showing the actors in the desert. They look horrible.

Part One of the miniseries reflects the first act of the book. This is the task that makes or breaks any version of Dune: introducing the major characters, explaining their motivations, convening enough of the society to understand the drastic change about to occur – and, of course, at the same time telling the story of House Atreides’ fall.

Major plot points were removed without justification, while other pieces were added in a failed effort that we can only assume was meant to make the story easier for the general public to digest. The future society isn’t explained adequately for the newcomer, and many important characters are barely developed. Worst of all, the show doesn’t do a good job of explaining the most important aspect of the first act: Paul Atreides and the fall of House Atreides.

In a brilliantly devious maneuver by the Baron Harkonnen, the lynchpin of which is a traitor who is above suspicion, House Harkonnen wipes House Atreides out of existence. In a baffling choice, Harrison decided to downplay the story of the traitor, Dr. Yeuh, in order, apparently, to touch on as many scenes from the book as possible, no matter their relevance. He also adds scenes, such as Princess Irulan’s visit, that make no sense except to spark a ridiculous love interest specifically contrary to the books. These plot choices are baffling.

Part One of the series is a poorly acted, freakishly costumed film with variations built into the Herbert story that probably have Frank spinning in his grave. There had better be a serious turnaround in store for this to be anything other than a colossal blight on the Dune legacy and a horrible mistake for the Sci Fi network.

There was no turn-around, the rest of the series was just as bad and I did not even bother to finish watching it.

JustPlainBryan · February 24, 2003, 8:54pm

I saw the Sci-Fi version of Dune. I loved the costumes. And the accents. And the acting. And the choreography. I even purchased the DVD.

I am so there for COD.

Mahaloth · February 24, 2003, 9:59pm

Well, I agree that the Sci-Fi channel sucks tremendously(all because they cancelled the greatest show…Farscape).

Anyway, my understanding, which goes way back to when they filmed this miniseries back in early to mid 2001(why it took so long to air it is beyond me) is that Dune Messiah will be covered in the first 2 hours, with Children of Dune being covered in the final 4 hours. They chose the title Children of Dune since it is longer and more interesting.

swannguy · February 24, 2003, 10:06pm

Mahaloth - that’s quite interesting…maybe Adam was right after all…the best way to deal with this story is to hand over to the best anime makers/producers (whatever they are called)

JohnT · February 24, 2003, 10:10pm

Given that COD is mostly Leto II babbling about how smart he is while he’s tripping, I don’t expect the SF channel’s version to be anything like the book.

Rubystreak · February 25, 2003, 12:17am

Personally, I thought Children of Dune was the second best book in the series (after Dune, of course). Leto II is my favorite character in the series, and I am very interested to see how he is portrayed.

I am worried about the changes that have been made. I checked out the Scifi Channel’s website, and apparently they’ve made Leto II and Ghanima into teenagers. To me, this really dilutes the impact of Leto’s sacrifice: he gave up not only his humanity but also his chance at life as an adult. That was the fact that was really poignant later on for Leto.

Ah well, I’ll be watching no matter what.

JohnT · February 25, 2003, 1:04am

"Personally, I thought Children of Dune was the second best book in the series (after Dune, of course). Leto II is my favorite character in the series, and I am very interested to see how he is portrayed. "

Same here. But still… it likely won’t make for interesting TV as originally plotted.

Darwn48 · February 25, 2003, 2:11am

well i hope the freemen dont keep the robin hood and his merry men outfits in COD, i think that sci-fi could have learned something from the movie dune from the 80s. it was dark and i think fit the book, even though the movie didnt follow the book that well.

still, im looking forward to COD, i just wish i had the $$$ to make dune the way we all know it should have been made.

raisinbread · February 25, 2003, 2:21am

I like the Lynch film. I hate the SciFi miniseries especially with the way that the Fremen were wasting moisture so much by being out of their stillsuits all the time.

Mahaloth · February 25, 2003, 2:27am

I even thought Children of Dune was better than the original book.